At the church where I serve we are spending our time
together looking at a letter that was written by the Apostle Paul and that is
recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of
Philippians. And as we go through this letter, our hope and our prayer is to be
able to answer the question "What is joy?" along with sharing the
several timeless truths that the Apostle Paul found as he lived a life that was
marked by joy.
This week, I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off
last week. And as we jump into the next section of this letter that the Apostle
Paul wrote to early followers of Jesus while in prison facing the possibility
of death that we will discover another timeless truth when it comes to finding
joy. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Philippians
2:1-2:
Therefore if
there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if
there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my
joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in
spirit, intent on one purpose.
The Apostle Paul begins this
section of his letter with the word therefore. In other words, the Apostle Paul
is basically saying “In light of all that I have said up to this point: In
light of the reality that my joy is not tied to the circumstances of my
imprisonment but is rooted in my ongoing connection with the gospel and a
growing love of Jesus. In light of the reality that my joy is
a mind-set that recognizes the eternal significance and impact that my
circumstances are having when it comes to the advancement of the gospel. In
light of the reality I have joy because I understand that it is Jesus who holds
my future, regardless of my current circumstances. In light of all the reasons
that I already have joy, I am commanding you to make my joy complete”.
Now when the Apostle Paul uses the word complete
here, this word literally means to bring to completion that which already had
begun. You see, it was not that the
Apostle Paul did not have joy. Instead the Apostle Paul wanted the joy that he
was already experiencing in his life to grow in his life. Paul then explained
that how the joy that he was already experiencing in his life would grow in his
life was by the members of the church at Philippi “being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in
spirit, intent on one purpose.”
Now to fully understand what
the Apostle Paul is communicating here we first need to understand what each of
these phrases mean. First, when Paul uses the phrase, being of the same mind,
this phrase literally means to have the same opinion about something. In
addition, when Paul talks about maintaining the same love, this simply means to
keep the same love that the members of the church had for Paul and for one
another. The phrase united in spirit
means to be in a state of harmony with one another. Finally, the phrase intent
on one purpose, literally means to have the same thought process.
So Paul here is commanding the
members of the church at Philippi to make his joy grow by living together as a
community of faith in such a way that they were united in their heads, hearts,
and hands when it came to living in community with one another and engaging in
the kingdom mission that they had been given with one another. You
see, the Apostle Paul
could command followers of Jesus to make the joy that he was experiencing grow
in his life because the Apostle Paul understood that joy grows as a result of
the gospels activity in the life of a community of believers.
The Apostle Paul understood
that we do not experience unity for unity’s sake. Instead, we experience unity
because it is the message of the gospel that unites followers of Jesus in
community and it is the message of the gospel that produces genuine and
authentic community. And in the same way today, as
followers of Jesus, our joy grows as we are united together in community. And
it is the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel that brings unity in
genuine and authentic community. That is why Paul said all that he said in
verse one before he gave his command to the members of the church at Philippi
in verse 2.
When Paul uses the phrase, if there is any
encouragement in Christ, he is revealing for us the reality that the reason
that our joy grows as we are united together in community is due to the fact
that true unity is based on the mutual encouragement that we have as followers
of Jesus as a result of our faith in Jesus. When Paul uses the phrase, if there
is any consolation in love, he is revealing for us the reality that the reason
that our joy grows as we are united together in community is due to the fact
that true unity is based our mutual love for Jesus as followers of Jesus. When
Paul uses the phrase, if there is any fellowship in the Spirit, he is revealing
for us the reality that the reason that our joy grows as we are united together
in community is due to the fact that true unity is based on the Holy Spirit’s
indwelling presence that connects us with Jesus and unites us in Jesus as a
part of the body of Christ the church. And when Paul uses the phrase, if there
is any affection and compassion, he is revealing for us the reality that the
reason that our joy grows as we are united together in community is due to the
fact that true unity is based on a mutual affection and concern for one
another’s struggles.
A church does not just experience unity because they
want to have unity. A church experiences unity because they are committed to
live in community with one another that is centered on and that is committed to
the message of the gospel and the kingdom mission that they have been given by
Jesus. And as followers of Jesus live in
community with one another that is centered on and that is committed to the
message of the gospel and the kingdom mission that we have been given by Jesus,
the result is a growing joy.
Gospel centered community produces growing joy
because gospel centered community is rooted in a growing connection to the message of the gospel and a
growing love of Jesus. Gospel centered community
produces growing joy because gospel centered community produces a mind-set that
and a quality of life that takes the long view and recognizes the eternal
significance and impact of the gospel and not our circumstances. Gospel
centered community produces growing joy because the gospel advances past our
circumstances and transcends time. But not only does joy grow as a result of
being united together in gospel centered community. Paul reveals a second way
that our joy grows as followers of Jesus in Philippines 2:3-4:
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
do not merely look out for your
own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Here we see the Apostle Paul command the members of the
church at Philippi to do nothing from selfishness of empty conceit. Paul here
is commanding followers of Jesus throughout history to do nothing that is
motivated by a desire to advance one’s own selfish agenda or to exaggerate
one’s status in the eyes of others. Instead of being all about one’s own agenda
and one’s own status in the eyes of others, Paul commanded the members of the
church at Philippi to with humility of mind regard one another as more
important than yourselves.
Now when Paul uses the word regard here, this word refers
to engaging in an intellectual process that takes careful consideration of
something. And what they were to regard, what they were to give careful
consideration to, was that one another as more important than yourselves. The
idea of more important here is the idea that someone or something is of greater
value of quality. Paul’s point here is that as followers of Jesus, we are to
consider those around us more than we consider ourselves. As followers of Jesus
we are to place the needs of others before our own needs. That is why Paul uses
the phrase humility of mind immediately before his command.
You see, when Paul uses the word humility, this word does
not mean that we think less of ourselves. Instead, humility means that we think
of ourselves less. The point behind the
Apostle Paul’s command is that, as followers of Jesus, we are to live in such a
way that places others before ourselves. Paul reinforces this reality in verse
4 by commanding the members of the church at Philippi to “do not merely look
out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others”.
Paul is basically saying to the early followers of Jesus “Do not be so focused
on your agenda and your own status. Do not pay careful attention to only what
is going on in your life. Make sure that you are also paying attention to what
is going on in the lives of those who are around you. Put others before
yourself so that you can leverage your life in way that makes the lives of
others better”.
And it is here that we see that Apostle Paul reveal for
us the reality that our joy grows when we consider others more important than
ourselves. A trait of gospel centered unity is that those in gospel centered
community consider others moiré important than themselves and place others
before themselves. And just as it was for the members of the church at
Philippi, as followers of Jesus, we consider
others more important than ourselves when we rid ourselves of selfish ambition
or exaggerated self examination. We consider others more important than
ourselves when we humbly consider others more important than ourselves. We
consider others more important than ourselves when we think of ourselves less
and think of others more. And we consider others more important than ourselves
when we not only pay attention to our own needs, but pay attention to the needs
of others.,
Now right
about now, you might be thinking to yourself “Well Dave that’s a lot to ask. Doesn’t
Paul realize what he is asking? And how can Paul justify asking so much from
me?” If those questions are running through your mind, I just want to let you
know that those are fair questions and objections to be asking. And fortunately
for us, we see the Apostle Paul address those questions and objections in what
he says next.
Tomorrow,
we will look at what the Apostle Paul
had to say next…
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