What Brings You Joy

How many of you are disappointed that it's cold and raining instead of snow?

I am. I think there's more people this year looking for snow, warning snow, than I can remember in a long time.

And I'm on that list. I would have liked to see us.

And it's not too late. We've got a whole month of February to go.

Maybe it will. But I'm glad that it didn't prevent us from being here today.

If you think about what brings you joy, like snow, just about everything you think about,

you put on a list of what brings me joy.

You could also say, that's what makes me happy.

It brings happiness to me.

Almost everyone thinks of the words joy and happiness as synonyms.

Most dictionaries even do that.

Most dictionaries define joy along this line, a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

We use that word joy in the English language very similarly, at least, if not identically, to the word happiness.

But that is not how Paul used the word in New Testament Greek.

The New Testament is written in the Greek language.

And while we use that word joy and happiness synonymously,

that is not how the word joy is used in the Bible and especially the New Testament.

Happiness is an emotional feeling, isn't it?

It's a feeling of delight.

That depends on what's happening to us and around us.

You know, we're happy when everything goes our way.

When you walked in this morning, people spoke to you, they smiled.

It brings a little bit of joy, a little bit of happiness, doesn't it?

When you feel good, you have that sense of joy, that kind of happiness.

But we know that every day is not that way.

Life is not always happy.

It just sort of comes and goes in our life.

I say all that to say, that's normal.

That's happiness.

That's joy as we use it in the English language.

Put that on hold now.

Christian joy.

The word joy that's found in the New Testament,

that we're going to be looking at today and throughout the book of Philippians really,

it is more of an attitude.

It's something more like a character quality than it is an emotion.

It's not without emotion, but that's not basically what it is.

Joy is similar to the qualities of contentment or peace in your soul.

Here's something I did not really bring out much last week,

and I want to emphasize it.

Christian joy is the inner sense of peace.

Of rightness that comes from knowing that I'm right with God.

I'm close to Him.

Things around about you may not be going well.

People may be disappointing you.

You may not be in the best of health.

But when you have that right relationship with God, you're just close to Him,

there's this sense of contentment.

There's just peace in your soul.

That's Christian joy.

It will not be found in any other person.

Other people can make you happy.

But they can't give you this kind of joy.

You're not going to find this in any situation, any circumstance.

No matter how well your job goes,

this kind of joy is not going to be found there.

It's going to be found only in our relationship with the Lord.

That's why Paul can write so much about it in the book of Philippians.

It appears from reading Paul's letters in the New Testament

that the church at Philippi was his favorite church,

or at least where he had the fewest problems.

And so he talks about joy and rejoicing more in this letter

than in any of his other letters.

But consider this.

Every time Paul dictated this letter,

every time he said the word joy or rejoice,

he was chained to the Roman soldier,

confined to the house he was renting.

He was under house arrest.

He was awaiting his trial before Caesar,

the most powerful man in the world at that time.

He didn't know what the outcome would be.

He didn't know if he would live or die as a result of that trial.

Yet he could talk about how he was rejoicing.

He found joy in his relationship with the Lord

in the midst of those circumstances.

I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you will,

to Philippians chapter 1.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

We're going to begin again in verse 18.

And we're going to see how Paul was able to rejoice

in spite of his circumstances.

Now as we go through what's going to be verses 18 through 26 today and next week,

I want us to note three things that should make us,

if we're Christians,

at least some of the time,

have a sense of joy.

Now let's be real honest here.

There were days that Paul would have been down.

He's a human being.

He's not a God.

He's not the Son of God like Jesus.

Paul was a human being just like us.

He suffered.

He had his bad days.

And so there were days that he didn't really feel like rejoicing in the Lord.

No doubt, his real focus wasn't on how everything's right with God through faith in Jesus.

And you and I don't either.

There's some days that the last thing we think about is our relationship with God.

Let's just be honest.

There's some days that they're just miserable emotionally,

spiritually even,

or physically with our bodies,

or with other people and problems.

So when we go through this,

three things that should provide every Christian

with at least some sense of joy

at times in our lives.

The way I want to do this,

I want us to ask three questions.

Number one,

do thoughts that God will always take care of you bring you joy?

I want you to look at verses 18 through 20,

what we looked at last week actually.

And I want you to think,

do thoughts that God is always going to take care of me no matter what.

Does that bring you a sense of joy?

Of peace in your soul?

Because you're trusting Him.

Not that you feel good.

Not that you feel close to everybody.

But do you get this kind of joy?

Inner peace because I know God's going to take care of me.

Let's look at this.

Verse 18 that I left off the screen.

The last part says,

Yes, and I will rejoice.

For I know that through your prayers

and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

this will turn out for my deliverance,

as it is my eager expectation and hope

that I will not at all be ashamed,

but that with full courage,

now as always,

Christ will be honored in my body,

whether by life or by death.

Paul describes one of the sources of his joy as,

look at this,

my deliverance in verse 19.

We saw last week the word deliverance here

is translated more often in the New Testament,

salvation.

See, Paul is writing in Greek.

And the translators use the word deliverance here,

but more often than not,

they're going to use the word salvation

when this word comes up in other places.

It's all according to the context.

That means Paul may be talking about,

may be thinking about as he writes this,

his deliverance from prison.

He's rejoicing because this will turn out

for my deliverance.

Or he may be thinking about,

this is going to turn out for my deliverance

into the presence of the Lord in heaven.

He may be thinking about his final,

complete salvation

when he stands before the Lord,

free from sin

and the difficulties that we experience in this life.

But either way, we don't know.

Either way, Paul found joy in knowing

that no matter what happens to me,

no matter what happens in my life,

God is going to take care of me.

I'm trusting Him.

Now, do you have that kind of joy

in your soul?

At least some of the time.

Well, you will if you have a relationship with God.

You will if you have a close relationship with God.

If we truly know God

as our Heavenly Father I'm talking about,

we will have confidence in His ability

to take care of us

by delivering us through our difficulties

or by delivering us from our difficulties

by bringing us into His presence in heaven.

Now, I know that most of us in this room,

we don't think about being delivered into heaven right now.

But you know,

if you're in prison,

chained to a Roman soldier,

going to be tried before the emperor,

you know I may die.

And so,

it's a real fact.

And so,

he finds joy knowing

that if that happens,

I'll be okay.

There may come a time in your life

where your health is so bad,

the pain is so bad,

that you'll be ready to die.

You'll pray to die.

And in that moment,

if it comes for you,

wouldn't it be great

that you have this sense of peace

that when I breathe my last

and close my eyes,

I'm going to open them again immediately

in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ

and there will be no more suffering,

no more pain.

Some of you in this room,

like me,

you've watched your parents

or your grandparents

get to that position.

And I hope you heard

from some of them

like I heard from my mother.

Never forget the way she said it.

She looked at me one day,

she'd been in the hospital,

didn't want to be in the hospital.

I've told you this before.

She looked at me one day,

she said,

I'm an old woman,

I've lived my life

and I'm ready to die.

Don't let no more doctors

do anything to me.

And we talked a little bit about that.

And she said that she did have faith

and trust in Jesus

that when she did die,

she'd be in His presence.

And she didn't want to linger on

and completely lose her memory

and use of her body.

And so,

while right this minute,

I don't know if any of us in here

can really identify

with the idea

of having this sense of peace,

that God may bring me

into His presence

anytime.

But in time,

we may be in a situation

where

we need that kind of

peace,

that kind of joy.

and we can

if we have a right

relationship

with the Lord.

Now,

if you don't have a clue

what I'm talking about,

you think to yourself,

I hear the words

but I'll understand it,

I've never experienced it.

I've never sensed

this sense of

peace and rightness,

this kind of joy

in a relationship with God.

That means

in all probability

that you're not a Christian.

You may have professed faith,

you may have been baptized,

but if you don't have

this sense of

rightness with God,

never experienced it at all,

it's just a foreign concept to you,

you can't be right with God.

You can't have a relationship

with Him rather.

And if that bothers you,

you don't want it to be that way.

Admit to God

that you don't know Him.

Turn from your sin.

Put your trust in Jesus

as your Savior and Lord.

calling Him to save you now.

And when you do that,

one of the first things

you ought to experience

is a sense of peace

with God

through faith in Jesus.

And also,

then start experiencing

the peace of God.

This is the first step

toward experiencing

real Christian joy.

Now,

if you do know

what I'm talking about,

but

it's not been

your experience

very much

lately,

you know what I'm talking about.

You have to have

this sense of

just closeness,

rightness with God

that no matter what else,

no matter who else

was

not happy with me,

I really had this

joy in my soul,

peace in my heart,

but it's not there now.

Could it be that

you've drifted away

from the Lord?

Maybe you never

thought about it,

you didn't just

openly rebel,

but you just got busy.

You know,

life is such

we can just get busy.

There's so much

in most people's lives,

there's so much

going on

to take our attention,

take our time,

that we can just

do a lot of

good things

with people

that we are

responsible for

and drift away

from a close

relationship with the Lord

because we don't

continue it.

It could be

that you just

rebelled against God.

It could be

that you know

right now

you're not

where you used to be,

you don't experience

this kind of joy anymore

and you know

exactly why.

Well,

I want you to understand

the only way

you're going to

rekindle

that kind of

joy and peace

is to come back

to Him

on His terms.

That may mean

you need to confess

sin

and seek

God's forgiveness

because

you've rebelled

against Him.

It may be

that you just need

to sort of wake up

and realize

I've got to

rearrange some

priorities in my life.

I've got to start

spending some time

with God

to develop,

to cultivate

my relationship

with Him.

in His Word

and in prayer.

So you may need

to make some changes

in your life

that way.

It may be

that right now

this morning

the reason you're here

is to be encouraged

as a Christian

to renew

your commitment

to the Lord Jesus Christ

as the real

Lord of your life.

joy.

And if we will

live that way

joy will be

a byproduct

of having

a close relationship

with Him.

You know Paul

also rejoiced

over the way

that God

worked to take

care of him.

Last week

we looked at

two ways

that God

works in our lives

to take care of us.

I want to expand

on what we looked

at last week.

I was trying

to cover

more last week

and just

there's some things

I want us to look at

that's important

that we didn't look

at last week.

So here

let's look at it again.

God works

through people's prayers.

God works

in our lives

through other people's prayers.

Look at it again

verse 19

last part

of verse 18

Yes and I will rejoice

for I know

that through your prayers

this will turn out

for my deliverance.

Paul rejoiced

over the fact

that people

loved him enough

to pray for him.

He just

brought peace

to his soul

joy to his heart

to know that

other people

were praying for him

and that God

was working in his life

in response

to their prayers.

We saw last week

that it is vitally important

that we pray for

our Christian family members

Christian friends

people in this church

or church family members

in more ways

than just

their physical health

and well-being.

But that doesn't mean

we don't pray

for people's

health

or job

or school

or other situations

that they're

concerned about.

Over the years

my children

and grandchildren

have played

countless ball games.

I have

and will continue

as long as I'm alive

and have a mind

prayed for their safety.

God keep them safe.

Lord

don't let them

get hurt.

That's just something

that I

want to do.

That's nothing to do

with being Christians

or anything like that.

I just pray for their

physical

safety.

I'm going to say

something else

because

this service

is not being

recorded today.

We're not live

streaming.

We can't do that

in this room.

And so

this is the end of it.

It won't be on tape

anywhere.

I have prayed

for my children's

cat

to come home.

Now you know

that's a big step

for me.

I wouldn't admit

it on tape.

Let me tell you

this though.

my grandchildren

have two cats

and I like

those two cats.

You know why?

They are just like

dogs.

You call them

and they come.

They'll sit there

and let you pet them.

The best cat

is the one

that acts like a dog.

You know?

Well one of those cats

is named Bruno.

Bruno's a hunter.

Bruno stays

out in the edge

of the woods

and the edge

of the yard

in the woods.

He hunts.

He kills moles.

Bruno is a great cat.

Well one day

he didn't come home.

He disappeared.

And they told me

as sincerely

as I've ever prayed

for anything

I said

Lord please

bring Bruno home

safely

to those kids.

I prayed

I got out

and rode around

looking for the cat

and God

answered

a lot of people's

prayers.

Bruno

just

walked

home.

I don't care

truly

about cats

very much

but I care

about my

grandchildren

and I care

about what

they care

about.

And I think

it was very

important

to pray that

Bruno come

home that day.

And so I want you

to hear me

clearly.

Pray about

everything.

Pray for people's

physical

well-being.

Their job

situation.

Their school.

but

your family

your friends

me.

We all

need

the prayers

for our

spiritual

well-being

more.

So I want

to encourage

you

people you

pray for

pray that

God will

work in

their life

if they're

Christians

to help

them to

grow

mature

to become

more like

Jesus.

Pray for

their spiritual

protection.

They'll be

able to

resist

temptation

things like

that.

As you

pray about

other

things

if there's

people in

your life

that you

know you

really care

about they're

not Christians

pray for

their salvation.

I want

to encourage

you do

that yourself

and encourage

other people

to pray for

you that

way as

well.

You know

I'd like

for you to

pray for

me

Monday

through

Saturday

that I'll

be able

to study

and

know

and develop

the message

that our

church family

needs to

hear and

when you

wake up

on Sunday

morning pray

that I'll

be able

to

communicate

it in a

way that's

understandable

and that people

can actually

apply to

their lives.

Pray for

me that

way.

Ask people

to pray for

you in ways

that you

have needs

to be

prayed for.

No second

way God

works in

our lives

God works

through his

indwelling

Holy Spirit.

He says

yes and I

will rejoice

for I know

that through

the help

of the Spirit

of Jesus

Christ this

will turn

out for my

deliverance.

Paul rejoiced

over how God

worked his

power, God's

power in

him and

through him.

The Holy Spirit

is really and

truly the

spiritual power

source for

every Christian

for you and

me.

I want us to

think about how

the Holy Spirit

works in our

lives.

This is

something totally

new from what

we looked at

last week.

Something that

I think is

very important

that we need

to be praying

about for

ourselves and

for other

people.

First, the Holy

Spirit indwells

every Christian.

You know that.

If you've been

coming to this

church for any

length of time

you know that I

mention that a

lot because the

only way we can

live faithful

Christian lives is

in the power of

the Holy Spirit.

We can't do it

on our own.

Christian life

cannot be lived

by just doing

your best,

trying harder.

That's not

Christian growth.

Christian growth

is when God

works in us

and through us

through His

Holy Spirit.

Helping us to

think.

Helping us to

know what to

do, how to

do, that kind

of thing.

Well Paul says

it is impossible

to be a

Christian and

not be indwelled

by the Spirit.

Look at this

from Romans 8.

Anyone who does

not have the

Spirit of Christ

does not belong

to Him.

It can't be any

plainer than

that.

Every Christian,

God regenerates

us, brings about

a new birth by

the power of

the Holy Spirit

and the Holy

Spirit indwells

us from that

point on.

Now, the Holy

Spirit indwells

every Christian

at all times,

but there are

times when a

Christian experiences

the Spirit's

presence in

greater power

power as Luke

tells us in

the book of

Acts.

Luke is the

author of

Acts.

I want you to

look at some

examples.

Peter, he

experienced

greater power

when he

testified before

the hostile

Jewish council.

They were

telling him,

you don't

preach anymore.

Threatening his

life and the

other apostles.

Look at what

Scripture says.

Then Peter,

filled with the

Holy Spirit,

said to them,

the Holy

Spirit indwelled

Peter already.

But at that

moment, it was

sort of like a

new, fresh

filling, empowerment

of the Spirit to

say what needed

to be said to

those enemies of

the gospel.

Later on in that

same chapter 4 of

Acts, a large

group of Christians,

not just the

apostles or leaders,

a large group of

Christians, received

power after a

prayer meeting.

Look at this.

And when they

had prayed, the

place in which

they were gathered

together was shaken

and they were all

filled with the

Holy Spirit and

continued to speak

the Word of God

with boldness.

See, this was a

crisis time in the

life of the church.

The leaders were

being arrested, put

into prison.

A little bit

later on, killed.

And in that

prayer meeting that

you can read about

earlier in chapter

4, they were

really serious

asking God to

work in their

midst to help

them and God

answered their

prayer by filling

those church

members in a

new and fresh

way with the

Holy Spirit to

enable them to

actually share the

gospel themselves.

God's promise.

Not be afraid.

Not hold back.

But to share the

gospel or to speak

the Word of God

with boldness.

Next one, Stephen.

Stephen received the

power to die a

martyr's death for

his testimony from

Jesus.

Look at this.

Testimony about

Jesus.

Look at this.

Acts chapter 7.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

But he, Stephen,

full of the Holy

Spirit, gazed into

heaven and saw the

glory of God and

Jesus standing at

the right hand of

God.

See, Stephen was in

a very hostile

environment.

And he preached the

true Word of God

and they didn't like

it.

And they picked up

stones to stone him,

to kill him, to

execute him.

And God filled him

afresh with his

spirit to enable

him to stand there

and look him in the

eye and die as a

faithful Christian

witness.

Paul.

He was empowered to

confront an enemy of

the gospel, Elimus,

the magician.

It says, but Saul,

who was also called

Paul, filled with the

Holy Spirit, looked

intently at him, that

magician, and said,

you son of the devil,

and other choice

words to that enemy

of the gospel.

I'm pointing out all

these examples to say,

all these people,

these were Christians

in whom the Holy Spirit

dwelled before these

situations.

But the Spirit of God

gave them greater power,

greater courage,

greater insight,

just that when they

needed it, to face

their special trials.

We need, all of us

in this room, we need

to develop the habit of

asking God to fill us

afresh with his spirit

and empower us, equip us

during our times of need.

We all need that kind

of help at various times,

don't we, to resist

certain temptations.

Every one of us in

this room, if we're

Christians, we have

certain temptations

that are stronger,

more powerful over us.

You may think to

yourself, I fail more

than I want anybody

to know in this way.

The next time you're

tempted that way, I

want to encourage you,

ask God, Lord, fill me

afresh with your spirit.

Give me the ability

to keep my mouth closed.

Give me the ability

to walk away.

Give me the ability

to not continue

thinking this way.

Give me the ability,

your God, to not sin

against you in this way.

Ask God to do that.

Sometimes you have a

difficult decision you

need to make.

Ask God, Lord, fill me

afresh with your spirit

and give me the wisdom

to understand what's

going on, to see the

facts, to know the best

way to make the right

decision.

Don't pray for a

feeling.

Some people think

about praying for

guidance and you go

about how you feel.

That's not right.

That's not good.

Ask the Holy Spirit

to give you wisdom,

to understand better,

to have better insight,

to find better

counselors, whatever,

to make the wise

choice, not the

feeling choice.

sometimes you're going

to need, like them,

you need courage to

face opposition.

Sometimes there's

people, maybe people

in your life at work,

at school, they resent

you being a Christian.

They don't like you

because you're a

Christian.

You're sort of tempted

to sort of shy away,

avoid them, compromise,

not really take a stand.

Ask God, Lord, help me

to give me the power

that I need to stand

firm, to not back down,

not be intimidated.

Maybe you need special

powers and times to

share the gospel with

a certain person.

You want to, you've

been thinking about it,

maybe you've been

praying about it.

Say, Lord, help me.

Give me what I need

right now to share the

gospel with this person.

We all need to pray

for ourselves this way.

We need to pray for

our Christian family

members and friends.

They would experience

the Spirit's special

power during their

times of need.

Let's look at one

more.

Paul rejoiced over

the way God enables

us to stay faithful.

Look at this.

God works through

our faithful efforts.

Verse 20,

As it is my eager

expectation and hope

that I will not be

at all ashamed,

but that with full

courage, now as

always, Christ will be

honored in my body,

whether by life or

by death.

Paul rejoiced over

the thought,

God is going to

enable me to

remain strong,

to stand firm.

He uses that word

in his letters

quite a number of

times.

As he stood before

Caesar at his trial,

he was just confident.

I'll be able to stand

strong because God's

going to enable me to

do that.

The charges against

Paul, the charges

are going to be

brought before that

emperor.

We're all related to

the Jewish opposition

back in Jerusalem.

You can read about that

in Acts chapter 21

Acts 21 · chapter mention

through the end of Acts.

Acts 21 through 28.

But the Jewish

leaders oppose Paul

in his preaching the

gospel to the Gentiles.

And so, that's going

to be brought up

before Caesar as Paul

stands there.

And a part of his

defense is going to

be, he's going to

explain the gospel.

He's going to explain

what he was preaching.

He's going to explain

the resurrection of

Jesus.

And the emperor

couldn't care less.

So he needed

God's enablement

to do that

in what's going to

be before the most

powerful man in the

world who will

probably be angered

that such a religious

matter was brought

before him and took

his time.

Look at verse 20.

Paul is confident

that God is going

to provide what he

needs to honor the

Lord no matter what

happens.

He describes himself

as having eager

expectation and hope.

Eager expectation

means intense

expectation that

something is going

to happen.

The word hope in

the New Testament

always means

confident expectation

not wishful thinking.

You know, a lot of

us hoped it would

snow this weekend.

Cold temperatures,

moisture, but it

didn't.

That's not biblical

hope.

Paul fully expects

that he will not be

ashamed, but will have

full courage to explain

the gospel of Jesus

Christ when he

defends himself for

that emperor.

Here's what the

important thing we

need to understand

is.

Paul's real goal

is that he

honored the Lord.

Whether he lives or

dies, that's not the

number one goal.

Certainly he doesn't

want to be executed.

But he is most

concerned that no

matter what, when I

go before that emperor,

I want to honor the

Lord whether I live

or whether I die.

That needs to be our

goal as well.

Now thankfully, none

of us are concerned

about the possibility

of facing death over

our Christian faith.

There are Christians

throughout the world

who are right now.

You've probably read

about Christians being

killed in Nigeria and

other places in Africa,

in China, other

places because of their

faith.

Be thankful we don't

have that kind of fear.

But are there some

things, some situations

when you are tempted

to sort of back away,

not take a stand as a

Christian out of being

ashamed to be associated

with Jesus or being

afraid of what might

happen because you are?

Do you ever fear being

made fun of?

being left out?

And so you sort of

back away.

Are you ever ashamed to

be too closely identified

with Jesus?

Because you don't want

people to think you're

some kind of religious

nut?

Or because you don't

want to stand out too

much from the regular

people of this world

who are not Christians.

See, you know what

scenarios sometimes

come up where you

have a temptation to

be ashamed, back away,

or you're just afraid.

God will supply us with

the power to stay

faithful and to truly

honor Him if we will

ask Him and then if

we will use the

ability that He gives

us, the resources that

He gives us to do it.

Even though we have

these temptations, we

can be confident

witnesses of the Lord

Jesus Christ, you and

me.

You can do it in your

circle of friends, of

acquaintances.

Jesus Christ, you can

do this and not be

ashamed or afraid to

be identified with

Jesus.

But that will only

happen when you make

honoring the Lord, not

disgracing His name, the

number one priority of

your life.

Think about it.

in that work situation,

among those certain

friends at school, are

you more concerned that

you honor Jesus Christ,

that you don't disgrace

Him, or that you don't

get laughed at or left

out, or call some kind

of religious nut.

God will supply us with

the power that we need

to stay faithful and

honor Him if we'll ask

and if we'll use it with

the understanding that my

goal is to honor the

Lord.

Do you want to experience

heartfelt joy, such

heartfelt joy, that

unhappy circumstances

won't touch it, won't

destroy it?

If you do, then draw

close to God.

Stay close to Him.

Spend time with Him

every day in His Word.

Talk to Him in prayer.

Talk to Him throughout

the day in prayer.

Christian joy can only

be experienced by living

in close fellowship with

our Heavenly Father and

with our Lord Jesus

Christ.

That's true.

That's a fact.

God.

So you decide.

Am I going to be a

Christian who truly

rejoices no matter what

my circumstances are?

Let's pray together.

Father, show us now how

You want us to respond to

this message.

Create within us, we

don't already have it

here, God, a strong

desire to experience

Christian joy.

True peace within our

souls.

Because we're right with

You.

We're close to You.

We're serving You.

We're loving You.

We're honoring You.

Father, so move, work in

us to make it clear how

that will occur in every

life.

Show us what sins to

confess, what priorities

to change.

Show us how we need to

pray.

Show us how we need to

obey You.

Show us, dear God.

Help us to make the

commitments to live in

close fellowship with You.

Now let's just all continue

to pray, listen to the

Lord and respond to Him in

the next few minutes.

And leave here ready,

able to experience

Christian joy in your

life.