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"How To Keep Your Joy Safe"
"9 Safety Tips For Protecting Your Joy"
Text: Philippians 3:1-21
Introduction
How many of you believe God wants you to be joyful?
I agree with you, I believe God wants each of us here tonight to have joy.
How many of you know that Joy is different from happiness?
Joy is different from Happiness. They’re not the same thing.
Happiness is based on Happenings.
Depending on what’s happening around me determines whether I’ll be happy or not.
If I like what’s happening around me, then I’m happy. If I don’t like what’s happening, then I’m unhappy.
But Joy is different. Joy is only found in Jesus.
Just like there are certain rare species of animals and plants that can only be found in certain countries, Joy can only be gotten from one place, JESUS.
But there’s a big problem!
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We live in ajoyless society. Watch the 10:00 O’clock ne\vs and see how many joyful stories they tell.
There are a lot of Joy Thieves out there. People who want to steal your JOY.
They don’t want you to smile and have too much fun.
You might make them feel bad for doing it.
That’s why you have to keep your joy safe. You’ve got to protect it.
Because you can lose it so easily.
Tonight, we’re going to look in the Book of Philippians at "How to Keep Our Joy Safe."
The book of Philippians can be summed up in 9 words: Knowing Jesus and Being Like Him Is Pure Joy.
Joy is one of the major themes of this book.
Paul uses the word ’joy’ 4 times in this letter. He uses the word ’rejoice’ 9 times. In the early chapters Paul uses these words to describe his own experience as a Christian. But the beginning of chapter 3, however, is a transition point, shifting to a section of spiritual direction. Paul’s expression "rejoice in the Lord"(3: 1) is the first time in this letter for the phrase "in the Lord," signifying the reason and sphere in which the believers joy exists.
This theme of joy is amazing considering the fact that Paul was sitting in Jail when He wrote this letter.
Paul. was in jail because everywhere Paul preached about Jesus, two types of people fought him.
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He faced opposition first from unreligious people. People who didn’t have a desire to love God or care about spiritual things. In fact, they’re the ones that got Paul thrown in jail.
The other type of people who opposed Paul were Religious people.
Namely, Jews who practiced their religion called, Judaism.
The Jews who practiced Judaism did not believe Jesus \vas the Messiah. However some Jews did come to a saving kno\vledge of Christ.
Both hounded Christians and tried to steal their joy in different ways.
I want to share wIth you "9 Safety Tips To Protect Your Joy"
Please turn with me to the Book ofPhilil!Pians 3:1-21
Safety Tip #1:
Avoid adding to what God says
v. 2 - "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation."
This verse is a warning from Paul against False Teachers.
People who teach things that aren’t true.
Paul says, "Look out for the dogs."
What was happening, is that some people were telling the Christians that they needed to adhere to the laws of Moses and be circumcised. These people were Jews who practiced Judaism.
He refers to them as "dogs" because they were constantly hounding the Christians that they must do this or they must do that.
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Acts 15:1:
"And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ’Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved ’"
This is similar, if not identical to what was happening in Philippi.
The problem is that they were adding to what God had said.
God never said you had to be circumcised to be saved, or that your salvation came through keeping the laws.
They added on to what God said.
The Bible word for "adding to what God says" is called Legalism.
Do you remember the command God gave Adam and Eve back in . the Garden of Eden?
He told them:
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ’Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. ’" - Genesis 2: 16
Do you remember what happened then?
The serpent came to Eve and said, "Has God indeed said, , You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’
Notice Eve’s response:
"And the woman said to the serpent, ’We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst
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of the garden, God has said, , You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. ",
But notice, God never told Adam and Eve they couldn’t touch the tree. God just said, "Don’t eat the fruit."
But Eve took God’s command and went one step further and added on an additional command to God’s original command.
Now, some people would look at Eve and say, "Wow. What dedication! She wanted to be so holy that she took God’s standard and raised it up a notch."
No, she didn’t. What Eve did is not holy, it’s heresy. You don’t take what God says and then add what you say to it.
It’s not God’s Word + My Word = the way I ought to live.
It’s God’ s Word, + nothing, - nothing = the way I should live my life.
We lose our joy if we try to live up to impossible standards that God never meant us to.
You must be careful that you don’t allow people to dump a truckload of rules and regulations onto your life that God hasn’t endorsed.
People say, "You’ve got to wear your hair this length, or you’re not a good Christian."
Well, is that true?
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People say, "If you didn’t get saved in a Baptist Church, you’re not really a Christian. ~~
Is that true?
You’ve got to avoid adding to what God says.
Remember, anytime you add to what God says, you subtraetfromyour joy!
Safety Tip #2:
Appreciate God’s Call On Your Life
V. 3 - "For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
+I, {;"\1ht’ The men who were trying to add on to what God had said~that
because they were Jews, they were God’s chosen people.
They looked down on Gentiles, or Non-Je\vish people as lower¬than themselves.
But Paul, says, wait a minute, I am every bit as much a chosen child of God as you are.
This really amounts to acknowledging God ~ s sovereignty in your salvation.
You didn’t choose Him. He chose you. You got picked and selected by God to be saved.
The Bible says that there are none who understand, who seek after God.
You and I didn’t wake up one morning and say to ourselves, "You know, I think today I’ll see if! can find God."
No, it doesn’t work that way.
God finds you. He’s been pursuing a relationship with you for a long time.
When I first realized I cared for my wife Nicole in a Romantic way, I went after her.
I was the hunter, she was the hunted.
I pursued her. Because I wanted a relationship with her.
Out of the 6 billion people in our world, you’re one of the few God has chosen for salvation.
Many are called, but few are chosen, Jesus said.
Knowing that God seeks me even when I didn’t think about him, gives me great joy.
Since my salvation wasn’t my idea in the first place, I can successfully achieve Tip #3.
Safety Tip #3:
Abandon All Attempts To Earn God’s Awroval
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V.4-6, 9 - " ... though I also might have confidence in the flesh.
If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning righteousness which is by the law, blameless."
He’s saying, "I’ve kept every law, every regulation. I’ve done everything strictly by the book. But none of it makes me better in God’s eyes.
You see, you and I are tempted to believe the lie that says:
I must perform and meet certain conditions to be loved and approved of by God.
There’s not one thing you or I can do to make our selves look better to God.
Nothing you can do will make God love you any more.
But if that’s true, then it also means there~s nothing you or I can ever do to make God love us less.
You cannot get fired by God. God loves you so much he’s never going to give up on you.
V. 9 - "And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith ... "
Quit trying to earn God’s love and just accept it.
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This gives us joy because our acceptance before God is not based on my performance, but God’s grace.
Safety Tip #4:
Assess How Important Christ Is To You
Vs: 7-8 - "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted lossfor Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things lossfor the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. "
V.10" ... that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection of the dead"
Once, while I was living in Virginia, my car started acting up. So I took it into the shop to have the mechanic assess the damage.
He came back with a $600 dollar price tag.
I was not happy because around the same time I was saving up for Nicole’s engagement ring.
I thought, if I have to pay this $600 dollars, I’m going to lose time on her ring.
But then, being the brilliant thinker that I am, I said, "If I don’t get my car fixed, I won’t have anyway to get to work. If I can’t get to work, then I can’t get any more money. If I can’t get any more money, then I can’t pay for her ring. And if I can’t pay for her ring, I’m dead!"
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Here’s the point: In life you and I have to weigh different options.
And you have to assign a certain value to things.
Which we do all the time anyway.
We say, "This is important, this isn’t. This can wait, this can’t."
Every time you say yes to something, you say no to something else.
If someone asks you to go to a ballgame and they tell you it will last from 7:30-10:00, and you say yes.
You’re saying, "yes" to the ballgame. But you’re also saying "No" to everything else you could be doing between 7:30 and 10:00.
You and I are going to have to come to terms as to what means more to us in this life.
You can’t put Jesus at the bottom of your list and still have joy.
You can’t put Jesus on the back burner and still think you can remain a joyful Christian.
"(We) need to know God and to find in Him a treasure more satisfying than any other person or thing or relationship or experience or accomplishment in the world ... W e must be more satisfied in all that God is for us in Jesus than we are in anything else." - John Piper
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Safety Tip #5:
Allow Yourself To Be Human
V:12a - "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect ... "
V:13a - "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended"
Another problem with these legalists that were bothering the Christians, is that they made the Christians feel as though they had to be perfect.
If they ever messed up, or made a mistake, they were severely criticized.
The Judaizers in essence say: "You’re ok in my book, as long as you stick by my book."
But the minute you mess up, I’ll be waiting.
But God doesn’t expect perfection from you or me.
He knows we’re human.
One way that you and I do this today is by treating others mistakes as if they were sins.
If someone doesn’t do what you want them to when you want them to, you make them feel as if they’ve sinned, when they haven’t.
We punish them for a mistake that isn’t a sin.
We don’t have a perfect church. We’re not made up of perfe..:t people.
If you know of a perfect church, then don’t join it. Cause the minute you do you’ll mess it all up.
Safety Tip #6:
Acquire A Forward Focus
V.12b - " ... but I press on, that I may lay hold ofthatfor which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. "
V.13b-14 - "But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. "
When I was still playing soccer, my coach use to make us run backwards to develop our hamstring muscles.
Have you ever tried to run backward?
It’s awkward because you’re actually moving forward, but you’re whole body is facing backward.
That’s how a lot of us are approaching life.
We’re moving forward because we have to. Whether you like it or not, time marches on.
So, you have to move with time.
But many of us, while we’re moving forvard, are still facing backward.
All we can see is where we’ve been not where \ve’ re going.
But that kind of living robs you of joy. Because the joy is in the Journey.
If you’re always facing back, you’re missing all sights right in front of you.
Safety Tip #7
Ask God To Show Others How To Stay Joyful
V: 15 - "Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you."
Perhaps some of you came from a very strict background that \vas overbearing with religious rules and rituals.
And that’s affected you negatively.
Or perhaps, some of you know legalistic Christians who are always trying to tell you what they like or don’t like about your life.
One of the best things you can do to keep your j oy, is to pray for them.
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Ask God to show them how to be joyful.
That’s Paul says here:
"Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. "
Safety Tip #8:
Alert Your Fellow Christians To The Enemies Of Joy
V.16-19 - "Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have as a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame-who set their mind on earthly things."
Paul told the Philippians to watch out for Joy stealers. If Paul told others, you and I might be wise to do this also.
When you’re talking with friends that tell you of their troubles, remind them of the joy stealers.
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Help them see the difference between what God expects of them and what they expect of themselves and what others expect of them.
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Paul says here that he told them often.
Apparently, this issue of legalism that steals our joy, was taken so seriously by Paul that he felt the need to make this a regular reminder to these Philippians.
Safety Tip #9:
Attach Yourself To Eternity
V.20-21 - "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly waitfor the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may conform to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. "
It’s interesting that Paul says here reminds them of where their citizenship was.
People in Philippi, even the Christians, prided themselves on being citizens of Rome.
But Paul says, "You’re a Christian first. A Roman second."
He’s saying don’t attach yourself to earth, but to eternity.
Because everything we do here on earth is just preparing us for.
what we do there in eternity. ’.
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That’s why you and I, we’re not Americans first, Christians second.
We’re Christians first, Americans second.
And being a Christians makes me a better American.
Your ultimate allegiance is not to any earthly government or system, but to Jesus.
So, look forward with joy at the wonderful rewards awaiting you in Heaven.
"Who for the joy set before him, endured the cross."
