Developing the Joy and Peace Mindset

Recap

Last week we started our study in Philippians by introducing who our target audience was. We learned that the Philippians were an up and coming metropolitan church. They had grown quickly, not only in size, but in standing in the Christian community as well. They had an abiding love for the brothers and enjoyed favor. But as with any movement of God it wa ssnot long before they began to experience the persecution of a world that hates an rejects it. Such was their lot, and such is ours.

The Philippians did have something very special going for them, they were a church that was actually born out of the very persecution they were now facing. Paul the apostle started that church after spending the night in a Philippian jail and displaying the joy and peace that is only possible with a mature and completely dependent relationship with God Himself. By choosing to worship God in the midst of a terrible dungeon, Paul released the power of God to perform such a miracle that a vibrant new church was instantly born.

Now that the church was suffering persecution, their old friend Paul would write a letter of encouragement and comfort to them. Paul’s letter was written by a man who found true peace of mind. Even though he was imprisoned at the time! Even though he might soon be a martyr!

Paul had the joy that comes from peace of mind, and wanted to share it with others! Last week we were starting to find that Paul would lay out three principles for the people of his day. All three principles speak of Joy and Peace.

So today, I want to look at

Developing the Joy and Peace Mindset

Paul opens the his epistle to the Philippians a very different manner than he opens any of his others. Let’s see if you can catch the difference. First let’s look at how he addresses the church at Corinth.

1 Corinthians 1:1 TLV

Paul, called as an emissary of Messiah Yeshua by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

Very specific, he starts out by stating his title in the church to remind them that he has authority to speak on this subject. Likewise when he writes the the Romans.

Romans 1:1 TLV

Paul, a slave of Messiah Yeshua, called to be an emissary and set apart for the Good News of God,

An emissary! It is obvious that Paul is leaning heavily on his office as an apostle to give his letter a bona fide. How about the Ephesians?

Ephesians 1:1 TLV

Paul, an emissary of Messiah Yeshua by God’s will, To the kedoshim in Ephesus—those trusting in Messiah Yeshua:

Again, Paul an emissary. But let’s look at how he addresses the Philippians.

Philippians 1:1–2 TLV

Paul and Timothy, slaves of Messiah Yeshua, To all the kedoshim in Messiah Yeshua who are in Philippi with the overseers and servant-leaders: Grace to you and shalom from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

Can you see what the difference is? Paul apparently has a different relationship with the Philippians. Could it be that the time he spent in thee prison while there or the manner in which they came to Christ has something to do with it? Could it be the fact that these weren’t Jews that they were not interested in title or rank? I have a pretty good idea what it is. I think it may be a combination of these things, but I think it has something to do with being able to relate to the heavy persecution that these beloved saints were undergoing. They had started with so much fervor and passion, but now they were facing scorn and opposition. And that opposition was coming, no doubt from those in leadership and authority. The last thing they needed was another “boss head” to come in and give them a bunch of orders. The church in Philippi did not start to experience the persecution immediately though. In fact, initially, they had a short period of growth and the Gospel spread in quite a healthy fashion. Now they were facing pressures from the worlkd in which they lived, and they were suffering through some hard times. Paul is not writing a letter scolding them or correcting them for missing the mark as is the case in some of the other epistles. Instead, he’s writing to encourage them. What good would it do them if he came in boasting of his authority when right now all they really wanted was empathy and answers from God. Who better to help them work their way through this time of trial than the very one who led them to faith in Christ by enduring a trial instigated by their very hands?

Philippians 1:3–6 TLV

I thank my God at every memory of you, always praying with joy in every prayer of mine for you all, because of your sharing in the Good News from the first day until now. I am sure of this very thing—that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the Day of Messiah Yeshua.

Do you see how very gentle Paul is? He knows that the core of their suffering is that they are being rejected by the World, that they are struggling with their identity as Christians, instead of addressing the problem directly, Paul reminds them of something… he reminds them first of how much HE loves them and prays for them, but more importantly, that their trial was in no way an indication that God had abandoned them because how many of you know that when you are in the midst of a trial, you feel like God has abandoned you, the whole world has abandoned you and you’re all alone, but Paul’s heart went out to them and rather than give them cliché platitudes to help them feel better, he told them “You’re not alone! I love you and thank God for you. I lift you up before the throne, and I KNOW my God, and I KNOW that He has not abandoned you and that he will carry out His work to the day of completion!”

Now THAT is an encourager! Not the one that comes and just wants the juicy gossip over what is going on in your life… no, the one who says, “Don’t give up! God is good and He hasn’t forgotten you and no matter what you’re going through now, God is there for you so have joy and peace that whatever it is that has got you down right now, God is going to provide a response!” Aren’t you glad for brothers and sisters who can do that?

He goes on to tell them of his own struggle. But not so that they can pity him, rather that they can see that there is something of value in the trial in which they find themselves.

Philippians 1:7–8 TLV

It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart—for you all are partakers of grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the Good News. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Messiah Yeshua.

He says, “Look, I’m being persecuted too, but we share this grace from God, and this binds us even closer together. Don’t despair, this is part of the lot for the Christian.” He goes on to tell them his prayer for them:

Philippians 1:9–11 TLV

Now this I pray, that your love might overflow still more and more in knowledge and depth of discernment, in order to approve what is excellent—so that in the Day of Messiah you may be sincere and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Yeshua the Messiah, to the glory and praise of God.

He’s saying, “I don’t want you to get bitter over this. I want your love to abound, but not just in platitudes and well-wishes, I want you to know and discern so that you can see the truth and discern the sincerity of your conviction and not be offended because of your current circumstances. Instead be filled up with the fruits of righteousness that Jesus gives you in order to glorify God.”

So here is Paul laying down the mindset of Joy and Peace.

Refuse to Get Bitter: When we are in the midst of our trials, it is easy to get bitter. It is easy to blame God or others, the basic truth is that God has given us so much to be grateful for, how can we allow bitterness into our heart?

Stand on the Promises of God: Don’t cling to silly stuff. Little sayings that may help us get our mind off of the task at hand do nothing to steel our resolve in the long run. However, knowing that God has an ultimate overall plan for your life will absolutely fortify you with peace.

Praise God for What He has Given You: When we complain about our lot or our situation, all we do is make it bigger in our mind. If we look at the stuff that God has done for us and given us, we will be unable to see our own bad situation because our troubles are puny and dimmed in the light of His faithfulness.

But now look at what he says next:

Philippians 1:12–14 TLV

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the advancement of the Good News. And so my imprisonment in the cause of Messiah has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else. Because of my imprisonment, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord to dare more than ever to speak the message fearlessly.

So much of our situation is all about perspective. How are you viewing your current trial? You can view it from the standpoint of “What have I lost?” or you can tell yourself, “What is God’s grand purpose that He is accomplishing through this?”

He goes on to tell them, you know something funny happened on the way to prison. The devil through the worst he had at me and I discovered that I wasn’t going to die, so I won’t shut up about God because well I have nothing to do. Do people continue to persecute me? Yup, they have even taken to mocking me and despising me, but even this is backfiring on them.

Philippians 1:15–18 TLV

Some are proclaiming the Messiah out of envy and strife, but others out of good will. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Good News. The former proclaim Messiah not sincerely, but out of selfishness—expecting to stir up trouble for me in my imprisonment. But what does it matter? Only that in every way, whether in dishonesty or in truth, Messiah is being proclaimed—and in this I rejoice! Yes, and I will keep rejoicing,

In fact, he says, I’m not going to get mad at them for what they do if what they do is a net positive for the kingdom.

Oh saints! We have a direct window into the mind of one of the greatest men of God to ever walk the earth! Do you see what Paul is doing? He is teaching them. He is teaching them to trust God! I never knew that trusting God could be taught, but here is Paul doing just that. God was obviously so impressed by what Paul did that He preserved it forever so that we could have those same instructions to face our trials today. I don’t care what you’re going through today, you can face it and in fact, thrive in the midst of it if you cling fast to joy and peace!

Putting it All Together

Child of God, we’ve all faced adversity in life and you can be sure that we will face adversity in the future as well. We have two choices to make. We can stand there and get bitter and curse God, curse those around us or curse ourselves, or we can follow Paul’s example.

As for me, I’m glad that Paul gave us this pattern. Whatever it is that is haunting you today, I want you to look at it now I want you to apply Paul’s three keys.

First, take your eyes off of that trial momentarily and think about what God has given you in life. Think about your salvation, think about the transformation He has already worked in you. Think about how you are daily His delight and how you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Now praise Him for blessing you spiritually.

Next, I want to tell you that God finishes what He starts. He has not abandoned you or left you to fend for yourself. This is not some sort of punishment for bad behavior nor is it a curse that you have to just live with it. IT is one of two things. It is either 1) A direct attack from the enemy or 2) just regular life happening to you. Either way, God’s promise is the same. HE is faithful to carry you out to the very end. Don’t you dare doubt.

Finally I want you to take the next couple of minutes to ask God to show you how this current trial is advancing His work in you, His work in anyone else that is involved whether it be a spouse, a child, a boss or co-worker, and finally how this current trial advances the Kingdom! Because I guarantee you it does… even if it’s just by making YOU more dependent on Christ, that changes the World.

Let us pray.