Rejoice!
Paul’s undeniable faith was validated by his irrefutable testimony. Paul’s joy was not manufactured. It was not pretense or performance. It was not dependant on circumstance. Paul’s joy was genuine. Outrageous. Outlandish. Unspeakable joy. Deeply rooted in his relationship with Jesus Christ, the joy of the Lord was Paul’s strength (Neh. 8:10).
I. The Sanctuary of Joy-Philippians 3:1
About joy, Paul wrote it is a safeguard for you (Phil. 3:1). A Sanctuary. Nothing places us out of the grasp of the enemy’s reach quite like the joy of the Lord. When the joy bells are ringing in the soul, the heart soars to the presence of the Lord seated in the heavenlies. The eyes are fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of the faith. The mind is renewed. The will is surrendered. The behavior is transformed. Joy flows out of the inner most being. In Colossians 3:16-17 Paul wrote, Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual sons, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Col. 3:16-17). Regardless of circumstances, Jesus is ruling and reigning. The sooner we realize we are not in control and have never been, the sooner we will relinquish the need to control our circumstances and relinquish ourselves to Him. This attitude in living produces a heightened sense to the move of God in our lives. As we develop an awareness of His presence and a hunger for the restoration He provides, we are progressively changed. The spiritual discipline of renewing our mind combined with the desire to walk in obedience and dependence produces a practice that reflects our position in Christ. The end produce is outrageous JOY. Rejoice in the Lord. It is a safeguard for you. There is Joy in the Journey!
II. The Worship of the Spirit –Philippians 3:2-3a
One sure joy-stealer is unbelievers who are intent on wrecking havoc among God’s people. While some unbelievers live by a lofty moral code, content with the pursuit of self-righteousness, others have set their face against God and His people. We can gather from Paul’s epistles that the early church was being troubled by false teachers, many of whom planted themselves inside the church. They feigned conversion in order to divide and destroy the body of Christ from within the church. Paul called them dogs, evil workers. In Paul’s day dogs roamed in packs and were regarded as dangerous mongrels, rending, tearing, and devouring. God refers to His people as sheep. Dogs disturb and destroy sheep. Beware of these evil men. The word translated “evil” literally means depraved, bad. Beware. A renewed mind that can rightly divide the truth is the best defense against false teachers. Paul referred to these unbelieving agitators as members of the false circumcision. The Bible forbids any type of heathenistic cutting of the flash (Lev. 21:5; I Kings 18:28) which is most vividly seen in the story of Elijah. The prophets of Baal cut themselves in a religious ritual of Baal worship. Paul regarded the Jewish ordinance of circumcision, when demanded of Gentile converts by Jewish zealots, to be no better than a heathenistic cutting of the flesh. Circumcision had come to distinguish the Jews from the Gentiles. It was an outward symbol for the nation of Israel that represented her unique covenant relationship with God. It was never intended to become a condition of salvation. Since salvation is wrought by the finished work of Christ on the cross, the insistence by some to add the rite of circumcision as a condition for genuine conversion nullified the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And frankly, it sickened Paul. To add the requirement of circumcision in order to be converted put the ritual in the same category as the heathen’s practice of cutting the flesh as an act of their worship. Paul denounced the practice and warned his readers to beware of the false circumcision. For any to preach the so-called addition of works of any kind to the once-for-all-time Sacrifice for sin, was to deny the sufficiency of the cross. Christ and the finished work of the cross is the basis for our worship. We worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:3). In John 4:24 Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” And for all who have met God on His terms of faith and repentance, there is Joy in the Journey!
III. The Fallacy of the Flesh-Philippians 3:3b
The Judaizers were deluded into thinking righteousness could be achieved through works of the flesh. In Romans 3:28 Paul wrote, For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law. Religious activity, no matter how sincerely believed and sacrificially followed, is never a substitute for righteousness. God created man to be inhabited by God. Indwelling the human spirit, the Holy Spirit had access to the soul (the mind, the will, and the emotions). When Adam sinned, the Holy Spirit vacated the human spirit and man was left with a sin principle in control of his soul – teaching his mind, controlling his emotions, directing his will and ultimately determining his behavior. This principle of indwelling sin is referred to as the flesh (Rom. 7). At conversion, we are given the power to crucify the flesh and walk in the Spirit. However, this is not automatically achieved in the Christian life. Apart from the renewing of the mind and the conscious surrendering the will in obedience to the Spirit of God, it will never be realized. Paul wrote, Lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth (Eph. 4:22-24). Put off the sinful habit patterns of the old man, which is corrupted by the flesh, trained in depravity prior to conversion. Put on the new man, which is progressively being formed in you by the righteousness of Christ. Do not attempt to control your flesh with the flesh. Do not put any confidence in the flesh. Do not attempt to reform the flesh. View it as your enemy. Crucify it. Exalt Christ and live to His honor and glory. And beloved, have Joy in the Journey! Outrageous. Outlandish. Unspeakable joy. Unshakable joy. Undeniable joy. Unparalleled joy. In the midst of your circumstances, joy. Joy in the Journey!
