The Joy of My Salvation

Philippians 1:1–11 NKJV

1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:1–4 NKJV

1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,

In spite of his difficult circumstances as a prisoner in Rome, In this letter to Philippi, Paul was rejoicing.

Thinking about Pauls situation and his attitude in his situation; and I asked myself this question.

If I were in prison; would I be able to have the joy that Paul possessed?

Would I be able to rejoice as he rejoiced?

We all go through seasons of difficulty; and Many it can be incredibly difficult to rejoice during those seasons

even though we may not bond in chains in prison

we don’t seem to possess the kind of joy that Paul had

There was obviously something he had that allowed him to have the joy he experienced.

It obviously wasn’t his circumstances

It wasn’t his possessions

but Paul had “a joy” that we all need.

and I believe we can find right here;

in the first chapter of Philippians,

what it was that caused Paul to have the joy he had no matter his circumstances.

Psalm 28:7 NKJV

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

This is the kind of joy I want to have

One version reads it like this

The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I “burst out” in songs of thanksgiving.

one version reads; : My heart “leaps” for joy.

are you experiencing that kind of joy?

If you are not; you are not alone

Many within the ranks of Christianity are not living in Joy.

and what is so sad about that is;

the joy of the Lord is our strength. Nehemiah 8:10

I believe the reason for Pauls strength;

was because of his joy.

and the reason for his joy was because he was so focused of Christ and the mission of Christ to reach the lost.

In Philippians chapter 1;

Christ is named 18 times

and gospel is mentioned 6 times.

Paul had the mindset that;

it don’t matter what happens to me as long as Jesus is glorified and the gospel is shared.

Tonight I want us to look at this;

I want to preach on the subject;

How to Increase Your Joy in Difficult Circumstances

I want to draw our attention to three reason how we can increase our joy and I want to use the Apostle Paul to do so.

The first thing I want us to notice about Paul was that:

I want to draw our attention to three reason why I believe Paul’s joy was increased,

Paul had others in mind vs 3

3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

As Paul was awaiting trial in Rome, his mind went back to the believers in Philippi.

He reminisced of the joy he had with them.

He remembered the fellowship they had together..

There is something about fellowshipping with other believers.

Understand that fellowship is more than getting together and eating.

thank God we have some of the best cooks in the world right here at sneads A/G

But the word fellowship literally means; to have in common with................

You want to know why I’m always smiling when I’m at church.

it’s because I’m around those I have something in common with.

I am around people that possess the same thing I possess.

We have the hope of eternal life within us.

I can hang out with the sinner,

but there’s just something different about hanging out with people of like precious faith.

Lucy and I have been coming to this church for 14 years and I have some precious memories.

I remember the first night we came here. It was on a Sunday night and we sat right there on the front row.

I don’t remember the message pastor preached but I remembered it was what I needed that night.

I came to this altar right here and wept before the Lord and I remembered Doug Stone came and laid hands on me and prayed for me

I remember time when we had a fish fry after one of our fishing tournaments;

and Hubert Isler was saltying the fish and I was watching him.

I though to myself; he reminds me of the way my mom poured season but she didn’t use salt she used creole and cyanne.

Those fish were so salty; but I ate my belly full and drank a gallon of water before I went to bed that night.

I’ll never forget the time I went fishing with Pastor on lake seminole.

what an experience that was!!!!!!!!!

He kept the back of boat turned away from the fish the entire time.

And every time I would throw my line up front he would grip and complain

said I needed to fish in the back.

so i fished from the back and still out fished him!!!

2. Paul had others on his heart vs 7-8

7. just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.

8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

This step is a little bit deeper, for it is possible to have others in our minds without really having them in our hearts.

Paul had a sincere love for his friends that could not be hidden.

Christians Love for one another is “tie’ that binds.

Love is the evidence of salvation

1 John 3:14 NKJV

14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.

1 john

Love is what keeps everything working together.

In this letter to the Philippians; Paul used the phrase “You All” at least nine times

He did not want to leave anyone out.

He loved and cared for everyone

The evidence of this love was that he was suffering on their behalf.

His bonds were proof of his love

Because of Pauls trial; Christianity was going to get a hearing before the officials of Rome.

Pauls love for the people was not something he just talked about

It was something he practiced.

It was som

I’m convinced when I thoughts are outward.

not me, me, me

When our heart is on others,

not me, me, me

There is a joy that spring up within our souls.

You want to see a miserable person’

Look at someone who only cares for themselves.

they always seem to be miserable

Can’t be please by anyone or with anything.

The principle found in the scripture: “It is better to give than to receive”.

Applies not only to our finances; but also to how we give of our time, out energy, our efforts.

You want to have Joy;

You got to give.

You want to have joy;

you got to have others on your mind

You want to have joy;

You got to have others on your heart.

If someone is on your heart; you gonna go above and beyond to help them and do for them................

Those who practice this will always have joy

and that joy will not be determined by possessions or by circumstances.

3. Paul had others in his prayers vs 9-11

Philippians 1:9–11 NKJV

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

And this I pray........

Paul found Joy in his memories of the friends at Philippi and in his growing Love for them.

He found joy in having others on his heart.

Putting others first.

and His also found joy in remembering then before the throne of grace in prayer.

In the old testament; the hight priest wore a special garment over his heart

the ephod.

On the ephod were twelve stones with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved on them.

a Jewel for each tribe.

He carried the people over his heart and he did it in love.

Paul carried the people on his mind, on his heart and in his prayers.

I would fellowship 7 days a week 365 day a years.

I love being around the people of God.

I think about my friend in the faith all the time.

and I would like to think that I would do anything for any of you.

I believe this is the reason I have the Joy that I have

My joy is genuine

I think anybody who knows me that I am a joyful person./

Most of the time.

and the reason is:

I have other on my mind

I have others on my heart.

But there is no greater joy that We can experience in this life;

than when we are at the throne of grace praying with and for one another.............