Rejoice | Part 11 | Philippians 4:4-9 | Rejoice in the Lord
We are there in Philippians Chapter 4. We have a few more sermons out of Philippians but I want you to notice in this passage that we’re dealing with this morning in verses four through nine. Next week will probably be the climax of this book in regards to the purpose of the book.
Verse 4 “4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.”. If you remember, we’ve been talking about this word rejoice. In fact, the series is called rejoice. It’s a verse-by-verse study through the book of Philippians. And what I’ve told you every week as we’ve looked at this passage is that the Apostle Paul is teaching us about joy. He’s teaching us about Jesus and he’s teaching us about the joy that can be found in Jesus. Of course the theme is this word joy or rejoice. The book of Philippians is only four chapters long. Not a very long book but the word joy appears 6 times and the word rejoice appears 10 times in these 4 chapters. We’re often being encouraged by Paul to rejoice.
If you remember Paul is writing this while in prison. He’s in house arrest in Rome and he’s teaching this Church at Philippi to rejoice. And he has a little bit of a climax here when he says rejoice in the Lord alway and again I say rejoice. And what Paul does is he gives us four steps in this passage in regards to how to rejoice in the Lord. Ad isn’t that what we all want? We all want to have joy in our lives we all want to be able to rejoice in the Lord. And I want to quickly this morning give you four thoughts from this passage in regards to how to rejoice in the Lord or how to find your joy in the Lord. How to be able to live a blessed life, a happy life a life in which you can rejoice. And I want to give you four thoughts and I’d encourage you to write these down on the back of your chorus of the week.
Number 1 – To rejoice in the Lord, we must get along. To rejoice in the Lord, we must get along. The truth of the matter is that the joy of your life and the rejoicing in your life is going to be either helped or hindered by how you get along with people. We were created as social beings. We were created to live in communities. We were created to live in a community called the local new testament Church. And how you get along with people is going to determine how much joy you have in your life.
Notice what Paul says in verse 2. Philippians 4:2 “2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.”. These are two women that are mentioned here in the book of Philippians in the Church of Philippi. And Paul kind of calls them out by name. And you know this is a big deal because these letters that Paul would write were meant to be read aloud in the Church service. They were meant to gather the entire Church family together and to read and to have this read in the congregation. And here he’s calling out two ladies by name. It would be the equivalent of me calling you out by name from the pulpit and talking about your problems. I can only think of 1 time in my entire ministry that I’ve ever called somebody out by name that’s sitting in the congregation. When I was growing up, I had a Pastor who would constantly be calling kids out. It was just this thing this Pastor called kids out and if it happened, they knew their parents would punish them.
Here we have Paul calling out these ladies by name. He says “2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.”. Apparently these two ladies were not getting along. These two ladies were in conflict. These two ladies were having contention in the Church. I’m just going to say this and you take it however you want. But 90% of the problems that we have in Church are often 2 ladies not getting along. Now earlier in my ministry I used to think that I shouldn’t say that out loud because some of you ladies would get offended. But now I’ve learned that some of you ladies need to be offended. Take that however you want. I’m just telling you the truth though.
Go to 1st Corinthians 1:11. “11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.”. Notice again a lady being called out for contentions. Sometimes there’s going to be conflict in Church. You can’t be a part of a local new testament Church without from time to time having problems. Somebody rubs you the wrong way. There is conflict and contention sometimes. Paul is writing to the Church of Corinth and he’s dealing with a lot of those contentions. Let’s talk about how to deal with this conflict. What is it that the Apostle Paul tells these ladies to do in order to solve their conflict?
He says in Philippians 4:2 “2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.”. Now of course the words “same mind” speak of unity. This is similar to earlier in the book. I believe there’s something deeper here that the Apostle Paul is teaching us. He’s not only teaching us that sometimes we have conflict, he’s also teaching us how to deal with conflict. Because in the Church, you’re going to have conflict sometimes. You go to work somewhere, you work with other human beings and you interact with them, you’re going to have conflict. If you’re married to someone that’s a human being, you’re going to have conflict. You’re going to have issues. You’re going to have problems. You say how do I deal with it? He says be of the same mind. When he says be of the same mind, I don’t believe he’s referring to them getting on the same page although that’s great advice and I do think we need to get on the same page. Here’s what he’s saying. You need to get on Jesus’s page. You need to get on the page of Christ. He says be of the same mind in the Lord.
Philippians 2:5 “5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”. He’s not saying they have to have the same mind. He is saying that they need to have the mind of Christ. In Philippians 4, he is telling people conflicting to have the mind of Christ. What does the verse in Philippians and Philippians 2:5 have to do with resolving conflicts? In Philippians 2:3-4, he gives us the context that leads into verse 5. This is important because if you don’t get along with people in life, you are going to find joy in your life. Being filled with joy is not about getting rich. If you want to be happy, here’s a secret to happiness. Learn to get along with people.
So how do you get along with people? Number 1, be the bigger person. Philippians 2:3-4 “3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”. Lowliness is humility. Verse 4 “4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”. What he is saying in verse 4 is not to be so concerned with yourself and your own self-interest but to be concerned with what benefits others people. Learn to see things from the other person’s perspective. Humble yourself. That’s the context in which he says let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
Then he tells these two ladies that are in conflict to be of the same mind in the Lord. What does that tell us? Here’s what it says. If you want to rejoice and have joy, you’re going to have to learn to get along with people. And if you want to get along with people, the best way to do it is to be the bigger person. What does that mean? It means you esteem others better than yourself. It means you put other people first. You’re not concerned with your rights and what you deserve. Now what does that look like with conflict resolution?
The Bible says we should esteem others better than ourselves. The Bible says we should prefer others better than ourselves. We should put other people first. We should love people the way we love ourselves. We’re good at being selfish but he says we ought to be selfless. We have to love other people. Well what does that look like in conflict resolution?
At the Church of Corinth, Paul was dealing with conflict resolution. 1st Corinthians 6:6 “6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.”. Here is an example of believers in the Church literally suing each other and taking them to court. This isn’t God’s people dealing with it but in a secular court room with a judge. 1st Corinthians 6:7 “7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?”. You say, what am I supposed to do? How do I resolve conflict in a situation like this? By esteeming others better than yourself. God tells us to allow ourselves to be defrauded. How can we get along with people at work, people at Church, our spouses? One way is to be the bigger person. Instead of always having to win every battle, be the bigger person.
Matthew 5:38 “38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:”. Jesus is not talking wrongly or badly about the law. It’s actually a law found in the Old Testament that God gave the children of Israel. What he’s referring to is that the government is supposed to give justice. It’s the government’s job in order to punish criminals and give out justice. And Jesus is saying there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with the government saying an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But there’s something wrong with you bringing that concept into your marriage. There’s something wrong with you bringing that concept into your parenting. There’s something wrong with you bringing that concept into Church life.
He says “38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”. One of the rudest things you could do is slap someone on the cheek but God tells us to turn the other. Why? Because if you slap back, it won’t end there. The conflict will get worse. Whenever conflict happens, both sides feel justified and believe the other side started it. At some point, someone has to decide to be the bigger person if it will ever end. Verse 40 “40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.”. If someone wants to sue you for your possessions then give them to them. Basically, it’s not worth fighting over money.
People believe they won’t be happy if they are being wronged but Paul is letting us in on a secret. Having conflict is not what gives us joy in life. Being of the same mind in the Lord is what results in joy in our lives. When you have the mind of Christ Jesus, when you become like Christ and esteem others better than yourself, that brings joy in our relationships.
Obviously there are times when this is not going to work. It’s not that it doesn’t work because God’s word doesn’t work. When God’s word doesn’t work it is because you and I aren’t applying it properly. You’ve heard me say this in the past. Spiritual people take a big matter and make it small. Carnal people take a small matter and make it big. The best way to get along with people is to be spiritual. The best way to get along with people is to be right with God. The best way to get along with people is to have the mind of Christ, to suffer yourself to be defrauded, to turn the other cheek, to be the bigger person. However, we don’t always deal with mature people. Unfortunately we don’t always deal with Christians that are spiritual enough to decide to turn the other cheek. So Jesus gives us a way to deal because sometimes things cannot be resolved by looking over a fault. There are some things that have to be dealt with and Jesus gives us a process for that.
Matthew 18:15 “15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.”. So if someone sins again you and does you wrong, it doesn’t say go and tell him his faults all over social media. It doesn’t say to tell the other ladies at Church and to spiritualize it. “I’m just telling you about this so you can pray about it.”. No, that’s gossip. What are you supposed to do? Go to him alone. The goal is to gain your brother.
“16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”. So if they aren’t willing to hear, you don’t go to the entire Church to tell them and gossip about it. Step 2 is you find spiritual Christians; mature Christians and you bring the matter to the leadership in Church. You are bringing them as witnesses in the situation so they can establish every matter.
In the ministry you’re often accused of all sorts of stupid stuff. People are just constantly accusing you of various things. We have found the fastest way to deal with the situation is bring everybody together. Then people usually don’t want to meet. If you are going to accuse someone of something then you need to be willing to back it up. By the way, this is the process that Jesus gave because he knew that most people are not going to want to bring all the witnesses and confirm the exact things that took place. Be careful about the person who wants to hide everything. Be careful about the person who doesn’t want to meet, who doesn’t want to confront, who doesn’t want to bring things to light. And here’s all I’m telling you, if you don’t want to bring things to light that’s fine. But don’t go around accusing people. He says that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
What do we do if that step doesn’t work? Step three is in verse 17. “17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”. You know this process ends with Church discipline where people actually get thrown out of Church for having unresolvable conflict. And obviously this is not what we want in Church life but the point is that you will not have joy in your life until you learn to get along.
How do we have joy? In Philippians we learn that firstly we have to solve problems. With these 2 ladies, he says they need to be in the same mind in Christ Jesus. What’s the mind of Christ? To esteem others better than ourselves, to prefer others, to be the bigger person, to turn the other cheek, to suffer yourself to be defrauded. Then Paul says this in verse 5. “5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”. He says if you want to be happy, you want to rejoice, you want joy. Verse 6 “6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”.
The word careful means to worry, have anxiety, have care about something. Paul says that if we want to have joy then get along with people and don’t have worries in your life. Don’t be anxious. Don’t worry about anything. The idea is that you have to stop thinking about the things that make you worried. You might wonder how it’s possible not to worry about things that might go wrong. Here’s the thing, you should worry or take thought or prepare or plan for the things that you have control over. And here’s the interesting thing, when you prepare and plan for the problems that you have control over, you don’t worry. What we like to worry about is things that we have no control over. Stop worrying about things that you can’t control.
Matthew 6:33 “33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”. He says to do what you can and then what about the rest? “34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”. Here’s what he’s saying. You got enough things to worry about with the things that you can control so don’t worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow or next week or next year. He says don’t worry about what you can’t control. There are things that I can control. But then there are a lot of things such as the economy, coronavirus, my job situation, the future of these other areas that are out of my control. Paul tells us to be careful for nothing.
Then he says to pray about everything. Philippians 4:6 “6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”. What if every time you began to feel anxious, you begin to be overcome with worry that you ask yourself if it’s something I can control? If the answer is yes then you can take the steps to control it and deal with it. If the answer is no then you immediately turn that into a prayer. Look, at some point you have to be willing to hand over the reins of controlling the universe to God. If it is something that we can’t control then we let our requests be made known to God and leave it in his hands. If we want to rejoice then we must not worry. You do that by not having care about the things you can’t control and then just take it to God in prayer.
Isn’t this what we’ve been learning in the book of Job? He complains about the things that have happened in his life, the things he doesn’t have answers for, the things he can’t control. His friends have been accusing him. His wife has been accusing him. God shows up and asks him where he was when he laid the foundations of the earth. Can you feed the animals? Can you control the universe? Do you run the world? Look, at some point you and I are going to have to just say that we actually believe that God is in control. And if God allows things into my life then God allows it for a reason. So I’m just going to not worry about it. I’m not going to think about the things that I can’t control and I will just turn it into a prayer if it is something that is consuming me.
These thoughts go together. If you want to rejoice, pray, be thankful, they all go together. If you’re going to have joy in your life, you’re going to have to learn to get along with people and deal with worry. I understand there are things that burden us. There are things that concern us. There are things that frighten us and scare us. But we have to give them to God and then we have to be thankful.
1st Thessalonians 5:16. “16 Rejoice evermore.”. That’s what we’ve been talking about. How to rejoice. “17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”. What is the will of God for your life? To rejoice evermore, to pray without ceasing and in everything giving thanks. I’ve brought this up before but I want to remind you that it doesn’t say to be thankful for everything but be thankful in everything. There are situations that happen in our lives that we aren’t thankful for and I understand that. But we can still be thankful in everything. Because there’s always something to be thankful for. I’m just trying to tell you how you can have joy and rejoice in the Lord. We must not worry. We must be careful for nothing. We must pray about everything and we must be thankful in everything.
I’ve read this to you in the past but I’d like to read it to you again. It’s an illustration. Matthew Henry is a man that lived in the 16 and 1700s. He’s best known for a six-volume biblical commentary that he wrote which I am not endorsing. I just thought this was an interesting story. There is a well-known story of Matthew Henry that is a helpful illustration of how to be thankful in everything. After he had been mugged one day, he went home and wrote in his journal. He was walking down the street one day and he was robbed. They took his wallet. They took his money. He went home and opened his journal and he wrote these four statements.
Number 1 – I am thankful I had never been robbed before.
Number 2 – I am thankful that although he took my wallet, he did not take my life.
Number 3 – I am thankful that although he took all I had, it was not much.
Number 4 – I am thankful that it was I who was robbed and not I that was robbing.
The truth is that we can be thankful in everything. If you look you’ll find something to be thankful for. If you say that you have nothing to be thankful for then you aren’t looking hard enough. The fact that you have the breath to have those words coming out of your mouth shows that you aren’t looking hard enough. There’s always something to be thankful for.
We’re talking about how to rejoice. How do we do it? Get along with people. Sometimes we have conflict and we have to deal with it. But we should deal with it the way Christ tells us to. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. We must not worry. Be careful for nothing. Pray about everything. Be thankful in all things. Number 3, how to rejoice in the Lord. We must think right. Philippians 4:7 “7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”. Understanding has to do with your thinking. It has to do with the thinking of others.
Here’s all I’m telling you. Sometimes we look at Christians and their lives are falling apart. We look at Christians who are going through hard and difficult times in their life. We’re talking about godly, spiritual Christians and you wonder how can they go through that with such joy and such contentment in life. It’s because their thinking is right. See the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. By the way, let me just say this. The peace of God and peace with God are two different things. In the Bible the phrase peace with God is a reference to salvation. We get saved and now we have peace with God. Just because you have peace with God does not mean that you have the peace of God. The peace of God has to do with your thinking. It has to do with your understanding with your mind. How do we get that? Well we must think on the right things.
Notice verse 8. “8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”. We want to think of all of the bad things that could happen, the negative things of what might go wrong. Paul says that if we want to have joy in our lives, we have to control our thinking. We must think right because that will help us be able to do right. The Bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The Bible says that out of the heart precedes all sorts of evil, adultery, fornication, all sorts of wrong. All of the wrong choices that you could possibly imagine.
You’ve heard me say this before. I’m not trying to beat up on you. I’m kind of picking on you but here’s the truth. Here’s what I know about you. Every sin, every mistake, every regret, everything you’ve ever done, the things you’re embarrassed about, the things you hope people forget, the things you hope people will never bring up to you, the things you hope that no one will ever find out, all those things. Here’s what I know about you. You were the mastermind behind it. You made the choice. You made the decision. You allowed your heart. You followed your heart like a Disney movie. The problem is the Bible says that your heart is wicked, desperately wicked who can know it. The problem is that from our minds come all the wrong ideas, all the wrong thoughts. So Paul says we must think right so that we may do right.
Proverbs 23:7 “7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:..”. See, your thoughts lead to actions, your thoughts lead to feelings. You feel the way you feel because you think the way you think. You do the things you do because you think the way you think. So Paul says that we must think right. Paul says we must begin to think on the right things. And look, it’s so simple. It’s embarrassing that we have to teach these things but the Bible says that our minds need to be renewed. Here’s what you and I need to understand. Where we find ourselves in life when with all the issues or problems or the things we don’t like about our lives or whatever where we find ourselves in life, we got there by the way we thought. Our mindset got us there.
So Paul says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice; holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed. I want my life to be transformed. Here’s how it happens. By the renewing of your mind. You got to start thinking differently. You got to start thinking in a way that you haven’t thought before. Because you got to the place you are by your thoughts that lead you down a path. It’s crazy that you can keep thinking the way you always have and things are going to change.
There are people that have gotten divorced or are thinking about getting divorced and they think “If I could just meet the right person”. But the problem is that they aren’t the right person. If you marry 20 different people and continue to act the same then there will be no change. Your mind has to be renewed. This idea that we are always searching for the magic thing that will make us happy is a false idea. It doesn’t matter if you change your spouse, house, car, etc…None of that will make you happy. The problem is you. If we want to rejoice in the Lord then we need to change. We must think right. Why? Because when we think right, we do right.
Philippians 4:9 “9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”. Paul says that he has been their spiritual leader. He started this Church. He has written to them, preached to them, taught them, given an example. He is telling them to follow his example. Hopefully you go to a Church where you’re learning something. Hopefully you go to a Church where you have a Pastor and Pastor’s wife that have tried to give an example of what Christian living should look like.
No matter what things you are learning and no matter what examples are being set, it doesn’t matter unless you do those things. Sometimes people come to a Church like this and are learning a lot are wondering why their life is still a mess. Their spouse hates them, they are failing as a parent, their coworkers don’t get along with them. Perhaps the problem is that you aren’t doing the things that you are learning.
It’s always interesting to me that people start coming to Church because their marriage is falling apart and they think this is some magical building that will just fix all problems. I’m glad you want to fix your marriage but you have to do the advice to fix it. You come to Church to learn what you are supposed to do. And what you do will bring peace and joy. But it only works when you do what you hear. It’s so simple yet it’s a common theme of our Church. If there’s one thing, if there’s one truth that I could just download into the minds of believers is this “It doesn’t matter how much you know if you’re not doing it.”. It’s not going to help you. Because here’s the truth. Your life is a result of the choices that you’ve made. You need to grab a mirror and just say that you are in the situation you are in life because of the choices that you have made.
James 1:22 “22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”. When you come to a Church like this and you hear what you’re supposed to do but you don’t actually do what you’re being told to do then you’re only deceiving yourself. You’re only cheating yourself. “23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:”. We would call this a mirror. “24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.”. What is the purpose of a mirror? The point of looking in the mirror is to see if there any mistakes you need to fix. Maybe your tie isn’t straight. Maybe you have broccoli in your teeth. The mirror shows you the flaws and then you fix them. There is no point of looking in a mirror and not making the changes if you see problems. It’s the same thing spiritually. When you notice problems, you need to make the changes.
“25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”. Do you want the blessing of God on your life? If you want joy and peace then don’t be a forgetful hearer. Maybe you come to a Church like this and realize you have a lot of changes you need to make. Don’t just forget about them. We hold up the mirror of the word of God and show you the problems and explain why your life is a mess and you are having all of these issues. I’m telling that the only way to rejoice is actually do what the Bible says. Otherwise there’s really no point.
Philippians 4:4 “4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”. That word alway can be taking a few different ways. One is alway as in all the time. The other one is alway as in the entire way. Here’s the point. You can live a life of joy and finish your course with joy and be married until you die and be a soulwinning until you die with joy. Whatever career God is calling you in, you can do it with joy.
How do we do it? You’re going to have to learn to get along. You have to stop worrying. Be careful for nothing. Pray about everything. Be thankful in all things. You’re going to have to think right so you can do right. And you have to apply what you’ve learned from the word of God and that’s how you will be blessed. That is how you will have joy in your life. I want to challenge you this morning “4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”.
Let’s pray.