Courageous Joy
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Introduction
Introduction
Paul challenges us in Philippians that one of the true marks of a Christian is joy. Joy conquers circumstances. Joy communicates contentment. Joy, as we talked about last week, begins when we partner with the Gospel of Christ, it continues in confidence, and it continues as a good work. We stated that one Christian author defined joy as “an outward sign of inward faith in the promises of God.”
Sometimes, in order to be a person of Joy, one has to be has to be courageous. Think about it, when you decide to be joyful, sometimes we have to be brave and daring. If we are going to truly be joyful, we have to muster up the courage in our thinking, our temperment, and in our trembling.
A close look at will help us a bit more to understand exactly what this means.
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Do everything without complaining or arguing,
Paul says here that if we have any desire to be in Christ and receive any comfort from His love and if we have any fellowship with His Spirit, any tenderness and compassion, we have to be like-minded. It takes courage to line up with Jesus! Did you know that you can experience courageous joy through courageous thinking?
Courageous Thinking
Courageous Thinking
Courageous Thinking begins when we allow ourselves to be like-minded with Christ. Like-minded is just what it says: it is sharing the same mind. Jesus said in
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
Matthew 22:
Mind in the Bible is human’s intellectual processes or the sum total of the human’s total mental and moral state of being. Paul is saying here that we need to be like-minded with Jesus. In other words, does your intellectual processes or the sum total of your mental and moral state line up with Jesus?
Paul gives us a further explanation here, having the same love, being one in spirit or purpose.
Love in the New Testament is widely known to be eros, philos, or agape. Eros is the sensual type of love, philos is the brotherly type of love, and agape is the unconditional, goodwill kind of love. Paul is saying we need to be like-minded with Christ and the first thing we need to do is to love the same way that Jesus loves. How are you doing with that? Do you love others the same way Jesus loves you?
Unconditionally?
Supportively?
Wholly?
Next, Paul tells us that the Courageous thinking and being like-minded means that we will be one in spirit and purpose with Christ.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
Being like-minded means you are pursuing holiness.
Being like-minded means you are delivering righteousness.
Being like-minded means you are believing godliness.
Being like-minded with Christ means we are not going to have our own agenda, our own selfish ambition, but we are going to be a servant.
This brings us to a look at our Courageous Temperament.
Courageous Temperament
Courageous Temperament
Temperament is your attitude.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
What was the attitude of Jesus?
The first aspect of the attitude of Jesus was that He was a servant. A servant like Jesus will put others before self. Do you have a servant attitude?
This type of attitude goes back to verses 1-4 where it tells us that we can receive encouragement from Christ, Comfort from His love, fellowship from His Spirit, as well as receiving tenderness and compassion.
By the way, being one in the spirit and purpose shows me that we can be for the body of Christ or we can divide the body of Christ. There is no good that can come from one dividing believers with your own selfish ambition or desire. God’s way is for you and I to align with His word that we have in the Bible and live our lives accordingly.
My attitude about Christ will be reflected in my attitude toward others. Are you showing the same attitude as Jesus?
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-
It is time church that you and I forget about what’s in it for you and me and start asking what’s in it for Jesus! It is time for us to make sure we are doing what we are called to be and do or face the judgement.
You and I need to develop courageous trembling.
Courageous Trembling
Courageous Trembling
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
Philippians 2:12
Paul here is saying to the Philippian church that you are doing well, but continue to work our your salvation with fear and trembling. When you and I allow Jesus into our lives and allow Him to start filtering out the impurities we all have in us, we will recognize just how Holy and pure He is. And in doing so, we are going to develop a sense of reverence and awe that becomes our worship.
We will say
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!
Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty,
Who was,
Who is,
And Who is to come!
Your Courageous thinking and courageous temperament become your courageous trembling which increases your courageous thinking and continues to make your courageous temperament more like Jesus and thus increasing your courageous trembling
We become a nation of priests like it says in
and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.
So shall it be! Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
How’s your Courageous Joy doing? What do you have to do to get it going more in your life?
