The common joy of a growing relationship with Jesus will lead us to encourage one another...

At the church where I serve, we have been 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 look at 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 2:19:

But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition.

Paul begins this section of his letter by explaining to the members of the church at Philippi what he was planning to do as he awaited an uncertain future. As Paul experienced a growing joy that was not tied to his circumstances but transcended his circumstances; As Paul called the members of the church at Philippi to rejoice with him as he looked at the evidence of God’s activity in the lives of the members of the church at Philippi in spite of his current circumstances, Paul was making plans. And Paul’s plan, in the midst of his current uncertain circumstances was to send Timothy to Philippi to visit the church.

Now Timothy was Paul’s protégé and partner in ministry. Timothy was being trained by Paul to continue the kingdom mission that Paul had launched. Paul wanted to dispatch Timothy to deliver a message to the members of the church. But just as important, Paul wanted Timothy to travel to Philippi so that he would be encouraged when he learned of their condition. Paul desired to send Timothy to Philippi so that upon his return from Philippi back to Rome, Paul would receive news as to how the members of the church at Philippi were doing. Paul wanted to be encouraged in the midst of his discouraging circumstances by what God was doing in and through the church at Philippi. After explaining what he was planning to do, Paul reveals why he was willing to send Timothy on such a journey in verse 20-21:

 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.

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves as the Apostle Paul. I want us to take a minute and place ourselves in his shoes. You are in prison for proclaiming the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel; you are facing the possibility of death by execution. You are writing this letter to other followers of Jesus who are wondering how you are doing. You explain that you are hoping and planning to send Timothy to see you in order that you could be encouraged by all that God was doing in and through these other followers of Jesus.

And as you write this letter you explain that the reason you are sending Timothy is due to the fact that you have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. You explain that the reason that you are sending Timothy is because Timothy is the only person around you who is of like mind and soul. Timothy is the only person around you who is sincere when he says that he is concerned about the members of the church at Philippi. Timothy is the only one that you would want to send because everyone else around you will only devote serious effort to advancing their own agenda and to satisfying their own desires. Timothy is the only one that you would want to send because everyone else is about advancing their own kingdom and not God’s kingdom.

Now you are the Apostle Paul. What would be running through your mind as you wrote that sentence? How would you feel as you put those words to paper? I mean, I don’t know about you, but writing that would be pretty discouraging, don’t you think? The only person who has your back; the only person who is not about advancing their own agenda is Timothy. You are the Apostle Paul. How could you possibly have joy in such circumstances? We see Paul answer this question as he transitions to talking about Timothy in verse 22-24:

But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me; and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly.

Here we see Paul reveal for us the reality that, unlike anyone else who was in his area of influence as he sat in prison, Timothy had proven his worth. Timothy had been with Paul through thick and thin and Paul’s experience with Timothy had proven Timothy’s character and value as being of great worth. And this would not have been a surprise to the members of the church at Philippi, because as Paul points out, they knew of his proven worth. The members of the church at Philippi were aware of how Timothy had conducted his life in a way that was in total service to Paul and the kingdom mission that had been given Paul by Jesus. Timothy had conducted his life in a way that was totally committed to partnering with Paul in sharing the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel throughout the known world.

In addition, the members of the church at Philippi were aware of the relationship that Timothy had with Paul. They remembered that Paul was a spiritual father to Timothy and that Timothy partnered with Paul with the same commitment that a son has toward his father. And because of that reality; because of the relationship that Paul had with Timothy, Paul looked forward to and planned with the confident expectation to send him to the members of the church at Philippi to share how Paul’s imprisonment and trial was going.  And Paul looked forward to and planned with the confident expectation to send him to the members of the church at Philippi because Paul had the conviction that was based in his confident trust in Jesus that his own trip to Philippi would not be far behind.

And it is here that we see that Apostle Paul reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to finding joy. And that timeless truth is this: The common joy of a growing relationship with Jesus will lead us to encourage one another. And in Philippians 2:19-30, we see the Apostle Paul reveal two different ways that the common joy of a growing relationship with Jesus will lead us to encourage one another.

First, we see that the common joy of a growing relationship with Jesus will lead us to be encouraged by the spiritual growth of others. Just as it was for the Apostle Paul, as followers of Jesus, we are encouraged by the spiritual growth of others when we are around other followers of Jesus who have a likeminded and sincere concern for the spiritual welfare of others. As followers of Jesus we are encouraged by the spiritual growth of others as we are around other followers of Jesus who have proven their value and character by their commitment to the kingdom mission that we have been given.  And as followers of Jesus, when we are encouraged by the spiritual growth of others, our confident trust in Jesus also grows.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul reveal for us the second way that the common joy of a growing relationship with Jesus will lead us to encourage one another…