Scripture: Philippians 1:1-11
Today we begin a new sermon series called “Unstoppable Joy,” which will nearly take us up to the beginning of Advent. We will cover Paul’s letter to the Philippians in its entirety. You can read about how Paul founded the church at Philippi in Acts chapter 16.
What we need to know for now is that Paul is writing this letter from prison… likely during his imprisonment in Rome… near the end of his life. And the reason he’s writing them is to say “thank you”… because the Philippians have just sent Paul a financial gift.
And you’re probably thinking, “Paul is in prison. What would Paul do with money?” Well, prison back then wasn’t like prison now. Taxpayers didn’t pay for prisons. The friends and family of the prisoner were responsible. So money was necessary for Paul’s survival.
So this letter to the Philippians is, first and foremost, a thank-you note… But of course it’s so much more than that. It is Paul’s most joy-filled letter…
Even though, by the all outward appearances, Paul’s missionary career has come to an abrupt end, Paul is joyful…
Even though Paul may never see his dear Philippian friends again on this side of eternity, Paul is joyful…
Even though enemies inside the church are slanderinghim, impugning his character, Paul is joyful…
Even though—worst of all—Paul thinks he might soon be executed, Paul is joyful.
I personally can’t relate to this at all… I mean, I get depressed when someone tells me I’m losing my hair, much less if someone told me I would soon be losing my life!
So I’m not like Paul… at least not yet. I don’t yet have Paul’s kind of indestructible, invincible, bullet-proof joy… this kind of happiness that is impervious to the external circumstances of our lives.
What enables Paul to be so peaceful in the midst of what our world would call the worst case scenario?
Speaking of which, remember quicksand? The following paragraph comes from an article on the Encyclopaedia Britannica website:
It used to be a standard trope in action movies, although you don’t see it much these days: a patch of apparently solid ground in the jungle that, when stepped on, turns out to have the consistency of cold oatmeal. The unlucky victim starts sinking down into the muck; struggling only makes it worse. Unless there’s a vine to grab a hold of, he or she disappears without a trace (except maybe a hat floating sadly on the surface). It was a bad way to go. Quicksand was probably the number-one hazard faced by silver-screen adventurers… 1
It goes on to say that while quicksand is real, it isn’t very dangerous, you won’t sink down in it and drown. It is not really a “worst case scenario.”
What a relief! Because I grew up watching a lot of TV when I was a kid, including Gilligan’s Island, and I remember the constant threat of accidentally stepping in quicksand, getting stuck, sinking down, and dying in it!
But the situation Paul is facing isn’t like quicksand… It really does seem like a worst case scenario, doesn’t it? In fact, doesn’t it seem like what Peter faced in Matthew chapter 14, when he had the brilliant idea to attempt to walk on water?He saw Jesus doing it, so why not? “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”2 And so Jesus commands, and Peter does so. Takes a few steps. He’s walking on water! And then what happens? Matthew 14:30: “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”
Notice those words: “beginning to sink.” Think about that. Literally no one whose feet are on top of water “begins to sink.” They just instantly go whoosh… and they’re gone… beneath the surface of the water.By contrast the picture that Matthew paints is much more like, well… Gilligan… sinking in quicksand… The sinking happens slowly. Right? Matthew’s point in describing it like this is to imply that Peter’s life was never in danger. Jesus was in complete control at every moment—he was even in control of the “sinking.” It may have seemed to Peter that Peter was going to drown. But that was never on the table.
So guess what? Despite appearances, Peter was never facing the worst-case scenario.
In fact, there is no worst-case scenario for us Christians. I mean, we were all horrified two weeks ago, when a bullet took Charlie Kirk’s life for everyone in the world to see… But even though the shooter thought he was punishing Charlie, the worst that bullet could do was deliver him immediately into the direct presence of the Lord, where he is now experiencing what Paul calls a “far better” kind of life than anyone’s life on this side of heaven… because Charlie Kirk was a Christian!
Don’t misunderstand: I’m not for a moment minimizing the evil or the great harm… And I’m not minimizing the healing work that the Lord will do—and is doing—in the lives of family or friends who are left behind.
But I am saying that the atoning death of Christ on the cross has transformed all of our worst case scenarios.
If we are in Christ, God transforms all of our worst case scenarios!
Paul knows this! In fact, he’ll say so himself in next week’s scripture—in Philippians 1:21 and 23. I’ll say more then. But Paul knows that his life isn’t ultimately in the hands of Roman prison guards or magistrates or even the emperor himself… Paul’s life is in the hands of his loving Lord Jesus. Through Paul’s faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit working within him, and through Paul’s prayers… and prayers of faithful Christians in Philippi and elsewhere, Paul will be perfectly okay.
God has got this! And that’s why Paul can seem so chill about what most of us would consider a “worst case scenario.” That’s why Paul can focus all of his concern not on himself, but on the Philippian believers.
Now let’s look at verse 3; Paul begins: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you…”
I like that… I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. And all I want to say about these words is this: May we strive, by God’s grace, to be people about whom others can say, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” Amen? Those are the kind of people I want to be around! Those kinds of people are magnetic. Those kinds of people are truly attractive, and it has nothing to do with physical beauty!
That’s what they’re Philippians are to Paul! Just having them as part of Paul’s life brings Paul great joy. The Philippians bring him joy—not only when he’s with them, but even when he just remembers them. They are a joy to know. They are a joy to remember. And they are a joy to pray for! Verse 8: “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”
Do you get the picture? For Paul, being connected to this Philippian church, being in fellowship with his brothers and sisters in Christ at the church in Philippi, brings joy to Paul!
And why does Paul experience so much joy? Because… they love him. And he loves them!
Listen: You probably already notice that I talk a lot about joy in my preaching—about lasting happiness—about how we can only find joy in Christ. I’m a broken record in this regard… without apology. Our world desperately needs to know that joy is found in Christ alone.
But make no mistake: While we find joy in Christ alone, we will not find this joy in Christ by being alone.
Let me repeat that: We find joy in Christ alone… But we can never find this joy in Christ by being alone. We need each other. We need our church! We need the active, affectionate, lived-out love of the brothers and sisters in this church!
Dear Lord, let Five Forks Methodist be a place where people find joy through the love of their brothers and sisters here. Amen?
In fact, love is Paul’s first and most urgent concern for the Philippians in the future. When he tells them, in verses 9 to 11, what his prayer for them is, it is very much centered on love:
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Notice the first part of his prayer is that the Philippians’ “love may abound more and more.” It’s already abounding to some extent—the love is already there, in other words—again, that’s why Paul experiences so much joy through these people. But his prayer is that it may abound more and more.
But wait… Paul prays that their “love may abound”… but their love for whom?Does Paul mean their love for God… or does he mean their love for one another?
And the answer is… Yes.
Paul leaves it open-ended because he means both love for God and love for one another. He knows the Great Commandment, after all—to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind; and to love your neighbor as yourself.3 Paul is praying that love for both God and one another will abound more and more.
But notice in verse 9, it’s not just that love by itself “may abound more and more”; it’s love with knowledge and discernment… or knowledge and “depth of insight,” as the NIV puts it4… or knowledge and “understanding,” as the NLT puts it 5. The idea is that we don’t merely know these things, but that we know how these things apply to our lives… that we possess the wisdom to apply this knowledge to whatever it is we’re facing or going through in life.
Again, Paul is joyful, peaceful, and confident, even while staring death in the face, in large part because he has this kind of knowledge… and understanding…
Therefore, if you’re a Christian who is not at this momentexperiencingjoy, peace, and confidence in your life, my first and most urgent question to you is, are you immersing yourself in the word of God?
Because that’s where Paul would say this knowledge and understanding comes from! Paul is describing knowledge and understanding about who God is, about who Christ is, about what the gospel is, about who we are in relation to God and one another… And when we read God’s Word with faith and prayer, the Holy Spirit works supernaturally through the words of scripture to apply them to the circumstances we’re facing in life!
To say the least, you will not find Paul’s joy, peace, and confidence by doom-scrolling headlines on your smartphones… or constantly checking social media to see what the latest outrage is… or by watching hour upon hour of cable news… However much you may learn by doing these things, this is not the kind of knowledge and understanding Paul is praying for… it’s not the knowledge and understanding that would most benefit us!
But why is Paul making this connection between love, on the one hand, and knowledge and understanding,on the other,in the first place?
Because it’s only by this knowledge and understanding that our love for God and our love for one another can abound more and more!
Here’s one small example… Years ago, at a church I was pastoring, we had an I.T. contractor who would come in occasionally and fix problems with our computers and our church wi-fi network. He wasn’t a member of our church, but he was a Christian, and one morning he urgently wanted to speak to me. Because I was a pastor. So we talked.
Years earlier, he had kicked an addictive and sinful habit. Cold turkey! He kicked the habit, and he had been “clean” for years. But recently, he had “fallen off the wagon.” He was racked with guilt. He had confessed his sin and prayed for forgiveness, but he wasn’t at all confident that God could forgive him… Not anymore. Not this time. After all, he asked, “How many times can God forgive me when I keep doing the same old thing?” From this man’s perspective, God was mad at him. God was holding a grudge against him. God had lost patience with him!
Do you think, in that moment, this man was “abounding more and more” in his love for God? No! He was abounding more and more in guilt and shame and fear!
So I said, “Do you think God forgave you of your sins—I don’t know—11,236 times before, but now that you have committed sin number 11,237, God said… No way! I’m done…That’s one too many times, my friend! No more forgiveness for you!”
Of course not! For one thing, you’re underestimating just how sinful you are. Like, do you have any idea how much God has to forgive in you every day in order to have a relationship with you?
So even more than underestimating his sin, this I.T. Contractor was underestimating God’s grace!
To prove this, I pointed this man to Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:22, when Peter asked how many times he must forgive his brother. “Should I forgive seven times?” And Jesus says, “Not seven times but seventy-seven times.”
Or maybe “seven times seventy times.” Could be either. But it doesn’t matter, because Jesus’ point is the same either way: “There should be no limit to the number of times that you forgive one another.”
And guess what? Jesus commands us to forgive without limit, he isn’t asking us to be more forgiving than our heavenly Father is!
The point is, there’s no limit to the number of times that our Father forgives us… so long as we continue to repent and believe.
No limit!
But you only know this truth from a knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. This poor I.T. Contractor had a some knowledge… He knew, for instance, that God hates sin. He knew that we deserve punishment for our sin. He knew that sin separates us from God. He knew that sin ultimately sends us to hell. All of that is perfectly true… apart from God’s grace… apart from what Christ did through his atoning death on the cross… as we believe in him!
But this I.T. Contractor, you see, was not living apart from God’s grace. No! This man was a child of God through faith in Christ. He was born again. He was a believer. What he needed in that moment—in order to abound in his love for God—was more knowledge and understanding from God’s Word. Because he needed to think more clearly about the gospel—about what exactly Jesus did to make forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God through faith in Christ possible.
And maybe we, too, could use a refresher? Maybe we could stand to be reminded of what the gospel is? Because literally everything I’m about to say comes from God’s Word… Are you ready?
The gospel means that through the atoning death of Christ on the cross—in which Christ suffers and dies for our sins and gives us his righteousness in return6 —God has done everything necessary to bring you into a right relationship with him—as you receive this gift of eternal life through faith in Christ.7
The gospel means there is now therefore no condemnation for those of you who are in Christ Jesus.8 It means that all of your sins—past, present, and future—are “nailed to the cross” with Christ; they are now completely forgiven. 9
It means God has bought you with an infinite price—the precious blood of his Son Jesus.10 It means you are adopted into God’s family, as God’s precious and highly favored sons and daughters, and you call God, “Abba, Father,” just like Jesus did. 11
It means that God is now on your side—so you have no need to fear.12 It means that God is now for you—and if God is for you, who can be against you? No one and nothing! 13
The gospel means God now loves you as much has he loves his only begotten Son Jesus.14 It means God shows you his favor constantly. 15
It means God is now working out everything in your lives for your ultimate good. It means he is transforming all of the bad stuff in your lives, all of the evil stuff that the devil throws your way, into something that will ultimately be good for you.16
The gospel means that God knows the plans he has for you, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”17 It means that “no weapon that is formed against you will succeed; And [God] will condemn every tongue that accuses you in judgment.” 18
The gospel means you are the apple of God’s eye;19 you are beautiful to him; you have captured his heart; and his banner over you is love. It means that God now treasures you! 20 That God loves you with a love from which literally nothing in the world, nothing out of this world, can ever separate you! 21
Lord, may we have the “strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that [we] may be filled with all the fullness of God.” 22
Can we comprehend how much we’re loved by our heavenly Father… how precious we are to our heavenly Father?
To say the least, God’s love for us is the kind of love that melts our hearts… and makes us want love to our Father in return! We hear these promises and our love for God abounds more and more…
Okay, but what about our love for one another? For people! It’s much harder to love them, isn’t it? Because remember… I said earlier that Paul has both kinds of love in mind. How does this “knowledge and understanding” in verse 9 help us love each other more?
Before I continue, I need to let you in on a dirty little secret about church. This may shock you… But church… is filled… with sinners. Did you know that? And you are one of them!
It’s a cliché, but it’s true… If you find a perfect church, don’t dare join it! Because it will no longer be perfect!
Just a few years ago, when Lisa and I were in Toccoa, we went to a one-person play at the Peace Center in Greenville… about C.S. Lewis. I’m a big fan. And I love his book, The Screwtape Letters. If you haven’t read it, it’s filled with insights about the challenges of living a Christian life. In the book, Uncle Screwtape is a very experienced demon in hell who has an ongoing correspondence with his demon nephew Wormwood—he’s giving Wormwood advice on how to get his human subject—a man who’s recently become a Christian—to give up on his faith, so that when he dies he’ll wind up in hell.
In the world of the book, demons are “assigned” human beings, and their job is to lure them away from God, away from Christian faith, so that they’ll end up in hell.
In this excerpt, Uncle Screwtape is giving advice to his nephew about how to focus the man’s attention on the flaws of his fellow Christians while he’s sitting in worship… He writes:
[I]f the patient knows that the woman with the absurd hat is a fanatical bridge-player or the man with the squeaky boots a miser and an extortioner—then your task is so much easier. All you then have to do is to keep out of his mind the question “If I, being what I am, can consider that I am in some sense a Christian, why should the different vices of those people in the next pew prove that their religion is mere hypocrisy and convention?” You may ask whether it is possible to keep such an obvious thought from occurring even to a human mind. It is, Wormwood, it is!… At bottom, he still believes he has run up a very favourable credit-balance in the Enemy’s ledger by allowing himself to be converted, and thinks that he is showing great humility and condescension in going to church with those ‘smug’, commonplace neighbours at all. Keep him in that state of mind as long as you can. 23
I don’t happen to be an alcoholic; I have other sins to deal with. So I’ve never been in AA. But can I confess that there’s a part of me that wishes church services could be more like AA meetings. One tradition in AA is that before a person speaks, they introduce themselves: “I’m Brent, and I’m an alcoholic.” “Hi, Brent.” It’s like… in spite of your sin, you’re welcome to be here. Actually it’s because of your sin, you’re welcome to be here!
You know… the same is true for church! At least it’s supposed to be. “Because of your sins, you are welcome here.”
That’s what I want Five Forks Methodist to be like!
So, in closing I want you to turn to a neighbor and say, “I’m [fill in your name], and I’m a sinner. Please be patient. God’s not finished with me yet.”
Now here the good news: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Amen.
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“How Deadly Is Quicksand?” britannica.com. Accessed 10 March 2022. - Matthew 14:28 ESV
- Matthew 22:36-40
- Philippians 1:9 NIV
- Philippians 1:9 NLT
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2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18 - John 3:16
- Romans 8:1
- Colossians 2:14
- 1 Corinthians 6:20
- Romans 8:15
- Psalm 118:6
- Romans 8:31
- John 17:23,26
- Luke 2:14
- Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28
- Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
- Isaiah 54:17 NIV
- Psalm 17:8
- Song of Solomon 4:1,9; 2:4
- Romans 8:38-39
- Ephesians 3:18-19 ESV
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C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, (Weswood, NJ: Barbour and Co., 1961), 18-19.