Rejoice
1 Samuel 17:44, Genesis 3:23, Romans 8:5, Galatians 5:16-17, Phillipains 3:1 Leviticus 23:40
Deuteronomy 16:11, 1 Chronicles 16:10 Psalms 9:2, 32:11, 68:4, 97:12, 2:1, 31:7, 33:21,35:9,
Psalms 40:16, Luke 10:20, Psalms 64:10, Isaiah 25:9, Phillipians 4:4 - 7, Romans 5:1-11
Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:17
May 10, 2004
I. I want to look at some things in the third chapter of the book of Philippians, but first I want to do a quick overview of what has gone on in the first two chapters.
A. In chapter 1 Paul encouraged the Philippians to go on living the Christian life. In other words to continue doing the things that God had laid out in his word that Christians were supposed to do.
B. In chapter 2 Paul used Timothy, Epaphroditus, and himself as examples of how to please God.
C. Then in chapter three Paul started to talk about something else. The thing that he talks about in chapter three is something that Christians still have a problem with today.
D. Thousands of years have not changed one of the greatest dangers to Christians. Paul lays out for the Christians in Phillipi that we are to have no confidence in the flesh.
E. The word flesh in the bible can mean a lot of different things.
1. It can mean the skin or the meat of animals.
2. It can be used to describe the human body.
3. A person can still be referred to as flesh even after they are dead.
(1 Sam 17:44 NIV) "Come here," he said, "and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
4. The King James version of the bible uses the term "all flesh" to describe humanity as a whole. The NIV says the same thing with the words "all people."
5. The word flesh can also be used to describe a relationship. (Gen 2:23 NIV) The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ’woman, ’ for she was taken out of man."
F. And, many times the bible uses the word flesh to describe the basic weaknesses of the human nature. The word flesh is used to describe human beings tendency toward self-centeredness, and weakness and sin.
1. The spirit of God lives in us when we are Christians, but there is a sinful nature that is apart of being human, and the bible talks about that in terms of the flesh or our human weaknesses to decide, that what we want is best, or what looks easiest, or what we think will bring the most pleasure to us.
2. Romans chapter 8 verse 5 gives us a good description of that. (Rom 8:5 NIV) Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
(Gal 5:16 - 17 NIV) So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
3. The Greek word that was translated in the NIV as sinful nature was "sarx" which literally means flesh, or our humaness.
G. That is the thing that Paul is talking about in the third chapter of Phillipians. And, he tells us that we are not to put any confidence in the flesh. What he is saying is we are not to trust our own human desires as gauge for what is right, because our human desires are many times in conflict with the leadership of the Spirit.
II. Paul starts out his description of why we are not to rely on our own desires as a guide for what is right in a different way than we might think.
(Phil 3:1 NIV) Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
A. Paul begins this passage about not putting confidence in the flesh by telling the Phillipians, and us, to rejoice in the Lord.
B. That is a good place to start. So many times we look for our joy in life in what we have, or what we can do, or in our own abilities to make life the way that we want it to be, when all the time real joy only comes from our faith in and relationship with God.
C. When our confidence is in ourselves and our ability to make life always be the way that we want it to be, we set ourselves up for a life of no Joy.
D. The world that we live in is too unpredictable and uncontrollable for us to let our joy in life be controlled by circumstances.
E. That’s why Paul tells us to rejoice IN the Lord. He is cautioning us about what we fixate on in life. Because what the we focus on will determine what our life is like.
F. There is a story about a man had fixation for the power of ‘CRAZY GLUE’:
While visiting the Eagle’s Rock African Safari Zoo with a group from St. Petersburg, Russia, a man named Demuth tried to demonstrate one of America’s many marvels. Demuth wanted to show the effectiveness of "Crazy Glue" ... the hard way. Apparently, Demuth put about 3 ounces of the adhesive in the palms of his hands, and jokingly placed his hands on the buttocks of a passing rhino. The rhino, named Sally, had been a resident of the zoo for many years. She was not startled at first because she had been part of the petting exhibit since she was a baby.
However once she tired of the petting, Sally began to panic and run around the pen taking Demuth with her. During Sally’s tirade two fences were destroyed, a shed wall was gored, and a number of small animals escaped. Also, during the stampede, three pygmy goats and one duck were stomped to death.
Sally was finally captured and restrained. But, to complicate matters further, Sally had not been feeling well lately. Actually, she had been very constipated. The veterinarian had just given her a laxative and some depressants to relax her bowels. James Douglas, zoo caretaker said, "With all the excitement, the laxatives started to take effect and Demuth was repeatedly showered with rhino diarrhoea. I guess you could say that Demuth was up to his neck. Once Sally was under control, we were able to tranquilize her and three care takers, with the help of shovels were able to keep an air passageopen for Mr. Demuth. It took a team of medics and zoo caretakers over four hours to apply solvent and remove Demuth’s hands from the rhino’s buttocks. "It was a tricky operation. We had to work and shield our faces from being pelted with rhino dung, said Douglass. "I don’t think he’ll be playing with Crazy Glue for a while." Vladimir Aolnikov, leader of the Russian troupe, said they were amused by the demonstration and impressed with the power of Crazy Glue.)
G. What Paul is warning us about is the importance of being careful with what we fix our thoughts on, and what we consider our source of power to be.
1. That’s why he tells us to rejoice in the Lord. He is telling us to rest satisfied in God and the future hope of that we have in Him and not to put our hope in the things around us that are so temporary. But, to find our joy in God who is eternal.
2. Paul is telling us to have joy in our life not because things are going well, not because we have been able to accomplish what we want to accomplish, not because we have the things that we want to have, not because we have been able to control our circumstances the way we wanted to, but because we have a relationship with God, and it is eternal.
3. Joy is a supernatural delight in God and God’s goodness. And it is a very different thing from happiness… Happiness is circumstantial, but not joy.
4. Joy is delight a in God, or gladness, and it is meant to come out of a Christian because God lives inside them and not to come into a Christian because of positive circumstances in life.
5. During an earthquake, the inhabitants of a small village were very much alarmed, but they were at the same time surprised at the calmness and apparent joy of an old woman they all knew. One of them, asked the old woman, "Mother, are you not afraid?""No," said the woman, "I rejoice to know that I have a God who can shake the world."
H. Christians need to hear this, because it is easy for us to let circumstances discourage us. But, the cure for discouragement for a Christian is to focus our attention on God and rejoice in Him.
1. We are to rejoice because ultimately God is in control.
2. We are to rejoice, because we know that God loves us beyond what we can even imagine.
3. We are to rejoice because we know that by what Jesus did on the cross we can never be separated from God.
4. We are to rejoice because we are going to a better place, where there are no circumstances like what we face in this world.
5. We are to rejoice because we have been freed from the bondage of circumstances.
I. When Paul wrote this letter to the Phillipians he was in prison in Rome, chained to two Roman soldiers, and he was waiting for the time that would come soon for him to die.
1. It would seem that the Phillipians should be encouraging him, but instead Paul was encouraging them, and it was because his hope was in the Lord and not in the circumstances that were around him.
2. And, that is another reason that we are to rejoice in the Lord, because it is something that other people see in Christians that attracts them to knowing God.
III. There are so many times that we are told to rejoice that I can’t begin to cover them all, but the one thing that is a definite is that Christians are a people that are suppose to rejoice.
A. That is a big part of what we are to do when we come here to worship, we are to rejoice in God in worship, we are to charge our spiritual batteries, so we can rejoice through the week.
(Lev 23:40 NIV) On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before the LORD your God ...
(Deu 16:11 NIV) And rejoice before the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name--you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, the Levites in your towns, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you.
(1 Chr 16:10 NIV) Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice
(Psa 9:2 NIV) I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High
(Psa 32:11 NIV) Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Psa 68:4 NIV) Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds -- his name is the LORD-- and rejoice before him.
(Psa 97:12 NIV) Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name
B. When we worship were are to rejoice in our God and praise His name to let Him know how much we love and appreciate Him, but also to remind ourselves and each other that we are loved by Him, that we are care for by Him, that we are the object of God’s affection, and that we have an eternal assurance that if we have accepted Jesus as the only way that we can be right with God, that we have an eternal security and in spite of the circumstance of this world we are going to a better place where there are no circumstances.
C. John Huss wrote " Rejoice, that the immortal God is born, so that mortal man may live in eternity."
D. We are told in the bible that there are definite times that we are to rejoice, and definite things that we are to rejoice in.
1. We are to rejoice in our service to the Lord.
(Psa 2:11 NIV) Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.
2. That also shows that we are to have reverence for God in worship, and that during the time that we are here to worship we are to show God respect.
3. We are to rejoice, because in any circumstance that we face we know that God is as much aware of and concerned about our circumstance as we are.
(Psa 31:7 NIV) I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
4. When you are dealing with problems in your life God, the creator of the universe is aware of your afflictions. He knows your anguish, and He is more concerned about you pain than you are.
5. How many of you who are parents aren’t more hurt most of the time by what your children are going through than they are? God is our heavenly father, and he is the same way.
6. We are to rejoice, because we know that we can trust the one who gave his son for us.
(Psa 33:21 NIV) In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
7. We are to rejoice because we know that we have a salvation in Jesus that will never go away.
(Psa 35:9 NIV) Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.
(Psa 40:16 NIV) But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The LORD be exalted!"
(Luke 10:20 NIV) However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
8. We are to rejoice, because we know that no matter what else is happening that God is our refuge.
(Psa 64:10 NIV) Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him; let all the upright in heart praise him!
(Isa 25:9 NIV) In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."
9. We are to rejoice in all things because in rejoicing we show people that there is something different about Christians.
(Phil 4:4 - 7 NIV) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
E. That peace that goes beyond all understanding in our lives, that guards our hearts and our minds, and makes us able to rejoice when others can’t see any reason that we could be rejoicing is something that will let others know that God is real in our lives.
F. And above and beyond all else that peace comes from knowing that we are right with God gives us reason to rejoice in all circumstances.
(Rom 5:1-11 NIV) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
G. You who are Christians have been reconciled to God. Rejoice! Rejoice in all situations because God loves you, and you cannot be separated from God and you will spend eternity in God’s presence.
(Rom 8:18 NIV) I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
(2 Cor 4:17 NIV) For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
H. So rejoice! Rejoice that your name is written in heaven. Rejoice that you are reconciled to, justified and forgiven by, forever made right with, and connected to God the creator of the universe. Simply because He loves you that much.
I. And, if you are not a Christian, then don’t wait another day to find your reason to rejoice and begin reaping the benefits of the love of God.
J. Get it done today.
