A Particular Joy

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 63

Psalm 63 ESV

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth; they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 16:9-11

Psalm 16:9–11 ESV

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Sermon

1

Speaker 1

00:01

Well, good morning church. I was glad when they said to me, let us go and worship in the house of the Lord. Well, today is the day. That many of you myself included have been longing for with joyful anticipation. It is the day that we start our new series. This series through the book of Philippians. And as we begin to think through and start through the book of Philippians, I want to start even before we dive into the the book itself. With a bit of the message as to why This book. Was selected by the elders.

00:46

Just so everyone knows the way a new book. A new series is selected. I don't just pick I, I narrow it down to a couple books and then I take that to the elders and we sort of talk through. Ultimately the decision. I give to the other two Elders. I say here the like top two, which one should we do? And we sort of talk it through Philippians is where we landed. Why? Well. The the sort of cheap answer is because we talked about it prayed about and this is what we think. But with Philippians in particular, I can give you a little more insight.

01:18

We just finished Ecclesiastes. What's largely considered the most depressing book of the Bible? Though, in my final defense of the Book of Ecclesiastes. I hope and pray that as we went through that book you were able to see that Solomon was encouraging us to have a sort of Peace and joy that surpasses what this world can throw at us because this world will throw out vanity and trouble and trial, the joy of the Lord ought to be our strength So, so I hope you heard that but The the rumors are true. Ecclesiastes, very hard and difficult rather depressing book of the Bible.

01:57

Philippians is often called. The Epistle of Joy and is largely considered the most joyful. Book of the Bible that word Joy Rejoice. Some form of it appears more often in Philippians than any other book of the Bible and it's a short book. And so our hope is that as we move from living life in a broken world that we can see the hope and and rest in the Of Philippians. I've titled this series together in gospel Joy because really that title reflects the three things that I hope that we gain. From this study. To take it backwards. I hope that you receive

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But here a particular sort of Joy. What Paul presents to us is not this overflowing bubbly, happy, there's no problems Kumbayasa ah, sort of Joy. But it's a particular sort of joy that comes from. Here's the other word gospel. It's a joy of being in Christ Jesus. In his work, in his hand, cared for him, doing the work, he's called for us doing what he's called us to labor in. It's a gospel. Joy, but note the first word and the third point, we do it together. The book of Philippians is a book written to a church.

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That, that needed to understand that together. They could endure together. They could Rejoice together. They could work together. They could fulfill the great High Calling that Christ Jesus has given to them. And so ultimately, when you put it together, what Paul will encourage Us in this book is to be together in gospel Joy. That's the Hope and prayer that we see in this passage in this book as we go through for the next while.

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And what I hope and and Earnestly, hope and pray. Is that we will hear this? And be changed. By the weight of the. Of what Paul has written to us to get our feet wet to sort of dive into this passage a little bit Philippians chapter 1, verses 1 and 2 will be our passage for this morning.

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Philippians chapter 1, starting in verse one, I would encourage you. Note this. I had Josiah put out extra Bibles. There's one in every row you're going to need your Bible this morning. We'll get to that point later but just trust me. So spend some time, flipping there, Philippians 1, pull up, whatever Bible app you use on your phone, Philippians 1.

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But to start here, this morning, Philippians 1, verses one and two Paul and Timothy Servants of Christ. Jesus, to all the saints in Christ. Jesus, who are at Philippi. With the overseers and the deacons Grace to you. And peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's open. With a word of prayer. Dear Lord. We do. Thank you. For your grace and mercy. We thank you for the kindness that you have shown us, thank you for the peace that we have. Through the work of Jesus Christ with you.

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We thank you for the fellowship. We share as those who are united together in the gospel, And we thank you that you chose to save us and redeem Us by according to your grace and kindness out of the abundance of your mercy. We thank you for the hope that we have hope that you will save us and keep us and be with us. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. Amen. Philippians often called the epistle to the Philippians though. The ESV they help us out the letter of Paul to the Philippians. This is a letter.

06:01

So it starts with a deer. So and so as most letters do This is a letter that was written. By Paul. From prison. To a church. He loved. The first thing I want us to see that Philippians is a letter written to a particular We all get to experience the joy of Philippians because the Holy Spirit saw fit to collect it, into what we call. The Canon, the Bible. And so, all believers get the joy of Philippians. But when Paul sat down to write this letter, he was writing to a particular Church which one the one in caesarea Philippa.

06:49

Which church was Paul writing to the church. He loved. You could go through the book of Acts and see the the formation the planting if you will of the church in caesarea Philippi. Here's the short short sort of truncated spark notes, David version of what happens Paul's going on a missionary journey as he would. And as you are about to go on a missionary journey, a wise piece of advice, would be to plan out, what you're going to do, beforehand makes sense. And so Paul had his ducks in a row and he thought he knew how this missionary journey would go. But at some point he hit a bit of a roadblock.

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Not necessarily a physical roadblock, but a spiritual one. And he was unable to continue the way he had planned. Instead he had a dream with a man calling him to go, west basically. And so, as Paul instead of taking a left to go east takes a right, he finds himself in caesarea Philippi. A very important, a very influential. A sort of well-off City in many ways. And yet there was something missing in this city that most cities had, if you're familiar with Paul's missionary Journeys, he would show up in a city preach in the synagogue and preach the gospel. That was his goal.

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And so he, so he shows up in caesarea Philippi and he walks in and there's no synagogue. To have a synagogue, you needed to have 10 Jewish men to be able to start that and caesarea Philippi didn't have that. It was a largely Greek. And Roman City. In fact, the fact that it was mostly Greek and Roman it. Caused some division, there was some class Warfare going on in caesarea Philippi. And yet, in that City, there was a group of people loyal to God. Though, they had no synagogue to worship at they met outside of the city gate.

08:44

And so Paul found these people faithful to God and told them the hope of the Gospel. And the first to hear and respond that we have recorded is a woman named Lydia It was very well off. How do we know she had a good job? If I were to say, Paul was talking to A Wall Street Banker. You would think that's a pretty rich guy. Rightfully so. Well, in caesarea Philippi, if you're talking to a seller of purple dye, it's a pretty well off person and that's what Lydia did. And she heard and responded to the gospel.

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And then she took that gospel to her family and they heard and responded to the gospel. They were baptized, they were saved. And that was the start of the Philippian church. And so that's the church. Paul's writing too started outside of the city Gates with a woman named Lydia. But then as the church grew as Paul ministered there, he faced persecution as Paul often, did he found himself thrown in jail? And then what happened? Paul saying Praises. An earthquake happened and Paul was set free. And to our next important, Philippian character, the Philippian Jailer Who's now terrified? These, these prisoners are going to escape and that meant for him, a loss of his job at best a loss of his life at worst.

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Don't worry. It begins to preach the gospel to this Philippian Jailer and the Philippian, Jailer hears and is saved. And he takes the gospel to his family and they are saved. And baptized And that is the start of the Philippine church. And Paul ministered and Paul left. We find out through history but also through what Paul will say in this letter. Paul loved this church. This particular Church loved Paul too. They sent an offering. They made a collection. Paul was suffering. Let's get our stuff together. We're going to send epaphroditus with a letter and some money to Paul. He needs it.

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So it was a church. This particular Church loved Paul and was loved by Paul. That's important. And so then we as the church now, get to experience that same love and joy and tenderness by reading through and studying the letter to that church. And then we by extension as part of the same body of Believers. Paul has the same heart for us. And that's the next important point. This is a particular church. Yes, it's written to Philippians but what makes it beautiful? And I think from my point of view, what makes it everyone's favorite book is it's written with a particular heart.

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Here I don't mean the heart of the church necessarily though. They had a giving generous Heart. I mean, the heart of Paul who's writing We see this in verse 1.

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Paul, and Timothy. That's already weird. Why are you including Timothy Timothy is this young whippersnapper, Pastor who doesn't know what he's doing. I identify a lot with Timothy He's just there. Trying to help Paul Paul's like you know what, we're gonna write a letter to the Philippine Church, okay? And Timothy sits down the fancy word as an emanuensis, someone who will write. Paul's words and Paul starts writing a letter, Start this way. Timothy Paul and Timothy Two, there's probably a little taken back. Usually you should just say Paul. He includes Timothy. Why? Because he has a heart to show that. Just like Paul doesn't do. The gospel alone. Neither should this? The Philippian

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Paul needs Timothy the same way. This church needs each other and together. That's beautiful.

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So first, there's a heart of working together but that's not the most important part we get in the book of Philippians Philippians. Has a servants heart. How do I know that Paul and Timothy Servants of Christ? Jesus, who was Paul? Who was Paul? Paul was an apostle who wrote more books than anyone else in the Bible. Who planted more churches than anyone else in the Bible. Who had seen, Jesus Christ received a direct call from him and has now been tasked with building and growing the That's Paul. Paul has authority. In a way that Very few other people did.

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People who walked and were his disciples became the apostles, that's it.

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Paul could throw that around if he wanted to, he does He was writing a letter and wanted to Paul. Don't include Timothy Paul. An apostle of Jesus Christ. And a Cornerstone of the church. He could say that. He did it.

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A servant of Christ. Jesus, the word servant, that's the nice way to translate the Greek word dulos. Slave. Someone in service with no rights or privileges of their own, he is in service to who Christ Jesus. That's it. He's a servant. He's a slave. I am bound to Christ and to him alone, what he says, I will do what he commands. I will follow period, that's the heart of Paul. It's the heart of life. A heart of togetherness. And a heart of.

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Servanthood.

14:32

So he writes to this church with this heart. But we should also know that the Philippian Was filled with particular people. We'll see some of them as we go through. Epaphroditus eodia, cynicity Clement. But more than that. The people that this church is filled with They're All Saints. Philippians 1, 1 to all the saints in Christ. Jesus who were at Philippi. Is Paul singling out. Just a few people. You have the church but this one's to the Saints. No. The. Is filled. With Saints. All who are in Christ. Jesus are Saints. What does Saints mean? The word literally means holy ones.

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How were we made? Holy in Christ Jesus, that's it. So I'm a saint, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you're a saint and this letter is written to all of us. This letter is written to every believer, The Joy Paul exhorts to us is to every believer. The togetherness that Paul exhorts us to is for every believer, the hope and joy of the Gospel Paul gives to us is for every believer. So it's a particular people because it's the Saints but that's all of us. That's who this letter is written to To all the saints in Christ. Jesus. Who are Philippi with

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The overseers and deacons, this is also important. Overseers and deacons and here we can say Elders, that's how we sort of. It's the same word and the same meaning, right? Elders overseers. They mean the same thing. With the overseers with the elders and the deacons. What is he saying? This letter is for all believers, but Elders. Deacons overseers those in charge of guarding protecting and serving the flock. It is your job to make sure that all the saints hear this message. But it's not to all of the Saints who are under the overseers and deacons that would be a difference.

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Swift. There's no middle man instead the overseers the elders and the deacons are called to be servants. The same heart that Paul had, they should have in getting the same message of Hope and joy in the gospel to the Believers. That's the point. This is for all of us. Some of us have a job to help you understand a little better, but But there is no. Hear this. There is no barrier between you and understanding this letter, there is no hindrance for you and understanding this letter. If the holy spirit is in you, you have access to every truth here.

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There is no man that you must go through to find the truth of scripture. It is there for you, Paul is expanding upon here upon the doctrine that we would call the priesthood of every believer. You have access to these truths. There are some who are called to help you to serve you. But no, we are all Saints. This letter written to the church with a certain heart filled with his particular people. Here's the message. I want us to hear Promotes a particular sort of Joy. What sort of Joy is that? It's the joy of the Gospel.

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It's the Saints who are in Christ Jesus. It's the joy. They have the ones in Christ Jesus. When we were interviewing people to be baptized, I was talking to one of the ones getting baptized. He said, do you know what it means to be in Christ. So I think I do, so let's work through it and we spent some time Let me help you. What does it mean to be in Christ? Means to be saved by him. Covered by him. Loved by him. Held by him. It means that when God looks upon us to judge us and our Deeds, he does not see us for we are hid in Christ.

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Instead he sees the righteousness of Christ. What does it mean to be in Christ? It means that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, he died for me. The breath that my sins deserved were nailed to the cross with him, therefore, because I am identified in Christ. My sins are forgiven, that's what it means. And that's the joy. He says, grace to you and peace. How do we get those? Because they come from God, our Father, he gives us Grace, that brings us, peace. How did God do that? Because he gave it to us in the Lord. Jesus Christ, that's the point.

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The letter of Philippians is written so that we see and know and understand that the joy we have comes from being in Christ. That message that idea that thought of being in Christ permeates and saturates this whole book, And, Becomes. Our source of joy. That's the foundation that we are going to build on this letter. Written to the Philippian Church, a church loved by Paul and a church that loved Paul. Written with a servant's heart to all of the Saints. Encouraging them. To find joy. You might be thinking that was a pretty fast journey through the first two. Do we get a short sermon for our first one of the series kind of

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But kind of

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The book of Philippians is a letter. When Paul wrote this letter to this, They would have. Upon getting this letter all gathered together. With joy and anticipation. Did you guys hear? We just got a letter from Paul. Paul. Who's in prison, Paul who we love Paul? Who's our He's our pastor. We look at Paul the Apostle, this man planted their church and cared for them. Our Shepherd. Paul wrote us a letter. And they would all gather together. And once they were all seated, this letter would be read in their presence. And so today, As we start our series, The Book of Philippians, that's what I want to do.

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And one of the, one of the rules of preaching is you never read more than 20 verses at once. We're going to read the whole letter together. This is why I said you're going to need a Bible and flip to Philippians chapter 1 verse 1. My goal is, here's my my heart and I hope you hear my heart and understand what we're doing here. As we read, I hope and pray. That you see, Paul's heart. You see what it means to be someone in this church and your heart leaps with the joy of this letter.

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So let us read the letter of Paul to the Philippians. So when people say what'd you do in church days, I read a whole book of the Bible. Right? And this isn't like a Philemon third, John one. We're gonna read a pretty big book of the Bible. Philippians chapter 1. Starting in verse 1, we will be reading through chapter four verse 23.