A CHURCH THAT EXPERIENCES JOY Acts 16:6-15, Philippians 1:1-2, 4:4
Proposition: A church that experiences joy is a church where the members have made a full surrender to Jesus Christ and are focused on following Him regardless of the circumstances one faces in life.
Objective: My purpose is to challenge people to fully experience the joy that comes when one follows Christ and keeps one’s focus on Him.
INTRODUCTION:
Illus: Did you hear about Fred Johnson, a businessman from Portage, Wisconsin, who went on a business trip to Louisiana. Upon arrival, he plugged his laptop into the hotel room port & sent an e-mail back home to his wife, Jennifer Johnson at her address JennJohn@aol.com. Unfortunately, in his haste, he mistyped a letter & the email went to JeanJohn@aol.com, a Mrs. Jean Johnson of Somerville, New Jersey, the wife of a pastor who had just passed away. The preacher’s wife took one look at the e-mail & fainted. When she was finally revived by her daughter, she nervously pointed to the message, which read: "Arrived safely, but it sure is hot down here." Clarity in communication is vital if we are ever to achieve the desired results. This letter, unlike the mistaken email received by Jean Johnson, was neither a casual correspondence of travel itinerary, nor was it the sad news of an unfortunate destination.
Illus: Do you remember the chorus:
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, Down in my heart,
down in my heart.
I’ve got the love of Jesus, the love of Jesus, Down in my heart...
I’ve got the peace that passes understanding, Down in my heart…
I’ve got the peace that passes understanding, Down in my heart…
I’ve got the wonderful peace of my blessed Redeemer way down in
the depths of my heart…
There is therefore now no condemnation, Down in my heart…
Paul is under house arrest as a prisoner of Rome somewhere between 61 and 63, probably in 62 A.D. He was waiting trial in prison. He wrote four epistles during this time known as Prison Epistles: Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and of course our present letter being considered of Philippians. Joy is a keynote throughout the letter that this is called “Paul’s hymn of joy.” This is like a window into his soul. Someone said that Paul’s chains sound like “joy bells.”
Paul remembers that this church in Philippi was born out of joy, the joy one can know in trusting the Savior & following closely with Him. Pessimism is not the rule in Philippians despite the threat of difficult circumstances. With Paul, it’s a joy unrelated to circumstances. Paul is on his second missionary journey (Acts 16) when the church was established. At midnight Paul & Silas find themselves all alone in a prison cell. They knew the pain & humiliation of the stocks of the jail. They faced the loss of their life. Yet they rejoiced. They sang praises to God at a time when others would have been cursing & threatening the jailer. That’s joy, that’s not happiness, that’s joy...that’s joy...so deep & so profound that nothing touches it. They knew the joy which is a gift from God to those who believe being produced in them by the Holy Spirit because they were willing to obey God being mixed with trials & they set their hope on future glory. That’s why they knew that joy. A strong church developed there even though Paul had to leave the city.
I. FAITHFUL SERVANTS: TRUST CHRIST WITH RIGHT ATTITUDE (v. 1) “Paul and Timothy, bondservants”—Paul is writing to the first church that was established in Europe.
1. A saved heart “Paul” (Acts 26:13-19) “I am Jesus whom you
are persecuting…I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision”—Paul opened his heart to the Lord & many more did as well. Conviction—v. 14; Conversion—v. 15; Commission—vvs. 17-19)
2. A surrendered heart (Timothy) (2 Timothy 1:5ff ) “I call
to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you…Stir up the gift that is in you”—Timothy came to Christ & became a traveling companion during Paul’s 2nd miss. Journey. The was a disciple since he had surrendered completely to the Lord Jesus.
3. A servant heart “bondservants”—Word means “slave.”—In Paul’s day you could become a slave involuntarily or voluntarily. Paul was voluntary & was willing to do whatever needed to be done to serve the Lord & to spread His message to the world. His one purpose: to glorify God & to serve Him fully. We tend to view Christ as OUR servant rather than visa versa—We want Him to do our bidding. When we submit to Christ & do His bidding we find joy. “The joy of the Lord is my strength”
Illus: Charles Stanley, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, Georgia, often calls to his memory an incident in his life in which an unlikely person shared a Biblical truth and principle that he has never forgotten. It still provides bread for the journey! Dr. Stanley was in a time of great turmoil and opposition in one of the churches he served. A dear lady, who only had a small apartment, invited him to lunch. It wasn’t the deacon chairman or the President of the Fortune 500 Company but an elderly woman who later turned out to be a living saint. He reluctantly went—expecting her to give him an old-fashioned tongue-lashing. She said, “Pastor, look at this picture and tell me what you see.” He looked at the picture and saw it was the famous picture of Daniel standing in the lion’s den. He described a few other details and became quiet. She then said, “Anything else, Pastor?” He said, “No.” She lovingly placed her arm around his waist and said, “Pastor, what I wanted you to see and never forget is this: Daniel does not have his eyes on the lion, his eyes are focused in on Jesus Christ.” Paul knew his eyes in that prison cell should not be focused in on the cell wall but on Jesus Christ.
II. FEARLESS SAINTS: SERVE CHRIST WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVE (V. 2) “To all the saints…in Philippi”-- a "set-apart one." 1. Vision (Acts 16:9) “A vision appeared to Paul in the night.”
1). Plea “Come over…and help us”—He had little dreamed of
such a call. It was the cry of Europe for Christ.
2). Plan (Acts 16:10) “Immediately we sought to go”—Paul told his vision to those with him & they were all ready to respond to the call.
3). Progress (Acts 16:12) “We were staying in that city for
several days”--.After the war in 42 BC when Anthony and Octavian defeated Brutus & Cassius, many Roman army veterans were settled at Philippi and the city was designated a Roman colony. A Roman colony was a settlement of Romans in a foreign country, with all the privileges of Romans (had its own senate, its own magistrates, observed all the Roman forms & was a miniature Rome).
2. Victory (Acts 16:14 et al)—Many came to know the Lord.
1). Faithfulness (16:14) Lydia “The Lord opened her
heart”—She came from Thyatira was famous for making purple dyes & for dyeing clothes. She had come to Philippi to carry on her trade. She was a “God-fearer” before carrying her interest in Judaism with her. Those gathered with her may have been relatives and/or servants living in her house. She opened her heart to the Gospel as she trusted Christ & followed the Lord in baptism.
2). Forgiveness (16:18-24) The slave girl “I command you to
come out”—What Paul did for the slave girl was not appreciated by her masters. He had ruined their source of income. They dragged Paul & Silas into the marketplace to face the city’s authorities. The charge that they were advocating an illegal religion & thus disturbing the Pax Romana (Peace of Rome).
3). Fearlessness (16:19-34) The jailer “They sang at
midnight”—Jailers commonly were retired army veterans, who could be expected to follow orders and use their military skills as required.
3. Value (1:1a) “Saints in Christ Jesus”-- The center for all Christian relations and activities for Paul and for us. Paul saw himself as a servant of Christ who lived “in Christ” for the purpose of glorifying Christ. Joy comes from having a lifestyle where we are always conscious of our position and our privilege. We lose our joy when we become distracted.
Illus: Philip Yancey writes, An accumulation of distractions – a malfunctioning computer, bills to pay, an upcoming trip, a friend’s wedding, the general busyness of life -- gradually edges God away from the center of my life. Some days I meet people, eat, work, make decisions, all without giving God a single thought. The task then is to remind ourselves every moment that we are children of the King. How do we do this?
* every once in a while address your friends as "saint"
* wherever you are remind yourself that you serve a higher purpose. When you are screaming at a game or upset at a check-out lane, or frustrated on the phone . . . remind yourself that you represent Jesus.
* when life gets hectic make it a point to find a quiet corner periodically to stop and make contact with the Master.
* Ask God to give you His perspective on: other people, circumstances, things we crave, our time, our money, our hopes.
* When you feel down, cast aside, insignificant, remind yourself that you are specially chosen. . . you belong to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords . . . you are a saint . . given the privilege of serving God.
III. FLUENT SALUTATION: SHARE THE RIGHT MESSAGE—Believe the right message—Both “grace” and “peace.” Both of these words together contains the gospel message. Paul always chooses his word carefully & this is certainly the case here as well.
1. Grace (v. 2a) “Grace”—The word means an "undeserved gift." This means we have received a gift we did not deserve. The gift was new life thru the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on our behalf.
1). Undeserved forgiveness—Suppose your family suffered a horrible tragedy. What if you extend forgiveness to that person...if you had the charges dropped, would they deserve that forgiveness? What if you took the punishment for them. Many aren’t sorry. Jesus took our punishment. Do we deserve forgiveness? Not even a little bit. Yet, God extends forgiveness because of what Christ had done for us.
2). Unmatched love—Think about it…God reaches out to you & me in our rebellious state. He not only offers us forgiveness…He wel-comes us as a part of His own family! He gives us access to His presence, He pro-mises us an eternal inheritance. Not because of our nature but because of His love.
2. Peace (v. 2b)“peace” “Harmony,” “well-being,” etc. This refers to total well-being and everything that makes for a man’s highest good. It is related to a word that means to join, to weave together. When we say we “have it all together” or everything is coming together—we are getting close to the meaning of the world (Romans 5:1). We must receive God’s grace first, then we will know peace.
Illus: Jim Walton was translating the NT for the Muinane people of La Sabana in the jungles of Colombia. But he was having trouble with the word peace. During this time, Fernando, the village chief, was promised a 20-minute plane ride to a location that would have taken him 3 days to travel by walking. The plane was delayed in arriving at La Sabana, so Fernando departed on foot. When the plane finally came, a runner took off to bring Fernando back. But by the time he had returned, the plane had left. Fernando was livid because of the mix-up. He went to Jim and launched into an angry tirade. Fortunately, Walton had taped the chief’s diatribe. When he later translated it, he discovered that the chief kept repeating the phrase, "I don’t have one heart." Jim asked other villagers what having "one heart" meant, and he found that it was like saying, "There is nothing between you and the other person." That, Walton realized, was just what he needed to translate the word peace. To have peace with God means that there is nothing--no sin, no guilt, no condemnation--that separates us. And that peace with God is possible only through Christ (see note Rom. 5:1). Do you have "one heart" with God?
3. Gratitude (v. 3) “I thank God”—These remembrances are mental snapshots—warm memories—of the saints in Philippi. We call them “Photos From Philippi.” Some of these remembrances were: the prayer meeting, Lydia and her household getting baptized, etc.
Illus: As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these
last words to a friend: "It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians--and I am one of them."
CONCLUSION: Paul says in summary, I want the best for you...God’s best. You see, here’s a man who is concerned about others, who is lost in his concern for others. Don’t worry about me, I’m rejoicing. Christ would say to our church, “Are you a church that is experiencing joy? If you will trust Me completely, you can be contented with the circumstances of your life and find your contentment in Me” (4:10-13). Paul exhorts the church to maintain certain positive Christian virtues. First, believers are to "rejoice in the Lord always" and "again" to "rejoice." The double emphasis on rejoicing may imply that a single injunction might prompt the question "How can we rejoice, in view of our difficulties?" So he repeats the command, because in all the constant changes in the Christian life, whether in attacks from errorists, personality clashes among believers, persecution from the world, or threat of imminent death—all of which Paul himself was experiencing at this very time—the Christian is to maintain a spirit of joy in the Lord. He is not immune to sorrow nor should he be insensitive to the troubles of others; yet he should count the will of God his highest joy and so be capable of knowing inner peace and joy in every circumstance. The whole point of Philippians is: “I rejoice, do you rejoice?”
Illus: Men have pursued joy in every avenue imaginable. Some have
successfully found it while others have not. Perhaps it would be easier to describe where joy cannot be found:
Not in Unbelief -- Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: "I wish I had never been born."
Not in Pleasure -- Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: "The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone."
Not in Money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When
dying, he said: "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth."
Not in Position and Fame -- Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: "Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret."
Not in Military Glory -- Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his
day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, before he said, "There are no more worlds to conquer."
Where then is real joy found? -- the answer is simple, in Christ alone.
Illus: John Newton was orphaned in England at the age of six. He grew up in a hostile and non-Christian environment. He joined the navy but soon deserted and ran away to Africa. He lived a totally self-serving existence, becoming a partner with Portuguese slave trader. He became a heavy drinker and was in a death spiral because of his excesses. While being brought back to England his ship encountered very rough seas and began to break up. During that crisis experience he recalled something he had heard as child about the love of Jesus and with very understanding he prayed the prayer of faith. He was born again. He survived he trip and went on to become a famous preach and teacher in England. This is the man who wrote, “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see!”
Illus: The necessity of the new birth is vividly portrayed in the life of George Whitefield. At 16 he became deeply convicted of his sin. He tried everything to become acceptable to God. He wrote, "I fasted for 36 hours twice a week. I prayed formal prayers several time a day and almost starved myself to death during Lent, but only felt more miserable. Then by God’s grace I met Charles Wesley, who put a book in my hand that showed me from the Scriptures that I must be ’born again’ or be eternally lost." Finally, Whitefield understood that he had to trust in Jesus Christ. He believed and was both forgiven and changed. After he became a preacher, he spoke at least a thousand times on the subject, "You must be born again." Have you ever had a spiritual birthday?
Prepared by: Gerald R. Steffy
6206 N. Hamilton Road, Peoria, IL 61614
Phone: 309-691-3680 E-Mail: grsteffy@yahoo.com
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