Live With Joy-Part 1
Hello friends, hopefully you have had a chance to read my brief look on who the Apostle Paul was. If not, you can find it as last week’s post, the post will give you a better understanding into where our next study is going. Considering recent events around the world, from continued pandemic, riots, and natural disasters, I want to highlight how the Bible can spread joy. The most influential book in the Bible regarding joy is without a doubt Philippians. This is going to be a multi-part study looking at different sections of Philippians. Before we get into our verses for today, I want to give a brief outlook on where Paul was when he wrote Philippians. Paul was in prison for preaching the faith and was awaiting trial before Nero knowing full well that it could possibly mean his death. This is a situation that does not exactly spark a joyous heart, and yet in the four chapters of this epistle the words “joy” or “rejoice” is mentioned 16 times! This is even more shocking when you consider that Paul only used these words a total of 36 times throughout the epistles that he had written.
So how could Paul find joy in his situation? For that we need to look at Philippians 1:1-7
“1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.
Even in the opening prayer of this book, Paul states that he is praying with joy. The joy that Paul has in this situation would typically not be recognized as the most joyful of scenarios to be in. This joy is directly in response to a person deliberately relying on the Lord when the opposition appears to have beaten you. It is true that for the Christian we will not have easy lives, however, we will have joyful lives because joy is a characteristic of God’s people. It is a joy that is found only in His presence that flows from realizing our position in Christ, and what He has done for us.
So how could Paul be joyful in his situation? If you look at verses 6-7 it is because he has confidence in what God will do as well as His grace. “6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.” Here we can see that Paul has confidence that God will complete the good work that He started in Paul, which is the good work that He starts in every believer. Paul understands that God is a God who fulfills His promises, not only because he had seen it in his own life, but also because there is evidence of this throughout scripture. For example, look at Psalm 33:11, “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” Here we can see that God’s plans hold true and will continue throughout all generations. By using the word “all” the author of this psalm was not stating that God’s plans will only be fulfilled by that current generation, or even Paul’s generation, but it would be completed throughout the past, present, and future generations.
Again we can see that God is faithful to complete His work in Titus 1:2 “2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,” The hope of eternal life is there for everyone because God does not lie, He is incapable of changing His nature and that is a very good thing because it means that the promises that He makes throughout the Bible, He will keep. But in order to receive this eternal life, we all must come to grips with who we are and who God is. We must understand that we are by nature sin and separated from God, it is only through His Son that we can receive this eternal life. And by doing so we can see that God has plans for our future, “11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11. It is by knowing the characteristic of God that we have hope that we cannot lose our salvation or gain it by any other way than by accepting Him.
If you go back to verse 7 you can see that the other reason that Paul has joy in his troubles is that he is aware of God’s grace. “7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.” The Philippians stood by Paul during his defense and by doing so were confirming the gospel by following through the actions described in 2 Peter 1:4-8 “4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” By providing Paul support, the Church in Philippi was practicing God’s grace, and this allowed Paul to see that they truly shared in His grace with him. If you look closely at 2 Peter 1:4-8, you can see that this is another promise that God keeps in us. If we escape corruption of this world, we will see faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, affection, and love. These are all characteristics of those who follow God and with these characteristics, it is impossible to not have the joy that Paul did even while facing a hardship. Look at Titus 2:11-15 “11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.” God’s grace appeared to offer salvation to all people, there is no one individual who can receive His grace based off their own merit, we are purified only by Jesus Christ. But through God’s grace, we can live upright lives while we wait for that glorious appearing!
In the opening prayer we saw that Paul is praying with joy even though he is in a dire situation, he knows that the joy that he has come from knowing God and cannot be taken from him. We see that Paul is confident that God will complete His work in him and that through His grace that work will be completed. We see that God fulfills His promises, does not change, and His will is done throughout all generations. For the believers around the world who are facing many different hardships, I want to encourage you to remember Paul, and see that through it all God’s will is being done because He fulfills His promises and does not change. Even in the darkest places, God is there with you and with that knowledge you can have joy in relying on Him. Just as Paul encouraged them in those dark times, let us who are in Christ stand together with Christ and live with joy. “8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Corinthians 1:8-9.
Seek the Truth and encourage one another,
Alex