Joy is My Decision

Greeting

Good morning Lighthouse. How are we doing on this first Sunday of June?

Tell your neighbor beside you, “June looks good on you.”

Before I go can we shout out the Ladies? Well done on an incredible event last Friday.

It was a Super Bloom indeed.

I can’t wait to see what you all do next, but again, well done.

Let’s go…

Reading

Philippians 1:12–14 NIV

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

Joy is My Decision

Introduction

Before I begin, I’d like to do something out of the ordinary and read to you an obituary about someone. I know, it’s a little strange, but hang with me as I do.

This man was brilliant. Educated by the best minds of his day. Influential. Respected. Driven. The kind of man who walked into a room and immediately commanded attention. He possessed the rare combination of intellect, passion, and conviction that can change the course of history.

But if you only knew him from his résumé, you would miss the real story.

His life was marked by controversy. He made enemies everywhere he went. He spent years misunderstood by friends and hated by opponents. He was run out of towns, dragged before courts, publicly humiliated, falsely accused, beaten with rods, whipped with lashes, stoned and left for dead. He endured shipwrecks, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, loneliness, and constant uncertainty about what tomorrow would bring.

At times, his own people rejected him.

At times, his closest companions abandoned him.

At times, he sat alone in a prison cell waiting to learn whether he would live or die.

Most people would call such a life tragic.

Yet if you read his own words, you find something surprising.

Again and again, through the pain, through the disappointments, through the chains and scars, one theme rises to the surface: joy.

Not comfort.

Not ease.

Not success.

Joy.

He wrote about rejoicing while imprisoned. He sang songs in the middle of suffering. He encouraged others while carrying burdens that would have crushed many of us. Somehow, the circumstances that stole joy from others seemed unable to steal it from him.

When his body was wounded, his joy remained.

When his plans were disrupted, his joy remained.

When his freedom was taken away, his joy remained.

And when the end of his life approached, he wasn't filled with regret. He was filled with confidence, gratitude, and hope.

Today we remember that man.

Anybody want to guess who this is?

His name was Paul and he is the author of this letter that we are going to study this month.

Transition

And his life asks us a question that is just as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago: How do you choose joy when life gives you every reason not to?

I think for many, it is because you haven’t learned what true joy is. We think it is the same thing as happiness, but it is not.

The bible describes it as, “Joy unspeakable. Full of glory.”

And, if we never learn how to live in joy, we are never going to learn how to go through hard times.

And if you are thinking to yourself, “Hard times… why would I want to learn how to live through hard times?”

It is because Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this life you will have trouble…”

Wow, Jesus. That doesn’t sound like a good deal. Why would I want to sign up for that life?

Well, because you have no choice. You live in a fallen world. You live among broken people. All of this is a result of the fall of man.

But Jesus also said, “But take heart. Because I have overcome to world.”

And, if you are in Christ, then you too will overcome the world.

Text

Acts 16

Before we can get into Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, we need to talk about how this church got started.

In Acts 16, beginning at verse 11, we read about Paul and Silas planting the church on their second missionary journey.

Acts 16:11–12 NIV

From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

Don’t you just love a good prologue?

I do.

You see, you won’t fully understand Paul’s disposition in Philippians without understanding the origin story.

Any Star Wars Fans in the room?

I am not a huge fan, but seeing the origin story of Darth Vadar was awesome.

We are introduced to this cute boy named Anakin, who then becomes a handsome Jedi, who then falls in love, he is manipulated by Emperor Palpatine, he is defeated in an epic battle by his mentor Obi Won, and then is recreated as what we now know as Darth Vadar.

Layers of context… right?

Well, the Bible also does that, and it’s important that before we get too far into Philippians we understand the origin story.

So, Paul and Silas are in Philippi and watch what happens.

Acts 16:13–15 NIV

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Loaded passage of scripture!

If I had 3 hours, I would explain how important EVERYTHING we just read is:

If I had time I’d talk to you about how Paul took the time to speak to the women. In a culture where women were subservient to the men and were often times overlooked when it came to education, the followers of Jesus saw the worth in women and they took the time to teach the women!

If I had more time I’d talk to you about Lydia, who was a seller of purple. Meaning she was a woman of resources and influence. She knew God but she didn’t know Jesus. And isn’t that like the world today? People with influence get up on a stage and thank God, but they don’t know Jesus?

If I had more time, I’d talk to you about how this woman Lydia, would use her resources to fund the ministry of Paul. How God ordains men and women to crush it in the marketplace so that they can give their resources to advancing the Kingdom of God. This is a Biblical blue print for the advancement of the gospel.

If I had more time I’d dive into all of that…

But I need to get to what happens in the next verse…

Acts 16:16–20 NIV

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar

Isn’t it funny that this young girl is delivered from both a demonic stronghold and from being a slave - notice she is OWNED by other people, and yet they say that it was Paul and Silas that were causing trouble.

Hear what I am about to say - be very careful when the world calls good evil, and calls evil good.

The devil has been running this play for a very long time and it is not going anywhere.

Don’t be surprised when you stick to Biblical values and the world calls it evil.

Don’t be surprised when you align yourself with the Kingdom of God and the teachings of Jesus and the world calls you a trouble maker.

[Pause]

Now for the sake of time, let me just walk you through what happens next.

Paul and Silas are beaten and they are thrown into prison.

While they were in prison, the Bible tells us that at midnight - everyone say MIDNIGHT.

At midnight, they began to pray and sing praises.

Can I just pause here and tell you that midnight is the perfect time to pray and sing praises.

I am not talking about a literal midnight, but I am talking about a midnight moment in your life.

When things seem to be going against you - that’s a good time to pray and praise.

When you’re dealing with hurt and pain - that’s a good time to pray and praise.

When you are facing demonic attacks from the enemy - that’s a good time to pray and to praise.

Because what happens next in the story is that the chains that were on Paul and Silas suddenly fell off their wrists and from their ankles.

How many of you know that praise will set you free? How many know that “the effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.”

Paul and Silas prayed and praised at midnight, and God supernaturally broke the chains off of them.

[Pause]

Now, as awesome as that miracle was, there’s an even greater miracle that happened here in Acts.

Acts 16:27–33 NIV

The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.

Come on the jailer and his entire household were saved!

Isn’t God good? Isn’t God awesome?

There’s a jailer and his family running around heaven right now because Paul and Silas prayed and praised at midnight.

And, it gave us the Prison Pattern.

The Prison Pattern

Paul writes this letter to the Philippians from prison.

This is why I spent so much time walking us through Acts 16, and the prison that Paul found himself in there, so that you can begin to understand his disposition while he sat in this prison.

One of the words that Paul repeats throughout this letter is the word joy.

Think about that for a second. He’s in prison, and he’s got joy on his mind.

There’s a reason the Bible constantly tells followers of Jesus to pursue joy and not happiness.

Happiness is a feeling that is dependent on happenings. When things around me are going good, I’m happy. When things around me are not going good, I’m sad.

But that’s not joy.

Joy is a decision that we make as followers of Jesus.

Joy is a disposition that we carry not because of, but in spite of, the things that are going on around us.

We pursue joy because we know we can’t control everything happening to us, and we don’t want to be that person that is up and down based on life.

We are people of joy.

We are joyful because we are In Christ.

We are joyful because our past has been forgiven.

We are joyful because we have a new name.

We are joyful because our future is secure.

We are joyful because we are loved by Jesus.

And do me a favor, turn to your neighbor and tell them, “You are fully known and fully loved by God and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Is there anyone full of joy here this morning?

Joy is a decision we’ve made and not a choice to be made.

Did you know that a decision and a choice is not the same thing?

There are many of you here in the room that have never learned the difference between a decision and choice.

When I said ‘yes’ to my wife, I made a decision - for better or worse, in sickness and in health.

You don’t have to make a choice when you’ve already made a decision.

The reason some of you can’t stay on a fitness plan is you haven’t made a decision. So when your coworker places some donuts in front of you, when you act like there’s a choice to be made, it’s because you haven’t already decided who you want to be.

But when you’ve made a decision, there isn’t a choice to be made.

I decided long ago that I am a person of joy.

So when life is hard, I don’t have a choice to make - I will be joyful.

If sickness hits my body, I don’t have a choice to make - I will be joyful.

When Paul was in prison, he didn’t have a choice to make - he had already decided that he was going to be joyful.

Conclusion

I want for you to see this as I come to a close.

The sooner you learn to live in joy, the sooner you’ll start to live out your purpose.

Paul is in prison and he says this, “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.”

[Pause]

You see, if you don’t learn to live with joy, then you don’t start living out your purpose.

You get this idea that you need everything in your life to be comfortable in order for you to start living out your purpose.

When everything settles in my life, and I’m happy, then I’ll start to do what God has called me to do.

But look at Paul - me being in this jail has actually served to advance the gospel!

I can still live out my calling, because I’ve already settled the joy issue. And since that’s settled, I’ve got work to do.

There are people to preach to.

There are prisoners to tell about Jesus.

There are guards to tell about Jesus.

I can even write letters here from prison to encourage the church.

But if you are stuck waiting on happiness, you’ll never do anything of significance for your life, and for the Kingdom of God.

I don’t need everything to be perfect.

I don’t have time for everything to be perfect.

I need to start living now.

I need to start serving the Kingdom now.

I need to walk in purpose right now.

Call

Now, if you are wondering where this kind of life begins, it starts with giving your life to Jesus and surrendering to His Lordship and right now I am going to end this service by making a call for people to give their lives to Jesus.

This is where everything begins.

Our joy is rooted in our identity. Not in who we are, but in WHOSE we are.

We belong to Jesus. We are children of The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

And for everyone in this room that has never made a decision to follow Jesus, we want that for you.

So I’m going to close by asking everyone here today, will you make a decision to follow Jesus.