YouTube video sermon
Philippians 1:3-8
As always, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Philippians 1. As you find your spot, let me ask you a question: What brings you joy? Notice that I didn’t say “happiness.” There is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is often dependent upon circumstances. I am happy when my work is done, and I have some free time. But the work eventually comes back, and thus my happiness fades. You can be happy when money is in the bank, and the bills are paid. But when things get tight, and the money dries up, happiness leaves, and stress invades. We are often happy when we receive a gift, but the newness and the novelty of the gift wear off and the happiness subsides. Joy is different. Joy is more robust. Joy is deeper. Joy is stronger. What brings you joy?
The church in Philippi brought Paul much joy. In fact, of the 13 books in the New Testament that Paul wrote, 9 of which were written to churches, this is his most joyful. Not only is it his most joyful letter, but he doesn’t have to correct any bad teaching, he doesn’t have to rebuke any bad behavior, and he doesn’t have to address any bad situation. It is a totally positive letter. And I began to ask why? Why is it so positive. Well, of course, if you don’t have to do any of those other things, then it’s a reason for joy. But I also believe it is because the church members (themselves) were joyful.
Over the course of four brief chapters, the words “joy,” “rejoice” and “gladness” appear 19 times, and you begin to get the idea that this is what a church ought to look like. Churches ought to be marked by joy – both to the people on the inside (those that attend it) and to the people on the outside (those that don’t attend it). Now, don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I am not suggesting that we won’t face discouragement and disappointment and even difficulty. But are we a people who know what it truly means to be joyful?
Cyprian of Carthage was an early 3rd century church leader and he wrote this to his friend Donatus:
This seems a cheerful world, Donatus, when I view it from this fair garden under the shadow of these vines. But if I climbed some great mountain and looked out over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see; thieves on the high road, pirates on the seas, in the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds, under all roofs misery and selfishness. It really is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. Yet, in the midst of it, I have found a quiet and holy people. They have discovered a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of this sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. . . . These people, Donatus, are the Christians, and I am one of them. (Christensen, Heroes and Saints, 18)
My question to each of us this morning is: Are you one of them? Are you a person who finds his/her joy in knowing Jesus and being known by Jesus? Follow along with me as we read Philippians 1:3-8,
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
“Once again, our Father, help us as we give consideration to Your holy Word that we may truly understand; that, understanding, we may believe and in believing, we may follow in all faithfulness and obedience, seeking your honor and glory in all that we do; through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
I know the acronym is cheesy, but it’s helpful. The secret to joy is in keeping things in this order: “Jesus, Others, Yourself.” J-O-Y. As you scan through this letter (which, incidentally, only takes about 15-20 minutes to read from start to finish), you will see that Paul is all about Jesus, and his mind is filled with concern for the Philippians. For example, when contemplating the glory of death, he says, “I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith” (1:25; emphasis added). Paul doesn’t pretend he has no real needs, but the glory of Jesus and the needs of others occupy his heart and mind. He lives out his own exhortation to “consider others as more important than yourselves” (2:3). And because this was the pattern of Paul’s life, he was truly happy, even though he was shackled to a Roman guard!
You are familiar, I’m sure, with the play on words “No Jesus? No joy. Know Jesus. Know joy.” It is true. If you find yourself always focused on your stuff, your problems, and your calendar, then you will lack joy. Even pastors, missionaries, and ministers can misplace their cause for joy. We can turn inward too.
When Jesus sent out the 70 missionaries, they came back “with joy” saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us” (Luke 10:17). But Jesus rebuked them and said, “Don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (10:20). In other words, don’t derive your joy from your performance, your popularity, your gifting, or your accolades; rejoice in the fact that you have a relationship with God through Christ. Focus on Jesus and others, and you will maintain joy. And there are three things about the church in Philippi that I want to be true about the church at Mountain Hill.
Grateful When The Community Thinks About Us
Look at verse 3. The New International Version translates it this way, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” As a pastor, that is mind-boggling. I mean, come on. If am I honest, most of my interactions and memories of folks at Mountain Hill have been good and I can honestly say that I am thankful for most of the people that God has given me the privilege to pastor. But hey, I would be lying if I said that every memory is a good memory. Now, to be fair, I am sure that I could fill this room with people that were not too thrilled that I was their pastor. So, hey, I get it. This goes both ways. And frankly, I am certain that the way I remember some people is not the way they would remember me, and vice versa. You can have the same experience, but two different memories. Let me give you an illustration from Friday night. Some of us were celebrating Janet Fuller’s birthday and this came up in conversation.
I was standing with Janet and Kitty in the kitchen and they were talking. Janet said to Kitty, “Hey, I had a beautiful evening the other night. It was fantastic. How was yours?”
Kitty responded, “It was a disaster. Paul came home, ate his dinner in about 3 minutes and then went to bed. But I want to hear about your wonderful night.”
Janet said, “Oh, it was amazing. Steve came home and took me out for a romantic dinner downtown. Afterwards, we took a long walk down main street and along the river, and when we got back to the condo, he lit candles all around. It was a fairytale.”
Well, it just so happened that I left that conversation and walked into the living room and overheard Paul and Steve talking about the very same thing.
Steve said, “Hey Paul, how was your evening last night?”
Paul said, “It was great. I came home from golf. Kitty had dinner on the table. I ate, went to sleep, and woke up feeling wonderful. How about you and Janet?”
Steve said, “Oh, man, it was a disaster.”
Paul said, “What happened?”
Steve said, “When I came home from playing golf with you and the guys, there was no dinner on the table. They cut the electricity because when Chip moved out of the condo to his new house, we forgot to pay the bill. So, I had to take Janet out to dinner, which was so expensive that I didn’t have enough money for the Uber to get back to the condo. We had to walk home, which took an hour, and when we got back to the condo, I remembered there was no electricity and I had to light candles all over the house.”
So, you see, you can have the same experience, but you can remember it two different ways. And it is very rare that anybody has great memories about everybody all the time. And yet, the Apostle Paul makes this incredible statement, “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God” (NLT). You put a smile on my face. You put joy in my heart. You put a bounce in my step. And that’s what I want people to say about our church – those who attend our church and those who don’t, those who know about our church and those who simply hear about our church.
I want to be the kind of church that – if we said “You know what, we’re just going to shut everything down. We’re going to sell this property. We’re going to go our separate ways” – that the entire community would mourn. I want people to say, “You can’t do that. We need you. We love you. You’re giving too much. We’re thankful for your ministry to the needy, your ministry to the hungry, your ministry to the community, your ministry to the schools, your ministry to prisoners, your ministry to the nations.” That’s what I want people to think about us. I want them to be grateful, and that only happens if we’re joyful.
Joyful When The Community Talks About Us
Look at verse 4, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy” (NIV). I can’t say that. I am just being honest. There have been times in my ministry where I’ve prayed, “Lord, it’s okay if that family leaves and goes somewhere else. No hard feelings.” But not Paul. Every time Paul prayed for this church, and every time he talked about this church, he radiated joy. By the way, remember that when Paul is writing this he is chained to a Roman guard or sitting in a Roman prison cell. There were not a lot of bright sunshiny days for Paul. But every time that Paul thought about THIS church, and every time that Paul thought about THIS people, his day was filled with beautiful rays of sunshine.
But that raises another question: what was it (specifically) about this church that brought such joy to Paul’s life? Well, it’s not hard to find. This church did ONE thing and it would make anyone who knew anything about this church to be joyful when they talked about this church. The answer is in verse 5, “because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”
Now hang with me. The Greek word that is translated as “partnership” is a word that is normally translated as “fellowship,” but when we think about fellowship, we imagine meeting someone for a cup of coffee, or going hunting, or fishing, or playing golf, or taking a spa day – something like that. But in the 1st century, the term “fellowship” was a financial term, and it was related to commerce and business. Let me give you an illustration.
If two people decide they are going to go into business together – and let’s say they are going to be equal partners – once they decide they are going into business we don’t call it a fellowship, what do we call it? (A partnership.) Here’s the deal. This church knew that they had entered into a partnership. “Paul, we’ve entered into a partnership with you. We’ve entered into a partnership with one another. Lord, we’ve entered into a partnership with You.” And now we have to do two things: 1.) we have to give to the work of the gospel, and 2.) we have to work to spread the gospel.
Listen, the language that we use around our churches is a bit misleading. Every church does it. It’s natural. Some churches refer to folks as “attenders” or “visitors” or “guests,” and then there are “members.” But if you and I could read between the lines of Scripture, it would really be better if we saw ourselves as “partners.” Partners are fully invested. Partners “buy in” to the ministry. Partners put their time, talent, and treasure on the line. If you are a Christian, then when you leave in just a few moments and you go about the rest of your business and this coming week, whether you know it or not, you are a ministry partner of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are advertising agents (in a sense) for Jesus. And listen, we’re all equal partners. It’s not like the law firm downtown or the accounting agency down the street. There are no senior partners or junior partners. We are all equal partners in the gospel.
Somebody says, “Pastor, why is this so important?” Let me tell you why. At the end of the day, the only thing that will keep this church together, the only thing that will hold this church together is the glue of the gospel. Think about how diverse our church is. We have men and women. We have young and old. Blue collar, white collar. Healthy and sick. Fit and flabby. Different races. Different incomes. Different levels of education. Different personalities. Different political parties. But if we are sold out to telling the story of and believing in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin, then we will remain united.
When the community talks about our church, I don’t want them asking was that a conservative church, liberal church, Republican church, Democrat church – NO! I want them to think that’s a church that loves the gospel, that’s a church that’s centered on the gospel. That’s a church that elevates the gospel. That’s a church that shines the spotlight onto the cross of Calvary where Jesus died for you and me – to make it possible for us to be reconciled with the Father.
So, Paul said, “I’m grateful when I think about you, and I’m joyful when I talk about you.” But there’s one more thing…
Boastful In What The Community Trusts About Us
Look at verse 6, “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (NIV). Now what was Paul talking about? He was talking about their salvation (their relationship with God). Paul said, “You know what I’m sure about? I may not be sure if I’m getting out of prison. I may not be sure about whether I’ll ever see y’all again. I may not be sure about tomorrow, but there’s one thing I’m sure about and it’s this: when God began that good work of salvation in you all those years ago, He will see to it that it is completed – not because of your goodness, but because of His grace.”
Let me go back and show you this. You might remember from last week that I told you to have your finger in Acts 16. That’s the narrative account, that’s the chronological and historical account of when Paul originally came to Philippi. And in Acts 16:14 we read this, “One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message” (NIV, emphasis added). This might surprise some of you because you think, “Well, I decided that I needed to accept Jesus.” Yeah, you did, but how did that happen? See, you never start with God. God always starts with you. God always comes first. And you better be glad that He does, because what God starts, He always finishes.
How many of you have ever started something but didn’t finish? We all have, right. Maybe it’s the puzzle we never finished. Maybe it’s the room you left unpainted or the garage that’s unorganized. All of us have started something that we didn’t finish, but God never leaves a job half finished. He never leaves it three quarters finished. He never leaves it 99% finished. What God starts; God finishes! And that means when God saves a person, He saves that person:
Completely – There is nobody that’s half saved, or three quarters saved. You are either 100% saved or you are 100% lost. There is no in between, and when God saves us, He saves us body, soul, and spirit. He saves us completely.
Permanently – There is nothing temporary about it. There is no probation. There is no trial period to see if you’ll do your part, to see if you’ll live up to your expectation. NO! He saves people permanently.
Eternally – Paul said our salvation would be carried on until the “day of Christ Jesus.” When is that? That’s when time stops. That’s when Jesus returns. There’s coming a day when either you will stop living, and thus time will cease, or the Lord will return and the world (as we know it) will end. But if God has saved you, then your relationship with Him will never end. Because what God started in you, God will complete in you.
I was reading the results of a religious poll in America that was taken just two years ago (2021) and two of the comments that were made are these: more and more people find God believable, but the church unbearable, and more and more people find Jesus appealing, but the church appalling. Folks, it doesn’t have to be that way. When we finally make up our minds that we are sold out to the gospel and we buy into our position as full-fledged partners in the gospel, then the people outside our church will trust our message.
Let me end with this. Many historians believe that the turning point in the American Revolutionary War took place on Christmas Day 1776, when Gen. George Washington crossed the Delaware River and surprised the British at what would become known as the Battle of Trenton. Here’s what a lot of people don’t know. Washington’s troops were at the end of their rope. The vast majority of the Continental Army was discouraged and depressed and about to pack it up and return to what was left of their homes and lives. And Washington was thinking about what he could do or say to help them press on. So, on December 23, 1776, Washington had his officers read the words of a pamphlet called The American Crisis written by Thomas Paine to all of his troops. And the one part of that pamphlet that he made sure was read is this:
These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
Every man in the Continental Army stayed and fought and the rest is history. Our church – and indeed the universal church – is at a crossroads. More and more, we are seeing the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot shrink back from showing and sharing the love of Christ. But folks, God has placed each one of us here – at this place and at this time – to be gospel partners, to spread the Good News of Jesus, to build a kingdom of saints that brings Him glory. If/when we do that, people will be grateful when they think about us, they will be joyful when they talk about us, and they will boast in their trust of our message, because the God who began a good work in you (and them) will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
“O God, our hearts are, indeed, filled with joy in knowing You and being known by You. It is a tremendous encouragement to our hearts and lives to know that what You began in us – in our salvation – You will complete, You will finish, You will bring to fruition on the day of Christ. Lord, help us to be a joyful people – not because it’s always sunny outside and there is money in the bank and our health is good, in fact, many of those things won’t always be true – but because we know You, we know the message of Jesus, we know that You are a God that will do a good work in us. Give us the courage and joy to share Your message of hope to others this week, for we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.”