Key Words in Philippians 02 the Word 'Joy' — David Clifford

One of your American soldiers came into one of our Birmingham hospitals, he was very ill and when he eventually came round he said to the Birmingham nurse, say nurse, have they brought me in here to die?

She said, no son, they brought you in yesterday. Now that's how we talk in Birmingham. And somebody couldn't understand my Birmingham lingo on Sunday but I think it was really because of this speaker I had round my chest.

I'd much rather have a speaker in my chest than round my chest. And people get on better when that happens. Let's hope that you can hear everything I say this morning because I wouldn't want you to miss the joy that the Lord has promised those who really trust in him.

Reading Philippians on Joy

Now let us turn to the word and read from the epistle to the Philippians, just a few verses here and there. Chapter 1, verse 3. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making request with joy.

Verse 25. Having this confidence I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

Chapter 2 and verse 14. Do all things without murmurings and disputings that you may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom you shine as light in the world.

Holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith I joy and rejoice with you all.

For this cause also do ye joy and rejoice with me. Chapter 3, verse 1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord that to write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous but for you it is safe.

Chapter 4, verse 1. Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, and long for my joy and crown. So stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech you, Odius and Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord and I treat thee also true, O fellow.

Help those women who laboured with me in the gospel with Clement also and with other my fellow labourers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation, your sweet yieldingness be known unto all men.

The Lord is nearby, the Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing. May the Lord bless to us the readings from his precious word. Now, I was thinking and praying about what the Lord would have me say to you this week and I thought well now I think they get rather a lot of theology at Park of the Palm so I'm not going to give them any deep theology.

It is true that I was tempted to try out on you some of my new theological lectures that I've been framing lately but I soon threw that idea out of the window. Recently or some months ago on the Pacific coast of your lovely country I was giving series on the minor prophets and I thought well now the minor prophets for Park of the Palm, no it can't be that.

And I felt the Lord was definitely directing me to speak on these devotional themes from the letter to the Philippians. Because I felt that you perhaps are not giving yourself to special theological study if you are I can help you.

But you are giving yourself to the Lord and to his will and you want his blessing you want to enjoy his presence and the fullness of his spirit more in your life. And I thought that's got to be some simple straightforward devotional exposition and a little bit of prophecy may be just the thing the Lord wants me to give to them.

Now on Sunday somebody reminded me that I spoke on Philippians once before when I was here. You know they've got very good memories some of these people in Park of the Palm. Well I suppose that's right when I first came three years ago I gave a series on the main themes of the prison epistles.

And I dealt with the main themes of each and of course one of the prison epistles is the letter to the Philippians. You might find in my talks these mornings one or two little bits of things I said in those days or perhaps in that one address on the main theme of the letter to the Philippians.

But this is really something quite different from that. I say that just to reassure you in case you think I'm going to repeat myself. Now Paul's imprisonment and this I said three years ago was definitely in the will of God.

He was there in prison at Rome but he was not languishing in prison he was rejoicing in the will of God. If you go anywhere in the will of God you always go to a place of blessing. Blessing is always the result of it.

He was rejoicing in the will of God. He said the things that have happened unto me, that is this imprisonment, have turned out rather for the fervourance of the gospel. He had a lot of added blessing in his own soul and there was lots of blessing for other people through him because of his imprisonment.

And actually, not incidentally, a lot of blessing for you and for me through his imprisonment too. Because while he was there he wrote quite a number of letters and four of them have come down to us. So one of the blessings in his own soul was this joy in the Lord in spite of his circumstances, in spite of his afflictions.

Paul's Imprisonment and the Will of God

Well this of course you must expect because God is no man's debtor. God said to him in Jerusalem on the first night of his imprisonment there, thou shalt testify for me in Rome as you have here in Jerusalem.

So he made a mental note of it and he said God wants me to go to Rome next and he was a prisoner. So he took the only way in the wide, wide world he could take to get to Rome. At the end of his defence one day in Jerusalem he said I appeal unto Caesar.

And Caesar was in Rome and his judges said to Caesar thou shalt go. And they put their heads together and said isn't this man a fool? If he hadn't wanted to appeal to Caesar we could have given him his liberty.

He didn't want liberty. God had said Rome and he said give me a ticket to Rome please. And they gave him a free ticket to Rome. To Caesar thou shalt go. So he knew that he was in the will of God. As a matter of fact half way there in the Mediterranean Sea I'm quite sure he had some fears and doubts as to whether he was in the will of God wouldn't you think?

Because it reads like this. All hope that we should be saved was then taken away and everybody was waiting for the boat to go down. So Paul said oh half a minute now didn't the Lord say I must go and testify in Rome?

And aren't we supposed to be on the way to Rome? I must go and have a quiet time about this. That's what you do when you don't know why this has happened and that has happened. He went to have a quiet time with the Lord and the Lord said to him fear not Paul you're all right.

You're in my will and you'll get to Rome. Nobody on the ship will be lost but the ship will be. So he came up on board and said, came up on deck and said sirs be of good cheer. And I can imagine him picking up something and throwing it at him.

Be of good cheer and the boat go down. Going down he said be of good cheer because I believe God that it shall be as it was told me. What was told him? In Jerusalem it was told him that he must testify in Rome.

He said God has confirmed that I'm in his will and I'm going to Rome and I'll get there. So he was there in Rome in the will of God suffering it's true in prison but rejoicing in the Lord. Like Madame Guyon in prison actually in a dirty dungeon in France for Christ's sake.

And this is how she put it. Within this place of certain good love evermore expands her wings and nestling neath thy perfect choice abides content with what it brings. No silken couch or softest bed could ever give me such sweet.

So the apostle was resting in the will of God but he was rejoicing in the will of God. You see if we are partakers of his suffering the scripture says in 2 Corinthians he himself says. We shall also be partakers of his consolation.

Now this is not talking about ordinary suffering backache, toothache, lumbago or gout. This is talking about suffering for Christ's sake in the context. And if we suffer for his sake we shall certainly find that he is no man's debtor.

Them that honour me I will honour and he gives his consolation to those. In Acts chapter 13 we read that they were persecuted. The next verse says they were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost. Now in Psalm 85 the psalmist is praying for revival.

He said Lord you have been very good to us in the past but now it is rather different. He said your anger, your righteous indignation is towards your people. Is this going to continue forever? And then he says, and this is the key verse of the psalm, Lord wilt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee.

And when God's people are in the will of God and when they are resting in God and when they have spiritual revival the life that is in them by the Spirit quickened the first result always must be joy and that in the Lord.

Joy in the Lord Through Spiritual Revival

Joy in the Lord. When David was in hiding in the cave of Adullam you remember there were 400 men who came to him and they were a motley crew. They were in debt and they were discontented and there was bitterness in their souls.

I am sure he paid their debts and he made them very satisfied and he took all the bitterness out of their souls and made them mighty men of war. What a joyful experience to be transformed by the one who became their captain.

So here the apostle expresses his joy and his joy in the Lord and he is also praising the Lord for their joy and exhorting them to rejoice in the Lord always. He rejoiced in his praying, he rejoiced in their preaching.

He rejoiced in his persecution and he rejoiced in their preparation. He rejoiced in his plenty and he rejoiced in his poverty. He rejoiced in their participation and he rejoiced in their profit. He rejoiced in the pouring out of his life for them and he rejoiced in the pouring out of Epaphroditus' life for him almost.

And he rejoiced in his possession of them and he rejoiced in their possession of him. But above all he rejoiced in Christ Jesus. His joy was in the Lord. Now as you know the theme of this letter is actually Christ is all.

But this main theme has quite a lot to do with the subject of joy which is our subject this morning. You see the key verse of the letter is, for to me to live is Christ. In chapter 1 and verse 21. And please notice he doesn't say for to me to live is to have the help of Christ.

Or to know the blessing of Christ. Or to enjoy the power of Christ. No, he said something far greater than all those or anything else you can think of. Justice, for to me to live is Christ. For Christ was his life.

In chapter 1 it is living Christ. Chapter 2 it is thinking like Christ. In chapter 3 it is knowing Christ. And in chapter 4 it is union with Christ. In chapter 1 living Christ, for to me to live is Christ.

Chapter 2 thinking like Christ let this mind be in you which is in Christ Jesus. And chapter 3 knowing Christ that I might know him. And chapter 4 union with Christ which of course is one of the apostles major themes in all his writings.

It stands out a mile in practically everything he says. Union with Christ in chapter 4 in this way. The phrase is in the Lord. And in verse 1 it is in the Lord for steadfastness. And in chapter 2 it is in the Lord for unity.

And in chapter 2 or rather verse 2. In verse 4 it is in the Lord for joy. And in verse 7 it is in the Lord for peace. And in verse 13 it is in the Lord for strength. And in verse 21 it is in the Lord for holiness.

You see chapter 1 is Christ our life. And chapter 2 is Christ our pattern. And chapter 3 is Christ our goal. And chapter 4 is Christ our strength. But having said all that I must affirm to you this morning that the Philippians is really an epistle of joy.

It is called the epistle of joy in Christ. Bengal said the sum of this letter is quote I rejoice rejoice ye. It seems to sum up the whole of the letter. Now the church at Philippi was born in suffering and song.

We were saying on Sunday how that the apostle went there in fulfilment to the Macedonian call. Philippi being the first city in Macedonia. And the first thing he did after speaking to the women by the riverside.

And then leading the young woman with the spirit of divination to Christ was to get into prison. There was a tumult. They were thrown into prison. And the suffering began. But the song began at the same time too.

And the church began at the same time too. The church at Philippi was born in suffering and song. Their joy or the joy was in their service for Christ. Their joy was in their sacrifice for Christ. But above all their joy was in Christ their saviour himself.

Joy as the Fruit of Trust, Prayer, and Holiness

Now God always gives to his own who are trusting him and leaning on the everlasting arms as we were singing. The oil of joy for mourning for the spirit of heaviness. Casting all our care upon him being anxious for nothing as the apostle says here.

But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Making requests. Our requests known unto God. God takes away the anxiety and care. We take our burdens to the Lord and leave them there.

And he turns the spirit of heaviness and the spirit of mourning and the spirit of distress and the spirit of bitterness to joy in himself. Our God you see is not only the God of love. He is not only the righteous God, the God of holiness.

He is not only the God of all grace and the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort. But our God is the God of joy. And he is my God of exceeding joy. After all said and done one of the fruits of the spirit of God and the spirit of Christ in the life of each believer is joy.

I say fruits I know very well it is a nine fold fruit. The expression of the life of the spirit of God and Christ in the life of the believer. But the expressions are many and joy is noticeable. The character of God is seen in the book of Nehemiah.

When the walls were completed and the work was done and they were praising the Lord this is what it said. And I rather like this verse. God made the people rejoice with great joy. Even if they wanted to complain and criticize God ruled it all out.

This was a day of thanksgiving. His work was done and he gave them all joy in their hearts whether they wanted it or not. He made the people rejoice and that is the kind of God we have. If you walk with him you will be joyful in him.

If you walk in the light with God the joy of God will fill and fill your soul. So we read they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with joy. Now we sing a chorus to the children or with the children in England at least we used to.

Probably they are a little different these days. I haven't done any children's work in England for a long time. But we used to sing them a little chorus or sing with them this chorus about joy. It's an acrostic on the word joy.

J-O-Y. It says J stands, now I'm not going to sing it to you so don't get concerned. J stands for Jesus. Y stands for you. O it is that comes between and stands for nothing too. Let nothing come between whatever you do.

Let nothing come between the Saviour Jesus and you. And when there is nothing between the J and the Y the spelling as far as I understand the English language or the American English language is joy. Now how can we know the joy of a holy God if we are not walking in holiness.

How can we know the joy of the Father of all nurses if we are not trusting him to provide our every need. Now then for our little study this morning. I think it's time we got to it. I must apologise for the lengthy introduction.

And you'll see the idea in three ways in this letter this morning. In relation to joy. First of all Paul's experience of it. And then his expectation of it. And then his exhortation about it. Now that's simple.

You can remember that. I'm a simple soul. And I like to give something simple that you can remember the message by and apply it to your heart. And so we read in chapter one and verses four. Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.

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. Paul's experience of it then first of all. One in the requests he prayed about.

And two in the preaching he heard about later on in that chapter. And thirdly in the Philippians he talked about his experience of joy. He was very happy to go to Philippi in answer to the Macedonian call.

And to evangelise them. But now he was very happy to pray for them. In his Colossian epistle he exhorts by saying continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Here he speaks about his continuity in prayer.

In chapter four he speaks about... In chapter two he speaks about epastrophes continuance in prayer for them. And continuity is the proof of reality. He not only joyfully evangelised them. And the work of evangelism is a joyful experience when you see God working in saving souls.

From perdition to a life of blessedness and eternal glory. He was happy to instruct them from time to time. Joyful in teaching them the word of God. And now he was joyful in his prayers for them. Now you see real prayer is a work just as evangelism is.

But it is a joy just as evangelism is too. When you pray each passing day do you pray believing? Do you pray the gospel way, asking and receiving? And do you rejoice in the Lord? I like to start each day, sometimes before I get up.

And turn over and say oh Lord I rejoice in you. No servant of the Lord can be effective in his ministry if the joy of the Lord is not his strength. You see somebody standing outside the gospel chapel door with a face as long as a donkey's.

And he says to the pastor by, will you come in? He said no thank you I have enough troubles of my own. But joy is so contagious and to be effective in the service of Christ we as Paul did must experience it in our ministry and in our prayer life too.

Don't you ever get up from your quiet time? Jumping about, dancing around, rejoicing in the Lord? What's your quiet time for? If it doesn't give you joy and if God doesn't come into your soul in a new way and give you guidance with new light and blessing in a new dimension and the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Anyway he was rejoicing in his prayers for them, about them. He said Lord I'm ever so happy you led me to Philippi. And Lord I'm rejoicing in you that you led me to lead them to Christ. Lord thank you very much I'm so happy you put me in prison there.

Because the jailer and his family were converted you see. And he was rejoicing in every remembrance of them in his prayers. Rejoicing in the Lord. Not only in his requests which he prayed about but in his preaching which he heard about.

He was rejoicing. You see in chapter 1 and verse 18 he speaks about two types of people in that context who were now that he was in prison they were now preaching the word and preaching Christ themselves.

Some of course were very sincere but others were not quite so sincere. I think some of them were perhaps showing an ulterior motive and they were desirous of getting the following for themselves. And that's not very good.

Then in spite of the bad motive that some had they were preaching the word. They were preaching Christ and that gave the apostle a lot of joy in his soul as well. I sometimes listen to people preaching the gospel who don't belong to our lot.

You know what I mean. They're not the Ossites you know. And I listen to them preaching the word. And I just can't help rejoicing when Christ is preached. I don't turn around and push them around and say where's your label?

What do you belong to? Who do you belong to? I rejoice that Christ is preached. God will always bless that. Those who hear it in the right way will find the joy of the Lord their portion has poured it in prison.

And thirdly in this connection Paul's experience of it. In the Philippians he talked about in chapter 4 and verse 1. Because he said to them you are my joy and crown. So stand fast in the Lord my dearly beloved.

He was always longing for them and I'm sure they were always longing for him. I was saying on Sunday this was not only an acknowledgement of the gift and a plea for unity this letter. And a warning against Judaism that it was a love letter.

He loved them dearly and they loved him dearly too. And now you see he was letting them know that in this present life they themselves were his joy. Well you can understand that. They meant so much to him.

I went home to England the other day to see a grandson of mine I'd never seen. Well what a joy that was. I had just before I left in the end of August I'd seen my new granddaughter and she's fantastic.

Well of course I'm biased a little bit. But she's really fantastic but I'd never seen this little boy you know he's not so pretty. But he's great. Well you see I'm a little bit biased and I'm so full of joy when I see them and they belong to me.

And he says you belong to me I am your father in the faith. And for some of them they'd be old enough to be the grandfather in the faith so to speak. And they were his present joy. Well that's understandable.

Paul's Expectation of Joy in the Believers

But he says something else as well. There's a day coming when we're going to meet the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ. And in that day you are going to be my joy as well. Not only now presently but then in that day.

Because he knew very well that God is faithful to his servant. And that this judgment is a judgment for reward. And it's gold, silver, precious stones or wood, hay and stubble. Will my work bring rich reward or loss and shame and trouble.

When my master says well done how I shall rejoice. But what if I must hang my head when I hear his voice. And the master was going to say well done to him. And he knew it was a time of rejoicing coming.

As the present was a time of rejoicing for him too. And secondly joy. His expectation of it. He expected joy in seeing their oneness. He expected joy in the assurance of their blamelessness. And he expected joy in the satisfaction he would gain from their witness.

You see in each of these ideas he expresses his joy. And here he is expressing an expectation of further joy. He was making a plea for their oneness. He said I beseech you odious and sympathy that they be of the same mind in the Lord.

And he says in chapter 2 and verse 2. Fulfill ye my joy that ye be like minded. What he is saying is this. Your unity will spell my joy. You will bring to me added joy if I know that you are one with one another.

And he gave a little exhortation about that in the same verse. In verse 2 of chapter 2 he says having the same love. Now when he said that he meant love and be loved equally. And that is basic to unity which is basic to joy.

Not only so but he expected joy in the assurance of their blamelessness. And this is what he appeals for in chapter 2 and verse 15 and 16. That you may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke.

In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice. In the day of Christ that I have not run in vain neither laboured in vain.

He was not only expecting unity, their unity to bring him joy. But their blamelessness as well. He is really saying three things here. He wants to rejoice in the day of Christ. When he looks back upon them as having been sons spiritually.

As having been shining morally. As having been serving effectively. This was his great desire for them. And he said now if this comes to pass I am going to really rejoice when I see the Lord with you.

He was making a plea for spiritual maturity when he spoke of them becoming blameless and harmless the sons of God. When you see the word sons in the New Testament very often, not always, but very often it is to do with spiritual maturity.

And this is the meaning here. God, Paul expected them and God expects us to develop spiritually. We shall never be sinless but by the grace of God we can be blameless and spiritually mature. We must not be children and infants tossed about with every wind of doctrine.

We must learn the doctrines of the word. We must learn the word himself. We must know Christ. And when we do we shall not only be filled with joy but we shall be sons of God. If you are led by the Spirit of God then are you the sons of God says the apostle in Romans chapter 8.

Sons spiritually and shining morally. Blameless, shining in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Shining as light in the world. What a dark place this is in which we live. Dark, dismal, difficult, godless world.

Why hasn't God taken us out of this place yet? It's so dark he wants some light to shine until the church is completed. And you are the light of the world. Because of the Spirit of Christ in you, because Christ is the light of the world.

And you are the light of the world in him and because of his indwelling presence by his Spirit. You must shine as lights in the world. Living your life to the praise and glory of his holy name. And if the Philippians would do that.

Not only develop into spiritual maturity but shine by the Spirit in this wicked world. Then that would bring great joy to the apostle Paul. And he expected joy in the satisfaction of their witness in verse 16.

Holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ. And God has given us his word not only for ourselves but to use in his holy service. We must hold forth the word of life to bring life to those who are dead in trespasses and in sin.

It is the life, it is the word of God which quickeneth. We are born again of the incorruptible seed of the word of God. And to really shine and be effective in our witness we must hold forth the word of life.

I tell my students the command is preach the word. And if we are going to fulfil that command three things are essential. One we must learn the word to preach it. We must know what we are talking about.

Secondly we must learn how to preach it. It says preach the word. And that is where homiletics comes in. The art of preaching. And we must learn to preach it independent upon the Holy Spirit of God. As mature sons controlled and led by the Holy Spirit of God.

And then the witness will be effective. Well now the Apostle John you remember said I have no greater joy that my children walk in truth. But here the Apostle Paul is saying much more than that. His joy was in their maturity in the truth.

His joy was in their integrity in the truth. And his joy was in their pedagogy of the truth as they taught it and preached it to others. And thirdly and finally because it is almost time to finish. Not only Paul's experience of joy and Paul's expectation of joy.

Rejoicing in the Lord Rather Than the Flesh

But in this letter we see Paul's exhortation about joy. Which is really the main part of the sermon this morning. See in exhorting to joy he is suggesting that repetition should end in realisation. Chapter 3 in verse 1.

In exhorting to joy he is suggesting that the flesh must end in failure. A few verses lower down. And in exhorting to joy he is plainly telling us that the secret must be the saviour. And our joy must be in him.

You notice what he says at the beginning of chapter 3. Finally my brethren. And then he didn't conclude. You know what the definition of an optimist is don't you? An optimist is a man in the pew. Who believes the preacher when he says finally my brethren.

Let's just work that out. Well how do you suppose one of us who says finally and doesn't conclude. Because later on in verse 8 of chapter 4 he says finally. Makes you wonder how many more times he is going to say finally.

You see he was a real preacher. And a real preacher is brought along by the Holy Spirit. And he might have it in his mind to conclude and the Holy Spirit leads him on. And won't be behind anybody or anything that stands in the way of the Holy Spirit leading its servant on.

I was in an assembly in the United States. I wouldn't dream of telling you where it was. But nobody was interested in coming on time. And everybody was interested in finishing on time. It wasn't a very spiritual affair as you can imagine.

Anyway he says finally brethren. I'm going to repeat what I said before. Rejoice in the Lord. And to write these same things to you. To keep telling you to rejoice in the Lord. It might be rubbing you up the wrong way.

But I'm quite sure it's safe for you. When he said the same things. I really take it to mean I know you think it's something else. We won't quarrel about that. But I think it means his continual exhortations to them to rejoice in the Lord.

So he says repetition should end in realization that it is the Lord himself in whom our joy should be. He says of course later on in verse 3. We have no confidence in the flesh. The flesh must always end in failure.

It's good for us to look upon ourselves sometimes without undue introspection. And give a vote of no confidence in our own flesh. Self-confidence, fleshly confidence will never bring us joy and never bring glory to our God.

You know in the British Parliament a few months ago. Our friend Heath thought he would have a vote of confidence in himself. And he got let down. And he got thrown out. And if you know we try to pass a vote of confidence in our flesh.

And what we can do. I'm afraid we're going to be let down by ourselves badly in the end. And other people will not be blessed through our life and ministry. And then of course he says the secret must be the saviour.

The joy must be in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. There's a lovely hymn by Simpson, Dr. Simpson that says. Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord. Woe betide any believer that gets to himself lots of things.

And his joy is in his things and in his possessions. Woe betide any saint of God whose joy is in his circumstances. He says to himself my circumstances are ideal. I live at the park of the palms. What can you think of better than that?

I've spoken about parks of the palms in different parts of the world. In glowing terms as though it's just heaven upon earth. And you say yes and I live there. And what better circumstances in the world can I have than that?

If our joy is in circumstances. If our joy is in possessions. If our joy is in pleasures. All these things change and all these things pass away. If our joy is in our possessions. They have wings and they fly away.

But if our joy is in the Lord, there it is permanent. Then it will abide. Not circumstances they change. Not possessions they melt away. And not even in our health. Now you see Paul, his circumstances were against him.

But his joy was there because it was in the Lord. You see Paul, he hadn't got any possessions. He said I know what it is to be in want. And he hadn't got a beam until they sent him a love offering from Philippi.

But he was still rejoicing in the Lord because his joy was in the Lord. And not in his money because he hadn't got any at that time. If his joy had been in his possessions, now that he'd got money he wouldn't be happy.

But he was happy because his joy was in the Lord. And of course his joy wasn't in his personal health either. He wasn't getting on very well. Now would you like to be a little ill like Paul and have bad eyesight and be a bit rheumatic.