This is Monday evening, June the 18th, 1973,
in Richmond, Virginia.
Ministry is being given through Brother Stephen Kong.
He was born, reveal
thyself to me.
I realize my error,
but, Lord, I was lonely.
I don't know who wrote this chorus, but
I brought it back from New Zealand.
In 1970, I was invited to go to
New Zealand to a conference.
I don't know these people.
They invited Brother Fonke to go there for
that conference in 1969.
And evidently, Brother Fonke introduced me to them.
So they wrote me and asked me to
visit them during their conference in October 1970.
Every year they had a conference in a
big tent.
And people will come and live in what
we call trailers, they call caravans.
And it's a conference for a week.
Now the background of these people, most of
them probably, or some of them, they came
from apostolic faith.
I don't know if you are familiar with
that.
It was actually the result of the Welsh
Revival in 1905.
You know, in Wales, there was a great
revival.
And the revival came to New Zealand.
And out of that revival came the apostolic
faith church.
Two brothers in the flesh, but also in
the Lord.
One of them was a minister in the
apostolic faith church for ten years or a
number of years.
And his work was going around in New
Zealand, bringing a tent with him.
And he would hold evangelistic meetings.
And he worked especially among young people.
And after he had worked for about ten
years, he began to feel that the Lord
was leading him.
To just trust the Lord and just be
guided by the Lord in everything.
So he and his brother, they took a
job.
They were builders.
They began to build houses to maintain their
living.
But they told me that serving the Lord
was the priority.
So they began to start a work in
the southern tip of the Northern Island.
You know, New Zealand is composed of two
islands.
The North Island and the South Island.
Now in the southern tip of the North
Island, they began to start a work there.
And the Lord began to work through these
two brothers and a few others with them.
So every year they had such a conference.
And among them, of course, signs and wonders
were routine, almost routine to them.
And the year I was there in 1970,
I don't know who wrote this chorus.
But in a sense, this became the theme
song of that conference.
Because this brother had such a heart for
the Lord.
And he sang this again and again during
the conference time.
He was very musical and so was his
brother.
Both of them were very musical.
And as he led the audience singing this
chorus, I could sense that he was just
expressing what was in his heart.
Show me thy way, O Lord.
Reveal thyself to me.
I've seen thy signs and wonders.
But Lord, I would know thee.
And you could see that when he sang
that, and the whole atmosphere as he was
leading the singing was to know the Lord.
He was not satisfied by just seeing signs
and wonders, which they saw a lot of.
But they want to know the Lord himself.
And that was the theme song of that
conference.
So I brought it back from this year.
Can we sing it once more?
Show me thy way, O Lord.
Reveal thyself to me.
I've seen thy signs and wonders.
But Lord, I would know thee.
Lord, how we praise and thank thee.
Thou dost show us signs and wonders.
For thou dost desire that we would know
thee.
And Lord, this is the prayer of our
heart tonight.
We thank thee and praise thee for thy
signs and wonders.
But Lord, we know that these point us
to thyself.
Lord, we can never be satisfied without thee.
We would know thee.
O, reveal thyself to us.
Thou must be everything to us.
Unless thou be everything, Lord, all things are
empty.
All things are transient.
But Lord, thou art the only one who
is eternal.
Thou art the only reality in this universe.
So Lord, with such a desire in our
hearts, we come to thee, Lord, tonight.
Trusting thy Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth,
the Spirit of reality, to lead us into
all truth.
We ask in the name of our Lord
Jesus.
Amen.
We have been fellowshipping together during the past
two sessions on the letter to the Philippines.
We mentioned at the very beginning that the
letter to the Philippines has its unique character.
Because of all the letters written by the
Apostle Paul to the churches, this letter is
the most intimate of all his writings.
It is a love letter.
It is a heart-to-heart talk between
Paul and the saints in Philippi.
And there was such a love between them.
There was no inhibition, no reservation, no fear,
no misunderstanding.
But there was just a free flow of
the innermost feeling of Paul to the saints
in Philippi.
So I think everybody who reads the letter
to the Philippines will love that letter.
It does not deal too much with teaching
or doctrine.
It does not deal very much with problems.
It is not a corrective letter, nor an
instructive letter.
And yet there is such a sense of
life, of love, of uplifting when you read
this letter to the Philippines.
You know, sometimes after you have read such
a letter, it is very difficult for you
to explain it or to tell it.
And yet somehow you feel warm in your
heart.
Now that is the kind of the letter
to the Philippines.
In this letter, Paul reveals himself.
He bears himself to the saints in Philippi.
He tells them of the secret of his
life as a Christian.
And the secret is, for me to live
is Christ.
In other words, it is not Paul who
is living.
It is not Paul who is trying to
live a Christian life.
It is not Paul who is trying to
live like Christ.
He has found that it is impossible.
Even though he has such a strong will,
he is such a man of genius, of
great ability.
And yet he gave up.
He said it is impossible.
But at the same time he discovers the
secret.
For me to live is Christ.
It is not I, Paul, who is living.
It is Christ who lives in me.
And that is the explanation of his whole
life.
And because he lives by the life of
Christ, therefore his walk on earth is not
by the mind of Christ, the spirit of
Christ.
And it is the spirit of humility.
Now tonight we would like again to go
through this letter.
Not the first chapter, not the second chapter,
but the whole book.
You know, as you read the letter to
the Philippines, you cannot help but notice a
note that runs through the whole letter.
And thank God, quite a number of the
choruses we sang had that note.
As you read the letter to the Philippines,
you will find there is only one word.
Or it is a similar word.
Repeat it again, again, and again.
If you try to count this word and
its similar word, you will find altogether fourteen
times.
Fourteen times.
It is the word joy, or rejoice.
So people who read this letter to the
Philippines say it is the letter of joy.
The whole letter, no matter what it writes,
it carries with it a note of joy.
And this is especially impressive.
Why?
Because when you consider the situation of Paul,
and you consider the situation of the church
in Philippi, there does not seem to have
much reason for such joy.
You look at Paul.
He was a prisoner in Rome.
Even though we said he was given certain
liberty.
He was allowed to live in his own
rent apartment.
And he was even allowed to receive visitors.
And yet, he was confined to a certain
area.
He was not allowed to move freely.
But he was confined to a certain area.
And a Roman God, Victorian God, Imperial God,
was always chained with him day and night.
He did not have any liberty and he
did not have any privacy.
He was waiting to be tried by Caesar,
by Nero.
And you know, when a prisoner was waiting
to be tried by the Emperor, you never
knew when he would try you.
In other words, it's up to the Emperor.
When the Emperor felt that he wanted to
look into your case, then your case was
to be tried.
And if you didn't mind to do that,
you never knew for how many years you
might be confined as a prisoner without getting
a trial.
And Paul was waiting there, waiting there for
the trial.
And he never knew when the trial would
come.
And that was a real burden.
And not only that, he never knew what
would be the outcome of that trial, humanly
speaking.
It's up to the Emperor.
It's up to Caesar.
It's up to the time when he tried
the case, what kind of mood he was
in.
So you'll find everything was in suspense.
And brothers and sisters, how we like to
have everything settled.
When things are in suspense, now that was,
that is in itself a trial.
We would rather see it go either one
way or the other, either life or death.
Either a cripple or sentenced to death.
Then to be hanged there in suspense.
And that was what Paul wanted during that
time.
And we also mentioned that when he was
in Rome, he was continuing in preaching the
gospel of grace as God had revealed to
him.
But it aroused the jealousy of those so
-called Jewish Christians.
Those Christians who believed in the Lord and
yet they held on to Moses.
So they began to preach Christ out of
contention, out of strife, not out of love.
And these people added the burden upon the
heart of Paul.
Then the news came.
The church that Paul loved so much, there
was such a harmony between that church and
Paul.
And yet in that church they had a
serious problem.
Two leading spiritual sisters acted very unspiritually.
They were in rival one with another.
Not because of truth, but because of the
clash of personalities.
And Paul could not go there and talk
to them because he was a prisoner.
He was not free.
And of course added to this would be
the burden of all the churches.
As Paul said in Corinth, who is weak
and he is not burdened.
So you think of the situation Paul was
in under such a condition.
If he was not complaining, if he was
not murmuring, if he was not rebelling against
God and against man, now that was good
enough.
If he was not groaning and moaning over
his tragic condition, that will be considered as
unvictorious.
How could he under such a condition remain
so joyously in the Lord?
You know, this was not just incidental.
Because in the very beginning of the church
in Philippi, you remember, Paul was put in
a jail in Philippi.
He was beaten.
He was locked.
He was put in the inner prison, in
a dungeon there.
And yet at midnight, you remember, he and
Silas, they sang, they prayed, and they praised
God.
That was the beginning of the history of
the church in Philippi.
And now after ten years, approximately ten years,
he was again in prison in Rome.
And there again, in that prison, when he
was writing the letter to the church in
Philippi, again he was singing and praising and
praying God in the Roman prison.
In other words, this joy that Paul had
was not incidental.
It was something that characterized his life.
For ten years, in his relationship with the
church in Philippi, he began with joy and
he concluded with joy.
And the situation was getting worse, not getting
better.
On the other hand, when Paul wrote this
letter to the Philippians, he knew what the
believers in Philippi needed.
Because of the rivalry between these two sisters,
a shadow was cast over the whole church.
Everybody was grieving.
Nobody knew what to do.
They were in sorrow, in grief.
And you know, this was a very dangerous
situation.
Because when a person was in sorrow and
in grief, he was open to temptation.
He is not victorious in the Lord.
He would become an introvert.
He begins to look within himself.
And as a person begins to look within
himself, you know, temptation is at the door.
So Paul knew what they needed.
They needed to be comforted with joy.
If only they knew the joy of the
Lord, then they will rise above their situation
instead of being under the situation.
So Paul saw the need of joy with
the saints in Philippi.
Did he write this letter with a note
of joy as a policy?
As a necessity?
Trying to create an atmosphere?
Trying to do something?
Not at all.
Because with Paul, the joy in him was
real.
And only that which is real could be
imparted to others.
It is no use to tell people to
rejoice if the joy of the Lord is
not real in you.
It is so real in Paul.
He is not pretending.
He is not manufacturing.
He is not trying to do something.
He is not stirring up something.
No, he is just sharing the joy that
overflows in his life.
And the overflowing of joy made the Philippian
believers joyful in the Lord.
So it is a letter of joy.
Brothers and sisters, you know, according to the
Greek word, there is a difference between joy
and pleasure.
Pleasure, according to the word pleasure, pleasure is,
generally speaking, superficial and transitory.
It is an emotional expression that comes
out of a conscious pursuit of happiness.
In other words, you are pursuing happiness.
You are exerting your effort consciously seeking for
happiness.
And as you are seeking for happiness, there
comes into you an emotional effect.
And that emotional effect is called pleasure.
It is superficial and transient.
Why?
Because it passes away very quickly.
Now that's pleasure.
The joy, according to the Greek word, is
very different.
Joy is deep.
It is a sustained state.
It is more than an emotional outburst.
It is a character.
Joy always carries with it a sense of
sharing, a sense of realization.
It is of a higher realm in the
spirit.
That's joy.
The difference between pleasure and joy is heaven
and earth.
People of this world know pleasure.
They seek for happiness, and they got pleasure.
They seem to be happy for a short
while, and then it's gone.
It is superficial.
They may be laughing, and yet it goes
off very quickly.
This is not joy.
Joy is something that is deep, that is
sustained, that is in our spirit.
It is a character within us.
It has its root somewhere else.
Not in the things that you seek for,
but it is rooted in God.
And because of that, you find oftentimes affliction,
suffering, seems to add joy to your life
instead of taking it away.
It is different.
In spite of the situation Paul was in,
there was joy within him.
That these conditions could not take away.
And he could rise above all these conditions
and rejoice in the Lord.
He said, for me it is not earth
-shaking, but for you it is safe.
That's joy.
Dear brothers and sisters, do we know this
joy?
This joy does not depend upon environment.
It is not affected by circumstance.
It arises above it, because it is rooted.
Let's look beyond Paul and look into Christ.
If you read the life of Christ as
we find in the full gospel, you'll find
that the life of Christ is a perfect
fulfillment of that word in Nehemiah 8.10,
the joy of the Lord is your strength.
The joy of the Lord is my strength.
Now you'll find this perfectly fulfilled in the
life of our Lord Jesus.
Now, who is our Lord Jesus while he
was on earth?
Isaiah 53 says, He is a man of
sorrow and acquainted with grief.
Who is the Lord Jesus?
He is a man of sorrow.
He not only knows what sorrow is, but
He is a man of sorrow.
In other words, His sorrows are deep.
Very deep.
His sorrows come from two sources.
One is, He is such a person, a
man of God.
Even though He is a man, yet He
is God.
And He has such a heart for mankind
in a sense, He carries with Him, He
bears upon His heart all the sorrows of
this world.
He is one who is full of sympathy.
Brothers and sisters, a person who is full
of sympathy, a person who bears the sorrows
of other people, a person who bears the
pains of other people, how can He stand
it?
Our own sorrows that we bear seem to
crush us.
And if we try to bear other people's
sorrows, you'll find that we are really burdened
down, way down, by the sorrows of other
people.
Now if you have a bigger heart and
you begin to bear the sorrows of the
whole nation, the sorrows of the whole world,
who can bear it?
You cannot live.
You will be completely crushed because the sorrows
of this world are so much immeasurable.
And the Lord Jesus, why He walked on
earth, He took upon Himself all the sorrows
of mankind, of this world.
A man of sorrow.
His sympathy is infinite.
And then secondly, His sorrows came for man.
Oh, how people treated Him.
How people in this world misunderstood Him and
are still misunderstanding Him.
How He came with a heart of love
and yet they hated Him without a cause.
Not only His foes did not understand Him,
even His disciples often misunderstood Him.
Now brothers and sisters, think of it.
The sorrows that He received from man were
tremendous.
Tremendous.
No wonder the prophet said, He is a
man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.
To Him, grief and sorrow are not the
only thing.
He experienced it deeply in His own life.
Now this is our Lord Jesus.
He is a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief.
Now if He is such a person, can
He ever last?
He should be crying and weeping all the
time.
Well, as a matter of fact, in the
Bible you never find Jesus last.
Well, I do not say He never lasts,
but the Bible does not recall that.
On the contrary, you find the Bible says
Jesus wept.
Why?
Because He is a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief.
And yet, dear brothers and sisters, you do
not find our Lord Jesus going around with
a long face.
Oh, oh.
A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.
You know, if our Lord Jesus was like
that, no child will ever get near to
Him.
You know, children are very innocent, and yet
they are very intuitive.
If you are a man with long face,
the children, when they look at you, they
will go away.
But in the case of our Lord Jesus,
as you find the children flock to Him.
Out of the babe, the praise is perfect.
And our Lord took the children in His
hands and prayed for them and blessed them.
Think of that.
So you can see that our Lord Jesus
never went around with a long face.
No, never.
He is a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief.
It is true that the Bible does not
record His laughing, but only His weeping.
And yet our Lord Jesus is not one
who wears a long face.
He is very attractive to the children.
And one day, you remember, He even said
to the people, John the Baptist came without
eating and drinking, but the Son of Man
does eat and drink.
He was not an ascetic.
No, not a hermit.
But you find He is open to all.
Open.
One day, the 70 disciples that He sent
out came back.
Oh, and they rejoiced.
They came back to the Lord Jesus and
they were rejoicing.
Why?
Because their mission was successful.
They told the Lord and they rejoiced and
said, Now Lord, in Your name we cast
out the demons.
Even the demons are subject to us.
Oh, and they were so happy about it.
And you know what our Lord Jesus said?
The Lord said, Do not rejoice because the
demons are subject to you.
There is something better.
Rejoice because your names are recorded in heaven.
The Lord labored much in the cities of
Chorazin, Capernaum, Bethlehem.
And yet these people refused to receive Him.
After much labor in their midst, and yet
these people rejected Him.
And when the Lord looked at these cities,
He cried out, O Chorazin, O Capernaum, O
Bethlehem, if that which I have done in
your midst were done in Sodom and Gomorrah,
they would be repentant.
But you people, I have labored so much
in your midst and you are so stubborn,
so hard-hearted.
It was broken-hearted, you know.
So far as our Lord was concerned, His
heart was really broken when He was faced
with such a situation.
We may think He was weeping, but strange.
In the midst of His crying and weeping,
suddenly He lifts His eyes to heaven and
He rejoices in His Spirit and says, Father,
I thank you.
Because you keep these things away from the
wise and the prudent, but you reveal them
to me.
Father, I thank you because it is the
pleasure, good pleasure of your will.
No one knows the Son but the Father
and those to whom the Father revealed.
And no one knows the Father but the
Son and to whom the Son reveals the
Father.
Dear brothers and sisters, you see that?
He was crying and He was rejoicing.
So far as the situation before Him was
concerned, it was heartbroken.
And yet when He turned to the Father,
He rejoiced in His Spirit.
Now that is joy.
That is joy.
Joy is not just going around and laughing
all the time.
You do not know the sorrow, the grief,
the pain in the heart of a clown.
A clown may be laughing and try to
make people laugh, but if you examine his
heart, he is crying.
No joy.
But joy is something that overcomes, that rises
above the clouds, and there is always sunshine
above the clouds.
That is joy.
That is our Lord Jesus.
The joy of our Lord Jesus is in
the Father and in the Father's will.
As long as He sees the Father, as
long as He knows He is doing the
Father's will, there is joy.
That is His joy.
And dear brothers and sisters, the last night
He was with His disciples in that upper
room.
You know, the whole atmosphere was rather gloomy
and dark because the Lord was telling His
disciples, one among you will be betrayed.
And everybody knew something was going to happen.
Even though they did not know too well,
and yet they said the Lord was leading
them.
And they were in grief.
The whole atmosphere was hanging heavily upon them.
And you know, during the Last Supper, after
the Last Supper, our Lord Jesus was pouring
out His heart to His own.
And if you read John 14, 15, 16,
what do you find there?
You will find again and again the note
of joy.
As a refrain, the Lord said, I tell
you these things beforehand that my joy may
be in you and your joy may be
full.
Now you are in grief, but I am
coming to you and when you shall see
me, then you will be filled with joy.
Even though you have not asked anything of
the Father in my name, but now if
you ask in my name, my Father will
hear you and your joy will be full.
The joy that I give to you, nobody
can take away.
Brothers and sisters, think of that.
Our Lord Jesus was to be betrayed.
Our Lord Jesus was going to the cross.
And yet, the joy within Him was so
full that He was able to share it
with His disciples.
Now that is joy.
That is joy.
The joy of the Lord is history.
There is another chorus we often sing.
And it is, In thy presence there is
fullness of joy.
At the right hand are pleasures forevermore.
That's Psalm 16.
Brothers and sisters, have you ever thought about
this?
In thy presence is fullness of joy.
And the word in thy presence literally means
thy countenance is fullness.
Thy countenance, thy faith, is fullness of joy.
And at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore.
You see the two words?
Joy and pleasure.
Joy is related to the countenance.
Pleasures are related to His right hand.
In other words, what is our countenance?
Our countenance reveals what is within us.
Now suppose today you are not too happy.
Something is bothering you.
You are burdened.
Unconsciously, it comes out in your countenance.
People can just look at you and know
what is in your heart.
If you are not pretending.
You know, when you are alone.
You know.
So you find that joy is always related
to the countenance of God.
In other words, joy is related to God.
What He is.
If you know who He is and what
He is, then you have joy.
Joy is not related to things.
Joy is not related to your environment.
Joy is only related to God.
If you know Him, if you know who
He is and what He is, if you
know His will and you are related to
His will, then joy is your portion.
What is pleasure?
Pleasure is connected with His right hand.
And right hand in the Scripture always speaks
of the act of God.
You use your right hand to do something.
In other words, suppose you have a need
and you pray and God uses His right
hand to do something for you and you
are very happy.
That's pleasure.
Does it last long?
After a while you forgot what God had
done for you.
You know.
Because it is pleasure.
It is not joy.
Joy is knowing the nature.
Joy is related to God's nature.
And pleasure is only connected with God's act.
So here you find our Lord Jesus in
His life.
Oh, our Lord Jesus.
He knows joy.
He knows the joy of the Lord because
He knows the Father and He is doing
the Father's will.
So in spite of everything His joy always
remains.
It never changes.
And He is able to impart His joy
to His disciples.
This is the case with Paul.
We find so far as pleasure is concerned
he doesn't seem to have much.
He was not relieved.
He was still in prison.
He was still burdened with all these pressures.
And yet dear brothers and sisters he knew
the Lord.
He knew He was doing the Lord's will.
And because of that there was a deep
joy within him that nothing could take away.
And he was so joyous in the Lord
that he was able to even share it
with the believers.
Now this is Christian life.
You know oftentimes we do not see the
difference.
Oftentimes we mix up joy and pleasure.
But joy is in the Spirit.
Something very deep and nothing can take it
away.
So in this letter to the Philippines you'll
find it is it runs from beginning to
the end a note of joy.
And when the joy of the Lord is
there there is strength.
There is strength.
If you lose that joy you lose your
strength.
You begin to be discouraged.
You sink into despair.
But if the joy of the Lord is
there on you go.
You know in Hebrews chapter 12 our Lord
Jesus it says look away from everything unto
Jesus the author and completer of our faith
who for the joy that is set before
him endured the cross despised the shame until
he is seated at the right hand of
the throne of God.
Joy.
It is because the joy of the Lord
was with him.
He was able to endure everything to do
the Father's will.
That is his joy.
And there he arrived at the right hand
of the throne of God.
Now let's look into the letter to the
Philippines.
You will notice the joy or rejoicing we
find in this letter.
And probably we can learn something out of
it.
The first mentioning of the word joy is
in verse 4, chapter 1 verse 4.
Constantly in my every supplication making the supplication
for you all with joy because of your
fellowship with the gospel from the first day
until now.
Here you'll find Paul says I can pray
for you all with joy.
I wonder how many times are you able
to pray for someone with joy?
Probably for most people whom you'll pray for
you'll pray with groaning.
Very sad.
Why?
Because you see in their lives something is
wrong.
Something there that hinders opposes God's will.
So when you pray for them you'll pray
with groanings with deep groanings within you.
Oh that God may get through this life.
But here Paul he was able to pray
for the saints in Philippi with joy.
Brothers and sisters, sometimes you have a taste
of that.
Sometimes when you mention someone before the Lord
you really feel joyful in your heart as
you mention them before the Lord.
You can praise God for that.
And here Paul says I supplicate for you
all with joy.
Why?
Because of your fellowship with the gospel.
You know the church in Philippi had fellowship
with Paul in the gospel from the very
first day until the day Paul was in
the prison in Rome.
Ten years.
From the very beginning they stood with Paul
in the gospel.
They might not be traveling around with Paul
but they were supporting Paul in their prayer.
They were one with Paul in the gospel.
Even though Paul was in Rome as a
prisoner they sent Epaphroditus there with their gift
and with their prayer.
They stood with Paul.
Fellowship in the gospel.
Brothers and sisters, I wonder aside
from the Lord that which can give us
joy on earth is fellowship.
To me I think it is very real.
Aside from the Lord from whom we receive
the joy of the Lord in us I
think there is nothing that makes us joyful
than to have fellowship with brothers and sisters.
When you find some brothers and sisters to
whom you could fellowship with of one heart,
of one mind, of one spirit you can
share together of the Lord and you are
one in the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, it gives you such joy.
Such joy.
Fellowship is full of joy.
But what is fellowship?
When God's people come together and they begin
to discuss this brother and that brother that
is not fellowship.
Because the more you talk about it the
more you are said fellowship is sharing Christ.
Sharing Christ.
Oh, there is nothing more joyous on earth
than when God's people come together and share
Christ in one spirit.
That's joy.
And Paul says, I pray for you with
joy because of your fellowship.
Fellowship in the gospel.
You are one with me in the preaching
of the gospel.
Now that's where joy comes.
And then the second place is in verse
18.
What is it then?
At any rate, in every place whether in
pretext or in truth Christ is announced and
in this I rejoice yea, also I will
rejoice for I know that this will turn
out for me to salvation through your supplication
and supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
You know, Paul, in a limited way he
was still trying to preach the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
The pure grace of God.
And then these Jewish believers began to preach
Jesus Christ out of contention.
Trying to distort the truth of the gospel.
It grieved Paul.
In other words, so far as truth is
concerned there could be no compromise.
And yet, in spite of that Paul rose
above the situation and said whether they preach
Jesus Christ by pretext or by truth in
love or in jealousy at least Jesus Christ
is announced.
No matter what happens to me Jesus Christ
is announced.
Not foolish not in perfection but at least
the name of Jesus Christ is uplifted.
And if I, Paul, shall suffer that doesn't
matter I rejoice.
In other words, you'll find the reason why
we do not rejoice the reason why we
do not have joy is because we care
too much about ourselves.
He who cares much about himself is one
who is always worried and unhappy.
If we can forget ourselves and if we
can only think of the Lord brothers and
sisters we will rejoice.
This is the reason why we are not
joyful as we should.
Why?
Because we think too much of ourselves.
What will happen to me?
And we lose our joy.
But if we think of Christ oh, if
only Christ is announced if only Christ is
uplifted I rejoice.
Because He is the source of my joy.
He is the purpose of my life.
And Paul can rejoice over that.
Then the third time it is mentioned is
in verse 25.
You know, Paul was pressed.
He said, for me to live is Christ
and to die, gain.
But if to live in flesh is my
loss this is for me worth the while
and what I shall choose I cannot tell.
I am pressed by both.
Having the desire for departure and being with
Christ for it is very much better but
remaining in the flesh is more necessary for
your sake.
And having confidence of this I know that
I shall remain abide along with you all
for your progress and joy in your faith.
Here you'll find Paul was pressed.
He didn't know whether he should go or
whether he should stay.
If he should go it was much better
for him because he would be with the
Lord.
All these trials all these pressures would be
gone.
But then he thought of the saints in
Philippi.
They still needed him.
And for their sake he felt he should
stay.
In order that he might help them in
the joy in faith.
Brothers and sisters do you see that?
Where is our joy?
Our joy is in the Lord.
Our joy is in doing the will of
God.
Where comes our joy?
Our joy is when we are thinking of
the joy of other people.
You cannot rejoice if you always think of
yourself.
If you can think of other people to
make other people joyful then your joy is
full.
In our Chinese classics there is a saying
I think it is Confucius who asked this
question.
He said to be happy alone or to
be happy with other people which is happier?
If you are happy by yourself or you
are happy with other people which is happier?
And his answer is with other people.
You know there is two things.
You cannot be happy by yourself.
It's very limited.
You have to share your happiness with others
and then your happiness is full.
So if we seek the joy of our
brothers and sisters oh to see they are
built up in faith.
They are progressing in the Lord.
When you see these things your joy is
full.
So no wonder later on Paul said you
are my joy, you are my crown.
If you stand in the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
That's joy.
Why is it that we don't have joy
too much?
It's because we are not helping other people.
We are not building up other people in
the Lord.
Oh when you see your brothers and sisters
growing in the Lord.
And if the Lord should use you in
a small way to help them.
It's the joy that comes to you is
more than when the Lord is doing something
to you.
It is joy.
Real joy.
And then in chapter 2 Paul says in
verse 1 If then there be any comfort
in Christ if any consolation of love if
any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels
and compassion fulfill my joy that ye may
think the same thing having the same love
joining souls thinking one thing.
The joy will overflow.
If we are one.
One in heart.
One in spirit.
One in love.
One in mind.
Brothers and sisters the joy is full.
Oh the oneness of God's people.
Because God's people are so divided we are
grieved.
We are grieved.
But when God's people are really one nothing
can be compared with that.
The joy that comes with the oneness with
the unity of God's people is overflowing.
It's overflowing.
And then of course in verse 17 we
mentioned this morning that if also I am
poured out as a libation of the sacrifice
and ministration of your faith I rejoice.
And rejoice in common with God in like
manner do you also rejoice and rejoice with
me.
We mentioned in the morning that the church
in Phidiphi the saints in Phidiphi were as
a sacrifice a burnt offering to the Lord.
And Paul said I'm most happy to be
the drink offering that pours upon the sacrifice.
I'm willing to add to your consecration to
your sacrifice to the Lord.
I rejoice with you and you rejoice with
me.
In other words, the joy of the Lord
has to be shared.
It is much easier naturally to share sorrow
than to share joy.
Naturally speaking.
If you have sorrow you like to share
with some people.
But if you are happy you keep it
for yourself.
But in Christ the joy that the Lord
has given must be shared.
The more you share it the more joyful.
And verse 28 I have sent him therefore
the more diligently and seeing him ye might
again rejoice and that I might be the
less sorrowful receiving therefore in the Lord with
all joy and hold such in honor.
Again you'll find joy is being seen, our
brother and sister.
Oh, if we can meet our brothers and
sisters there is joy in it.
It gives us much joy.
Then you turn to chapter 3, verse 1.
For the rest, my brethren, rejoice in the
Lord.
To write the same things to you, to
me, if not earthsome and for you safe.
Paul said rejoice in the Lord.
Brethren, you can only rejoice in the Lord.
Outside of the Lord there is no joy.
Rejoice in the Lord.
To write the same things to you, to
me, if not earthsome.
Paul said to me, if not earthsome.
In other words, it's not troublesome.
Why?
Because it is so real.
He may maintain joy fourteen times and it
is always fresh.
Because it is real to him.
But he said for you it is fresh.
The joy of the Lord is our safety.
When a person loses his joy he is
open to temptation.
Because he is depressed.
When you are depressed, you are open to
all kinds of temptations.
But when you are rejoicing in the Lord,
in other words, you see the Lord.
You are with Him.
You are above Him.
And the temptation with the church in Phidiphi,
there is another temptation there.
A small problem.
And that problem is the circumcision.
So he said, beware the dogs.
See to evil workmen.
See to the concessions.
Now suddenly he mentions these things.
Sometimes you wonder why, you know.
Actually, Paul was very ironic.
In other words, the Jews always look upon
the Gentiles as dogs, right?
The Jews always look upon the Gentiles as
evil workmen.
The Jews look upon the Gentiles as the
uncircumcised.
So Paul turned it around and said see
to dogs.
And he refers to the Jews.
See to the wicked workmen.
He refused to the Jews.
See to the concessions.
He refused to the Jews.
Why?
There was, there were Jews who tried to
get into the church in Phidiphi and tried
to teach them to keep the law of
Moses.
To bring them under bondage again.
They are dogs, unclean.
They are evil workmen.
Doing evil.
And you know, Paul was so sarcastic.
He didn't say, beware the circumcision.
He said, beware the concession.
You know, concession means, beware the mutilated.
Their circumcision is just a mutilation.
There is no value in it.
You just mutilate your body.
Think of that.
So sarcastic.
And he turned around and said, now who
are the circumcised?
Who are the true circumcised?
For we are the circumcised who worship by
the Spirit of God and those in Jesus
Christ and do not trust in flesh.
Because circumcision in the Old Testament is just
a type of the circumcision of the heart.
So we who have received the circumcision of
the heart we are the circumcised.
And what is the circumcision of the heart?
We worship God in Spirit.
We do not trust in our flesh and
we boast in Christ Jesus.
That is the circumcision.
So brothers and sisters may the joy of
the Lord protect us.
Protect us.
Protect us for all from all these temptations.
You know, when a person is depressed he
may listen to these Jewish stewardizers and may
think, well, by doing this he may please
God.
He will be led astray.
So pause and beware of this.
And then, of course, the greatest chapter on
rejoicing is in chapter 4.
And here you find Paul in chapter 4.
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again I will say, but
how?
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I
say rejoice.
Why?
Let your gentleness be known to all men.
The Lord is near.
You know, the Lord is near here does
not refer to the second coming of our
Lord.
Yes.
The second coming of our Lord is near.
That's true.
But here, the Lord is near does not
refer to the second coming.
The Lord is near is referred to the
present.
Why is it that we do not rejoice
in the Lord?
It is because we strive.
Oh, we are always striving for ourselves.
In this world, you have to strive for
yourself.
If you don't strive for yourself, if you
are not taking care of your right, taking
care of yourself, now who will take care
of you?
And when you are striving for yourself, as
if the Lord is not here.
You have to take care of yourself.
So he said, let your gentleness be known
to all men.
Your meekness.
In other words, you don't need to strive
for yourself.
The Lord is near.
He will take care of you.
Be careful about nothing, but in everything by
prayer, supplication with thanksgiving, make your request known
to God, and the peace of God which
surpasses every understanding shall guard your heart and
your thoughts by Christ Jesus.
Of course.
As we live on this earth, there are
many cares of life.
How can we be careful of nothing?
Since we have the cares of life around
us.
But there is a secret.
We can make known our request to God
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
In other words, hand these over to the
Lord.
And if we hand them over to the
Lord, the peace of God will garrison our
heart and mind.
It doesn't say make your request known to
the Lord and he will supply everything.
It doesn't say that.
It says he will garrison your heart and
mind.
In other words, you will be in peace.
Now how God is going to answer your
request, that is another question.
But at least you'll find the peace of
God will garrison your heart and mind.
You will not worry anymore.
And you can rejoice now.
You can rejoice now.
Even before the answer comes, you can rejoice.
You know it's taken care of.
Somebody has taken care of it.
So brothers and sisters, here you'll find this
is the joy of the Lord.
The joy of the Lord is our strength.
We cannot live if we do not have
this joy.
But if we have this joy in us,
we can live more than conquerors in all
things.
The joy of the Lord is our portion.
If we only look to him, or if
we only see him, if you see his
face, there is fullness of joy.
So all that we need is to see
him.
That's all.
If you see him, there is joy.
No matter far.
And there will be strength in your life.
And you will find all things will be
taken care of.
Lord, thou dost tell us that the joy
of the Lord is our strength.
And we cannot live without our strength.
Lord, thou dost tell us that thy countenance
is fullness of joy.
O, turn our hearts to thee, that daily
we may see thy face, and our joy
shall be full.
O Lord, how we praise and thank thee,
because thou art the source of our joy.
And we do desire to share thy joy
with our brothers and sisters, and receive thy
joy from our brothers and sisters.
O, how we praise and thank thee.
In this world, even though we may have
all kinds of pressures, and yet no one
can take away the joy that thou hast
given to us.
Lord, we do thank thee.
We praise thy name.
Amen.