Philippians 4:1-9 - Rejoice Always
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1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. 2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. 2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:
Introduction
Introduction
No shortage of things to fear in the world
Crime
Education
Jobs for our kids
Our jobs - retrenchment
Pensions
Politics, corruption
Eskom
Water
Natural disasters
Coronavirus
Coronavirus
Not going to scare you with statistics
Its serious
We need to take every precaution
We need to cooperate with government and love our neighbour
Not the time to panic
Worldwide panic & anxiety
Stockpiling
Drastic measures taken
Cancellation of gatherings
Schools closed
Restaurants & places that sell alcohol, closed or no more than 50
Businesses sending people home, retrenching, closing
Malls, public transport deserted
All this is strange and adds to our feelings of anxiety, panic and fear
How should Christians be responding and feeling?
To fear is a natural human emotion
Our theology and what we know about God should inform our emotions
We must not allow our emotions to govern us, but the knowledge of God should govern our emotions and direct our actions
PAUL IN PRISON
PAUL IN PRISON
Here we have a text from a letter written by Paul to the Philippian church while he was in prison
Hardly good circumstances
Particularly in ancient Rome at a time when both the Jews and Roman culture were hostile to Christianity
I doubt very much that Paul had access to good health care
Even if he did have medical aid, they wouldn’t have covered his stay
Hand sanitizer wasn’t a thing
The food would have been hardly edible
Talk about living in quarantine, Paul was having it
His loneliness only made more unbearable than the seemingly endless wait for his trial and determination of his fate
Would he even be given a fair trial?
Would he be kept in prison for years on end?
Would he be executed?
All these questions and more would have been on his mind.
But what plagued him most was his concern for the Church and how the believers were holding up, out there, free from a prison cell, those poor people.
It’s while sitting in his jail cell in these terrible conditions and circumstances, that Paul pens this letter to the Christians in Philippi
And his advice in this portion is: “Rejoice in the Lord Always; and again I will say, rejoice.”
When a man locked up in such terrible circumstances is encouraging those who are free to rejoice, we had better take notice.
1. Stand Firm in the Lord
1. Stand Firm in the Lord
1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
When we see the word “therefore”, we know we have to look back and see what Paul was saying before.
If we go back a few verses, Paul was saying at the end of chapter 3:
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Philippians 3:
Therefore,
because our citizenship is in heaven,
and our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, who subjects all things to Himself (meaning He has power over all)
… is coming according to His promise,
and is going to transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body which will is incorruptible and cannot be touched by sickness
we should stand firm in the Lord
Trust the Lord
Trust in His sovereignty
Believe His promises
Look forward to His coming
Even in the world, when you study business and leadership, in times of crisis you are taught that one of the first questions to ask yourself is “What do you know?” What are the facts?
Because you don’t respond to a situation or a crisis by allowing your feelings and emotions and panic and hysteria to cloud your judgment and drive your decision making and actions.
The outcome will almost inevitably be bad
Rather, a good leader must ask “What do we know” to be true?
Believers, what do we know?
The Lord has not vacated His throne. He is on the throne, and has subjected all things to Himself - including Coronavirus. It has not caught Him by surprise
The Lord is our Saviour. He has redeemed us from our sinful estate, redeemed us from the curse and penalty of sin, and adopted us as as His own
Our citizenship is in Heaven. This temporary, broken, corrupted, dying world is not our home. We await our home.
Our Saviour is coming to take us home. We are awaiting His arrival and He is coming soon
He is going to transform our body to be like his
Now, stand firm on what you know. Stand firm on those promises. Stand firm in the Lord.
To stand firm in the Lord is to stand on an unmovable rock.
Do you know why the world is living in fear and panic buying toilet paper of all things, and food and handsantizers and all the like?
Its because they are standing on sinking sand.
They don’t know the Lord
They don’t know or don’t believe His promises
So they are overcome by their emotions, their fears, their anxieties.
They make rash and unreasonable decisions
They spit in each others’ faces and fight with each other in the toilet paper isles in the shopping centers (this is happening in the UK)
Not us.
We stand on the rock. We stand firm in the Lord.
Like a fish lives in water, like healthy roots live in good soil, like branches live in the vine, we live in Christ.
Secure, alive, thriving
Habakkuk shows us an example
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save?
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? 3 Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 4 So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.
Hab 1:
He’s talking about the rampant wickedness and evil in Israel that is wreaking destruction
God answers and says “I am going to send the Chaldeans to destroy Israel”
I imagine Habakkuk’s first thought: “The Chaldeans? You’re going to send the Chaldeans to take out Israel? But they’re even worse than Israel”
That is what standing on sinking sand looks like
But then Habakkuk remembers:
12 Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.
Hab 1:12
He gets off the sinking sand and stands on the rock
What does he know?
The Lord is eternal, the Lord is holy, the Lord is sovereign over all things, the Lord redeems His people
We might not know why God allows evil to continue in this world without punishment, other than that He is patient so that more will repent and believe
We might not know what He is doing when He allows plagues like the Coronavirus to run rampant, other than that the reality of death may force unbelievers to come to terms with their mortality and look for God
But what we do know we will stand firm in.
God is eternal
God is sovereign
God is holy and does not wrong
God saves
We will stand firm in the Lord
2. Rejoice in the Lord
2. Rejoice in the Lord
The next
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Voltaire, the well known atheist philosopher, once said:
“Men are tormented atoms in a bit of mud devoured by death, a mockery of fate, this world, this theatre of pride and wrong, swarms with sick fools who only talk of happiness.”
He was a delightful chap and a bundle of joy to be around in a crisis, I’m sure
He was right about one thing: the world is a theatre of pride and wrong, full of tormented and sick fools who only talk about happiness while inside they’re miserable
Even the modern western world with all its pleasures and comforts doesn’t make anybody truly happy
The suicide rates and number of people suffering from depression tell a story
The crime statistics, corruption, disease and death give us every excuse to sink into misery
But from a prison cell in Rome Paul writes and says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I will say, rejoice.”
Rejoice always
The Greek word Chairo
Be glad, feel happiness, take pleasure in, be joyful, be delighted
In any and every circumstance
Even in a prison cell
Even in the middle of an outbreak of Coronavirus that threatens to sink the world economies and take tens or even hundred of lives
Rejoice in the Lord always
You ask, “are you kidding me right now?”
“Now how on earth am I supposed to do that?
How am I supposed to be rejoicing, being delighted, being glad, feeling happiness, and taking pleasure in everything that is going on around us????
Let me correct you
Paul is not telling us to rejoice in our circumstances
Paul is telling us to rejoice in the Lord always
Circumstances change. The Lord never changes
Circumstances may be terrible, as they are right now
Evil may run rampant
Corruption may destroy our livelihoods
Diseases like Coronavirus and cancer spread and end lives prematurely
But in the midst of all that terror and uncertainty
The Lord is eternal
The Lord is sovereign
The Lord is holy
The Lord saves
The Lord is coming
And we will rejoice in Him
We will be delighted in Him
We will be glad in Him
We will be joyful in Him
We will be happy in Him
We will take pleasure in Him
We will stand firm in the Lord, and we will rejoice in Him
We are not left abandoned to this dying world
We are citizens of Heaven, and He is coming for us
3. Be Reasonable
3. Be Reasonable
5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
The Greek word there being Epiekes
gentle, kind, tolerant, merciful, generous, compassionate
The fact that we are citizens of heaven and yet God has not yet taken us home and has us here, ought to make us pause and think… why?
As citizens of heaven and ambassadors of God’s Kingdom, what is our purpose in this dying and corrupted world?
Because make no mistake, we do have purpose. So best we figure out what that purpose is, and fulfill that purpose
The purpose is hinted at by Paul who reminds us: The Lord is at hand
Reading through Philippians, the theme of joy is present in every chapter.
We also see in the words of this letter another strong theme: the advance of the gospel
Paul is in prison for his efforts to advance the gospel
In chapter 1, Paul says he thanks God for the Philippian church’s partnership in the gospel - for caring for him as a missionary, and for themselves engaging in the defence of the gospel
He talks about the advancement of the gospel throughout the imperial guard in the prison because of his being there
He is glad even for those who oppose him but still proclaim Christ, as long as Christ is proclaimed
He says that is torn between living in dying, but is happy to live for the sake of advancing the gospel and helping the Church
In chapter 2 he asks the Church to be blameless in a twisted generation, and to shine as lights in the world
In chapter 3 he talks about straining forward and pressing forward toward the goal
It’s not only in Philippians. It’s throughout the Bible.
We who stand on the rock are here to reach out to those who are sinking in the sand.
By letting our reasonableness be known to everyone...
Do you know what people should see when they look at us, who are standing firm in the Lord?
They should see people who have joy
People who are at peace in the Lord
They should see hope
They should see people who are calm
who don’t panic
who have patience
are not easily offended by others
who aren’t insisting on our own rights
or fighting for toilet paper and sanitizer in the isles
In short… they should see hope
In our reasonableness, gentleness, kindness, tolerance, compassion, generosity, and mercy towards others,
we will be like shining lights in a dark world desperate for hope
and we will have many opportunities to talk about the reason for our hope - our Saviour Jesus Christ and the good news of the gospel
Coronavirus is not the first plague to hit mankind
Neither was Spanish flu, H1-N1 / Swine flu, Ebola, Tuberculosis, cancer or HIV
Since the first century alone, plagues like the Black death, the Antonine plague, the plague of Justinian, and the plague of Athens changed the course of history
But the most remarkable things to come out of those plagues was the response of Christians and the exponential growth of Christianity during those times.
One such plague during the 3rd century killed 5000 people per day - in Rome.
Historians record that there was such panic in the population that abandoned the sick, the elderly and the disabled
People abandoned their homes and flooded out of their cities.
The last non-christian Roman emperor was Julian.
In a letter to a priest he wrote the following: “The impious (Christians) support not only their poor, but ours as well; everyone can see that our people lack aid from us.”
While everyone else panicked and deserted their poor, their sick, their elderly, their disable and their cities, the Christians stayed behind at great risk to themselves and cared for the abandoned.
Historian Rodney Stark said that you can trace the rapid growth of Christianity in those early centuries to the major plagues of the 2nd, 3rd and 6th centuries. He said that Christianity grew because people saw the incredible witness of Christians during those times of crisis. Instead of panicking, they demonstrated tremendous faith and compassion.
Folks, we can’t see the stars at night - not because they aren’t there, but because they’re set in the backdrop of a bright sky.
But when the sun goes down and they’re set against the backdrop of a black sky, those same stars shine brightly.
In the good times, when all seems bright and rosy for the unbelieving world, they don’t take notice of God or His people
But when the world is shaken and all seems dark and hopeless, that is when the light of the gospel shines most brightly
In the middle of a crisis such as this, we have an opportunity to let our light shine.
We have opportunity to bear witness and testimony, to let the world know that the Lord is at hand
to be people of reasonableness, gentleness, patience, kindness, mercy, generosity and compassion
Rather than panicking, panic buying, stock piling, and living in fear of this virus which is subject to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ,
This is a time for us to demonstrate faith in our Saviour, love for our neighbour and hope that nothing in this world can take away.
Philippians 4:
Opportunity for us to advance the gospel
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
4. Pray
4. Pray
Of course we ourselves face real danger
We are not naive or unwise or undiscerning
In calling us to stand firm in the Lord, to rejoice in Him always, and to make our reasonableness and compassion known to everyone, Paul is not calling us to pretend
We face real danger, real threats. We have real worries and concerns
Those are a reality
Coronavirus is a reality
We are not called to pretend or act like it is not a real threat - or that we are immune
But neither are we to be anxious or fear
What are we called to do?
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
One of the most repeated commands in Scripture is “Do not fear”
It is repeated 365 times in the Scriptures - one for each day of the year
And in most of those occasions it is followed by this reminder: “I am with you”
The threats and dangers we face in this world are real, but rather than fear or be anxious, we are called to remember where our help comes from.
The world is in panic because they have no idea where their help comes from
The world can only hope in scientists, but they haven’t been able to come up with a cure or vaccine yet
Besides that, many don’t trust the scientists because there is a belief that this virus is man-made and scientists are responsible for it in the first place
They have no where to turn for help
They can only trust in their own strength - buy all the toilet paper
They stand on sinking sand.
But God says to His people:
13 For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” 14 Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
Rather than be anxious or live in fear, we will turn to the Lord from where our help comes.
We will pray
we will thank the Lord
and we will let our requests be known to the Lord
Paul puts it in a way that doesn’t separate the two:
he is not saying we should thank God on the one hand for some things,
and on the other hand give God our requests
The asking and the thanking are not separated
They are together: It is asking with thanksgiving
With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God
Prayer helps us to stand firm in the Lord and rejoice always in Him, because in prayer:
we offload our anxieties on Him and cast our cares on Him, because He cares for us
we remember His faithfulness to us
faithfulness in answering our past prayers
faithfulness in redeeming us from sin and saving us from death itself
and in the answering of our prayers
faithfulness to fulfill His promise of eternal life to all who believe
All of which helps us to keep our eyes fixed on God, to stand firm in the Lord
Are you anxious about being infected? Pray
Are you anxious about your loved ones? Pray
Are you anxious about your job, your business, your income, your investments? Pray
Are you anxious about the future? Pray
All this is attached to a promise, that in bringing our anxieties and requests to God with thanksgiving, “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (verse 7)
Conclusion
Conclusion
How do we sum this up?
John Piper wrote a book with a provocative title: Don’t Waste Your Cancer
Maybe I can be so bold as to sum up this message tonight by saying to the Church: Don’t Waste This Crisis
In the midst of crisis in Israel and a coming destruction by the hands of the evil Chaldeans, Habakkuk looked to the Lord and remembered:
He is eternal
He is sovereign
He is holy
He will redeem us
God sits on His throne.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
Is 46:
9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
Now in saying that God is sovereign over all things and that all things are subject to His authority, we do not rejoice over the Coronavirus or the devastation it is causing
But we do stand firm in the Lord and His promises,
rejoicing in Him always,
knowing that His counsel will stand, and He will accomplish all His pupose
We will not waste the opportunity to let our light shine in the darkness;
to make the glory and hope of the gospel known to a desperate generation,
to make the glory and hope of the gospel known to a desperate generation,
to love our neighbour with acts of selfless compassion
to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ
We will take our anxieties to God in thankful prayer
Knowing that in doing so, we will be made more effective ambassadors for Christ as He give us a peace that surpasses all understanding,
and guards our hearts and minds against any and every thing that would distract us or harm us
Sofinally thenm
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.