“THE JOY OF REJOICING” Phil. 4:4-13
FBCF – 8/23/20
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Biggest struggle in life:
- Not $ stress
- Not personal conflict
- Not addictive behaviors & habits
- Not pride, anger, impatience
#1 struggle we all have: ANXIETY – stress or worry – #1 thing that quenches & steals our joy.
There are so many things we get stressed out about.
- Sometimes single folks get stressed about whether or not they’ll ever get married.
- Chuck Swindoll – Met woman at a conf once. She had such positive outlook on life. Great sense of humor. He asked why. She said she just never got worried about anything. Didn’t get married until she was 36. Never worried about whether or not that was going to happen. Said each night, she’d hang a pair a men’s pants over on bed & pray, “Father in heaven, hear my prayer, & grant it if you can; I’ve hung a pair of trousers here, please fill them w/ a man.”
o Swindoll went back to church he pastored next week & told that story. There was half a family – father & teenage son – mother & daughter stayed home sick that Sunday.
o Week later, Swindoll got note from mom: “I’m concerned about my son. For last few days, there’s been a bikini hanging over his bed!”
Anxiety & worry so prevalent in our society right now. The Old English word from which we get our word for “worry” means “to strangle.” And that’s exactly what it does to us & to the joy in our lives.
Today, we are going to talk about the “Joy of Rejoicing” & look at some of the ingredients that we need to have in order to experience this joy. And when these ingredients are in place, we will not only experience the joy of rejoicing, but we will experience the blessing of decreased anxiety & stress in our lives.
EXPLANATION – Phil. 4:4-13
How could the apostle Paul have joy in his life? Think about this:
- Sitting in a Roman prison cell separated from his Christian brothers & sisters
- Concerned about the unity in the church b/c of some internal disputes going on & he couldn’t be w/ them to help them
- Was aware of the potential infiltration of false teachers into the church & couldn’t be there to face them
- Knew that there was external pressure on the Christians there at Philippi to bow down & give worship to the emperor & couldn’t be there to encourage them
- On top of all of that, facing possibility of a death sentence
Paul had found the secret to victory over worry & the secret to experiencing the joy of rejoicing, no matter what the circumstances of life are.
APPLICATION – We, too, can have joy in our lives no matter what our circumstances are.
And here are the 6 INGREDIENTS OF A LIFE OF REJOICING:
PRAISE – v. 4 – As Paul begin winding down this letter, he returns to the main theme: Rejoice IN THE LORD – NOT in your circumstances or situation, but IN the Lord. Our focus is to be on HIM at all times, no matter what we are facing. We are IN Him, surrounded by Him, enveloped by Him, protected by Him, securely held by Him. That’s why we praise Him at all time & rejoice in Him at all times.
Casting Crowns said it well:
And I'll praise you in this storm, And I will lift my hands
That you are who you are, No matter where I am
And every tear I've cried You hold in your hand
You never left my side, And though my heart is torn
I will praise you in this storm
PROMISE – v. 5 – There’s an important little statement at the end of v. 5 that we don’t need to miss: “The Lord is at hand” – “The Lord is near” – “The Lord is coming soon!” HANG ON! DON’T GIVE UP! DON’T LOSE HEART! OUR TROUBLES ARE NOT GOING TO LAST FOREVER! That’s definitely a reason for rejoicing!
- 1 Thess. 4:13-18
- Old hymn chorus: “Living He loved me, Dying He saved me, Buried He carried my sins far away. Rising He justified freely forever. One day He’s coming, O glorious day!”
- Rejoice in this promise!
PRAYER – v. 6 – Probably one of most well-known verses in NT on prayer. Such strength & encouragement in this verse! NLT sums it up well: “Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything!”
Easy to say that – sometimes hard to apply that. Word for “anxious” means “to be pulled in different directions.” Isn’t that how we feel sometimes? Our hope pulls us in one direction; our worries pull us in the opposition direction.
Someone once said, “If your knees are shaking, kneel on them.” Doesn’t mean that God is going to take all your problems away or make them disappear – He might. But what prayer does is give us the proper perspective on who God is, what He promises, & how we can trust Him, no matter what we are facing. And that definitely brings us joy!
- Joy b/c we realize that our God is HUGE!
- Joy b/c we realize that He is w/ us & will never leave us!
- Joy b/c we realize that every promise He gives us is ours to stand on & claim for our lives!
PEACE – v. 7 – As we praise God in the midst of the storms; as we stand on His unchanging promises; as we continually come near to Him in prayer; we will find that HIS peace that goes beyond our human ability to understand, will become like a fortress around our hearts & minds. The Holy Spirit gives us that peace (one of the fruit of the Spirit) b/c He gives us:
- Power – Acts 1:8 – “You will receive power…”
- Encouragement – Acts 9:31 – The Church was “encouraged by the HS…”
- Attitude – John 7:38-39 – Jesus said the HS would be “living water” flowing from our hearts. He gets rid of that guilt-ridden legalistic attitude, & replaces it w/ a renewed, joy-filled attitude of gratitude.
- Comfort – John 14:26 – Jesus sent the HS to be our Comforter & our Helper.
- Endurance – 1 Thess. 1:3 – Paul thanks God for the steadfastness & endurance that Jesus gives to the Church through the HS.
POSITION (of our mind) – v. 8 – Question: What’s the position of your mind right now? Where is it? What are you putting into it? This has so much to do w/ whether or not we are experiencing the joy of rejoicing. Our peace & our joy are a matter of our heart & mind. That’s our main battlefield!
- Sow a thought – reap an action.
- Sow an action – reap a habit.
- Sow a habit – reap a character.
- Sow a character – reap a destiny.
Tells us how important the position of our mind is. We need to be pouring good, Godly thoughts into our minds. Things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, & worthy of praise.
- Wiersbe: “There is no middle ground: Either we yield heart & mind to the Spirit & practice right praying, thinking, & living; or we yield to the flesh & find ourselves torn apart by worry.”
POWER – v.13 – All of this is pulled together w/ that powerful statement that we find in v. 13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
- Phillips – “I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives within me.”
- TLB – “I can do everything God asks me to do w/ the help of Christ who gives me strength & power.”
More than just a verse that athletes like to quote. Truth is that it’s impossible to have joy & peace in life apart from the power of Jesus within us. But if we have His power in us - & we DO if we’ve been saved – then we will be able to rejoice in Him always, no matter what we are facing or going through.
CONCLUSION – So back to the where we started: What you are anxious about today? What is keeping you from having the joy of rejoicing in your life today? These ingredients that I’ve given you today will speak to whatever that thing is in your life right now
- Praise Jesus today no matter what you’re facing
- Stand on the promise that Jesus is coming again
- Keep praying
- Let the peace of Christ flood your heart
- Position your mind in the right direction
- And remember that you have the power of Christ within you!
