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Philippians Chapter 4:
Christ – Our Joy and Contentment; The Church – the Furtherance of Our Joy
(Overcomer Wu)
I. The Church – The Furtherance of Our Joy (4:1)
Starting from verse 1 of this chapter, Paul continues the figure that he used in chapter 3 of a runner in a competition by saying that the saints in Philippi are his “joy and crown.” You may ask how do I gather that from reading this verse? Well, this is where the Greek text of the Bible comes in handy again, because there are 2 Greek words used for crown one is diademos which is the crown that a king wears, and then the other word for crown is in Gk is stephanos, which is the crown given to a victorious athlete in a Greek olympic game. Well, the word for “crown” used here is stephanos. This is how we make the connection to the same metaphor that Paul used in the previous chapter of pursuiing and pressing on towards the goal.
While in chapter 3:14, most top Bible expositors would agree that both the goal and the price that we are running after is Christ Himself. However, here in 4:1, Paul is saying that what he is seeking to gain – his crowning joy of victory are the saints! It gives Paul no great joy to finish the race himself; rather his earnest desire and crowning joy is to see all the saints cross the finish line like he did! In Gal 4:19, Paul said, “My children of whom I am again in travail until Christ is form in you.” To be in travail of course is to be in pain and suffering right? So, the opposite of being in travail of course to be rejoicing. So to put in conversely, Paul is essentially saying that it would be his great joy to see Christ is formed in the saints, which is the goal of our salvation right? In 3Jn4, the apostle John also expressed the same sentiment by saying, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” This is why the 2nd part of the title of this chapter I put it: “the Church – the Furtherance of our joy.” Also, 1Thes 2:19-20.
II. Maintaining Our Spiritual Harmony and Joy (4:2-7)
4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always....”
Some may say that Paul probably said that at the whim of the moment when he was excited, but he didn't really mean it; much like sometimes we are caught up in the height of an emotional moment perhaps at a conference or in our personal time with the Lord and we consecrate our all our future to Him. But later on when things are not going so well, we kind of change our mind and feel like retracting our consecration. But Paul is assuring us that that is not the case when he said this... that's why he reiterated a 2nd time “and again I say rejoice.” In essence, Paul was saying that he had a chance to think things over and reconsidered his statement... he still realized that he was in prison and possibly awaiting a death sentence; then there are some brothers who have turned against him seeking to add affliction to his bonds; then the troubles of some strifes that existed in the church in Philippi among other churches also weighs heavily on his heart, but inspite of all these, he still came to the same conclusion, so he reiterated: And again I say rejoice.”
One of the striking characteristics of the apostle Paul that staggered his contemporaries was his imperturbable spirit that he always maintained. It seems that his being was wholly concentrated on Christ alone such that only his relations with Christ matters to him. Nothing else seems to bother him. People had stoned him, whipped him, slandered him, imprisoned him, andeventually killed him, but whatever they did to him did not affect his joy in the Lord.
The character of the Lord Jesus was the same when he walked on the earth as a man. He was characterized by such radiant joyfulness that people called Him "a glutton and a winebibber...." The main reasons for our Lord's radiancy was because of His continous undisturbed fellowship He had with our heavenly Father. Nothing that occured to Him externally, not even His crucificxion, could create a ripple of wave in His pool of serene communion with the Father. There was only the last 3 hours on the cross that His fellowship with the Father was breached, because He was bearing all the weight of all our sin which has caused us to be separated from God our Father in the first place. Aside from those 3 brief hours on the cross, the Lord Jesus is always one with His Father in life and in fellowship. And that was the secret of how He maintained His constant joy.
Likewise, it is the same for us: Our joy can be maintained if we are constantly abiding in Him. Actually the context of the above-quoted verse, John 15:11, is on our need to abide in Him as the Vine. John 15:5 says that if we abide in Him, we shall bear much fruit. Based on Gal 5:22 we saw that joy is one of the issues of the fruit of the Spirit. Psa 16:11 also says "In Your Presence is fullness of joy;at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Our abiding in Christ is how we practically live in His Presence today and experience the fullness of His joy -- a joy that no one can rob us of. "These things I have spoken to you... that your joy may be made full"(John 15:11).
Rejoicing has
much to do with the state of our hearts and mind. Someone once said,
"A change in behavior begins with a change in mind or a change
in the heart!" To the degree that we are not joyful in the Lord,
our love, our peace, our rest, our confidence, and our happiness in
our lives will correspondingly diminish. Without first finding our
joy and our equilibrium in Christ, "having more" material,
social, financial, relational, or positional attainments will only
complicate our lives and create more problems. The fundamental truth
is that if we do not know the secret of an imperturbable joy in the
Lord first, getting all of the above mentioned items and other things
will not make us any happier. If we truly know the deep abiding and
lasting joy in the Lord (Phi 4:4), then we are not dependent on
fortune, fame, position, relations, power, or privileges to make us
happy!
The quest for more of the material and vain things
that this world has to offer is an indication that we have neglected
or forgotten the real source of our joy within. A test that the Lord
will put us all through someday, if not already, is to deprive us of
the outward props, privileges, power and prestige that we have come
to rely on in order to show us if we have truly learn the secret of
our inner joy, strength and peace in Christ regardless of
circumstances and our outward conditions.
In reality, the
inherent promises of ALL external success and happiness are merely
illusions. When we are unhappy, we think a better job, a new car, a
loving partner, or more financial stability will make us happier.
Yet, with each acquisition, the opposite effect is achieved and the
feeling of emptiness only intensifies. When we are unhappy, we
commonly think "having more" will take away our inner pain.
But all those who can say, "been there, done that" can tell
you that it really doesn't! At best, it only gives you a very
fleeting sense of ease and happiness which will evaporate in just a
few nano-seconds. There is never enough! The more you have, the more
you want; or in some matters such as knowledge: the more you have,
the more you realize how little you have. As we continue to feel
unhappy "because we don't have more" the illusion of outer
success is reinforced.
Thus, increasingly we believe that we
can't be happy unless we have more. We tell ourselves something like:
1. "I can't be happy unless I have a better job." 2. "I
can't be happy until I am promoted to a certain executive level in my
company." 3. "I can't be happy until my relationship/wife
changes." 4. "I can't be happy until I am a
multi-millionaire." 5. "I can't be happy I am completely
debt free." 6. "I can't be happy unless I win
consistently." 7. "I can't be happy until I see all my
dreams come true", etc., etc..
Initially getting what we
want appears to work, but after a very short period of happiness we
are unhappy again. We mistakenly believe that having more will make
us happy and take away pain and worry . Unfortunately, each time we
look to outer success for fulfillment, we feel more emptiness inside.
Instead of feeling greater joy and peace, in our lives, we feel more
turmoil, restlessness, and dissatisfaction. Thus, some people get
into the vicious cycle of wanting to get more, and the more we get,
the more unhappy they become, which in turn drives them to seek even
more. This is why the tabloids, the millionaires, and the star actors
and actresses in Hollywood are full of unhappy stories about the rich
and famous and celebrities drenched in misery, drug addiction,
divorce, violence, betrayal, depression and suicide.
We must
recognize the futility of making material, social, financial,
relational, or positional success our priority! If we do, we are
doomed to a life of disillusionment and dismay. A wise and sensible
person would ask himself or herself these questions: What good
is it to get what you have always wanted and then be disappointed
that it is not exactly what you expected? What good is it to
have millions of dollars and then look in the mirror and feel
unfulfilled as before? What good is it to reach the mount Everest of
our success only to find that we have been chasing after a puff of
hallow and empty cloud?
Happiness refers mainly to our emotional state of satisfaction with life at any given moment. But it is completely dependent upon our circumstances and can CHANGE at any time depending on what is happening to our lives! For example, some people can be happy just because it is a sunny day, but they feel gloomy when the sky is cloudy or raining all day. JOY on the other hand, is the lasting peace, and the steadfast sense of satisfaction, fulfillment, and tranquility that operates from a position of transcendency, which is independent of our circumstances! To use the same example of the weather: those people who feel a bit sad and gloomy just because the cloud blanketed the sky and prevents the sunlight from shining through is living on the earthly realm. We know that the sun is always there shining whether we can see it or not, right? Likewise, if our joy is founded in Christ, He is always there and in fact He said in Heb 13:5 that He will never leave us nor forsake us right? Therefore, true joy can only be realized in Christ! And it is a joy that is internal – in the sense that it is not affected by our ourward circumstances – and it is lasting, because once we receive Christ into us, He will never leave us nor forsake us, Amen?
Also the fact that our joy is inward implies that we don't necessarily show it on the outside all the time. That means when you are truly experiencing in the joy of Christ, you don't necessarily have to have a smile on your face all the time. In fact, Isa 53 tells us that the Lord Jesus was a “Man of sorrow and acquainted with grief” right? Do you think a sorrowful man puts on a smily face? If they do, it's probably hypocritical right? And the apostle Paul says in 2Cor 5:2, “For indeed in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our dwelling place from heaven.” Again, someone who is groaning is not likely to show a smily face, but more of a sad and pensive expression right?
For this reason, we
can rejoice even during trials because the source of our joy is
eternal, unchanging and untouchable by all the external things. The
world can only give temporal happiness. The joy we found in Christ is
everlasting. Simpy put: Joy is the result of the indwelling presence
of Christ. Anything that the world gives, the Lord or the world can
take away. During the late 1990s, a lot of millionaires were made
from the high tech stocks, but just as quickly they value of these
stocks evaporated in the last 2 years. Therefore, do not look to
worldly things to bring joy in your life. Christ alone can give us
with an unending source of deep and abiding joy!
Therefore, we
need to be constantly reminded that our lasting joy and satisfaction
can come only from the Christ Whom we have received within us. Thus,
we need to concentrate our efforts on gaining(Phi 3:8) more of Christ
Who alone can give us the true joy, peace, rest and contentment(Phi
4:11). The Psalmist declared, "I will go to the altar of God, to
God my exceeding joy!"(Psa 43:4). Amen!
4:6 “In nothing be anxious...”
We are all quite familiar with the story of Peter walking on the water towards the Lord in Matt 14 right? Initially, the apostle Peter was doing just fine walking on the water at the Lord's bidding until Mt 14:30 says, “...when he saw the boisterous wind, he was afraid;” Then he began to sink. This vividly illustrates to us what happens when we begin to look at our oftentimes depressing circumstances and treacherous situations, which allow the anxiety of this age choke the life of Christ within us. We are stifled and stunted in our growth and we lose our joy in the Lord. When we take our eyes off the Lord and start to look at ourself, our circumstances, or other people, more often than not, we get anxious, depressed, or fearful. How often when you read the headlines on the newspaper do you see good news? Rarely, esp. these days! Terrorism is rampant, the economy is in a recession and possibly might even slip into a depression, the job market looks bleak, and various typhoons, earthquakes, or war claim the lives of many people, etc., etc. So when we are faced with the realities of life, it really is not easy for us to not be anxious, right?
What then is the solution to our anxiety?
We need to focus on Christ. We need to keep our focus on the Lord and not on our situations, our surroundings, ourself, or other people. It's easy to say just focus on Christ, but practically how do we keep our focus on Christ? When we focus on Christ, we are beholding His face, and this implies that we are being attentive to His speaking, His feelings, and His directions. And more importantly, to focus on Christ by beholding Him is to receive the infusion of His enlightenment and His transforming rays (quote 2Cor 3:18).
Paul also gave us an answer in the 2nd half of verse 6... “but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving.” From the biggest concern in our mind to the smallest worry, we all need to take each one to the Lord in prayer. This is kind of like passing our burdens onto Him. If we don't, soon or later, we will be crushed under the accumulated weight of worries that we pile up over time. We need to develop the habit of passing all our cares and anxieties to the Lord in prayer, even at the very moment that they surface in our mind, and we will find that we can easily maintain our joy in the Lord.
For us to not be anxious... well some might quote 1 Peter 5:7 which says, “Casting all your anxiety on Him, for it matters to Him concerning you.” This is good and correct. However, the Lord does not want us to simply surrender only our cares and anxieties to Him, He wants us to surrender ourselves to Him! Do you see the difference? This is better illustrated by a pictorial example: Let's picture ourselves sailing a ship and our ship runs into a hurricane. The Lord does not just want us to turn to Him for help by asking Him for directions or instructions on what to do, but He wants us to give up the helm of the ship over to Him. In other words, He wants to gain the kingship and the lordship within our hearts. This is in fact one of the purposes why the Lord allow us to fall into various hardships, trials and troubles that we cannot get ourselves out of, it is so that we would come to the point where we learn to truly surrender ourself to Him. Only then can the Lord work in and through us to carry out God's plan.
When we are willing to surrender everything to Him and let cast aside all our cares – in this state there is no sense of personal interests and achievement— no human elements in it at all. Instead, there is a complete overwhelming sense of being brought into union with God, and our life is transformed and radiates with His peace and joy.
III. Godly virtues and example to follow (4:8-9)
I will not dwell much on this section as the meat of the chapter is to be found in the next section along with the previous section which we have just covered.
IV. The Secret of Contentment (4:10-19)
"True contentment is not just living a meaningful life according to our own ideal, but it is living a life of purpose in Christ according to God's plan." ~Overcomer Wu
We all envisioned sometime in our lives... how our life and our circumstances would have to change in order for us to say with confidence, 'I am truly content'. Many people associate contentment with money, position, recognition, possessions, and a successful relationships -- only to be disappointed with the void that remains after reaching their goals. As believers, God offers us a different kind of contentment -- a better and a lasting contentment, a state of constant peace and joy, available only in and through Jesus Christ.
How do we embrace and experience this perfect peace and joy? The answer is two-fold.
First, we must recognize and rid ourselves of the things that rob us of our peace and joy. The most common method that the enemy use to rob us of our joy and peace is through anxiety. This is why in this same chapter of Philippians as the referenced verses above, 4:6 says, "Be anxious for nothing...." As believers, we should not give ground to any lingering anxiety. There is a fine line between being concerned and being anxious. It is normal and even needful for us to be concerned over people and over matters as long as we turn them into prayers, even as Phi 4:6 tells us: "... but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving...." However, once a concern becomes a protracted and a constant annoyance to us, then it has become an anxiety which we should reject. Rather, we are to cast all our cares and anxieties upon Him Who cares for us(1Pet 5:7).
Fears and depression are also common tactics used by the enemy to draw us away from the state of our joy and peace in Christ. If these 'peace-killing emotions' exist in your life, we need to pray that the "peace of God... will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus"(Phi 3:7).
Second, we really need to learn to experience the real lasting joy and peace that can only be found in Christ. If our peace and joy are founded in people, possessions, positions, wealth, or health; they can all vaporize in an instant. We all know about the account of how Job in the Old Testament lost just about all that he had, including his health in just a short period of time. Many of the wealthy people as well as the wealth of the people who were invested in the Twin-Towers of New Yorkperished in a sudden unforeseen attack of the terrorists on Sept.11,2001. In short, both people, things, and conditions can change in a moment or over time. And if we are banking our joy and peace on these things we will surely be deeply disappointed someday and lose our joy and peace. But if we our joy and peace are founded in Christ alone, we will surely be able to rejoice always, because the Lord and His love for us will never change; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever(Heb 13:8)!
The Gk word for “content” is a very special word used only once here and it's autarkeia. It is a word that means to be entirely self-sufficient. This self-sufficiency is the height of the Stoic ethics. Bear with me as I explain what this word means because it is quite meaningful and applicable as well to us from the Christ standpoint. By autarkeia the Stoic meant a state of mind in which a man is absolutely and entirely independent of all things and all people. In other words, when a person has reason that state of nervana, he has need of nothing and no one, except of course the essential food and clothing for the basic sustenance of life. Now the Stoics taught that in order to reach that state, one has to eliminate all desire, which makes sense because if you have no desire whatsoever, then you will never be disappointed right? So, they taught that contentment consists not in possessing much but in wanting little. And if you want to make a man happy, add not to his possessions, but take away from his desires. Equation: Happiness = Reality – Desires/Expectations. (explain)
Now Paul of course is not advocating or teaching the Stoic philosophy when he used this word. Rather, he is stating that we can in fact be fully self-sufficient and be completely content if our desires are found in Christ alone! We need to ask ourselves, Is our desire simply to gain Christ to the uttermost? Or is there something else that we are seeking after in this world?
Since our world is not a place that we can find a state of true contentment, we must learn to experience Christ as our Contentment. “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6
V. Doxology and Conclusion (4:20-23)
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit!” (4:23) Praise the Lord that with Christ as our Joy and Contentment and the Church as the Furtherance of our Joy, we can continuously experience the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ! And the converse is also true, that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ enables us to experience the Christ as our Joy and Contentment and the Church as the Furtherance of our Joy!