HOW TO BE A CHRISTIAN AND STILL ENJOY LIFE
Sunday January 13, 2008
Introductory Sermon Pt.2
Scripture Reference: John 10:10
Intro.
A. Last week we began our new sermon series for 2008, How To Be A Christian And Still Enjoy Life. What we are doing in these first two sermons is to get some background into the book of Philippians by exploring who the writer was, the place of Philippi and the some history behind the writing of this letter. For those of you who were not with us last week I would suggest that you go online to our sermon player and listen to last weeks message. That will help you connect the dots with what I will talk about today. But to help all of us today I will briefly share what we learned last week.
B. First of all we learned that the Apostle Paul was the writer of Philippians, now that may seem like a statement of the obvious but it is important in considering who Paul was and his tremendous influence in Christian faith both then and now. As we discovered last week Paul wrote almost half of the entire New Testament and more than half if you feel that he was the writer of the book of Hebrews as some believe. We owe much of our Christian theology to the Apostle Paul. Romans is probably the greatest book on the teaching of Christian faith.
1. We also learned about the city of Philippi. What is most significant about Philippi is not the city itself but how it was that Paul and his traveling companions were lead to Philippi. As I shared last week this is one of the most exciting parts of the book of Philippians to me. In Acts 16 we read how Paul and those with him were prevented by the Holy Spirit from going into certain areas where they wanted to share Christ. I am sure that this did not make sense to them at the time. In fact understanding the personality of Paul as we see him in the scriptures I am certain that he was very frustrated. After all he was about God’s work, he wanted to share the gospel of Jesus Christ every where he could, so why would God prevent him form doing so? The answer came later in a vision to go to Macedonian which took them to Philippi where he led a lady named Lydia to Christ who was from the very region Paul was prevented from entering. What this shows us is that even best intentions can’t interfere with God’s plans.
2. There is one other thing I want to mention from last week before we take an overview look of the entire book of Philippians. We learned last week that even though Paul had this vision that was not the clinching reason for them going to Macedonia and on the Philippi. Here is what Acts 16:10 says, “concluding that God had called us”. Now I know it would seem that having this vision would be enough, but what these few words show is that they still discussed this matter and undoubtedly they prayed about this vision to make sure this was really from God and not from the one who can also disguise himself and an angel of light.
3. I said last week and I will say it again I believe in angels but I am also skeptical of people who tell me they have had visions. The reason for my skepticism is because too often I have seen people use so called visions as a means to justify something they wanted to do but knew it really wasn’t right but saying God told them to legitimized their actions. If any so called vision does not line up with the truth of God’s word it should be rejected and any vision that cannot be confirmed though the prayers and counsel of mature followers of Christ I also feel should be rejected. I am confident that when Paul shared this vision with his friends the reason they followed through was because through discussion and prayer they knew this was God’s will for them.
Trans. OK let’s move on so that this does not become a three part sermon. What I want to do now before we begin to explore the individual verses of Philippians is to get an overview of the total book. I want us to see the theme of this book which will help you understand why I entitled this series How To Be A Christian And Still Enjoy Life.
II. AN OVERVIEW OF PHILIPPIANS.
Why did Paul write this letter?
A. This Is A Letter About Joy.
1. Have you ever noticed what a sad world we live in today? [] It seems that the only headlines that sell are those that purport negative news. I remember hearing a news story the day before Christmas that was telling how bad the shopping season was this Christmas. With the credit crunch and poor housing market they determined that no one wanted to spend. Then on the day after Christmas I heard another news story that said the Friday before Christmas was a huge day for retailers. In fact they said there was one mall in Los Angeles that had it best sells in its entire history, but who wants to hear that news right? It seems that we would rather hear how bad things are than how good they might be.
2. Now last week I told you that I feel one of the reasons people steer clear of church and Christians is because they don’t see joy in this Christian life and faith we talk about. They see Christianity and being in church as a stealer of joy rather than a giver of joy and let’s be perfectly honest folks. There are an awful lot of so called Christians who are a great advertisement for this idea. Consider this, how often is it that a friend asks you or I to do something we like to do whether that is fishing or shopping for camping and we with a sadden face say, “You know I would really like to do that but I can’t because I have to be in church” or “I can’t because I have to attend a bible study.” What do you think would happen if when asked this same question our response was, “Wow, you know I love to fish but I don’t want to miss being in church this week. My pastor is preaching about how to be a Christian and still enjoy life and I don’t want to miss what he is going to share. Besides I really enjoy being in church why don’t you join me and we can arrange some other time to go fishing? (or whatever it is you were asked to do)” You know as well as I do that that person will be dumb struck by our response. You also know that they will wonder what it is that we find so great about being in church instead of doing whatever it is they are asking us to do. Why we would find more joy in being in church than fishing or camping of even sleeping in.
3. I think some people feel that it is almost sacrilegious to laugh in church, no wonder unbelievers don’t think there is any joy in being a Christian. If you will remember Jesus was accused of being a party animal. He was accused of hanging out with those who don’t seem to have any decency or respect for religion. Now I know that Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief as Isaiah tells us but let’s not forget that he was also a man full of joy. Listen to what he said himself, John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. Consider that these words were probably spoken hours before Jesus was betrayed and put on trial leading to his crucifixion. For far to many of us our joy is based on circumstances, on whether or not things are going our way, but that is not real joy at least it is not the joy Jesus spoke of because his joy was certainly not circumstantial.
4. Think about the Apostle Paul, was his joy based on circumstances? Think about his first visit to Philippi and what happened to him. He was falsely arrested and thrown into prison yet while down in the dark dreary dungeon he is singing songs and praising the Lord. Think about the circumstance in which Paul was in as he writes this very letter. He is in a Roman prison chained to guards day and night. Now how many of us would be thinking about the subject of Joy while in these same circumstances? How many of us would be writing letters to encourage others while we are locked up hand and foot to Roman guards? Is Paul mister Super Christian? Is Paul merely a model or an ideal, something we should aim for but never really hope to achieve? It is my opinion that to many Christians view Paul this way and that is at least in part why we never experience the joy we should have as followers of Christ. It’s all just some pipe dream and so we know we are all doomed to fail at being truly joyful people. Well I hope to help dispel all of this stinking thinking in this series of messages.
Trans. Let’s talk for a minute about some of those things that steal our joy.
B. What Are The Joy Stealers?
1. One of them I have already mentioned, unfavorable circumstances. Let’s call these the “If Only People”. The people who can only be joyous when circumstances are in their favor are the “If Only” people. They are always saying things like, “If only I could find a better job.” “If only my spouse would straighten up.” “If only my kids were better behaved.” “If only I had a new car.” The problem for people who are constantly dependent upon circumstances for their joy is that circumstances are constantly in flux. Things are always changing so the hope of having a lasting joy is never an option for those depending on favorable circumstances.
2. Another joy stealer is People. Life would be great if it weren’t for all these people right? The problem with that is that they are saying the same thing about you and me. Funny isn’t it, how we just feel like we will die if we don’t find Mr. or Miss Right and then not long after we do we think how much better life would be without them. Listen folks people will always be people. That means we will often say the wrong things and do the wrong things, but what would life really be like without others? Our worst form of punishment is to send people into isolation. We can’t live without people so we can’t let them be the stealers of our joy.
3. Another stealer of joy is Things. What I am talking about here is our quest for more possessions; more things that we are certain will finally make us truly happy. Abraham Lincoln was walking down the street one day with his two boys. They were fighting with each other and a gentleman asked Mr. Lincoln what was wrong with his kids. He said, “The same thing that is wrong with the world. I have three walnuts and each of the boys wants two.”
4. Let me give you one more great stealers of our joy, Worry. This may be the best robber of our joy. I wonder how many of us sitting here today are joyless because of some worry. Worry over finances, worried over our kids, worried over our jobs, worried over the world. I am certainly not suggesting that we all become like ostriches and bury our heads in the sand and pretend that all is well when it is not, but remember the quote I shared a few weeks ago in my message on peace. We need to resign as controllers of the universe.
C. How Can We Recapture Our Joy?
1. If these things and others are in fact robbing us of the joy that Jesus said he came to give us then how can we get it back? Well I will tell you this much we will not rediscover this joy by the simple absence of these four things I just mentioned. There will always be circumstance in our lives that are unfavorable. Of course we will always have people in our lives too. We will always need stuff too, maybe not in the quantities we would like but we do need stuff and the elimination of things that can cause worry is unrealistic as well. So the joy we need is something that will be greater than these things that tend to steal our joy from us.
2. I think Paul answered this question for us in just one verse of Philippians. I think we can find the answer in 2:5, let’s look at it together. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: The word that is used here for Attitude literally means, “to interest oneself in or set affections on”. If you and I are going to experience this life of joy that Jesus said he wanted to give us then we must make our interests the same interests as Christ. The things that have our affections must be the same things that were Christ’s affection. Think about this as it relates to what we just said are the things that steal our joy. Were these the things that captured the attention of Jesus? Were these the things that occupied the time and mind of Christ? Jesus did not even allow the person who betrayed him to rob him of his joy.
3. Now let me add something else that is important here. To have the mind of Christ or the attitude of Christ requires cultivation. That means there is to be a constant growing, developing and maturing process in our lives. Think of this like cultivating a garden. Even though the only thing you planted in your garden were tomatoes there are still other plants that spring up in your garden, usually they are of the variety you do not want in your garden. How do you get them out? Do you water more in hopes of growing them out? No you get a shovel or spade and you pull them out. There may be some things that you need to pull out of your life right now that you already know are stealing the joy of the Lord in you. You will also have to do some watering and feeding of the soil. Do you have a regular devotional life? I know I have said this repeatedly but I cannot give you all the spiritual nourishment you need on Sunday morning. You need a regular devotional life, but you also must not neglect the opportunities to come together with your brothers and sisters in Christ to worship together. These times need to be guarded and protected.
4. Let me finish today by showing you in a very general way how Paul addresses developing this mind of Christ.
a) Chapter one: The Single Mind. Philippians has some of the best known verses in the bible and one of them is certainly chapter one verse 21, For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Can anything be said to better express singleness of mind than this? What Paul told us here is that living or dying his whole life was about Christ. May I suggest once again that we can never hope to have the joy the Jesus spoke of if we can’t chose whom we will serve? As we will learn in our next message Paul made his choice he said he was a servant of Christ. It was Paul who also wrote to the Corinthians church and told them that we are not our own but we have been bought with a price, the price of Jesus’ own blood. Let me remind you of what James the brother of Jesus said, 1:8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. How joyful can someone be that is unstable in all they do? You must decide who will be Lord of your life, Jesus or YOU! You can’t have it both ways!
b) Chapter Two speaks of: The Submissive Mind. What Paul tells us in chapter one is that to be joyful we need to make Christ first, then in chapter two he shows us how to make others second. Look at V.3 NLT Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. This whole chapter deals with this issue of submission, submitting to others, submitting to Christ and then Paul gives us the examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus as those who made this submission. Tell me, since we have just finished our Christmas holidays. What brings you greater joy, giving a gift or receiving a gift? If you are an adult I am pretty sure you will say that giving gives you greater joy. Now if you are a child you will probably say getting. Doesn’t that also speak to spiritual maturity? Maybe one of the reasons we are joyless is that we are spending too much time saying “Give me, Give me” rather than seeking ways to give of ourselves.
c) Chapter three is: The Spiritual Mind. Look at chapter three V.18-19 here it is from the NLT For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. Let me draw your attention to the last sentence of V.19. Paul said, and they think only about this life here on earth. How can we have the Joy of the Lord when our main interest is this world? Notice as well the very pointed words Paul used in V.18, there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. Who are those who are enemies of the cross? They are people who are only concerned about this world and what they can get or accumulate for themselves right now. But Paul made a contract in V.20, But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, Once again I will say to you that it is not that we are wrong for wanting to have some nice things, but if we are true followers of Christ and if we really want to be joyful people then getting those things cannot be our top priority especially when we see that they may be standing in the way of our relationship with Jesus.
d) Chapter four is: The Secure Mind. Again one of the great verses of scripture comes from Philippians and it is found in 4:6-7 here it is in the NLT again, Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. It is also in Philippians 4 that we read these words, V.11-12, I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Paul learned the secret of being joyful in whatever circumstance he found himself and so can we!
THE NEXT STEP:
Now we are going to be in the book of Philippians for a long time. I am already one sermon over what I planned and this is just week one. So do we need to wait until this series is over before we can begin to experience this joy I have been talking about? I certainly hope not, that would not be a good thing. Of course I believe we can begin to experience this joy right now, here today. Let me offer to you some steps that I think you can take right now to begin experiencing this joy.
1. Give Your Heart To Jesus. Jesus is the key; he is the joy giver while everything else tries to steal your joy. If you have not given your heart to Jesus then today would be the day.
2. Admit your failures. You may be a follower of Christ today but joy eludes you. Have you been someone who is trying to find joy in favorable circumstance or in people or things or are you allowing worry to squeeze the joy out of you? You need to confess those failures and ask God to help you reprioritize your life so that you can have joy no matter what life throws at you.
3. The third step would be to surrender your mind to Christ daily. Everyday there will be things that happen to us that will try to steal our joy. If you feel your joy slipping is there somewhere that you are being double minded? Are you becoming fixated on some stuff? That daily surrender will help in this cultivation process I referred you to earlier.
4. Finally look for opportunities to serve others. What was the attitude of Christ? Was it to get all he could or give all he could? He said that he came to give his life as a ransom for many. What are some ways that you can serve others? Is there something you can be doing in your church to help others? Remember there is always greater joy in giving than in receiving.
