This morning we begin a series of three lessons on the New Testament book of Philippians. This book is actually a letter, a letter from the apostle Paul to the Christians in Philippi. Philippi in Paul’s day was a Roman colony in the province of Macedonia. It was situated up on a hill overlooking the coastal plain of the Aegean Sea and overlooking the bay at Neapolis. Today that site is occupied by the small north Grecian town of Filippoi.

You may remember how Paul and his missionary team first came to Philippi, but let me read that account from the book of Acts––Ax 16:6-15. If you have your Bible please turn to that passage and follow along as I read.

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

This was the way in which the church of Philippi was planted. Obviously God knew there were people in that city who would receive the gospel. That is why God called Paul and the other members of his missionary team to that city. Lydia and her household were the first converts, but more would follow––including the Philippian jailer who, with his household, was brought to the Lord as reported later in this same chapter of the book of Acts.

The planting of the church in Philippi, as reported in Acts 16, seems to have taken place in about AD 49. So how much time was there between the planting of the church and the writing of this letter? Well, scholars debate the time at which this letter was written, but I think it was written when Paul was in prison in Rome, an imprisonment which took place sometime during the early 60’s of the first century; so I think this letter was written some eleven to thirteen years after the church was planted in Philippi.

My dating may not be correct, but one thing is certain. Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi was written while Paul was imprisoned. Take your Bible and turn to Philippians, Php 1:12-14 and follow along as I read. Paul says,

I want you to know, beloved that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ; and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.

So Paul was in prison, and he was in prison awaiting trial. And, in Php 1:19-26, Paul makes clear that one possible outcome of that trial was his execution.

These dismal facts of Paul’s life at the time he wrote this letter are amazing, amazing because of the nature of this letter. The letter to the Philippians, you see, is filled with joy. Paul is in prison, but his letter is filled with joy. Paul may be sentenced to death, but his letter is filled with joy.

And prison and an unknown trial outcome are not the only negative factors in Paul’s life at the time of this writing. This letter reveals three other negative elements in Paul’s life. One was that many were preaching Christ out of an envy directed toward Paul himself, an envy reported by Paul in Php 1:15-18. In addition, Paul had two important concerns about the church in Philippi. The first of these is revealed in chapter 3 where Paul warned the Philippian Christians about those who sought to have Gentile Christians circumcised. The heat of Paul’s anger against such people can still be felt through his words here. And if that were not enough to make for a bad time for Paul, he was also concerned because two female members of the Philippian church were not getting along; and these Christian sisters, Paul said, had "struggled beside me in the work of the gospel;" and the tensions that existed between these two women were such that Paul explicitly addressed them in this letter (Php 4:2-3).

So all of these negative elements surrounded Paul as he wrote his letter. What would a letter from me sound like if written under such circumstances. I am afraid that I would allow the gloom to block out the sun of God’s love. I am afraid that joy and gratitude would not flow from my pen. But they did from Paul’s.

All one has to do is notice the use of the joy terms in this letter. The three relevant Greek words are cara/, cai÷rw, and sugcai÷rw. Cara/ is the Greek noun that means "joy." Cai÷rw is the Greek verb that means "to rejoice," and sugcai÷rw is the Greek verb meaning "to rejoice together with." Philippians is a relatively short letter having only four chapters. However, in Philippians Paul uses this cluster of three related words more times than they are used in any other New Testament book. In fact, this "joy" word group is the most frequently used word group in this entire Philippian letter (Gordon D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, pp 20-21). Paul’s pen flowed with joy at the same time that he was in prison awaiting a trial that might end in execution, at the same time that he had profound concerns for God’s people.

Please take your Bible and turn to the book of Philippians. Look first at Php 1:3-4. There Paul says, "I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you." Would I be thanking God for someone else and "constantly praying with joy" while enduring what Paul was? Now look down a few verses later in this same chapter. I referred earlier to Paul’s report that some were preaching the gospel due to envy of Paul. Hear Paul’s attitude to that. In Php 1:15-18 we read,

Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.

Through these verses we see that Paul continued to rejoice even while others were seeking "to increase [his] suffering."

Listen to him again, this time in Php 2:17-18. There we read,

even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you—and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.

Paul is in prison because of his stand for Gentile Christians. Here he makes clear that if he dies for that stand/if he is poured out for that stand then he will rejoice, and he wants them to "be glad and rejoice with [him]."

In the first verse of chapter 3 we read, "Finally my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord." And in the first verse of chapter 4 Paul says, "Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved." And just three verses later, in Php 4:4, he says, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice."

Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice! That imperative forms a song that flows from Paul’s pen as he writes this letter while in jail awaiting trial knowing that death may be the outcome. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice.

Sisters and brothers, nothing shines in our dark world like Christian joy. Christian joy wells up from reservoirs that are deep within our souls and spirits and hearts. And when that joy is evident in the worst of times then it shines with special brightness. When we can sing from the bottom of even the darkest pit that sound awakens the world to the joy of Jesus that nothing can diminish.

Paul in Romans 14:17 says, "For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit". Not joy in our surroundings. Not joy in our good health. Not joy in our pleasant lifestyles. Not joy in economic growth or an abundant cotton crop. No, our joy springs forth from the Holy Spirit which the world cannot touch. Yes, we go though bad times just like everyone else. Yes, we have members of our families who get sick and even die just like everyone else does. But if we stop and remember what Paul knew, if we stop and remember that we can rejoice in the Lord always––then we will shine.

I don’t always do it, but Paul’s example reminds me that I can and should. I can remember all that God has done for me in Christ Jesus, and I can draw energetic joy from my union with Him. Let’s be a people of joy. Let’s be a people who shine in this world with the joy of Christ Jesus our Savior.

We have a joy the world cannot touch. It is a joy the world cannot give. It is a joy that transcends the world, therefore the world cannot tamper with it all, because this joy that we have does not come from this world. It comes from God. It comes from the Holy Spirit. It comes from Jesus the Christ. It comes from knowing that I am one with God because He loved me so much that He gave His Son to die for my sins. He gave His Son so I might be drawn to His love by the cross of Calvary. My God bought my redemption through the sacrifice of His unique and divine Son. He brought life out of death. He brought glory out of a shameful execution. I must show the power of what God did for me by showing joy in the Lord even in the midst of my trials, even in the midst of my pain, even in the midst of my uncertainty. Paul did it by the grace and power of God. We can do the same and shine with joy as he did. Sisters and brothers, let’s shine with the joy of the Lord.

We want to sing a song now that is normally reserved for Christmas. In the warmth of Lubbock’s mid-September we want to sing "Joy to the World." We want to do that because the joy we have because of Jesus cannot be excluded to a brief period in December. This joy is year round. If you need to come and receive the joy of God given in Christ Jesus, please, come now, as we stand and sing.