Philippians: How to Be Joy-FULL.
1. Grow in love (Phil. 1:1-11)
May 1/2, 2004
Don Jaques
MAIN IDEA: Joy comes from a thankful heart that is confident in God’s provision.
INTRO:
In the summer of 1988 I left my home in Redmond, Washington for a 3 month musical mission trip with the Continental Singers. It was a tour that would change my life forever. I received instruction in the art of music ministry. I received encouragement to move toward leadership in ministry. I met a cute California girl named Ann Bollen. And as our music team traveled, we spent the summer studying the little book of Philippians. 4 chapters, written by the Apostle Paul while in chains to a group of believers in the city of Philippi – this little book has had a tremendous influence on my spiritual walk. It is chock full of verses that scream out “memorize me”! “Meditate on me!” “Apply me to your life!” As we traveled across America that summer, I discovered in this little book amazing spiritual truths that make an incredible difference in my life even today. Principles such as doing everything without grumbling and complaining, giving praise in all circumstances, about learning to be content in whatever situation I find myself, about laying down my life for the sake of the gospel, about discovering that my God will supply all my needs – ALL of them! Most of all – I learned that there is a way to live a life of JOY, regardless of my circumstances. That I could, through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in me, live a life that is Joy-FULL – or full of JOY.
And so I’m so excited to begin a 7 week journey through this little book with all of you. Perhaps, like me back in the summer of 1988, you’ve had a quick read through Philippians, or perhaps you’ve never encountered the powerful spiritual truth in this letter. However much exposure you’ve had to it – I pray that God will use this study to bring lasting change to your everyday experience, and that you will experience for yourself the power for change found in this book.
Today we’ll take a look at the first few verses of Philippians and discover more about Paul’s relationship with the believers in Philippi. We’ll discover the current state of that relationship and what Paul longs for in the lives of these dear believers. As we do – we’ll all be encouraged to examine our own relationships with each other here at Christ the King, and begin taking steps to living JOY-FULL lives.
Philippians 1
1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Before we go any further, I want to give you a bit of background into who these people in Philippi were, and how Paul came to know them and start a church with them.
In Acts 16, we discover that Paul and has companions were traveling throughout the regions of Phrygia and Galatia, with hopes to go to the province of Asia and preach the gospel there. However, the Spirit kept them from going there, and instead Paul received a vision of a man in the region of Macedonia begging for them to come and help them. They traveled to the city of Philippi – described as the leading city of that district – and began using the opportunities God gave them to speak to people about Christ.
What follows was the conversion of an interesting group of people, including a wealthy businesswoman, a demon-possessed slave girl, and a jailor and his family. From this rather motley crew of folks came the start of what would be one of the Apostle’s greatest church-planting successes.
Where Paul is when he writes this letter is not known for certain, but because of certain references he makes to being in chains, it is supposed that he is in Rome, where he found himself under house arrest, awaiting his trial before Caesar for the trumped up charges of disturbing the peace.
In this situation he was able to move freely about his home, and be attended to by his friends, but he would have constantly been chained to a Roman soldier. It is in this situation, a few years after his first visit to Philippi, that we find Paul writing to his friends. He begins, not surprisingly, with thanksgiving!
Philippians 1:3-6
3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Here we see the first key to becoming a Joy-FULL person:
1. Be thankful for what God has accomplished, and be confident in God’s ability to accomplish His work. (Phil. 1:3-6)
As Paul sat, under confinement, chained to a Roman guard, he never let it stop him from praying. He was not too polite! He just kept on praying, thanking God for these dear friends in Philippi and the fact that they had partnered with him in the work of the gospel.
He could have spent time being angry with God for keeping him confined. He could have worried about what would happen to their church if he could not go see them – but instead he chose to give thanks to God for all the great things he had done in and through them, and for their generous support of him. Instead of worrying about the fact that they were still in need of some “finishing” work – he had JOY because he knew that the one who began the good work in them would be faithful to keep doing it until he was finished!
How does this relate to you and me? Now I’m not in dire circumstances like the Apostle Paul, but there are often pressures that I feel as pastor of this congregation. How will we meet the needs of middle school students? How will we make room for more people? How will we make sure new believers are adequately discipled? These and other questions can weigh on me – but I learn from the Apostle Paul to pray for this congregation with THANKSGIVING.
We had a great meeting of our leadership team last Sunday night in which we had a wonderful time praising God for the great things he’s been doing. Our attendance has been rising, our giving has increased, our children’s ministry is flourishing, our worship teams are expanding, our small groups are getting energized with the vision of multiplying and changing the spiritual landscape of our community.
Through all of this I’m filled with JOY! And it makes me know that whatever challenges we face as a church – this is HIS church – and HE will continue leading us as we continue humbly seeking him and serving Him.
So instead of getting worried about problems – I’m inspired by these verses to live in confident expectation that God will show himself to be faithful to meet our needs.
How about you?
What situation are you in that causes you to want to focus on your problems instead of the blessings that God has been working out in your life?
Let me encourage you to spend some time THANKING God for what he has done in your life – and to remember that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.
Whatever struggle, habitual sin, trial you’re enduring – God is still working on you and in you. And he will not give up – so don’t you give up either!
Paul continues sharing his heart for the Philippians in verse 7…
Phil. 1:7-9
7It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
Now having shared how much he longs to be with them again, he shares what exactly he prays for them.
Phil. 1:9-11
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.
Before I get into what Paul actually prayed and how it can change our lives – let’s take a moment to see what Paul did NOT pray for. He did not pray …
…that they will be happy.
…that they will be healthy.
…that God will take away all their problems.
When Paul prays (and you see this in his other letters as well) – he prays for people to experience total life change! He prays God sized prayers – and this is no different.
He prays that their love for each other would grow in knowledge and depth of insight
And that this would lead them to greater discernment of what God would have them do…
And that this discernment would lead them to be holy (pure and blameless) and full of the fruit of that righteousness, so that God would receive more and more praise!
Wow! In order for them to experience all that God wants for them, in order for them to be joy-FULL people, he knows the best thing he can hope for them is to learn to LOVE each other better.
In fact, this is the next key we find in Philippians for becoming a joy-FULL person:
2. Cultivate agape love toward people. (Phil. 1:9-11)
What is agape love? In the Greek language there are 5 main words that are all translated “love” in English, but they all have their own distinct meaning.
The word “agape” is used to describe the kind of love that God has for us. The love that Jesus demonstrated to us when he laid down his life for us. It is the type of love that Paul describes in 1 Cor 13 when he says “agape” is patient, “agape” is kind, and all the way through that list.
Paul says his deepest desire for them, his constant prayer, is that they will learn more about how to show agape love for each other. He wants them to become experts in their love.
He prays that their love might be guided by an ever-increasing knowledge and depth of insight, and that they would have discernment to know what is best.
Why is this important? Because love is hard work.
Let’s take a quick look at 1 Cor. 13:4-8:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
4[Agape] is patient, [agape] is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6[Agape] does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8[Agape] never fails.
Learning to live out such love for other people is hard work. It takes a lifetime to develop. It is a type of love that flows from God to us, and only through God’s power can we show it to others.
It is this type of love that Paul had for the believers in Philippi, and which he prays fervently that they would develop for each other.
And this is my prayer for this church as well. Just as the Apostle Paul prayed for the Philippians, I pray for you to grow in your love for one another. I pray that each of us will experience in an ever-increasing way the love, acceptance, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ as it is lived out through our relationships with each other.
Then, as they begin to love each other in the ways God loves them, Paul prays that they won’t just stop there, but that they will be filled with discernment to know what is best – and that they might be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
When he prays that they will be “pure and blameless” the words he uses literally mean “not stumbled against” – like a path that is clear of stumbling stones.
Friends – do you realize that your life is either a smooth path for others to find the love of God, or it is something that causes stumbling? Your life either points people to the love of God for them, or it puts up confusion and stumbling blocks that keep them from finding the Lord.
That’s why it’s so important that we have the discernment, which the Spirit brings to our lives. You’ve got choices to make in your life about whether you will obey the word of God or not. You are given choices every day about whether you will demonstrate your love for God and your love for others – or whether you will live for yourself.
I pray that every person who is a part of our church would begin to see the JOY that comes from following God’s word in his or her lives.
Because when we begin really cultivating love toward one another, and then living lives that are pure and blameless before God, not causing people to stumble in their search for God – then our lives will be “filled with the fruit of righteousness”. And that’s what it’s all about.
God wants your life to be filled with fruit – he wants to use you to bring other people into the kingdom and the joy of life with him. And he will use you – if you let Him!
CONCLUSION:
We’ve been reminded of two keys to becoming joy-FULL people in our lives today.
1. Be thankful for what God has accomplished, and be confident of God’s ability to accomplish his work.
2. Cultivate agape love toward people.
Which of these two keys to becoming a joy-FULL person do you need to apply in your life?
1. Have you been falling into an ungrateful type of life, always focusing on what you DON’T have? Have you begun doubting God’s ability to finish the work he has started in you? Maybe you need to go home and begin writing a list of all the blessings and work God has done in your life. Maybe there is a situation in your life or a person that you’re just worried about – maybe you need to just start praying with joy for all that God has done in that situation and tell God you’re sure He knows what He’s doing!
On the other hand, maybe you need to commit to doing something this week toward cultivating agape love toward someone. You need to spend some time with someone. You need to get involved in a small group.
Perhaps you need to make some sort of change in your life – God has given you discernment to know what is best – and you need to make a change of some sort to be pure and blameless.
WHATEVER God is calling you to, remember this. I’m cheering you on. I’m praying for you. God is on your side. He wants so badly to work in and through you if only you’ll give him permission.
Just like the Apostle Paul, you can know true joy in your life – no matter the circumstances. Just keep your focus on him, and start loving people! Then watch the fruit start growing in your life!
