A Joyful Christian
Philippians 4:8,
I think if we all did a careful check over people who were the most influential in our lives, we would find that they were Christians, and generally Christians whose lives have been distinguished by joy and thanksgiving. You could put it this way, a joyful, thankful Christian is the most attractive kind of Christian and the most influential. And I think an argument could be made from our Bibles that the happiest person or the most joyful person next to the Lord Jesus Christ was the Apostle Paul. And unquestionably, Paul was a thankful, joyful man. You go right to the back end of his life, reading again from the book of Philippians, “I have learned to be content in whatever state that I am in.” And if you read through his letters, they are suffused with thanksgiving and joy. He puts that matter of thanksgiving before us at least four or five times. Philippians 4:6, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17,18, “Pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks.” Colossians 2:7, and here he picks up the word abounding, he uses that word “abounding in thanksgiving.” What does that mean? It's not a drip, drip kind of leaky faucet kind of thanksgiving, but it's more like an outflow of a fountain, maybe like the Niagara Falls. It means it's pervasive. It should be. It was constant or it should be in our lives.
And then the matter of joy, just that word joy is used 16 times in the book of Philippians alone. That's why it's called the joy epistle, 16 times. Paul could rejoice when he knew Christians were praying for him, Philippians 1:18. In Philippians 1:25, just a few verses later, he rejoices that the gospel is being preached even by men who were doing it for the wrong reasons, but he's rejoicing because it's going out to the world. He's not happy necessarily with their motives, but he's happy or rejoicing because it's being spread. And he clearly wants us as Christians to rejoice always despite our personalities. “Well, that's not who I am.” No, we have to rejoice always despite our circumstances. Philippians 4:4, again, go to that last chapter, “Rejoice always, again I say rejoice.” Another good description or example of Paul, a man who was a joyful Christian, 2 Corinthians 7:4, just listen to what he says here, “I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” You hear that? “In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” No question, his life was wonderfully suffused and distinguished by joy and thanksgiving.
And what's again, quite amazing, is when you think of how difficult his life was. In 2 Corinthians 12, we get a thumbnail sketch of his suffering. He picks up that word danger eight times. Dangers everywhere, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers of his own countrymen, false brethren, dangers of robbers. And then he gives twelve or so different kinds of sufferings: beatings five times, 39 lashings, beaten with rods, stoned, often in prison, three shipwrecks, hungry, thirsty, cold, naked. He also had a heavy burden or a spiritual weight in terms of the churches, “I have the care of all the churches.” And then add to this one, if he hasn't had enough already, he has a thorn in the flesh, whatever it was. We don't know exactly what it was. It could have been physical, it could have been just relational, but it was chronic. That's why he uses the figure of thorn. It was a chronic problem, perhaps even debilitating.
And here's what we have to get a hold of. We never find Paul, never once complaining; never once, never once do you find him grumbling or complaining. Let's be honest, our trials and difficulties can elicit bad attitudes of worrying, fretting, and complaining. Plus, we live in a world that is full of sorrow and pain. The mass media constantly pours negativity into our ears 24/7.
But how then, how then as Christians, do we maintain and cultivate a joyful thanksgiving? That's a good question. Well, we can't do it on our own, but we need supernatural help. Even that word joy is a word used to describe one of the fruits of the spirit. So it's a supernatural joy. We don't have it by nature. We're not born with that joy. It's a Spirit given grace. But Paul also realized when he was suffering, he needed the grace of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ's grace, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”
But we can't think that we just sort of sit back and have Christ do everything. We have to be active, we're not passive. And there's a specific challenge he gives to all of us. Again, the back end of Philippians reminds me of the words of Martyn Lloyd-Jones,
“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's anything worthy of praise, think or meditate upon these things.”
I think if we all did a careful check over people who were the most influential in our lives, we would find that they were Christians, and generally Christians whose lives have been distinguished by joy and thanksgiving. You could put it this way, a joyful, thankful Christian is the most attractive kind of Christian and the most influential. And I think an argument could be made from our Bibles that the happiest person or the most joyful person next to the Lord Jesus Christ was the Apostle Paul. And unquestionably, Paul was a thankful, joyful man. You go right to the back end of his life, reading again from the book of Philippians, “I have learned to be content in whatever state that I am in.” And if you read through his letters, they are suffused with thanksgiving and joy. He puts that matter of thanksgiving before us at least four or five times. Philippians 4:6, “In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17,18, “Pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks.” Colossians 2:7, and here he picks up the word abounding, he uses that word “abounding in thanksgiving.” What does that mean? It's not a drip, drip kind of leaky faucet kind of thanksgiving, but it's more like an outflow of a fountain, maybe like the Niagara Falls. It means it's pervasive. It should be. It was constant or it should be in our lives.
And then the matter of joy, just that word joy is used 16 times in the book of Philippians alone. That's why it's called the joy epistle, 16 times. Paul could rejoice when he knew Christians were praying for him, Philippians 1:18. In Philippians 1:25, just a few verses later, he rejoices that the gospel is being preached even by men who were doing it for the wrong reasons, but he's rejoicing because it's going out to the world. He's not happy necessarily with their motives, but he's happy or rejoicing because it's being spread. And he clearly wants us as Christians to rejoice always despite our personalities. “Well, that's not who I am.” No, we have to rejoice always despite our circumstances. Philippians 4:4, again, go to that last chapter, “Rejoice always, again I say rejoice.” Another good description or example of Paul, a man who was a joyful Christian, 2 Corinthians 7:4, just listen to what he says here, “I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” You hear that? “In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” No question, his life was wonderfully suffused and distinguished by joy and thanksgiving.
And what's again, quite amazing, is when you think of how difficult his life was. In 2 Corinthians 12, we get a thumbnail sketch of his suffering. He picks up that word danger eight times. Dangers everywhere, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers of his own countrymen, false brethren, dangers of robbers. And then he gives twelve or so different kinds of sufferings: beatings five times, 39 lashings, beaten with rods, stoned, often in prison, three shipwrecks, hungry, thirsty, cold, naked. He also had a heavy burden or a spiritual weight in terms of the churches, “I have the care of all the churches.” And then add to this one, if he hasn't had enough already, he has a thorn in the flesh, whatever it was. We don't know exactly what it was. It could have been physical, it could have been just relational, but it was chronic. That's why he uses the figure of thorn. It was a chronic problem, perhaps even debilitating.
And here's what we have to get a hold of. We never find Paul, never once complaining; never once, never once do you find him grumbling or complaining. Let's be honest, our trials and difficulties can elicit bad attitudes of worrying, fretting, and complaining. Plus, we live in a world that is full of sorrow and pain. The mass media constantly pours negativity into our ears 24/7.
But how then, how then as Christians, do we maintain and cultivate a joyful thanksgiving? That's a good question. Well, we can't do it on our own, but we need supernatural help. Even that word joy is a word used to describe one of the fruits of the spirit. So it's a supernatural joy. We don't have it by nature. We're not born with that joy. It's a Spirit given grace. But Paul also realized when he was suffering, he needed the grace of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ's grace, “When I am weak, then I am strong.”
But we can't think that we just sort of sit back and have Christ do everything. We have to be active, we're not passive. And there's a specific challenge he gives to all of us. Again, the back end of Philippians reminds me of the words of Martyn Lloyd-Jones,
"We have to preach to ourselves."
In the book of Philippians, Paul shares with us, I think you could even call it, the big secret to joy and thanksgiving as far as our responsibility and our duty. What is it? Think. Philippians 4:8, think, meditate. Here's what he wants us to do, call it mind strategy, this will help us swim against the powerful winds in the worldly currents of bitterness, anger, cynicism, suspicion, and mistrust. Think and meditate. Here's what he says, six of them.
If we practice that every day, you think we would enjoy at least a higher level of thanksgiving and joy?
Just think of who you are and what you have in Christ. Just think of who you are. You are the most blessed person on planet earth. Jesus begins that Sermon on the Mount with nine Beatitudes. They all start off with that word blessed, some translate it happy or blessedness plural. We have that word used nine times. But here's just a little sampling of gospel blessings that should help us be more thankful to promote our own joy.
“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are good.”
If we practice that every day, you think we would enjoy at least a higher level of thanksgiving and joy?
Just think of who you are and what you have in Christ. Just think of who you are. You are the most blessed person on planet earth. Jesus begins that Sermon on the Mount with nine Beatitudes. They all start off with that word blessed, some translate it happy or blessedness plural. We have that word used nine times. But here's just a little sampling of gospel blessings that should help us be more thankful to promote our own joy.
- Christian, rejoice, be thankful that you are a Christian. Be joyful, thankful that you have Christ as your Savior.
- Be joyful and thankful that all your sins are forgiven, past, present, and future. That word justification that we've heard about recently. You are accepted in Christ. You have a perfect righteousness.
- Be thankful and rejoice. You are adopted into the family of God, you are a child of God. “Behold what manner of love that we are the children of God.”
- Be thankful, rejoice that there's no separation from Christ in this life or in the life to come. No separation, no condemnation, no separation.
- Be thankful, rejoice that one day you will have a perfect, glorified body and soul. Perfect, glorified body and soul.
- Be thankful, rejoice that during the whole Christian pilgrimage, you have a God who listens, a God who cares, a God who loves, a God who will protect you every step of the way.
- Be thankful and rejoice that you have a sovereign God who is working all things for your good. All things, not some things, all things for your good. He can even use the bad things, the negative things in our lives for our good. That's something to rejoice in.
- Be thankful and rejoice that you hear the word of God regularly and you have Bibles to read.
- This ties right back to what you heard this past Sunday here at Grace. Be thankful for what we heard this past Sunday by the ministry of the word of God and by His servants.
Posted in Pastor Devotional