Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
April 29, 1984
Rejoice in the Lord!
Philippians 1:1-6, KJV
For the next series of sermons we will be going through the book of Philippians. Many Christians say that Philippians is one of their favorite books in the New Testament. The reason could be that the major theme is joy. The whole letter is short, sweet and positive. In its four chapters the words "joy" and "rejoicing" occur sixteen times. What's truly amazing is that the apostle Paul wrote it while he was in prison. Scholars aren't sure exactly where he was in prison: some say it was Rome, others say Ephesus or Caesarea. What we know for sure is that Paul felt he might be executed at any time.
In spite of this kind of situation, Paul can write in 4:4 --
"Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice."
Paul's joy was not the "I've got a wonderful feeling, everything's going my way" kind of joy! He had a remarkable joy that he could experience in prison when things were going bad. This is a quality of life that is worth knowing because we all have our prisons of one kind or another.
Paul's joy is expressed in three ways in our passage today. He has joyous memories, joyous prayers and a joyous future. Verse 3 mentions his joyous memories. He did not sit in his prison feeling sorry for himself. Instead, he says, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." To find out what kind of memories he had of the Philippians, turn in your Bibles to Acts 16:12. Paul, Timothy and Silas came to Philippi soon after they made their first missionary journey into Greece. It was a colonial city, which meant that it had a special relationship with Rome. On the Jewish day of worship Paul and his friends went down to a river where Jewish converts gathered for prayer. Paul's first joyous memory would be the conversion of Lydia, a woman who sold purple cloth. Another memory would be of the possessed slave girl. Paul cast the demon out of her, which got her owners so mad they got Paul and Silas thrown in prison. That was his next joyous memory. After they were beaten the jailer chained them to a slimy wall. Notice verse 25:
"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them."
God hit the jail with an earthquake and in short order the jailer and his whole family were saved. Paul was not only released but actually had the town officials politely escort him out of town.
As Paul thought of all these events, one thing came to his mind. God had been at work during those days in Philippi. He was working during the pleasant times by the river and the ugly times in the cell.
When we find ourselves in prison, or in a hospital bed, or maybe an emotional sense of being in a dead-end, it's a good thing to remember what God has been doing in our lives. This is one of the reasons we're having different people share their Christian testimonies during our services. Their testimonies not only encourage us but the experience helps these people recall how God has touched their lives in the past, in the good times and the bad. Remembering what God has done is much better than moaning about our present status. It reminds us of what God is committed to doing, so that whatever prison we may be in we can be filled with joy.
Paul had joyous memories. He also had joyous prayers. In his prayers, Paul did not grovel before God and plead to be released. Neither did he whine about why God had made the mistake of allowing these things to happen. His prayers were not self-centered prayers at all. As Philippians 1:4 says,
"Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request, with joy."
That expression, "with joy" is important. Paul's prayers weren't recited out of a book or rattled off like a grocery list. Prayer was a vital, enjoyable activity for him, and he saw concrete results from God. One result was that the Philippians were joining with Paul in spreading the gospel. It's one thing to convert many people. It's something else to have those converts join you in the work of the ministry. American Baptist missions have been hugely successful in bringing this about. At present we have two hundred missionaries in foreign lands, which is a fairly small number. What makes them successful are the six thousand local Christian leaders they have trained. The result has been one and a half million Christians, or about the same number overseas as our denomination has here in the United States. It was this kind of outreach by the Philippians that made Paul joyous in prayer.
Paul had joy in his memories and in his prayers. He was also joyous about the future. Verse 6 says:
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
First, Paul recognized "the work of Christ" in the Philippians' lives. It's easy to take this too lightly. To really believe that the Risen Christ is at work in our puny lives is either arrogance or magnificent truth. As Christians, we should believe that whatever God does, he does well.
God's work in saving someone should not produce a shallow decision but a deep and lasting revolution. When God convicts someone of sin it should break their heart, not produce crocodile tears. God's work of conversion is only the beginning. Paul's statement here is that if Christ has started something, he will not quit until he has "performed it." I like the way the NIV translates this - Christ will "carry it on to completion." This is a great truth here. The beginning of Christian experience is not the end. After a person is born again there is still work to be done and the driving force of this work is Jesus. It isn't good enough to be satisfied with a work of Christ that saves you from damnation but lets you keep on living in hell. When Jesus Christ gets involved in your life he wants to keep working on what he has started. Paul is excited about this, but he goes on even further and insists that the Lord not only has started in order to continue but he continues in order to complete. The end product is a Christian who perfectly reflects Jesus. We do not reach our ultimate completion until the day of Christ. This is the day Jesus transforms all Christians, both those who are alive and those who are dead into glorious beings like himself.
Many people today do not look to the future with much anticipation because of the vast problems of famine, over-population and nuclear war. Many are fearful of the future. If you don't believe in the prophecies about Jesus then it makes sense to be pessimistic, but if you do believe, Jesus will finish the work he began in this world then there is plenty of reason to be joyful.
One of the greatest intellects of the 20th century has been the psychologist Abraham Maslow. Ever since Freud, psychologists and psychiatrists focused all their attention on people who were mentally unbalanced and sick. They figured these neurotic patients could reveal the forces that shape human development. Dr. Maslow took an entirely different approach. Instead of sick people, he studied people who were vitally alive and fully functioning. He wanted to know what made them radiantly happy and whole. In the process, Maslow developed a theory called self-actualization. In his search for what made people self-actualized and happy, he found this secret. He writes, "Without exception, I found that every person who was sincerely happy, radiantly alive, was living for a purpose or a cause beyond himself."
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Typed on October 1, 2005, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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