Preached Sunday, August 26, 2012 from Philippians 4:4-5
Theme: In this world, we are to display a constant fellowship with Jesus through joy in all circumstances and graciousness toward all people.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
This morning, we begin studying one of my favorite sections of the Book of Philippians. And what’s more, it’s a wonderfully practical section as well. The whole Book of Philippians is about experiencing a prevailing joy in Christ in the every-day trials of life. And this particular section contains a series of short commands that, altogether, have to do with putting that joy into daily action.
We’re only going to study the first couple of verses of this section today; but I’d like to read this whole series of short commands to you. Philippians 4:4-9 says;
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4-9).
You might divide this very practical section into two halves—the first half that has to do with our outward life in Christ, and the second half that has to do with our inward life in Christ. Verses 6-9 tell us about that inward life. In verses 6-9, Paul tells us how to put the joy of Christ to work in our inner-being. They tell us how to fight anxiety and worry through prayer; how to take control of our inward thoughts and feelings, and how to imitate the right examples. I believe that Paul’s words in those verses—given through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—give us some of the greatest instructions on good, sound, sanctified ‘mental-health’ that you’ll ever find.
But today, I ask that we just concentrate on verses 4-5; and on what they tell us about putting the joy of Christ to work in our outward being—in the realm of our external interaction with other people.
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Now; to help set our thinking for these two verses, I’d like to tell you about a meeting I had with someone about twelve or thirteen years ago. It is what I today consider to be one of the greatest hour-and-a-half conversations of my life.
Our church used to host a West-side pastoral prayer group. It was a small group of local pastors from nearby churches that met downstairs on a regular basis. We’d share concerns, ask advice, and pray for each other. But on one of these scheduled meetings, as it turned out, no one showed up. I was just about to shut the door and go on to other things, when a retired pastor that I had never met before came in. He was quite elderly; but he was nevertheless a very rugged and winsome old man with a warm smile and a radiant love for Jesus. As it turned out, he was Dr. Al Wollen—the man that God used to help started Cedar Mill Bible Church. He was a very close friend and mentor to Dr. Luis Palau. I’m so glad I didn’t lock the door and go away; because we spent a delightful hour-and-a-half together—just Dr. Wollen and me.
To tell you the truth, I can’t remember much of the details of that conversation. For me, it was mostly time spent basking in the glow of an old saintly man who loved Jesus Christ. But it was truly one of the greatest conversations of my life. He told me stories about being a pastor, and about some of the things that he had learned about small group Bible studies. That was his area of specialty. In fact, after our meeting, he was even so gracious as to mail me some copies of a couple of books he had written on small-group ministries. I still have and treasure them. But the thing that I learned the most from him—the thing that has endured all through these years—was a short phrase that he used to summarizes the Christian life. It’s the four-C’s of the Christian life: a constant, conscious communion with Christ.
I never met dear old Dr. Wollen again after that day. And in fact, not long after that meeting, he went on to be with the Lord that he loved and served. But that simple description of the Christian life that he gave me has stayed with me—and I’m pretty sure will stay will me for the rest of my life: a constant, conscious communion with Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; we—by God’s grace—are given the privilege of fellowship with Jesus Christ. We enjoy that fellowship, not just in a ‘figurative’ sense, but quite literally. His resurrected and glorified body has ascended and is seated at the right hand of the Father. But the Father has sent the Holy Spirit to us in His place; and the Spirit mediates the presence of Jesus to us. As Jesus Himself told the disciples, just before He went to the cross;
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:15-17).
And then Jesus added,
“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (v.18).
In other words, the Holy Spirit on earth—in a truly mysterious and wonderful way—actually ministers the very presence of the Lord Jesus to us; so that through the Spirit’s ongoing ministry in us, we truly walk in daily fellowship with Jesus Himself. That’s why, just before He ascended to the Father, He told His disciples,
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you . . .
and added this amazing promise—a promise that is being fulfilled even as we speak,
“. . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Thanks to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, every genuine, individual believer has the wonderful privilege of walking in daily fellowship with Jesus Himself! Our Lord and God is also our Companion and Friend. He is with us at church, at home, at work, at school, at play; when we’re with our family, when we’re with our neighbors, when we’re with our workmates; when we’re with our fellow students; when we’re with our friends; wherever we go, whatever we do, whoever we meet. It is a genuine reality that we can—and should—enjoy a constant conscious communion with Christ.
And what the apostle Paul is telling us, in verses 4-5 of our passage this morning, is how we are to put that constant conscious communion into action in our outward relations and experiences. What does that continual fellowship with Jesus look like in the daily circumstances of life? In these two verses, Paul both tells us what that constant communion should look like, and commands us to put it into action.
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There are two basic commands in these two verses. And the first shows us that we display a continual fellowship with Jesus Christ in this world by exhibiting . . .
1. JOY IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES (v. 4).
“Rejoice in the Lord always,” Paul tells us. And to make sure we get the point, he adds, “Again I will say, rejoice!”
Now; it’s important to remember that, when Paul wrote this command, he himself was sitting in a prison cell—possibly awaiting execution. He didn’t know whether he would live or die. But he nevertheless had joy. He was literally ‘living-out’ what he was urging his brothers and sisters to do.
Let’s look at Paul’s words in a bit more detail. First, let’s consider what he says we are to do—”Rejoice”. This isn’t talking about mere “happiness”; because happiness depends on happy circumstances. Rather, it is speaking of “joy”—which is a state of being that transcends the circumstances and that is not dependent upon them. This is something that is not of ourselves but is, instead, of the Lord. It is the Lord’s own joy lived out in us. “These things I have spoken to you,” Jesus said, “That My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). It’s something that is not conjured up by us but is, instead, the “fruit” of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It’s something that is beyond mere “happiness” but, instead is—as the apostle Peter described it—”joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8). We have been given the capacity for the very joy of Jesus Himself, as a gracious endowment of the Holy Spirit; and we are to choose to act upon that endowment and obey the command to “rejoice”.
Second, notice how we are to do it—”in the Lord”. And there may be a couple of different ways of understanding this—both very possible and very true. First, because it is His own joy, we can only experience it in and through a relationship with Him. We must be “in” Him. He is our source of joy; and we cannot have joy except we abide in that “constant conscious communion” with Him. The closer we are united to Him, and the more dependent we are upon Him, and the more we keep in obedience to His commands and walk as He leads us, the more we will experience His own joy. The phrase “in the Lord”, then, would describe a relationship of spiritual union with Him that is so complete that He Himself is the source of our joy. We are to “rejoice in the Lord”, then, by being in relationship with Him by faith.
But a second possibility—equally true—is that we are to rejoice in Him as a person. What a wonderful Savior He is! What a wonderful Friend! What a wonderful Teacher! What a wonderful example! What a wonderful Master! He gives us the invitation;
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
The phrase “in the Lord” in that case would mean that He is the object of our joy. In all the changing circumstances of life, Jesus and His love for us is the one great unchanging certainty. And if my joy is fixed upon Him, then my experience of that joy is as unchanging as He is.
And finally, notice when we are to rejoice in the Lord—”always”. We are to rejoice in Him always, at all times, in all circumstances—no matter what may come our way. This isn’t mere ‘positive-thinking’. This is based on substantial theological realities that are sure and certain, and that are known and fully believed by us. As Paul has written in the Book of Romans;
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).
It’s interesting that Paul felt led by the Holy Spirit to repeat this command. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” Why? I suppose that it’s because there would be difficult trials and circumstances when we might be tempted to say, “Oh sure; ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’ ordinarily—when things are going relatively alright. But surely not now! This situation is different! Surely I can’t be expected to ‘rejoice in the Lord’ in this trial! It wouldn’t be ‘reasonable’ to expect me to rejoice in this situation!” But yes—even in those sorts of trials and circumstances when we are most tempted not to rejoice in the Lord. Even then—”Again I will say, rejoice!” Because our joy is not based on the circumstances, but in the Lord Jesus.
When the trials come, we’re tempted to forget our call to rejoice. If you look back in this letter, you’ll find that Paul himself had to “re-remember” and “re-resolve” to rejoice. In 1:18; he wrote about the difficult trial of sitting in a prison cell while others went out to preach the gospel out of ‘pretense’—that is, in order to make him feel even worse. But he wrote; “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice . . .” And do you notice what he goes on to say? “. . . yes, and will rejoice.”
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And I wonder if you can see how keeping this command—to “rejoice in the Lord always”—is a great ‘advertisement’ to the rest of the world of the reality of the message we proclaim. We are telling people about a wonderful Savior who has died for their sins; and that they can enter into a relationship with Him. People would naturally expect that if we have that relationship ourselves, we will experience a prevailing joy that cannot be explained.
But notice that our relationship with Christ is also to be exhibited through a . . .
2. GRACIOUSNESS TOWARD ALL PEOPLE (v. 5).
Paul went on to write, “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” And this too is a part of how a constant conscious communion with Christ is to be displayed to the watching world.
This second command puts meat on the first one. I can say that I am “rejoicing in the Lord always”—and no one can really know whether I truly am or not. But if I do not—at the same time as a say I ‘rejoice in the Lord’—conduct myself toward other people in a way that is consistent with that joy, I put the lie to my claim. I can’t exhibit the Lord’s own joy in the difficult circumstances of life, and be rude and impatient and grouchy and quarrelsome toward other people at the same time. But if I am gracious toward other people, then—to a certain degree—my joy in the Lord is obvious through my gracious, calm, patient manner.
Look first at what Paul says we are to do—”Let your gentleness be known”. You may be interested to know that the word that Paul uses here is one that is not found elsewhere in ancient Greek literature—which has led some scholars to wonder if it wasn’t a word that Paul made-up in order to communicate a unique attitude that only the Holy Spirit can produce in us through Christ. It’s a word that means “to yield upon” something; and it is variously translated: “gentleness”; “mildness”; or “courteousness”—although one word alone doesn’t seem enough to translate it’s full meaning. Perhaps the best way to translate it is as one Bible commentator has it: “sweet reasonableness”.
It’s an attitude of quiet mildness and sweetness of disposition that does not need to defend one’s self at every turn or answer back at every wrong done to one’s self. It’s the attitude that is characteristic of Jesus Himself . . .
“who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously . . .” (1 Peter 2:23).
It’s certainly not an attitude that is indifferent to the injustice or evil that is done to others. It’s not an attitude that is unconcerned when God’s word is ignored or that doesn’t contend for the truth of the gospel. It isn’t an attitude that fails to defend what ought to be defended. Rather, it’s an attitude that doesn’t seek to defend one’s self. It’s an attitude that doesn’t mind if someone things we’re wrong. It’s an attitude that doesn’t try to elevate one’s self over others. It’s the attitude that Paul described in Philippians 2:3-4;
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).
I felt that I was called upon to obey this command this week; and I share this to illustrate what I think this word means. I was looking at some things that some friends put on their Facebook wall the other day—ideas and attitudes that were very ungodly. They were insulting good people of Christian faith. I had a real fire in my belly about it; and I had my fingers poised over the keyboard to put them in their place! I was ready to really let them have a piece of my mind! But then, I stopped. Would this really accomplish anything good? No; not really. It would just make me look quarrelsome—and maybe even a bit defensive. Would the fireball I was about to shoot at them really change their mind? No; not likely. More than anything else, it would just harden them further. Does anything they have said, in the end, really change anything that’s true? No; not at all. God’s truth still stands—and He still knows the hearts of His people.
I decided to let it go and not worry about it. Instead, I decided to just love that person. I tried to think about the experiences that may have made them think the way they do. I asked God’s forgiveness for thinking that I really needed to defend myself or to put them in their place; prayed that God would change their hearts just as He had to change mine; and asked God to help me be patient with them—just as He is patient with them. I take no credit for any of that. It was the Lord who was helping me. But I do believe that that’s what it means to “let your gentleness”—your ‘sweet-reasonableness’—“be know.”
Look also at who we are to display this “gentleness” or “sweet reasonableness” to—”to all men.” Now that, of course, is when it really gets a bit tough. I can be sweetly reasonable to people who are sweetly reasonable to me. I can be gentle toward those who are gentle toward me. But that’s not what it says. We are commanded to show this attitude “to all men”—the reasonable and the unreasonable; the gentle and the harsh; the lovable and the unlovable. As Jesus has taught us;
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:44-45).
And finally, notice why we are to let this gentle manner be known to all men—”The Lord is at hand.” And I am supposing that this could mean several things. For one thing, the Lord’s nearness—the fact that the Lord is “close at hand”—means that He is our Helper. We never need to respond to insults or attacks in a self-assertive way; because the Son of God is at our side and He will take care of us. We can trust Him to be our divine Defender;
For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6).
As Paul has written in Romans 12:19;
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19).
For another thing, the statement “The Lord is at hand” could mean that He is coming soon. Even in a time of persecution, we can be patient and respond with graciousness to those who mistreat us. As the Pastor James wrote in his letter to persecuted Christians;
Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand (James 5:7-8).
And for yet another thing, the statement that “The Lord is at hand” could be a reminder that He is our Judge—and that we ought to behave in His presence. As James went on to write;
Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! (James 5:9).
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Dear brothers and sisters; a genuinely close fellowship of love with the Lord Jesus—the kind of fellowship with Him in which we walk through this world in a way that can be characterized as a constant conscious communion with Christ—is something that will show itself in an external way. Other people will be able to walk around behind us with a camcorder and ‘chronicle’ our fellowship with Christ in action.
And what would they see? This passage teaches us that a close fellowship with Christ will show itself in at least two things—a joy in all circumstances, and a graciousness toward all people. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.”
May God help us to grow in a real, deep, genuine relationship of love with Jesus—and may that relationship show itself in the way we walk through daily life.