Harmony Through Happiness (Eat Some Peaches) - Philippians 4:4 Series

Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! 2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Introduction

What are some of the most important virtues a person should have? A virtue is a morally excellent behavior or characteristic. A godly character trait. Kindness, honesty, integrity, love, courage, generosity, humility, self-control, patience. What about happiness? Would you call that a virtue – a moral issue?

And while you chew on that, let me ask you this: Are you happy? Do you feel happy right now? And in your life in general - are you a happy person? What makes you happy? And what kinds of things take your happiness away? We always have a mix of happiness and sadness , but what does it take for the sadness or anger in your heart to be greater than the happiness and joy? These are very important questions. Happiness is a really big deal in the Christian faith. Your happiness – how much happiness you have, and what the source of it is - is a big deal to God. It matters a lot – not just in your life personally, but also your relationships with the people in your life, and for the health of the church, and for the glory of God. Your happiness impacts all of that. And so Paul gives this command in v.4: Rejoice in the Lord always. In other words, be happy all the time. That’s the command. Be happy in the Lord all the time. My prayer is that by the end of this message you’ll be more excited than ever about the prospect of having greater happiness in your life, and that as soon as tomorrow you’ll notice a difference in your level of joy.

Context: Three Preparations for Unity: Happiness, Humility, and Tranquility

You may not have really thought much about your happiness playing a role in the health of the church, but I believe that’s the primary focus here. The whole book of Philippians is focused on church unity, and the first 3 verses in ch.4 tackle the problem of disunity head on. Paul calls out the two parties involved by name, telling them to have the same attitude, and then calling on the church to step in and help those women reconcile. Then in v.4 he commands us to be happy, and I don’t think that’s a change of subject. I think he is still focused on unity in the church all the way through v.9. I’m convinced that all of this material, from v.4-9 is for the purpose of making spiritual preparations to enable us to have unity and harmony in our relationships. If the people are not prepared spiritually – if they are missing certain virtues, then there will be no unity. A church can have a major unity campaign, put up banners about unity, have policies in place for unity, and everything else, but there still won’t be unity unless the hearts of the individual people are prepared. We have to be prepared in three areas: our relationship with God, our relationship with people, and our relationship with circumstances. God, people, and circumstances – vv.4,5, and 6. Regarding God, we need to be joyful (v.4). Regarding people, we need to be gentle/reasonable (v.5). And regarding circumstances, we need to be unflappable and at peace (v.6). So the three virtues we need to prepare us for unity are happiness, humility, and tranquility.

Need All Three

If you are weak in those virtues, you are going to get into conflicts with people. If you are missing happiness, humility, or tranquility – you are stressed out, bummed out, or puffed up – you are going to find yourself in all kinds of conflicts with people. And if the other person is also stressed out, bummed out, or puffed up, there will really be a lot of conflict.