Sermon Series: “Help, I Can’t Find My Joy!”
(A Study of Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians)
Sermon #4 “You can have Joy in Godly Living”
Series Text: Philippians 4:4
INTRODUCTION: Welcome to our final study through Paul’s letter to the Church at Philippi.
We have seen that JOY is the overwhelming attitude displayed in this epistle.
We learned in chapter #1 how we can have joy in suffering as long as we remember that:
(1) God’s in control
(2) His plan is being worked out
(3) He isn’t finished yet!
We learned in chapter #2 how we can have joy in service by:
(1) Humbling ourselves as Christ did
(2) Staying the course as Timothy did
(3) Offering God our lives as Epaphroditus did
We learned in chapter #3 how we can have joy in believing because:
(4) Faith protects us from those who would steal our joy (false teachers)
(5) Faith reminds us of what confirms our joy (Christ’s sacrifice)
(6) Faith looks forward to the reason for our joy (Eternity with God)
***This week we see Paul beginning to wrap-up his letter to the members of the Philippian church, and he is encouraging them in their Christian walk.
This portion is the most practical in the entire book, as it really hits on subjects we all deal with in the Church today.
The idea he is expounding on is how to be Christ-like.
He teaches them that “godly living” requires us to:
I. Avoid Petty arguments (v.2-3)
a. Paul’s letter does not contain any rebukes over doctrinal errors in the Philippian church…But he does address some relational problems
b. Euodia and Syntyche were two women who were having some type of dispute within the church
i. We are not told what the dispute was over
ii. The very fact that he knows about it shows that it is a little more than just a silly disagreement
1. It is possible that the two women had started factions in the church
2. One had coerced a group into her corner, while the other did the same
3. Paul saw the potential that the two women of influence had and feared that the church may split over their dispute
c. This is typical of any ministry of any age
i. Paul was not dealing with a unique situation here
ii. Every pastor has, at one time or another, had to try to resolve differences between two opposing people or groups
iii. And the sad thing is that these are mostly petty arguments
iv. Illustration: “Most wouldn’t argue” I would venture to guess that not many in the church would stand up and voice their strong opinion about serious doctrinal error BUT many would fuss if we had a meeting to change the color of the carpets in the sanctuary!
1. Whole denominations have been formed by what type of music is played in the sanctuary
2. Instead of praying for unity in the Church, we often seek ways to band together and split up and it is almost never for a good reason!
d. Paul could foresee the danger in allowing the dispute between Euodia and Syntyche to go unchecked
i. So he encouraged them “to be of the same mind in the Lord”
ii. Notice he doesn’t say “be of the same mind about your disagreement”
1. And why not? Because they were obviously arguing over something that didn’t matter!
2. As long as they were of “the same mind concerning Jesus” they should be able to “disagree agreeably” about the things they differed on.
a. NOTE: This is where I should note that there are times to stand up and not agree (as our church did many years ago when we brok our denomination ties with the DOC) Concerning Jesus, we should all be of the same mind. If someone is teaching doctrinal error, which means they are NOT of the same mind concerning Jesus, we are not called to just “put up with it”.
b. We are called to acknowledge false teaching, separate ourselves from it, and beware of it.
iii. But in cases where we are dealing with petty squabbles, as Paul was dealing with here, we should be able to say, “We may not agree on the color of the carpet, or the type of music, or the size of the steeple…but as long as we agree on Jesus, we have a common ground to stand on – and we can disagree agreeably, without factions, splits and back-biting.
iv. Quote: “Godly living requires that we treat others in a godly way”
I. Avoid Petty arguments (v.2-3)
II. Focus on Holy things (v.4-9)
i. Paul encourages his readers to:
ii. (1) Avoid Worry
1. v.6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;”
2. Anxiety is the #1 problem facing American’s today
1. 43% of all adults suffer adverse health effects due to stress.
2. 75–90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints or disorders.
3. Stress has been linked to all the leading causes of death, including heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis, and suicide.
4. 40% of all worker turnover is due to job stress.
5. Illustration: “Gadgets and Gurus” The American Booksellers Association estimates that more than two thousand self-help titles are published each year, and produce sales of about $500 million. Besides books there are Cassette tapes reproducing the sounds of forests, oceans, birds, and rainfall. Yoga, eastern exercises, and meditation are practiced universally, just to escape the effects of stress. Gadget companies are also cashing in, with sound-therapy devices, vibrating chairs and beds, massage machines, special lights, pseudo-aquariums, and an assortment of balls, beads, and body-rollers.
3. And this is not just in the world – but in the church as well
1. Statistically people who claim to be Christians are just as likely to have stress related problems as those who do not claim to be Christians
2. The vast majority of men who enter the ministry end up leaving for positions in the secular world because of stress
4. I don’t want to go into a long dissertation on “worry” as it is a long and powerful subject that would require a series, rather than a blurb
1. QUOTE: But I do want to let you know what worry is: “Lack of trust”
2. That is not an insult to anyone, it is just the truth
3. I have to deal with it and so do you
5. God gives us great promises in His Word that deal with stress, anxiety and worry…go and read these verses with me:
1. Matthew 6:25, 26 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
2. I Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
6. QUOTE: Worry, for the Christian, is knowing that God has promised to take care of us and not trusting in His promise
iii. (2) Seek Purity (v.8)
1. Paul uses eight adjectives to describe what we should be focused on rather than worry…things that are:
2. Pure / Right / True / Lovely / Honorable / Of Good repute / Excellent / Worthy of praise
a. He said we are to “dwell” on these things
b. The word dwell means to “think on”
3. Why? Because these are “holy things”
4. QUOTE: “Godly living requires we focus on holy things!”
a. Avoid Petty arguments (v.2-3)
b. Focus on Holy things (v.4-9)
III. Be content in your circumstances (v.10-13)
i. v.10-12 “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”
ii. There are some people who can’t find contentment anywhere, and there are those who find it wherever they are
1. The Apostle Paul was one of these people
2. He had learned to be happy wherever he was in life
a. Full or hungry…he was content
b. Suffering or abounding…he could deal with it
c. In prison or in church…he had his joy
iii. We have a major problem with contentment in our world today
1. Everyone is always on the lookout for the B.B.D. (Bigger, better, deal)
2. Illustration: “Job Hopping” This is why we don’t see people spending 30 years with the same company anymore like we did only a few generations ago.
a. Used to a person would begin with a company after high school or college and would retire from that same company.
b. Now everyone is searching for something MORE!
3. There are books out there that tell you that you shouldn’t be content
4. Even Christian authors have started teaching people that they should be striving for their “best life” rather than being content with the life God has given them
iv. I am not saying that we shouldn’t try to better ourselves…but I am saying that we shouldn’t make bettering ourselves what makes us content
1. QUOTE: “I’m convinced that if you have to move even ten inches from where you are now in order to be [content], you never will be.” —Tim Hansel
2. The truth is… If you can’t be content with what God has given you now, you won’t content if he gives you more
3. QUOTE: “What a foolish thing is this, that because I have not got what I want, I will not enjoy the comfort of what I have! There is a great deal of folly in a discontented heart.”—Jeremiah Burroughs, Puritan preacher
v. NOTE: Discontentment is a problem that has come as a result of our “throw away” culture
1. Our attitude is: “If I don’t like something, so what…I’ll throw it away and get something else”
2. How many of us (and I am not exempt) go to the store shopping, when we really don’t NEED anything?
3. Little babies learn to not be content…if they don’t like their food, we throw it away and get a different kind
4. Children as they grow up experience the same problem…if they don’t like the toy they begged for, after 10 minutes of playing with it, they demand something new
5. We live in a culture of discontent!
vi. But Paul teaches here that real joy comes from learning to be content wherever your are
vii. Quote: “Godly living requires we be content with whatever God has given us”
CONCLUSION: This passage on godly living goes on to encompass how we ought to help those who are burdened and be a blessing to them, and then Paul gives his closing remarks (v.4:14-23)
But I want to conclude this series with one of his most familiar verses:
v.13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
o I can’t “Avoid Petty arguments” on my own…but I can through Christ who strengthens me!
o I can’t “Focus on Holy things” on my own… but I can through Christ who strengthens me!
o I can’t “Be content in any circumstance” on my own… but I can through Christ who strengthens me!
There is a joy that is found in living the way God wants us to…Petty arguments , worry and discontentment rob us of that joy
As we have seen in the past few weeks of study, the concept of Christian joy lies in our relationship with Jesus Christ
You will remember I said in the beginning: “Happiness depends on happenings, but joy depends on Christ”
I would like to end this series with an excerpt from a sermon by Vance Havner:
“The Church suffers today from a saddening lack of old-fashioned, simple-hearted, overflowing, Christian joy. We have plenty of knowledge, plenty of enthusiasm and denominational zeal, but Christians and churches that started out in revival fires are living in the smoke.
When one recalls that we are to rejoice in the Lord always—and then looks in on the average Sunday congregation, he realizes that something has happened to us since Pentacost.
Although the New Testament centers on the cross … its note from beginning to end is one of triumphant joy.
It begins with an angel chorus and ends with rejoicing around the throne.
Today the same church member who yells like a Comanche Indian at a football game sits like a wooden Indian in the house of God on Sunday.”
QUOTE: I encourage all of you who are in Christ to seek that “good old fashioned, simple-hearted, overflowing Christian joy” and make it part of who you are, so that when the world sees you, they won’t see you alone…but the joy of Christ shining through you.
