The Elements of Joy—Part 2
by
Rev. Irvin Mizell
Philippians 1:3-5
This morning it’s our privilege again to return to a new study for us,
The study of Joy in Paul’s epistle to the Philippians.
Open your Bible, if you will, to Philippians chapter 1.
Philippians 1:1
Php 1:1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Php 1:2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Php 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Php 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
Php 1:5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Php 1:7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
Php 1:8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
Verse 1 says, "To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons."
He includes the church leaders,
But he is writing, to the saints...
That is to all the believers in Christ….
You see…
"There’s only two kinds of people in the world...the saints and the aints."
Now the word "saint" means… separated,… unique,… different,… set apart.
Now how do you define a saint?
The saints are in Christ Jesus.
We are holy,… made holy by Christ’s salvation.
We have been made righteous.
We have been given the life of God.
We are made separate,
unique
and different from the rest of the world.
We are the saints.
We are saints in Christ Jesus.
Interesting to Note:
Only Christians say and affirm that they are “in Christ” empowered
“by Christ” and have salvation “threw Christ”
Not found with Buddha.. Or any other group.
THEN THE GREETING
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,"
I wish you grace, I wish you peace.
Grace is the gift of God,….. peace is the result.
Because of grace we have peace.
Now Paul filled with joy writes this letter to the beloved Philippians.
And as he thinks about them his joy overflows.
And that’s why in verse 4 he says that every remembrance of them produces joy.
Php 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Php 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
The joy Paul in his heart, was there because of his relationship to the living God
Joy spilled out when he thought about the Philippians.
Fellow saints in Jesus Christ.
He says,
verse 3, "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you."
In other words “I rejoice over every memory that I have of you”
"Always offering prayer with joy,
Q… what is it that creates all the Joy in Paul’s heart ?
Lets Take a look at this amazing statement… Verse 23,
Php 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
Php 1:24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
Php 1:25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
Joy is increased by faith…
Paul says “I want to hang around to help you achieve maximum joy potential”
Paul had that kind of joy.
And
All we have to do is go to the Word of God.
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God ….. Right!
The stronger our Faith, the greater our Joy…
And as he writes to these beloved people, he indicates the elements of his joy.
Let’s look at them, at least a couple of them.
“First“,…. there’s the joy of recollection,
verse 3, "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you."
The very thought of the Philippians brought him jubilant memories.
You see,
Paul had this inventory of memories.
And by the power of the Holy Spirit within him,
he focused on the positive ones.
He says, "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you."
Everything he could think about the Philippians gave him joy.
And he rejoiced… and thanks his God
Note: ….Joy prompts praise…
What prompts all this praise ?
"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you."
His remembrance of the saints…. Prompts praise…
Understand something
Now no one is perfect.
The Philippians weren’t perfect.
The church wasn’t perfect.
Trust me The church had its problems.
There must have been some disunity there or he wouldn’t have made such a major issue in
chapter 1 verse 27
"You need to have one spirit, one mind, striving together."
Paul is saying this isn’t the place for personal agenda…
We Must be of one spirit, serving our Lord Jesus together…
We Must have one mindset to exalt our King and Father Jesus Christ.
We Must strive together in unity, the stronger helping the weaker, all working together to to further the gospel of our Lord.
Chapter 2 verses 1 to 4,
"You want to be of the same mind, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose."
Again Paul exclaims that unity in the body of Christ is an absolute Must.
Again this is not a place for personal agenda
Not a place of competition
Not a place of personal exaltation
Not a place for pride
Then Paul kind of lets the cat out of the bag
chapter 4,
those two women who have impossible names…I call them (Eunice & Cynthia )
Php 4:2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.
Two women in the Church at odds with each other…
Sad thing is that they are creating a division in the Church…
Understand something…
It is never just between you and her
Each one has 3-4 friends
All are married so now we have 10 involved
It comes to the preacher and he has a wife..12
Deacons and there wives are notified 24
So there is division in the Church all because 2 women can’t get along
Sad thing is … we all loose sight of our ministry.
So Paul is telling them, that every one has a right to serve…
and sure some are more talented than others…
but in love and unity we work together to magnify Christ in all we do.
The stronger teaching, and helping, the weaker,
But that church still brought him joy.
those people loved the Lord
May I suggest to you that that’s a key to joy in the Christian life?
A real key...
To be able to recall the goodness of people,
to be able to recall the best in someone,
to be able to look past some of the glitches in folks.
and capture the sweet memories...
So Paul says…
Php 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Php 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
Then he says…
Php 1:25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
So since Joy is a product of Faith …
And
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God
Paul has a heart where the joy of the Holy Spirit dominates.
A heart that touches only the sweet things of life, not the bitter things.
A spirit filled heart savors thoughts of other’s goodness
and other’s kindness
and other’s love
and other’s compassion
and other’s gentleness
and other’s sacrifice
and other’s care.
And it refuses to focus the rest.
One can easily discern,
if given enough time,
a heart where the Spirit of God is not in control...
because there’s no joy.
And the tendency is always to focus on everyone’s
unkindness,
ingratitude,
faults,
wounds that they’ve inflicted on us.
It’s a dead giveaway.
Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Ga 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Learn to yield to the Spirit.
And the Spirit of God has a way of erasing the tape of negative things.
Ask the Spirit of God to erase those things,
to produce in you a joy that focuses on joyful memories.
That’s the work of the Spirit in the heart of the believer.
On the other hand
Bitterness,
unforgiveness,
always remembering evil
Pride,
Boastfulness
Back biting
Envy
Gossip
That is the work of the flesh,
Thomas Hardy said,
"Some people can find the manure pile in every meadow."
You want to live like that?
You want to stomp around in that stuff all your life?
Not me.
Paul’s joy was expressed in pleasant memories.
That’s the joy of recollection.
And that is a work of the spirit in our life…
IF YOU FIND YOURSELF HERE TODAY NEEDING SOME JOY IN YOUR LIFE….
JESUS MY FRIEND IS THE ANSWER.
AND CHRISTIANS IF YOU FIND YOURSELF TROMPING AROUND IN THE MANURE PILE, INSTEAD OF ENJOYING THE MEADOW,
TODAY WOULD BE A GOOD DAY TO ALLOW THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST, … TO TAKE CONTROL
