JOY ROBBERS
Philippians 4.2-7
S: Joy
C: Peace
Th: Toward the Goal
Pr: GET THE TRUE JOY.
?: What? What keeps us from it?
KW: Thieves
TS: We will find in our study of Philippians what thieves use to keep us from getting the joy God has for us.
CV: “We will wholeheartedly worship the everlasting God.”
Type: Propositional
I. CONFLICT (2-3)
II. DISCONTENT (4-5)
III. WORRY (6)
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Disunity kills joy; keep peace.
• Be satisfied in God’s blessings.
• Get God’s perspective when anxious.
• Be perceptive.
Version: ESV
RMBC 20 July 08 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Conflict (S)
Before he was a pastor, David Slaigle served as a nurse in the operating room for several years.
One day a couple arrived, both with gunshot wounds.
The husband had awakened late for his first day on the job because his wife did not set the alarm. He expressed his displeasure by shooting her in the arm.
Not to be outdone, she retreated to another room, got a shotgun, and shot him in the arm.
As Slaigle gathered their paperwork in the preoperative unit, he heard something one would only expect to hear in a country song.
Separated by a deputy sheriff and handcuffed to their respective stretchers, the husband began: "I love you, baby, and I’m sorry I shot you."
The wife responded, "I love you too, baby, and I’m sorry I shot you."
What keeps you from being happy?
We live in an edgy age that is full of worried and peaceless people.
We exist in a pressure cooker of a world.
And we feel it.
There are financial stresses as inflation is on the rise.
There are continual racial tensions around the country and the world.
The family is in crisis – divorce is common and the biblical definition of marriage is being challenged in several states, including our own.
We live in the tension of a cultural shift – from a modern worldview to a postmodern view.
How does one navigate all this change and stress?
Optimism seems to wear off quickly.
Ignoring the issues doesn’t work, because somewhere along the line they end up touching our lives one way or another.
And there is no such thing as a “happy” pill that won’t in the end ruin you.
Where does one find happiness in the world?
We have been studying the letter Paul wrote to the church in Philippi.
Paul is in Rome, under heavy guard, waiting for his appeal to Caesar to be answered.
And throughout this letter, one word that Paul can’t seem to get out of his system is joy (not happiness, but joy).
He wants the believers in Philippi to experience true joy, no matter what the circumstances.
And, I believe, that is our instruction as well:
GET THE TRUE JOY.
Get the true joy that God has for us.
Christianity was never meant to be lived apart from joy.
Authentic Christianity is a lifestyle of joy.
If people want joy, it is Paul’s testimony that they will find it in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
That’s where it is found.
That’s where it is lived.
But there are things that keep joy away from us.
There are joy robbers.
So, we will find in our study of Philippians what these thieves use to keep us from getting the joy God has for us.
OUR STUDY:
The first tool of the joy thief is…
I. CONFLICT (2-3)
I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion [Suzugos], help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Disunity kills joy.
It is sad that we remember these two women, Euodia and Syntyche for this incident.
They had been known for contending for the gospel.
Paul considered them partners.
They had labored with Paul for the salvation of souls and the growth of the church.
But now, they were known for dissension.
They had bickered and argued.
They had criticized and dissented.
They had murmured and grumbled.
Paul uses a strong word here.
He is begging them.
He begs them to get reconciled.
He begs them to be of the same mind.
Why?
Because it is hurting everybody!
Discord makes the church unstable.
When there is conflict, it generates instability.
It spreads all about.
Critical and bitter attitudes spread like a virus.
When people become unforgiving and proud, it infects the community that they are in.
This applies to us all, doesn’t it?
We are at a time in our church when we need to work toward unity.
It is work.
And if we allow ourselves at anytime to become proud or selfish or critical or bitter, we end up hindering God’s work.
When we allow conflict to go unresolved, we hurt the kingdom.
This is why we must work at our relationships – everyone of us.
For…
Peace is a collective work.
Paul appeals to a man named Suzugos, whose name means “yokefellow.”
The name itself implies what is needed here.
The meaning of his name is the idea of oxen moving together, getting the work done that is needed.
And do you understand what it means to us?
We all need to pull well in the harness with someone else.
The church is not designed for individuals to be doing their own thing.
Instead, the church is a place where we support each other.
It is a place where we hold each other accountable.
It is a place where we care for each other.
Eudodia and Syntyche are a warning to each of us.
You see, even the most mature, faithful, and committed people can become embroiled in controversy.
When we are not diligent to maintain unity, the community loses its joy.
The second tool of the joy thief is…
II. DISCONTENT (4-5)
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
Rejoicing has to be constant.
Grammatically, Paul gives us a present imperative here.
This means that our rejoicing in God is to be continual and habitual.
We are to keep rejoicing.
We are to celebrate God all day, every day.
We are to revel in Him.
For when we do this, it is the path to experiencing abiding joy.
Paul repeats the command.
Why does he do that?
Because it is not easy.
We do get distracted by our circumstances.
And we forget the source of our joy.
But here is the thing…
Joy is going on in the inside.
Joy is not dependent on the outside circumstances.
It is an invisible thing.
It is an attitude on the inside.
So, Paul says, “Let it show.”
“Let the joy out.”
Then he describes it with a word rich with meaning.
It is translated in so many ways because no one English word captures the meaning.
It includes gentleness, reasonableness, moderation and considerateness.
It is generosity, goodwill, friendliness, and mercy all wrapped into one.
Graciousness may be the best word.
Whatever the translation, it is a call to the Christian to understand other people.
It calls us to oppose all arrogance in our own walk with God, and with each other.
We can act like this when God is the source of our joy.
We can…
Be satisfied in God’s blessings.
Be satisfied because God is working.
Keep the joy!
For God always is love.
God always acts wisely.
God always acts with power.
Those are blessings that satisfy.
The third tool of the joy thief is…
III. WORRY (6)
ILL Worry (H)
Albert Einstein once said:
Don’t worry about your difficulties in mathematics; I can assure you that mine are still greater.
The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
We know that…
Worry distracts.
It keeps the joy from us.
It makes us unproductive.
The original Greek meaning of this word is “to be pulled in different directions.”
And that pictures it so well.
For hope pulls us in one direction; and fear pulls us in the opposite direction.
But there is a solution.
Paul says that the Lord is near.
This is not, I believe, a reference to the Lord’s return, but rather Paul stating that Jesus is close.
He is God with us and we can depend on His Presence.
He hears our cries.
This leads us to one of Randall’s values:
“We will wholeheartedly worship the everlasting God.”
When we get our focus on worship…
When we rejoice in the Lord…
When we submit to God…
We have definitely pointed ourselves in the right direction.
When we come together for worship, we do not hope that you leave saying, “What a great service.”
It is our hope that you leave with the conviction, “What a great God we have.”
When we focus on the greatness and majesty of our God, then we will successfully attack worry and anxiety.
And to do it, our chief weapon is prayer.
We pray because we have a God that is big enough to solve our problems.
We pray because we have a God that is so powerful that nothing is outside of His sovereign control.
We pray because we have a God that is so intelligent and wise that nothing is too difficult for Him to handle.
This is why we seek to…
Get God’s perspective.
The picture here is of the earth from the moon.
On the moon, it looks as if we live on a tiny ball in the sky.
It really changes our perspective, doesn’t it?
When we pray, it is an act of getting God’s perspective.
When we pray we are letting go of our way and our will.
When we pray, we embrace God’s way over our own, no matter how difficult the circumstances.
We do it, because we know this is where the true joy is.
CHALLENGE: (7)
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
ILL Peace (S)
The J. Russell Morse family was a family that worked on the border of China, Burma and Tibet.
In 1950, after his furlough was coming to an end, he returned to China, just as the communists were taking the interior.
It wasn’t long until communist soldiers came to get him, and they said, "Come with us."
He asked, "Can I take some clothing and bedding with me?"
They said, "No, you won’t need anything. We’ll take good care of you."
But in his memoirs he later wrote that he knew they weren’t telling the truth.
For 18 months he was held in a communist prison, with 15 of those months spent in solitary confinement. His small cell had no window, only a small hole high up to let in a little bit of light and air, and no bed, just filthy straw on the floor.
For 15 months he was never able to see or speak to anyone. Just once a day a small panel was opened in the bottom of his cell door and a bowl of food shoved through. He had no Bible, nothing to read. They had even taken away his glasses, so that he could barely see.
In his memoirs he later wrote, "The only things that helped me keep my sanity during that period were the Bible verses and hymns I had memorized. And the one verse that kept me going the most was Philippians 4:6: ‘Don’t be anxious about anything. Pray about every thing, and with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.’"
He wrote, "If there was ever a time to be anxious, it was when I was in that prison. And if there ever was a time when it was difficult to pray and be thankful, it was then. But I kept repeating those words in my mind over and over again."
When J. Russell Morse came out of the prison, he didn’t have to be reprogrammed because God gave him the peace that transcends all understanding.
You see…
Peace is powerful.
It surpasses human intellectual powers.
It transcends human analysis.
It goes beyond human insight.
It is superior to human understanding.
All our scheming…
All our devices…
All our solutions fall short of what God’s peace does when it comes into our lives.
This is what J. Russell Morse was speaking of…
He obtained a sense of wholeness that did not make sense according to human understanding.
God’s peace came to him and settled down into his life.
And though his life, during that period, hardly fit the theology of the health and wealth gospel, he was at peace.
This was Paul’s testimony as well.
As we noted earlier, Paul writes this as a prisoner.
He was chained to an elite Roman guard 24/7.
So when he says that God’s peace guards you, he was speaking from experience.
There were thieves that were after his heart and mind.
They wanted to rob his joy by making his life miserable.
This is why we are to…
Be perceptive.
We are to possess perspective.
No matter what our circumstances, we are to rejoice in the Lord.
No matter what the trials and testings…
No matter what the physical pain and suffering…
We are to see through what we are experiencing and see what God is doing.
You see, this is when we are able to…
Get the true joy!
BENEDICTION:
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
RESOURCES:
SermonCentral
Beaman, Brad The Prescription for an Anxious Heart
Brownworth, Russell Signal 22 for Joy
Drake, James The Steps to Peace: Standing Fast, Unity, Rejoicing and Gentleness
Tanner, Clark The Peace of God
Other:
Barclay, William. The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. The Daily Study Bible Series. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1959.
Keener, Craig S. The Ivp Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
MacArthur, John, Jr. Philippians. The Macarthur New Testament Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press, 2001.
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament. Colorado Springs: ChariotVictor Publishing, 1989.
Wuest, Kenneth S. Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament. 3 vols, vol. 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1978.
