Good News: The Gospel Brings Us Joy
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Philippians 3:1-3
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
Have you ever been disappointed because you misplaced your confidence? I started basketball practice with my team this past week, and always at the beginning of the season I like to get out there and show them why they call me coach buckets. But seeing that I haven’t played basketball since February, I was more like coach brick it. Couldn’t hit a shot to save my life. After the night was over I texted a buddy of my and said am I rusty or am I old? Looked every bit like a 30 year old trying to play with 17 and 18 year old guys. So it wasn’t great. But we get down to the end of the game scores tied, had to win by two points. So going through my mind - even if I’m not playing well, I don’t really miss shots at the end of games. I’m clutch. I’m a closer. So I’m about to get the ball and end the game. So I tell the guys on my team, “I got this (even though I had not made anything else rest of the game)” So I get the ball bring it up the court. Made a really nice, quick move. I mean it was like a James Harden type stuff step back three. Foot work felt great. Felt great coming off my hand. Straight up airball. No where even remotely close to the basket. One of my players grabbed that rebound made a quick pass down the court for a shot on the other end, and we lost the game. You see my team had misplaced confidence in me to make that final shot, even though I obviously having on off night, and it led to a tough loss.
Well in our text this morning, Paul is going to warn the believers in Philippi about how misplaced confidence could lead to them losing their joy.
We’ve been making our way through the book of Philippians and now we’ve made it to chapter. In much of chapter 1, Paul updates the Philippian church on how he’s doing during his imprisonment and assures the church that even if he dies, he will die knowing that he left everything on the line for sake of the gospel. Towards the end of chapter 1 and going into chapter 2, Paul begins to teach the believers about how our belief in the gospel should move us to serve the Lord in unity, humility, and selflessness. Now, we get to chapter 3, Paul says Finally brothers. Now the finally here doesn't mean that Paul is almost done with the letter. He is only about half-way done. The finally here can also be translated as "So then" or "Moreover" or "Furthermore". So now Paul is starting a new section of teaching that will continue the thoughts that he has introduced before.
He says finally brothers, “Rejoice in the Lord.” Now if you have been with us through the study of the book that command to Rejoice or to have joy is something that we have become quite familiar with in this book. Paul is constantly talking to the Philippian church about joy. It seems that while they were a strong church that was doing a lot of things right, they had lost some of the joy that should be associated with being a follower of Christ. Perhaps they had become kind of robotic. They were trying to do what was right, making disciples, and facing the opposition that faced the church, but the heart, the excitement, the emotion had been sucked out of their Christian lives. So Paul is constantly telling them they need to have joy.
Question: Do you always have the joy that you should have as a follower of Christ? Do you find yourself sometimes following Jesus out of drudgery instead of out joy. Are you growing to be more joyful in your walk with God, or is it becoming something that is mundane. Is serving Jesus a blessing or a burden? Hey Christians! There should be joy in serving Jesus. We should have gladness as we walk with God.
Perhaps you are here and you have lost the joy the comes with following Jesus. Maybe living the Christian life has become a burden to you instead of something that you enjoy. Maybe you struggle with, living like a Christian when the world seems to be so much more fun. How do we get and maintain joy as a Christian? How can we keep from being weighed down by the demands of following Jesus? Well I have good news. The gospel brings us joy.
This morning, we are going to talk about how a gospel centered life can bring and keep joy in our lives as followers of Jesus.
At the end of verse Philippians 3:1, Paul says that writing the same thing to them is no trouble for him and it was safe for them. Basically he was saying that he is going to be talking about something that he has talked about before and even if this was starting to get repetitive, it was going to be for their benefit. And what Paul is going to continue talking about is the gospel. Paul is going to teach the Philippian church and us as well how a firm foundation in the gospel can help us to keep and even grow in our joy.
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
First. Let’s take a deeper look at the command to Rejoice in the Lord.
The Command to Rejoice
The Command to Rejoice
If you remember from English class what an imperative sentence is, it’s a sentence that makes a command. And when Paul says rejoice in the Lord, he isn’t just making a nice statement. This is a command. This is something that absolutely has to be done. Why do you think that Paul made this command?
As usual, I think we have to go back to what had been said previously. Paul had been giving some pretty stiff commands. Commands that include being willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel, humbling ourselves and putting others above ourselves, have a mind like Jesus who lived as a servant and was obedient to the point of death on the cross, workout your salvation, and do all things without grumbling and disputing. None of these commands sound like they are fun, and they are definitely not pleasing to our flesh.
I believe that’s why Paul had to remind the Philippian church again here to rejoice. Understanding that there are some high demands of living a life that is worthy of the gospel, but the Christian life should still be lived with joy.
Let’s keep in mind that joy and happiness are not the same things. The English word for happiness comes from a Latin word that means fortune. So when our fortunes are high so, when good things are happening, we have happiness. So happiness is completely connected with our circumstances.
But that’s not the case with joy. Joy is not dependent on circumstances. True joy is a result of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It rises above our circumstances and cannot be changed by our situation.
Now what does it mean to joy in the Lord?
I think to get a good understand we are going to look at all what Paul has said about joy thus far in Philippians
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
So Paul had joy because of their partnership with him for the gospel.
What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice,
Here we see that Paul rejoices in the fact that the gospel is being proclaimed.
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,
The Philippians were to have joy in their faith in the gospel.
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Paul says that his joy would be complete by their unity for the sake of the gospel
Philippians 2:17-18
Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
Paul says that he will rejoice even if he has to die for their faith in the gospel.
Philippians 2:28-29
I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men,
The Philippians were to have joy in receiving Epaphroditus who risked his life for the sake of the gospel.
So everything that Paul says to have joy in concerns faith in and the advancement of the gospel. So I think that when we talk about Rejoicing in the Lord, it means to have joy in everything that has to do with the gospel. In it’s belief, in it’s spread, in living it out. Our joy in the Lord is connected to the greatness of the gospel. As we grow in the understanding and application of the gospel to our lives, the result should be a greater joy knowing what Christ has done for you in providing justification for your sins, is doing in you through sanctification as you become more like Christ, and will complete in you when you are glorified when you finally meet Jesus.
Rejoicing in the Lord should be the norm for the believer. The command to Rejoice in verse 1 is in the present tense which means that it’s something that it something that is supposed to be done habitually or continually. Rejoicing in the Lord is not something that is saved for Sunday morning or when we have something good happen. It’s at all times good and bad, prosperity or adversity. We should be consistently rejoicing in the Lord.
But Rejoice in also in the active voice. The active voice indicates that the person is doing the action. So we have to take an active roll in rejoicing. We are not just going to rejoice on accident. It doesn’t just happen. We have to make a choice to rejoice in the Lord. So we need to be constantly striving, making our very best effort to have joy in the Lord.
The reason that we need to constantly pursue joy is that it joy is necessary to be like Christ. This is Jesus speaking in John 15:10-11
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Jesus derived his joy by being obedient to the Father and abiding in his love, and by doing the same we can take part in the same joy that Jesus had. But also, it honors God when we rejoice in him. Psalms 70:4 says
May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
Jesus is worthy of our excitement. Jesus is worthy of enthusiasm. Jesus is worthy of our joy. The salvation that he provides us through the gospel is something worth rejoicing over.
Since Jesus is our source of joy, so if we are going to have authentic joy, we must be in the presence of God. Psalm 16:11 says
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
So if you feel like you lack joy in your Christian life, the best thing that you can do is to go back to the gospel. Meditate on the gravity of what Jesus’s death and resurrection mean for your entire existence. Past, present, and future. Rejoice in the Lord!
Transition: In the next verse, Paul starts to talk about the enemies of joy. Remember at the end of verse 1, Paul says that his continual teaching of the gospel was safe for them. There was something they needed to be protected from. What Paul is about to talk about is false teachers that had infiltrated the church.
The Enemies of Joy
The Enemies of Joy
Philippians 3:2
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
Paul repeatedly tells the church to look out. Or some versions you will see the word beware. He is alerting the Philippians to a lurking danger. So who are these false teachers that Paul is referring to? They were called Judaizers. The Judaizers were devout Jews who accepted Jesus as Messiah, but they taught that Gentiles must become like Jews before they could be Christians. This meant that all believers needed to keep the Law of Moses, including the act circumcision in order to be saved. Which was not true. Jesus had come to fulfill the law of Moses, and one received salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ, not by works of the law. This doctrine was especially dangerous for a church like Philippi which was made up of mostly Gentiles. For them it was adding external work to earn and keep their salvation.
He tells them to look out for the dogs. Now Paul isn’t referring your lovable best friend back home. The dogs Paul was referring to were like wild scavengers. They would roam the streets getting in garbage, attacking innocent people, and spreading diseases. Dogs were considered to be vicious and unclean animals. Calling someone a dog was a strong insult in the Jewish culture. Paul says the Judaizers were dogs because they fed on trash doctrine and spread doctrinal error through the church. They were vicious in their attack and preyed on the weak.
He says look out for the evil workers. These were people who had evil character and their mission was evil
And then he says look out for those who mutilate the flesh. And this is in reference to circumcision. They taught that this physical operation was part of one’s salvation. When a Gentile gave in to the pressure to get circumcised to receive Christ, they were no better off than pagans who believed that had to cut and mutilate their bodies in order to gain favor from their gods.
These Judaizers had taken the joy out of the Christian life because they had reduced salvation to a set of rules instead of faith in Jesus. They made salvation more about religious rituals than a relationship with Jesus. The requirements of the Old Testament law placed heavy demands on people and really took the joy out of following Christ. When people heard this false doctrine, it caused some to turn away from Christianity all together.
As I had different conversations at work this week about things of the Bible. It came to my mind that most lost people have reduced Christianity to a set of rules to follow. They believe that if you can keep all the rules, then you can go to heaven. And if the lost world views Christianity as a set of strict rules, it’s no wonder that many people don’t want to give their life for Christ.
While the Judaizers aren’t really around in our context, there are still those that reduce salvation into a list of do’s and dont’s. One must be baptized, or go to church, or read the Bible every day. You can’t get drunk, or curse, or whatever.
And most of us would agree that these are things that every follower of Christ should and should not be doing. I think we all know that it it’s not a list of do’s and don’ts that give us salvation. That’s not at all what the gospel says.
The gospel says that we are all sinners, and no matter how much good we do. No matter how many rules we can keep. We are never going to be good enough to enter into heaven. That’s why Jesus had to die. Jesus came to earth as a baby born of a virgin which means that he was without the sinful nature of man. He lived a sinless life, always doing what pleased the Father. This made Jesus the perfect sacrifice. He gave his life in our place taking our sins upon himself when He died on the cross. Then he rose from the grave triumphant over death and hell. He did all the work so that we wouldn’t have to. So when people add any type work to earn salvation, they are basically saying that the work that Jesus did for us was not sufficient. Having to work to earn your salvation can’t produce joy. It only produces anxiety and stress. You are are constantly worrying, “Did I do enough.”
And while those of us that have received salvation by grace through faith know that we do not have to work to earn our salvation, do you still carry the burden of performance? Do you still feel like you need to work in order to earn God’s love and acceptance? Are you crushed underneath the weight of your failures to the point that you just feel like giving up? I know many of us came from a background that emphasized external religion above a heart relationship with God. And I think that even though we know we have been saved by grace, we often still feel like we need to work in order to earn it. Maybe the reason that the world views Christianity as a list do’s and dont’s is because that’s the way many of us as Christians behave. I am 100% for holy living. As Christians we need to be constantly looking into God’s word and seeking to make our life look more like Christ. But we must be careful to not get so caught up on trying to look the part of Christian that we lose the joy of actually being a Christian. I’ve seen it time and time again that people get caught up with doing Christian things that they stop being a Christian. We can’t get so focused on externals that our relationship with Jesus becomes weak.
I believe that this is why many Christians lose their joy. Of course we should be doing all the good things. We know that faith without works is dead. But at the same time, we cannot forget that in Christ our eternity is secure, His love is secure, and that his grace abounds.
If you are truly saved, there are no works that we can add to our salvation and no failure that can take it away. Jesus has done all the work. All we must do is place our trust and Him and seek to follow Him to the best of our ability.
Now, when we look at verse 3, we can see how we can protect our joy.
Protecting Our Joy
Protecting Our Joy
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
Paul says that we are the circumcision. Now. That’s kind of a weird statement. And calling someone circumcision doesn’t seem like it would be a positive thing. But without going into too much detail about circumcision, here is what Paul is saying . Circumcision in the Old Testament was meant to be an outward sign of being set apart from the world in service to God. The ritual itself did not save them or sanctify them, but it was supposed to be a symbolic picture of what must take place in the heart. The picture was that there needed to be a cutting away of the heart that is hardened by sin. The only thing that can cut away the hardness of the heart is the sharp, two-edged sword of the word of God.
So now try to get what Paul was saying. The true followers of Christ are those that have experienced internally what the ritual of circumcision was supposed to represent. We are those that have received the word of God. We have received the gospel, and had our hearts changed.
Paul then continues to describe those that have had hearts that have been changed by the gospel. His first description is that they worship by the Spirit of God. The word worship isn’t referring to the singing that we do before the preaching in the service. The word worship refers to service or ministering to someone. It’s idea of performing a religious service or homage. Those that have had their hearts changed by the gospel should have a life that is devoted to God in spiritual service. But here’s the key. This worship is generated by the Holy Spirit that is living inside of every believer. Jesus said something similar to the women at the well in John 4:23
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
As we receive the word of God and allow the Spirit of God to work in our lives, it produces a lifestyle of worship and service to God. This is in contrast to trying to keep a list of rules to earn God’s favor. God has already shown his favor to us in that He has given us the Holy Spirit. Serving the Lord by seeking to live holy and obey his commands should be done with a heart of joy and thankfulness for what Christ has done for us. Not to try and earn and keep our salvation. We can rest and rejoice in the fact that the Spirit of God dwells in you, and empowers you to worship and serve God for His praise and His glory.
The second identifier is that the person that has had their heart changed through the gospel is that they will glory in Christ Jesus. The Greek word for glory that is used right here means to praise with great joy. So we should be continually giving thanks and praising God for what He as done, and what He is doing in our lives. We don’t glory in our status. We don’t glory in our achievements. We don’t glory in our gifts. Our glory is in Christ alone realizing that He has gifted us everything good that is good! Paul wrote in Galatians 6:14
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
If your heart has been changed by Christ, you should be making much of Christ. Not just at church, but in your home, at your job, wherever it is that you have opportunity we need to give glory to Jesus because it is in him that we have our hope.
The third identifier is closely related to the second where he says Philippians 3:3
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
Confidence is our faith or trust. As a person who has had their heart changed by the gospel. Our confidence should not be in our flesh. Not on any ritual, not any good work, not in any human ability. Our confidence lies in the work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
To put confidence is in the perfect tense. The perfect tense is an action that happened in the past, but the results are continuing. So here is what that teaches us. We had to completely trust in Christ to receive salvation, and it is a continual trust in Christ as we live our lives and follow Jesus. It’s not that we have to trust Jesus to earn our salvation, but then we trust our flesh to keep it.
In the following verses, Paul lists his credentials Philippians 3:4-6
though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
We’ll go through these more next week, but basically Paul is saying, “If there was anyone that could have earned their salvation, it would have been me.” He checked all the boxes. These are the fleshly things that he trusted to earn him favor with God, but none of these things earned him a relationship with Christ.
If you place you confidence for salvation anywhere except for Jesus, it’s false confidence.
It’s like passing the ball to your old coach who hasn’t made a shot in an hour and expecting him to win the game. You have misplaced your confidence and it is only going to leave you disappointed. It’s going to steal your joy.
Everybody places their confidence somewhere, and typically where you place you confidence is what you boast in, and what you boast in is where you find your joy. And where you find your joy is where you find your identity.
Get this statement
Your joy in the Lord is preserved when your identity in Christ is secure.
Your joy in the Lord is preserved when your identity in Christ is secure.
You see Paul’s solution to the problem of false teaching was for the Philippians to be sure in their identity in Christ. Read Philippians 3:3 again
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—
Paul reminds them of who they are in Christ, what their lives should look like, and how they were to live out the Christian life. It was a matter of affirming their identity in Jesus. If you feel like you have to work to earn you salvation, that misplaced confidence. Matthew 7:21-23 some of the most sobering verses in the Bible.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
But those of us that are saved we can’t ignore this. Remember Paul wrote these warnings to Philippian church. These were people who already knew Christ. But there is still this temptation to begin finding our identity in things that we do for Christ and not in what Christ has done for us.
I’ve seen it way too much. Men that have led thousands to Christ, pastors, Sunday school teachers you name it. People that had done great things in the ministry. Then you find out years later they cheated on their wives, sexual assault, stealing money from the church - all kinds of gross sins were taking place while they were serving in ministry. What happened? Some of them are complete frauds that had no interest in Christ whatsoever. But many of them were genuinely saved by grace, but the got of track. They found their identity in what they were doing in Christ name, and not in Christ himself. More concerned about doing Christian things than actually being a Christian. Their confidence became their success in ministry. They boasted in building their own kingdoms. They weren’t serving God with a heart of joy, but rather with a heart of pride. It’s funny how one’s pride can easily be mistaken for joy.
Where we place out confidence is what we will boast in. What we boast in is what brings us joy. What we joy in is where we find our identity. Authentic, lasting joy can only be found in Jesus Christ.
Your joy in the Lord is preserved when your identity in Christ is secure.
Your joy in the Lord is preserved when your identity in Christ is secure.
If you are listening this morning, you’ve been saved, but you lost the joy of being a Christian. Being a Christian has become more of a list of do’s and dont’s instead of a relationship with Christ. I want to encourage you to take some time to meditate on the gospel and identify yourself with the work of Christ. Remind yourself that you have been forgiven, that Jesus loves you despite your failures. There’s nothing that you can do to earn your salvation, so there is nothing that you can do to lose it. Ask God to return to you the joy your salvation, so that living for Jesus will be done an overflow of joy that comes from knowing Him.
And addition to that, when we consistently have joy in the Lord as Christians, it makes what we have much more attractive to the world around us. When we can have genuine joy, even in the midst of trials and adversity and we can explain that the reason that we maintain joy is that we have a relationship with Jesus Christ who is in control of it all. It can draw others to faith in Him.
If you don’t know Christ, or maybe you are not sure about your salvation. I want to encourage you to be sure about your relationship with Christ. Don’t trust being a good person, or going to church, or doing good deeds. These things will not get you into heaven. The only way to heaven is by placing your trust in the death an resurrection of Jesus Christ and follow Jesus. If you want to know more about that, I encourage to catch me after the service, or message us on facebook, and we would love to share more with you about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.