Jesus our Joy

The book of Philippians is the New Testament book par excellence about Christian joy.

No less than 16 times in its four chapters does Paul refer to joy. There is 3.1: 'Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord!'; 4.4: 'Rejoice in the Lord always'; and 4.10: 'I rejoice greatly in the Lord'. Notice two things about the phrase 'Rejoice in the Lord'.

Firstly, it is a command. You may ask: 'How can I be commanded to be joyful?' But, you see, there is never a circumstance in which a Christian finds himself where there are not adequate reasons to be joyful.

Then, secondly, joy is always connected with the Lord Jesus. In fact, our joy will be as correspondingly deep as we are close to him. The further we are away from the Lord Jesus, the more will our joy diminish. Christian joy is always in the Lord, and we deepen our joy as we draw nearer to him.

1. Foundations of joy

The foundations of joy are the great truths of the gospel of Christ.

i. Righteousness through faith in Christ. 'I consider them (that is, everything I valued before) rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him (in union with him), not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God, and is by faith' (3.8,9).

The first ground of Christian joy is discovering good news after learning of very bad news. The bad news is that we can never earn God's approval, that we can never live up to his standard by our efforts or spiritual pedigree or religious observance. When Paul realised that, he was devastated, but then he discovered something absolutely tremendous. He realised that God gives the supreme delight and joyful privilege of being right with him freely, as a gift. All Paul had to do was receive the gift with the empty hands of faith. What a source of joy!

Personally, if I did not believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of a righteousness from God freely given to sinners, I would not want to be religious. Trying to work up an appropriate amount of obedience to God's requirements would not only be impossible, it would be incredibly boring. What a chore mere religiosity is.

ii. God has put his hand on my life and has a purpose for me. In verse 12 Paul says: 'I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.' Jesus has put his hand on Paul's life, not only as his Saviour from sin, but also as his Master and guide through life. Therefore Paul's life had purpose, direction, motivation - to live for Jesus.

iii. A destiny - heaven. The third great foundation of gospel joy is described by Paul in verse 14: 'I press on toward the goal, to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.'

Philippi was, in effect, a colony of Rome, and one of the great privileges given to the inhabitants of Philippi was the right of Roman citizenship. Paul uses this privilege to illustrate the great dignity that God has given to Christians. In 3.20 he writes: 'But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.'

No Christian is without a sure hope as he looks into the unknown future. Every Christian has a destiny, an inheritance waiting for him in heaven. Every Christian can look forward to that great transformation when his frail, sick, sinful body will be transformed. That is terrific!

I recently read, over a period of a few months, Joni Eareckson Tada's book on heaven. It is an absolutely delightful book where Joni looks forward with profound insight into what God is going to do for those who love him. Joni has been paralysed for over 30 years. Yet her joy at the prospect of what God is going to do for her, and for all his people, fills every page.

So these are three great foundation truths for Christian joy. But let me remind you that each of them is 'in Christ', and through Christ and because of Christ.

2. Hindrances to joy

But in Philippians chapter 4, from verse 2 onwards, Paul mentions four hindrances to our experience of Christian joy.

i. The first is bad relationships between believers. 'I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.' Here are two women in the church at Philippi who were a pain to themselves and to one another.

What is sad about these two women is that when Paul had evangelised Philippi, both Euodia and Syntyche had worked together to serve the Lord and spread the gospel. Paul writes: 'Help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel.' Now they are taken up with their own disagreement and their own agendas. What a waste!

Many a good work for God has been hindered by bad relationships. I know of a missionary agency that, when I was a boy, had 60-plus full-time Christian workers. Now it has only one full-time and one part-time worker - not because it has abandoned doctrine, not because there is no longer a need for the work, but because of a few dominant and hard-to-get-on-with personalities who caused problems.

So bad relationships are a real hindrance to the experience of Christian joy. Maybe you know there is a cloud between you and another Christian. Perhaps you need to go to a Christian in your church and say: 'I'm sorry.'

ii. The second hindrance to the experience of joy is worry. Instead of worrying Paul says: 'Let your gentleness (literally, your forbearing spirit) be evident to all.' How can Paul tell us not to worry, especially if we are, by disposition, the worrying kind of person? Paul gives his grounds at the end of verse 5: 'The Lord is near.' I used to think that Paul meant that the Lord's return was near, and, to be fair, some commentators take this to be Paul's meaning. But I don't think that's what Paul means. Rather he is saying that the Lord is near, close by us. He never leaves us or forsakes us.

One of the reasons we worry so often in life is because we conclude we will be in a situation we will not be able to cope with. But Paul reminds believers that the divine resources available to each Christian will not fail. Therefore 'do not be anxious about anything.' Since God's resources are available to us by his Spirit, why should we worry unduly? John Gwyn-Thomas wrote a great book on Philippians 4 entitled Rejoice always, where he says this: 'The devil does not want us to bring our problems, great or small, to God, because he does not want us to see them in their proper perspective.'

Do you remember when you were growing up and measuring your height to see how you were growing? Sometimes we measure our problems simply by their size, or by other people's problems. But we should measure the problems by the presence of God with us. And if we measure them by God, he's always bigger than our problems.

iii. The third hindrance to the experience of joy is connected to the battle going on within every Christian concerning the battle for the mind. '. . . if anything is excellent or praiseworthy . . . think about such things.' Paul stresses that there is a battle going on for our minds. Therefore we need to be careful what we fill our minds with.

Whatever is good in the world, whatever God has made for our pleasure, enjoy and delight in it. Christians should enjoy the beauty of creation, the wonder of art and music. Whatever is noble and worthy and excellent, Christians should think about these things. But they should especially think about God's goodness in the Lord Jesus Christ. Fill your hearts and minds with these things. Be a positive believer, that is, fill your mind with whatever is excellent and praiseworthy.

iv. The fourth hindrance is the failure to put into practice. Paul says in verse 9: 'Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice.'

The problem with many Christians is that we do not put into practice what we are learning. We have so many privileges, so much information from the Bible. But we grow in joy as we put into practice what we are learning.

3. Joy increasing

Paul affirms his outlook in verse 10: 'I rejoice greatly in the Lord.' There are two things here that we need to note.

Firstly, Paul received encouragement by the support of other Christians. Look what he says: 'I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me' (verse 10). These Christians were concerned for Paul, bearing his burdens and sharing his troubles (verse 14). They were the kind of Christians who knew how much they had received from the kindness and generosity of God, whose lives had been affected by God's kindness, and they wanted to show that same kindness to other believers (verse 15). Their behaviour was such an encouragement to Paul, at the edge of missionary endeavour.

Secondly, Paul's joy increased through the encouragement at the evidence of God at work in the Philippians. Look what he says in verse 18: 'I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.' What an encouragement it is to see God at work in another person, to see motivations change and priorities turn upside down. In other words, to see God change lives.

That is why a Christian who tries to live on his own, and who hangs loose to Christian fellowship, will never grow in joy.

4. Joy in all circumstances

And there is something else here. Paul writes in verse 11: 'I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances,' whether he is in plenty or in want, feeling well-fed or hungry. What a nonsense it is when some people tell us that every Christian has the right to good health and wealth. It's not true. Paul, as an apostle, the greatest Christian missionary, knew what it was to be hungry and to suffer loss for Christ.

What was it that enabled him to rise above the circumstances of his life, to keep his equilibrium through the ups and downs of life? I think Alec Motyer grasps Paul's point when he writes: 'He accepted all his circumstances as from God (verses 10,12,15) and glorified God in them all (verse 20). 'Paul had learned to be content because he had learned to trust.' He had learned to look to God for deliverance from a problem. But even if God was not going to deliver him, he would still trust him that his grace would be sufficient through it.

So we need to learn contentment too. How do we do so? We learn by trusting in God's providential care, that he is committed to us, that the God who redeemed us and is bringing us to heaven will not let us down. If we trust God like this, if we depend on his providential care and his presence and power to help us, joy will increase. And as joy increases in our life, it will increase in others also.

This article is an edited chapter from Jesus our Joy, by Wallace Benn, recently published by Christian Focus, and used with permission.

© Evangelicals Now - May 2000
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