If you would, turn to the book
of Philippians. I'm just gonna read one verse
for the start. It's actually Philippians four,
verse four. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. That's all I'm gonna read right
now. Now, this letter to the Philippians is not very big. But I'm just gonna give you an
overview today. That's all I'm gonna do. There
are only four chapters, and that's all. But in the book of Philippians,
in these four chapters, you will find this word rejoice 12 times. in four chapters. Now, 10 times
the word actually is rejoice. One time it's rejoiced, past
tense, and another time it is rejoicing. Also, six other times
in Philadelphia, I'm Philadelphia, in Philippians. Don't ask me. See, maybe this nerve thing's
working on my mind already. Six other times in Philippians,
the same Greek word is used as a verb and a noun, but it's translated
the word joy. It's the same word. It's all
based on the same root word. 18 times the word rejoice and
joy is used in the book of Philippians. So with that as a basis, John
Gill said he is called Epistle to the Philippians an epistle
of rejoicing and I agree. It's true Somebody else wrote
and I'm not sure who Somebody else wrote now this is a quote
the book of Philippians conveys a powerful message about the
secret of contentment And I thought well it does talk
about contentment But it's not a secret There's contentment
in Christ. There's contentment in Christ.
There's contentment in God. If you know him. It's not a secret. Paul does say godliness, what
is it? Let me see. Godliness with contentment
is great gain. But it's not a secret. Everybody's
looking for contentment in the wrong places. That's the problem. That's the problem. The world
cannot and will not look to Christ for contentment. They will not
look to God at all because they don't know him. But let's be
clear. This is a letter to believers. Paul wrote it in verse one. Paul
and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints
in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and
the deacons. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God
upon every remembrance of you. And here it is, the first mention
of the word. Verse four, always and every prayer of mine for
you all making requests with joy. That's the same word as
the word rejoice. The first thing that Paul says
he rejoices in chapter one is the people of Philippi. He makes requests with joy. He thanked God for them whenever
he remembered them. And when he remembered them,
he prayed for them with joy. with joy, with rejoicing. Why
did Paul thank God and pray with joy for these people? Well, he
says it, he tells us. For your fellowship in the gospel,
in the gospel from the first day until now. He was thankful
and joyful about their fellowship together in Jesus Christ, in
his gospel. the gospel of Jesus Christ. He
and Timothy preached there. And by God's grace, they received
the word. They received it. They received
it. These Philippians, verse six,
it says, being confident of this very thing, that he, being God,
which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it unto
the day of Jesus Christ. And folks, that is something
to be thankful for. That is something to be joyful
about. That God is saving his people
out there. Out there. Oh my, Paul says,
even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because
I have you in my heart. And as much as both my bonds
and in the defense and the confirmation of the gospel Ye are all partakers
of my grace. You're fellow partakers of the
same grace that God has given me. And that's the thing. There's only one grace in Jesus
Christ. There's only one gospel, there's
only one Lord, one Savior, one faith, one baptism, there's only
one. Oh my. That's where Paul starts
off with his joy The second thing Paul rejoiced in is this, verse
18. And this is very strange, but
I do wanna talk about it. What then, notwithstanding every
way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And I therein do rejoice, yea,
and will rejoice. Christ is preached. Paul rejoiced
in that. I said it a couple of weeks ago,
I think. The strange thing that, at least
to our ears, okay? John the Baptist had sent his
disciples to Christ and say, are you the one? And Jesus Christ
looked at him and said, you go back and tell John this. The
sick are healed. Lepers are cleansed. Blind are
made to see. The dead are raised up. And he
gets through this list and at the very last thing he tells
them to tell John about, the gospel is preached to the poor. Now most people will admit and
think that healing the sick is a miracle. Cleansing a leper
would be a miracle. Raising the dead. But here's
the thing, Jesus Christ right there with that category put
preaching the gospel to the poor. It's a miracle that the gospel
is preached. It is, it is. We seem to sometimes
take it for granted and we shouldn't. I'm guilty of the same thing.
But here it is. Now this is more interesting
in the fact that if you start back in verse 12, but I would
that you should understand brethren that the things which happened
unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. Paul's talking about, he's in
prison right now. This is a prison letter. He's in Rome, he is captive,
but the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather
unto the furtherance of the gospel, so that my bonds in Christ, my
being in jail for my message, for my Lord, are manifest in
all the palace and in all other places. Many of the brethren
and the Lord are waxing confident by my bonds are much more bold
to speak the word without fear And he says this some indeed
preach Christ even of envy and strife and Some also of goodwill
The one preached Christ of contention not sincerely Supposing to add
affliction to my bonds, but the other of love knowing that I
am set for the defense of the gospel. There were those out there who
were preaching, now, to be very clear, they were preaching Christ.
That's wherein Paul was rejoicing. They actually preached Christ,
but they preached it in contention, saying, well, maybe Paul did
something wrong that he got stuck in jail. He's in jail because
he deserves it, or whatever. I don't know what it was about,
but it says they preach of envy and they preach of strife and
the other of goodwill. Doesn't matter to Paul. Christ
is preached. And therein I rejoice. Christ
is preached. The true Jesus Christ, the son
of God, the sovereign, substitutionary savior of his people is preached. Paul says I rejoice. I rejoice. Whether it's of envy, whether
it's of strife, or whether it's of goodwill. I like it. I want the gospel
preached. It's good that the gospel be
preached. Whether people listen, whether people hear it, whether
people receive it, that's another question. Paul's saying, I'm
glad it's preached. He didn't say, I'm glad it was
received. He did tell the Philippians that because he knew they had.
They had fellowship in the gospel. They had fellowship in Christ.
But here, I'm just happy that the gospel is preached. I'm rejoicing. Verse 26 says this. Well here,
verse 25, I have to say this. For having this confidence, I
know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance
and joy of faith. It's another word. Verse 26,
that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for
me by my coming to you again. Only let your conversation be
as it becometh, the gospel of Christ. That whether I come and
see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs that ye
stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for
the faith of the gospel. And in nothing, nothing terrified
by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition,
but to you of salvation and that. of God. Whether I come to you
again or I don't, I wanna rejoice in the fact that you are following
the gospel of Christ. Following Christ. And don't be terrified of your
enemies. We have enemies, folks. Sometimes they don't know they're
our enemies. Sometimes they do. I've been in some strange situations. I was in a Baptist church. Walter
was there. Pam, I think you were there,
Linda. I'll talk about Walter now. He's not here. Well, I had been talking to Walter
about the gospel as best I could, as ignorant as I was. We're going
back to 1982, 1983, okay? I'd been talking to him, I'd
had a book of sermons by Charles Spurgeon, and I would go to a
copier that I had at work, and copy, with a copier, and staple
them together, and I'd give them to Walter. And there were certain
ones. And one Sunday, he looked at me, because we didn't, we
weren't friends outside of the church down there or nothing
else. We just met there, and we talked before, and we talked
after. And I would give him this stuff.
And sometimes I gave him, then I started giving him tapes by
hindering mayhem. One Sunday morning, he looked
at me, he said, don't bring me that stuff anymore. Don't bring
me any of that stuff anymore. And I'm gonna tell you something,
my heart sunk. Because I finally found somebody besides Debbie
that I could talk to about Jesus Christ as he is, not how you
perceive him to be. I mean, I tried to talk to other
people, but they just went, okay, bye, you know, Well, in that
swell, and then they walk away. Nothing was received, nothing
was given back. But Walter would at least talk back with me. But
when he told me that, I said, oh man, okay. And I was gonna stop giving him
stuff, because he asked me to. I can't force God on you anyway. Nobody can force God on you.
Nobody forced God on me, except him. But I know for a fact that God
will back you into a corner to where you realize you can't turn
left, you can't turn right, you can't go forward, you can't go
anywhere without him. There's no hope outside of him.
And so I said, okay, I'll go on and maybe find somebody else
to talk to. Been there before, we didn't have anybody to talk
to. The next Sunday though, he come back and he said, he said,
Joe, those things are right. That's
what the Bible says. I think that's how he put it. I can't tell you, quote it for
you. It's too old and I'm too old to remember for sure. But
I do know this, my heart went yes, even though I didn't say
it. And I probably did smile. But it just uplifted me so much,
just the fact that somebody was starting to receive the gospel.
And see, I didn't think Walter was lost. I didn't think any
of those people were lost. I didn't know any better, Mason. I thought
preachers said stupid things all the time. Just, well, whenever
it got to them. Because I say stupid things.
I didn't know there was a man, although I did know a little
bit about Henry Mahan from watching him on TV. He did the best of
anybody I knew, and to tell the truth and not lie, and not say
anything stupid. So I thought these people knew
God. It turned out, I don't think they do. But Walter received the messages,
the gospel, and you know what? That made me so happy, I couldn't
hardly stand it. I rejoice, I rejoice. Now I should have been rejoicing
when he said go away. And maybe I was inside, but I
didn't feel like it. But here's the thing. It's not
supposed to be based on your feelings. Because here's what
he says. What? Rejoice that your rejoicing
may be more abundant in Jesus Christ. Not in your feelings,
not in your emotions, not in your circumstances. We are always
to rejoice in the Lord, to rejoice in Christ Jesus. Let's see. Chapter two in verse 16 says,
holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day
of Christ. that I have not run in vain,
neither labored in vain. Yea, and if I be offered upon
the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice
with you all. For the same cause also do ye
joy and rejoice with me. I like that. Preaching Christ, the word of
life, I've preached Christ, that is not labor in vain. Even if
no one hears, even if no one listens, even if Walter had never
received it, it wasn't in vain my talking to him. It wasn't
in vain my giving him a sermon or giving him a tape by Henry
Mahan. That is never in vain, even if
no one receives it. Because here's the thing, Christ
is preached. That's not vain labor. No, no,
it's labor, but it's not vain labor. And Paul says, I rejoice
with you all. And you rejoice with me. I like that, I do. The gospel
is preached to you and you believe Jesus Christ. And I rejoice in
that and you can rejoice in that too. You can rejoice with me
and I can rejoice with you. in Jesus Christ. I'm gonna move
on. I said this is just an overview.
Chapter three, verse one. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. To write
the same things to you, to me indeed, is not grievous, but
for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil
workers, beware of the concision. Four, we are the circumcision
which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence in the flesh. I really like those three verses.
I'm gonna tell you, it runs the gamut. Finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord. Reminder, here's the reminder.
Finally, when everything's all said and done, Whether it falls
out for good or for ill, from your point of view, or from my
point of view, rejoice in the Lord. Whether the gospel's received
or rejected, rejoice in the Lord. It's sometimes hard to do in
the face of rejection, but this is the thing. Your rejoicing
is in Christ Jesus. Your rejoicing is in the Lord.
Your rejoicing is not in your work, It's not in somebody's
reception of the gospel. Rejoicing is in Christ Jesus. Paul is writing to his brothers
and sisters in Christ, reminding them of their relationship. Finally,
my brethren, the fellowship of believers is in our elder brother,
Jesus Christ. Our fellowship is in Christ or
it's not in fellowship at all. But then he writes, we are the
circumcision, not the physical circumcision, the circumcision
of the heart and the ears. True circumcision. And we rejoice
in Christ Jesus. We worship God. What? Worship
God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, true brothers
and sisters in Christ rejoice in Christ Jesus. I like that,
I do. And we have no confidence in
the flesh. But right in the middle of these two statements where
it says finally my brethren rejoice in the Lord for me to write these
things, it's not grievous, it's safe. And then for we are the
circumcision who worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh, right in between
there. In between those two great verses, he says this. Beware
of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of concision. You wanna
know why he wrote that there? Because they're always there
in the middle. We're surrounded by them. We're
surrounded by them. Beware of dogs, beware of evil
workers, and beware of the concision. I'm not gonna go too deep into
this, but Paul put this right in the middle of these two rejoicing
statements. And he put them there for a purpose.
But here's the thing, beware of dogs. What do dogs do? Dogs
turn back to their own vomit. I know, it's a wonderful, colorful
thing to say on a Sunday morning before lunch. Dogs turn back
to their vomit, that's what dogs do. Now, that says that in Proverbs
26, 11, and Peter quotes it in 2 Peter 2 and 22. Dogs, what
did he say? where Peter's talking about,
dogs have been around the truth. They've been around it. But he
said it'd been better if they'd never known it than to turn back
and go back to where they were. The sow that was washed has turned
back to its wallowing in the mire. What did those people do
in John chapter six when Jesus Christ told them, you know, unless
it be given to you of my father, you ain't never coming to him.
You will never come. You cannot come unless it's been
given to you. What happened? They turned away
and went back. What did they do? They turned
back to their old way of life. That's what the word means. They
went backwards. Instead of going forwards, following
Christ, who had just spoken to them, they heard him. They understood
what he said. And they turned and they left.
And went backwards, they went back to the way they were before. And it don't matter whether they're
Gentiles or they're Jews. The dog turns around and goes
back. When things get difficult or the truth gets too hard, because
the truth can get hard. Oh yeah, the truth can get hard.
They leave, they'll leave, they'll turn back. Then he says, beware
of evil workers. Well that one's pretty easy,
that means they work evil. They're deceitful workers. These are those, and it is trickier,
because these are those who may honor God with their lips, but
their hearts are far from him. They may honor Christ with their
lips, but they don't preach the gospel. They may use the name
Jesus, they may use the name Christ, they may use the name
God, they may use the name Holy Spirit, but they're not talking
about the Christ of the Bible, the true God and the true Holy
Spirit. Paul says they are false apostles,
deceitful workers. They are false ministers who
lie on God. They lie on Christ and they lie
about the Holy Spirit. That's what we're supposed to
beware of. And the last thing is the concision. And now this
is a particular thing with this is those who are physically,
physically circumcised. Which is why Paul brings in the
next statement. But here it says the concision
are those that are physically circumcised, which in and of
itself, there's nothing wrong with that. But they thought they
were better than anyone who was uncircumcised. And if there's
anything that the gospel will teach you, Christ will teach
you, is that you, you and me are not better than anyone. We
have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We are all
in and of ourselves ungodly and unrighteous. And if you think
you're better than anyone else in and of yourself, you're wrong. for whatever reason, much less
a physical circumcision. They considered themselves to
be better. What did Paul say? For we are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit. Got nothing to do with the flesh.
Circumcision is of the heart. Paul was there when Stephen preached.
Stephen ended up that message that message it went all the
way from the beginning through Noah and Moses and everybody
else and he said You are just like your fathers. You're uncircumcised
in heart and ears And you do always resist the
Holy Ghost as your fathers did so do you We are the circumcision
who have been circumcised in hardened ears, those who believe
Christ. Here, but here's the thing. Even around dogs, evil workers,
and the concision, we are to worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus. Rejoice, that's the thing. Then we come back to where I
started. Philippians four. Well, verse one, here we go.
Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, and long for my joy
and my crown. So stand fast in the Lord, my
dearly beloved. Verse four, rejoice in the Lord
always. And again I say, rejoice. Verse 10. But I rejoiced in the
Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished
again, wherein you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity. They wanted to help him earlier,
but they couldn't. They were full of care, that's
what that's saying. It's not that, oh, you were careful
and didn't send him. This ain't like the days nowadays.
You couldn't just put a care package in the mail and expect
it to get there. They actually sent one of their
pastors, a paproditus, to Paul with stuff. And you don't travel
by yourself back in those days either. Not in those parts. But here the thing is, rejoice
in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. You rejoice, and I'll rejoice. I'll rejoice, And you rejoice,
where? No, not where, who? In Christ
Jesus. And rejoice greatly. Here's the
thing, this whole, like I said, this whole epistle Paul wrote
in prison, and he wrote an epistle of joy, an epistle of rejoicing,
while he's in prison. Ah, man, I wish I could do that. Walter and I have talked a little
bit about where he works down at that prison down there. There's
not a lot of joy in prison. There's not. But evidently, in
Christ, there's always joy. Even in prison. I don't wanna
find out personally, but I'm glad it's true. But here's the thing. Bad circumstances
do not mean a lack of rejoicing. Do not mean a lack of joy. He
was incarcerated. Writing of the joy and rejoicing
in Christ Jesus. And here's the thing. There's
always, always, this is what we have to do. This is what I
have to do. There's always a reason for rejoicing
in Christ Jesus. Even when I don't feel like it.
Especially when I don't feel like it. No matter your feelings, no matter
your moods, no matter your guilt, and no matter your depression,
I'm not making light of these things. I've pretty much had
all of these things and I was gonna say probably wouldn't,
no I will again. Because I have moods, I have depression, I have
circumstances, I have feelings. And they're not always good.
Excuse me. But this is always true. I wanted
to point this out. No matter what's your circumstance,
no matter what's going on in your life, no matter what's going
on in somebody else's life who you care about, this is always true. This is
in 1 Peter chapter one. This is always true. Elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. That's
always true, that's always true. Verse three, blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which hath according
to his abundant mercy, abundant mercy, hath begotten us again
unto a lively hope, a living hope, by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead. That's always true. If you know
Christ, that's always true. To, to, ah. He has begotten us again unto
a lively hope, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that
fadeth not away reserved, reserved in heaven for you, for you. Who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. In verse six, wherein ye greatly
rejoice, rejoice. Though now for a season, if need
be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. that the
trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found under
the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Whom having not seen, ye love. In whom though you see him not,
yet believing, ye rejoice. with joy unspeakable and full
of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation
of your souls. Understand folks, that's always
true. No matter where you are, no matter
what you're going through, that's always true. We are blessed with
all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, right?
There it is. What he said, begotten us again
unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There's no need
really to fear the grave. I heard Henry say this on my
way up here. I thought it was really good. So I'm gonna share
it with you. There's no need, no need to fear the grave. You
understand? Our Lord Jesus Christ, you can watch his footsteps walked
into that grave. But here's the glorious thing.
You can see his footsteps where he walked out of it. You understand? He's not there anymore. But,
he hath begotten us unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. Death couldn't hold him, and
death will not hold his body, whom we are. Oh, I like that. And there's an inheritance, incorruptible
and undefiled, that's never gonna fade away, And it is reserved
for you. Your name's up there somewhere.
In my father's house, there are many mansions. If it weren't
so, I'd have told you. You've got an inheritance, incorruptible,
undefiled, and it'll never fade away. What do you do? Rejoice. Rejoice. That's true no matter
where you are, no matter what you're doing, no matter how depressed
you are. That's still always true. One
last thing, Romans 5.5 says, and hope maketh not ashamed.
Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit, which is given unto us. So, I agree with Paul. I like to do it. Rejoice. What? Rejoice in the Lord always,
and again I say, rejoice. And that's it. Our Heavenly Father,
thank you for this time and this place. Help us to joy in you. Help us to rejoice in you and
your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us all things and
who is all things unto us. Help us, Lord. Be with Paul as
he comes to preach. Be with Walter as he's in Wheelersburg. Lord, be with your ministers
wherever they are to proclaim your word, your glory, your will
and your way. And we'll thank you and give
you praise. Amen.