A Letter of Joy

Today, turn in your Bibles to the Philippians 1:1.  We’ll start today and finish this four-chapter book of the New Testament before the end of December.  You could simply call our entire study but also this first message, “The Letter of Joy.”

 

 

1. The Author and His Associate

1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ

 

The Apostle Paul is the author of this letter to the Philippian Church.  Remember, he is the most prolific author of our New Testament writing at least 13 books. 

 

What do we know about this man?  His resume of sorts can be found later in this letter, 3:5-6.

 

5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

 

However, in Acts 9, we learn of his conversion experience, 9:3-9.

 

3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”  5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”  Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”  6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”  Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

 

BTW, Saul’s name wasn’t changed to Paul.  Saul was his Hebrew name.  Paul was his Gentile name.  Because he was the Apostle to the Gentiles vs. Peter, the Apostle to the Jews, we are more accustomed to his Gentile name.

 

Paul’s associate was a young man named Timothy.  In 1 Timothy 1:2, Paul called him his son in the faith.

 

Paul was introduced to Timothy in Acts 16:1-3.  We know that Timothy was introduced to Christ by his mother and grandmother, 2 Timothy 1:5.

 

1 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.

 

5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

 

BTW, here is your T. E. L.  It doesn’t stand for The Elderly Ladies but Timothy, Eunice, and Lois.

 

Together, Paul and Timothy were bondservants of Jesus Christ.  If you have been saved, that should be true of you too.  If Jesus isn’t your master, you haven’t been born again.

 

2. The Audience

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons

 

There was only one church in Philippi composed of all the saints.  However, “saints” doesn’t refer to dead people.  These are living and breathing brothers and sisters in Christ. 

 

Also, “saints” isn’t some extra special class of Christians.  Saint means holy one, set apart from sin and self and set apart to God. 

 

If you a Christian, a brother or sister in Christ, been saved, born again, are a follower of Jesus, you are a saint because that is who we are in Christ Jesus.  You aren’t holy in and of yourself, but we are holy when we are in Christ.

 

Who were some of these saints in Philippi?  Turn to Acts 16.

 

In Acts 16:14-15, Lydia and her family were saved.

 

14 Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.

 

In Acts 16:29-33, the Philippian Jailor and his family were saved.

 

29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.  30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

 

And there seems to have been even more who met at Lydia’s house for church.

 

40 So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

 

Paul not only wrote this letter of joy to the saints in Philippi, but that also included the church leaders.  He mentions the two offices of the church then and today.

 

First is the bishop.  This single office is referred to in the New Testament by multiple titles.  Bishop, overseer, elder, and pastor all refer to the same office, the same position.

 

Second is deacon.  This is also an office of the church but without the responsibility of teaching. 

 

 

3. Paul’s Ambition for Writing

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Verse 2 is a very common Pauline greeting.  Grace is the giving of what we don’t deserve.  Namely, we could never deserve salvation, but God gave us the opportunity to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. 

 

And when a person receives Jesus as Lord and Savior, he or she receives peace from God because that person is now at peace with God.  You can only be at peace with God and receive peace from God through a personal, saving relationship with God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

 

I would suggest to you that Paul had at least three ambitions or goals in writing this letter of joy.  First, he wanted to give a report on Epaphroditus.  Evidently, this saint had brought a gift to Paul from the Philippian Church.

 

While on the trip, he became very sick.  He almost died, but Paul sent this letter of joy back to the church reporting what happened.  See 2:25-30.

 

25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; 26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.

 

Second, Paul wanted to thank the Philippian Church for their support of him while he was in jail.  They seemed to have sent some type of financial support to him.  See 4:10.

 

10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity.

Paul’s third and final ambition in writing this letter was to encourage these Christians to choose joy!  See 4:4.

 

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

 

The noun “joy” or the verb “rejoice” is found some 16 times in this letter.  That is why it is often called the letter of joy.

 

Notice that Paul encourages the Philippians to choose joy in all situations.  You might even say he commanded such. 

 

How in the word could he do that?  How could he do that in light of his situation? 

 

Remember, Paul wrote this letter from a Roman Prison Cell.  How do we know?  Look back at chapter 1.

 

1:7, just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.

 

1:13, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ;

 

1:14, and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

 

1:16, The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains;

 

Paul chose joy himself, but going forward, let’s understand what joy is by understanding what is not.

 

Joy is not happiness.  Happiness is the positive feeling that you get when external circumstances are going your way.  Most of the time, these circumstances are beyond our control.

 

Joy, on the other hand, is the positive feeling that a Christian can choose because of the internal reality of being saved.  Even though Paul’s external circumstances didn’t produce happiness in him, he chose to rejoice because of who he was in Christ. 

 

The world is full of reasons not to be happy.  And of course, there are some people who naturally choose mad instead of joy.  We even have some of those folks at EBC.

 

They are down on Emory and Rains County and Rains ISD and the school board and the high school and the junior high and the intermediate and the elementary school.  They are down on the Rangers and the Cowboys and the Mavericks.  They are down on Bro. Richard and Bro. Ronnie and Bro. Chris and their Sunday School Teacher.  They are down on the Texas and the US and the world.

 

Brothers and sisters, in a watching world that needs to see the difference that Christ makes, I invite you to make it a habit of choosing joy!  It is a conscious decision, and you can start today.

 

 

Conclusion

However, it is next to impossible if you have never received the grace of God in your life by receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  Would you do that this morning?