Restoring the Joy
Study of Philippians
Sermon # 1
“Restoring the Joy”
Philippians 1:1-11
As I thought and prayed about what I should preach on for the next few weeks, I had to ask myself, “What is that we as a group of people really need?” The conclusion that I came to was that we need our joy restored. We need what King David prayed so long ago when he said, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Psalm 51:12). I think that most of you realize that once we are saved we cannot lose our salvation, but as is so apparent to most of us, you can certainly lose the joy of your salvation!
The missing ingredient in many of our lives is joy. We live in a world of long faces sad heavy hearts. We don’t even see joy in the lives of the people who should exhibit it the most, Christians. In fact if there is anywhere that it seems conspicuous by its absence it is the Church.
Any Christian that is feeling down or discouraged about anything should study Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Sixteen times in four brief chapters Paul speaks of inner joy. There is so much bickering in Christian circles, so much complaining, so much unhappiness. This was never the way it was intended to be! Christians were meant to be filled with love and joy and peace – so I hope you will join with me as we seek to restore the joy!
Now you need to remember that when Paul penned this letter he had already been kept imprisoned for two years at Caesarea, without trial, and now he has been held of an unknown amount of time in Caesar’ s jail in Rome. He had survived a disastrous shipwreck while being transported to Rome. He has been deserted by most of his friends. Other Christian leaders are using Paul’s circumstances to advance themselves. He is facing possible execution at any time. It does not sound like a situation that would lend itself to the writing of a cheerful letter does it? Yet there is no book of the Bible that speaks more of joy than Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
I. PAUL GREETS THEM IN JOY (1-2)
“Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: (2) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul greets the believers at Philippi not as any way superior but as a fellow “servant of the Lord.” And He addressed his remarks to all the “saints” at Philippi. ‘Saints” here is not the designation of some super believer, it is not mean they were without sin. It is a description of every true believer.
II. PAUL OFFERS JOYFUL THANKS FOR THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN HIS LIFE
(vv. 3-8)
What was it about the people of Philippi that allowed Paul to be joyful?
First, He was thankful that He Had Happy Memories Of The People. (vv. 3-5)
“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, (4) always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, (5) for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now”
Paul says that he has happy memories of his time with this church. Does that mean that there were no sad times, no times of difficulty? Of course not!
When Paul speaks of the “fellowship” of the church at Philippi he meant more than just a sense of comradery. When used in the Bible this word means to be caught up into a communion created by God.
Think for a moment about the make-up of the church at Philippi, like most church of our day, it was made up of people who outside of the church had little in common. The church at Philippi was seemed to largely a Gentile church, because all of the names associated with it are Gentile names. There was the local jailor and his family (Acts 16:25-34), a slave girl who had been delivered from demon possession (Acts 16:16-18) and a business woman named Lydia (Acts 16:14-15). Apparently there was little to bind them together by worldly standards, but they had one important thing in common, their love for the Lord and involvement in His church.
In Paul’s day the world was filled with barriers that separated people, just as it is today, barriers of race, wealth, education and culture. But within the fellowship of the gospel none of these things mattered, they simply loved one another and the world marveled at this.
Secondly He was thankful because He Had
A Unshakeable Confidence In God (v. 6)
“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
Notice with me in verse six the words, “begun” and “complete.” The One who started (begun) a good work in your life will complete it. In fact the word translated complete was the same word that Jesus’ last statement from the cross. Do you remember what he said? In most translations it is rendered as, “It is finished” (John 19:20). But in the original Greek it is only one word Tetelestai and it means “it is finished, or it completed.” Philippians 1:6 is one of the greatest verses in the Bible (along with Romans 8:38-39, and John 10:27-28) that teach the doctrine of “perseverance of the saints” or “once saved always saved” – the doctrine that no one who has ever been truly saved can ever be lost again. It is God
who originates it, it is God who carries out the His work in us, It is God who will complete it. Our hope does not rest in anything we have or will do, but in the fact that Christ lives in us and through us.
Humans as a whole have a problem with
Perseverance; we start things but we never see them to completion. How many project have we envisioned and begun with great enthusiasm, but eventually our enthusiasm dies and the project grinds to a halt. But Paul’s confidence is rooted in the character of God and suffers from no such deficiency.
As Charles Swindoll says, “ joy is a choice it is a matter of attitude that stems form one’s confidence in God – that He is at work, that He is in full control, that He is in the midst of whatever has happened, is happening or will happen.”
[Charles Swindoll. Laugh Again. (Dallas: Word, 1991) p. 34]
But here is an application for you, just as Paul witnessed how God had laid a foundation in others so can you. If you know people in whom God has laid a foundation, tell them so; if you have seen God’s hand clearly at work in their lives then tell them so. That would be a great word of encouragement to them.
Third, He Held A Warm Affection For His
Fellow Believers. (vv. 7-8)
“just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. (8) For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.”
Paul carried all these people in his heart.
He says of them “you are all partakers with me” (v. 7) – just as they are partakers of the same grace, they are also all participants in the same ministry.
One of the benefits of being a pastor for a long time in the same place is the opportunity to be participants with a group of people in the ministry. It is a joy to be able as Paul did, to see the results of an ongoing partnership within this church.
The question that each of us must ask ourselves is, “Whether we are a participant in what God is doing here or just a spectator?”
III. PAUL PRAYS FOR THEM. (vv. 9-11)
Notice what Paul prays for in their lives.
First, He Prays That Their Love Will Grow (v.9) “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more…” He first prays that their love may abound, that is that may be in excess or that it will overflow.
Secondly, He Prays That They Will Grow In Discernment (v. 9b-10a) “… in knowledge and all discernment, (10) that you may approve the things that are excellent…”
Having prayed that their love will overflow he prays that it will be channeled by knowledge, understanding and discernment. One distinction needs to be drawn here, discernment is more than just the ability to discern between right and wrong, it is also the ability to discern between what is better and best. The ability to “approve the things that are excellent” this is further amplified in Philippians 4:8, “Brethren, whatever things are noble, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of a good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – mediate on these things.”
Third, He Prays That Their Characters Will Mature – (v. 10b) “… that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ…”
He prays that their wisdom will result in character and he wants their character to be “sincere” literally “without wax” - pottery of that day was tested by being held to the sunlight, in so doing any imperfections and attempts to hide with wax would be revealed. So to our lives when held up to the light of the Son of God are revealed. Paul wants the church to live life’s that will pass the test of scrutiny.
He also wants their character to be “without offense.” This of course has two applications; not taking offense lightly, not being easily offended and not giving offense, not causing others to stumble. That they will not be stumbling blocks to others
Finally, He Prays That They Will Live Fruitful Lives. (v.11) “… being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
The use here of “being filled” is in the perfect tense which means “having been filled with their fullness abiding still.” We have been saved for a reason. God has not saved us merely for us to go to Heaven, otherwise when were saved he would have just taken us on home. We were saved for a purpose and this is stated in a wonderful way in Ephesians 2:10. Most of us know the two verse that precede verse ten which say, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.” But we are not as familiar with verse ten which says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” These verses tell three important things; we are saved by grace, God has a plan for our lives and good works are a part of this plan.
If we are going to “Restore the Joy” in our lives we are going to have to watch out for those things that steal our joy. One of great demoralizing things in life is fear of the past that steals the joy of the present.
Helen Mallicot wrote,
“I was regretting the past
And fearing the future
Suddenly my Lord was speaking;
“MY NAME IS I AM.” He paused,
I waited. He continued.
“WHEN YOU LIVE IN THE PAST
WITH ITS MISTAKES AND REGRETS,
IT IS HARD. I AM NOT THERE.
MY NAME IS NOT I WAS.
“WHEN YOU LIVE IN THE FUTURE
WITH ITS PROBLEMS AND FEARS,
IT IS HARD. I AM NOT THERE.
MY NAME IS NOT I WILL BE.
“WHEN YOU LIVE IN THIS MOMENT
IT IS NOT HARD
I AM HERE.
MY NAME IS I AM!”
[As quoted by Charles Swindoll. Laugh Again. (Dallas: Word, 1991) p. 26]
