Find your Joy in Jesus | Philippians 3:1-7
Much of scripture, much of Jesus’ ministry was to remind His followers how this life is not the only life. Jesus came down and reminded people there is another kingdom, a greater kingdom than any kingdom on earth, and God is King in that Kingdom, Christ is King. The Christian life is a life following Christ—the word Christian literally means “Christ Follower.” It is a life full of hope, full of joy, full of peace, full of love, all happening in our lives regardless of how hard our lives become in this life.
- Find Joy in following Christ.
“Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.”
--Philippians 3:1
Look at how Paul starts and ends this chapter in his letter to the church in Philippi.
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for s Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”
--Philippians 3:20-21.
He is bookending this chapter with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is a hard chapter in Paul’s letter. It is a corrective chapter. He is going to cover some hard truths within this chapter like understanding the fact that the Christian will suffer in this life—because their savior suffered. The fact that we are to die to ourselves and our own ambitions and put Christ’s ambitions first in our life. And pushing forward in this life as we walk and stand with Christ; pushing forward the gospel in this dark world and even in our church communities.
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by the same standard to which we have attained. Brethren, join in following my example..”
--Philippians 3:14-17
Paul’s main goal in writing this letter to the Philippians is to hold them accountable in their conflict and to bring them back to the biblical gospel—the true gospel of Jesus Christ. There is joy to be found as we worship and follow the one true God.
“So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
--John 10:7-10
“Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.”
--Psalm 100:1-5
“Joy” in Psalm 100:1-5 and Joshua 6:20
רוּעַ rûwa to shout, raise a sound, cry out, give a blast to shout a war-cry or alarm of battle
“Rejoice” in Philippians 3:1
χαίρω chaírō a primary verb; to be "cheer"ful, i.e. calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation
“The Bible teaches us that joy is a gift from God, and that it is something to be celebrated and shared with others. Joy is rooted in who God is. It is not fleeting or based on circumstances. Worldly possessions, accomplishments, even the people in our lives, are blessings that make us happy and fuel joyfulness. However, the Bible teaches that the source of all joy is Jesus. God’s plan from the beginning, the Word made flesh to dwell among us, is rock solid, allowing us to navigate difficult situations without happiness while sustaining our joy.”
--BibleStudyTools.com
The Christians’ position in this world is a joyous one—we are called to find Joy in our Lord and saviour Jesus. He is our shepherd. He is our door to salvation. His sheep hear his voice, The joy of the church is our battle cry in this spiritual war; the world will know us by our love and how we stand for Christ’s truth with joy.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow…”
--John 10:1-5
- Beware of the false teachers of God’s word. beware of the evil in the world that wants to take you away from your joy: Jesus Christ.
“Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh”
--Philippians 3:2-3
We know from earlier in Paul’s letter that is hard to find a trustworthy elder; someone to come and preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ even in Rome and Philippi.
“But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you…for I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.”
--Philippians 2:19-21
The world around this church, the leading city of Macedonia, was filled with fortune tellers, naysayers, a Roman Government cult that worshipped Julius Caesar—they were surrounded by dogs, selfish “elders, overseers and pastors,” people that twisted scripture, that taught a wrong version of Jesus to fill their needs instead of feeding God’s people the truth—does this sound familiar?
“That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say,
‘See this, it is new’? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still.”
--Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
We are in a spiritual battle, Paul references this in Ephesians 6:12, this spiritual battle started in Genesis 3 and will continue until Revelation 19. Satan is repackaging his old tactics, religions and pagan idolatry over and over again—we especially see it in our world today. There is nothing new under the sun.
“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are [h]exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.”
--Ephesians 5:6-13
Sons and daughters of disobedience, then, are those who have chosen to unrighteously suppress the truth of God (Romans 1:18). This is not a matter of occasional sin but a willful rejection of God’s sovereign authority in their lives, placing them under the tyrannical rule of Satan.
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
--John 3:19-21
John Knox was a key, Scottish reformer who challenged the power of the Catholic church. The catholic church was restored under a monarchy of Queen Mary 1—this means the catholic church ruled both the government and the religious “Christian” church. The church was teaching wrong doctrines not found in scripture like the Queen’s authority over the church, the literal body and blood of Christ in the eucharist, the church was teaching the bible in a dead language, Latin, so the congregation couldn’t understand the liturgy and mass. It was impossible to correct the church because of this.
Knox challenged all these false doctrines (not found in scripture). His mentor was executed by the church, Knox was arrested as the catholic church worked with the French-Scottish armies to arrest Him. He was a galley slave for 19 months. In 1559 he went back to Scotland and established the reformed Presbyterian Church.
"The Scriptures of God are my only foundation and substance in all matters of weight and importance. Although I never lack the presence and plain image of my own wretched infirmity, yet seeing sin that so manifestly abounds in all estates, I am compelled to thunder out the threats of God against the obstinate rebels."
--John Knox
The Protestant Reformation was built on five foundational doctrines known as the "five solas," which state that Christians are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone.
Sola Gratia - "grace alone" Sola Fide - "faith alone" Solus Christus - "Christ alone"
Sola Scriptura - "Scripture alone" Soli Deo Gloria - "to the glory of God alone"
How does a church keep in line with Christ; how do we become more like Christ in this world, in this Spiritual Battle?
- Deny yourself. Humble yourself. Put your confidence in Jesus Christ; not in the principalities of this world.
“…although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”
--Philippians 3:4-7
If you keep reading we can understand what Paul is saying here. Paul is saying that as Saul; he was a perfect follower of the Law, he found confidence in the flesh, the law of God and following the law. Remember, he was a pharisee and the pharisees added man made laws to God’s laws. They perverted God’s word by adding man-made practices (that are beyond God’s word) to bring themselves salvation.
“… More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.”
--Philippians 3:8
Paul is celebrating his times of suffering. He is celebrating the sacrifice he has had to have made following Christ. Paul has denied himself earthly pleasures, his status as a rabbi, his power that he wielded as Saul, even his earthly freedom as he has preached the gospel and subjected himself to prison because of that—Paul celebrates because he is following Christ.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”
--Matthew 16:24-27
“…for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
--1 Thessalonians 5:5-11