Rejoice Always
Download MP3If you have a Bible, I invite you to turn to Philippians chapter 4. We've only got 2 weeks left in Philippians. Philippians chapter 4. It's also there in your worship guide. I'll begin reading verse 1.
Joel Brooks:Therefore my brothers whom I love and long for my joy and crown Stand firm thus in the Lord my beloved. I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I also ask you I ask you also true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice.
Joel Brooks:Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable.
Joel Brooks:If there is any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Pray with me.
Joel Brooks:Father, we ask that you would open up your word to us, open up our hearts and minds to receive it. Some of these words we have just read are so familiar to us. We have kinda closed ourselves off to them. But, Lord, may we hear you speaking afresh and new to us. May my words fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore.
Joel Brooks:But, Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. Before we dig right in into Philippians 4, I want to give kind of a longer introduction that comes from Proverbs 31. I preached on this a number of years ago.
Joel Brooks:It's one of my, favorite chapters in the bible. I say that a lot because whichever one I happen to be studying tends to be my favorite chapter. But I preached on this 4 or 5 years ago, but let's be honest none of you remember it. You might remember what Proverbs 31 is about. It's about the excellent woman or the excellent wife.
Joel Brooks:Proverbs 31 sets before us what seems to be this impossible standard to live by. Here's this one woman, if you remember she she does everything perfectly. She does good to her spouse, she does all the shopping, she does all the cooking, she cleans the house, She is in real estate. She runs a small business. She makes her own clothes.
Joel Brooks:She raises her children well. She is beautiful in her appearance, she is respected by everyone. Think Joanna Gaines, alright? If this woman had an Instagram account, you would both love and loathe her at the same time. You'd love and loathe her for all of her perfections.
Joel Brooks:Some of you currently follow people like this and you probably should stop because it's just making you into angry bitter people. Now there's there's one characteristic of this woman that I think surpasses all of them. It's more impressive than being able to make your own clothes, more impressive than running your own business, doing crossfit while wearing heels, you know, whatever it was she was doing. And it's this, Verse 25 says that she was a woman who laughs at the future. She laughs at the future.
Joel Brooks:She would look at the future with all of its uncertainties and even though she had no idea what was coming her way she could laugh at it. She was not anxious about anything. Of all the qualities of this excellent woman that's the one I marvel at above all of the others. Are you like that? When you look into the future, do you laugh?
Joel Brooks:When you look into the future with all of its uncertainties maybe questions like, will I ever find the one? Will I ever graduate get a job? Will I ever move out of my parents basement? Will work ever settle down for me? Will I ever be able to pay for my kids to go off to college?
Joel Brooks:When you think of all of these things, can you laugh at the future? Or is your heart full of anxiety rather than laughter? Is it full of fear or is it full of peace? What Proverbs here is describing to us with this woman is someone who is at perfect peace, who's unaffected by any circumstance. Wouldn't you love to have such peace?
Joel Brooks:That's what Paul wants for us as he is entering into this final chapter. As he's wrapping up his letter, he once again is gonna talk about the peace and joy of Christ and how we can attain both, how we can become like that woman from Proverbs 31 and be a people who laugh at the future. Now I've thought about several ways in which I could teach through these familiar verses, before said, but I've decided that probably the most boring way is best. I mean you've already lost an hour of sweet, sleep. We might as well just jump right in.
Joel Brooks:We're just gonna walk through this verse by verse and just kind of talk our way through this. So Paul begins this section by mentioning 2 women. Says, I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. How would you like to forever be remembered for this? Like good news, your name is in the Bible.
Joel Brooks:Bad news, it's well it's not for the best reasons. I mean there's a reason that, no one names their kids Euodia or Syntyche besides them just being bad names. You you don't want to be remembered as the 2 women who can never agree. And how awkward for them. I mean remember this letter was being read out loud to the church and as likely Epaphroditus is is reading this is like, and Euodia and Syntyche because they would have been sitting you know on opposite sides of the the parking deck here.
Joel Brooks:People awkwardly looking at them, but he needed to address this. There was a disagreement we're not told what it is, but these women could not get along. And their problem was not theological, it was relational. If it had been theological Now I know in our day it is hard to imagine anyone being so divided. It's hard to imagine such tribalism, but I want you to try.
Joel Brooks:We can only speculate, but perhaps Euodia said something like black lives matter. Syntyche responded well, I believe all lives matter. Perhaps one said, well you know whoever votes for Trump is a racist. Another said, well whoever votes for Biden is a baby killer. Perhaps one won't wear a mask because they think they're useless or it's a government intrusion, and the other says, why do you want to kill my grandma?
Joel Brooks:I know it's it's it's hard to imagine anyone saying these things, but but I just want you to try. Now these weren't bad women, I mean Paul details how they were good, hardworking, church going, gospel believing women who labored by his side, but what was happening is they were elevating a non gospel issue and they were treating it like the gospel. They were giving it a gospel importance, something that wasn't as important. Now I'm not saying that they were elevating an unimportant issue and making it gospel, because whatever the issue was it very well might have been important. But they've turned it into gospel.
Joel Brooks:And although I am sure that they would have said we are not doing that, we would do no such thing. We know what's the gospel, we know what's not. And Paul says, then why aren't you living it out? Why aren't you humbling yourself and taking the first step towards reconciliation with one another? And and instead you're you're allowing this toxic relationship to spread to the church.
Joel Brooks:You're allowing the small issue to become a big issue. So Paul, he'd addresses this head on. You don't address issues like this through passive aggressive post through social media, which is typically how we address things like this. You address it head on. He tells them to agree in the Lord or in other words, they need to remember the gospel in which they've been saved by.
Joel Brooks:Euodia, do you remember you were once an enemy of God? Do you remember that He saved you, changed your heart by a sheer grace? Syntyche, do you remember all of your sins and how Jesus had to die on the cross to forgive you? You have way more in common than you have not in common. You believe the gospel.
Joel Brooks:Certainly you get you can agree in the Lord. To make sure this happens in verse 3, Paul asked a true companion to come and help these women. We're not really sure who this true companion is. We do know that none of us would like to be that true companion asked to to solve this. The Greek word here is syzgos, which is likely someone's name.
Joel Brooks:Apparently the translators thought no mama is that cruel to actually name their kids Sysgos. And so they just interpret it for us and say this is a true companion companion. Regardless of who this person is Paul tells this man, step in and make these women talk to one another to be reconciled. Otherwise, this will divide the church. Now Paul doesn't tell them just to agree in the Lord, you know, remember the gospel agreeing the Lord.
Joel Brooks:He actually goes a step further as after this. They're not just to agree in the Lord, now they're to rejoice in the Lord. Verse 4, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will see rejoice. This command is in response to these 2 women.
Joel Brooks:It's it's also being commanded to the entire church, but it's coming out of a response to those 2 women. Christians need to be marked by their rejoicing not by their arguing. And not just rejoicing but rejoicing in the Lord always. Sounds pretty hard doesn't it? To always be rejoicing.
Joel Brooks:It is, it's why Paul commands it twice. I mean he doesn't do this with other commands. He doesn't say, flee from immorality. Again, I say you must flee from sexual immorality. He doesn't say that because fleeing from sexual immorality is actually way easier than rejoicing always.
Joel Brooks:Rejoicing always is hard. I mean Paul's not at Disney World here, he is in prison. It's not always easy to rejoice from a prison especially when you've just received news about 2 people who won't stop bickering with one another. He goes on and he says, let your reasonableness be made known to everyone. He's not saying, ladies, can you just be reasonable with one another?
Joel Brooks:That's not what the word reasonable means there. You probably have a little footnote. It's translated all elsewhere in scriptures gentleness. It's the same word that Jesus uses when he describes himself as being gentle and lowly of heart. Paul is saying Christians need to have a gentleness towards others.
Joel Brooks:In other words when the world looks at us they do not need to see somber, stubborn people who can't get along. Nor people who delight going around dropping truth bombs on one another or the world. But they should see a people marked by gentleness and laughter. Do you think that's what the world sees when they see the church? Paul says, we're also to be a people marked by not being anxious.
Joel Brooks:In verse 6, says, do not be anxious about anything. You notice Paul writes like a lawyer? I mean, he writes in what what I mean is he writes in such a way where he doesn't give any loopholes, you know, you could get out of things. I mean, you were to rejoice always. You're to not worry about anything.
Joel Brooks:So I'm going to say, you're about to you should pray in everything. Everything's all encompassing. There's no exceptions to what he is saying. He says here that we are to never be anxious. Christians at times can be sorrowful, they can be sad, we could but we can never be anxious.
Joel Brooks:How's that possible? Years ago, my wife shared this illustration. She had just got back 5 years ago from a trip to Haiti. She was leaving the trip and she took, at the time our 10 year old and Natalie on it. They arrived in Port au Prince, they navigated their way through the airport, they go outside, they're trying to find a ride, And up comes this cattle truck.
Joel Brooks:It's the best way to describe it, to pick them up. And as as Lauren is is loading Natalie up in this cattle truck that's that's open air in the back, actually I think it has some chicken wire around it. She is thinking this, she she's thinking you know all of my life I have tried to protect this child. And if you know Natalie, it hasn't been easy. Just just trying to protect her.
Joel Brooks:You know when she was little, you know, I would always strap her in the car using that 4 point harness when she rode a bike. She always had to make sure you know, she had her helmet on and now she's throwing this girl in the back of a cattle truck that is about to fly through these crazy Haitian roads in which there are wrecks all over the place. People die all the time on these roads and she's thinking what am I doing and she goes Jesus, you're in control and she just puts her daughter in there. And she comes back in there and she tells me this. So, I go to Natalie and I asked her about the experience.
Joel Brooks:Natalie, how how was it like, riding in the back of that cattle truck? You know her response was? It was awesome. It was amazing. It was so bumpy.
Joel Brooks:There were times I thought I was gonna like launch out. Slamming the brakes turn light. It was incredible. It's like a ride at Disney. It was so much fun.
Joel Brooks:I was like, well, weren't you scared? She goes, no. Mom was with me. Mom was with me. Natalie was a girl who could laugh at the future.
Joel Brooks:Why? Because she laughed because she knew where she was going? No, she didn't have a clue. Because she laughed because there was no danger? No.
Joel Brooks:There was actually lots of danger all around her. She could be killed in any moment. She laughed because her mom was with her. That's all it took. And as Christians, we laugh at the future because we know the Lord is with us.
Joel Brooks:That's what why this whole section here on not being anxious, it begins with the phrase, the Lord is at hand. And if it helps you this is a great way to understand that phrase the lord is at hand. You can say the lord has you by the hand. He has you by the hand. He is with you.
Joel Brooks:He is holding you always. He is walking by your side. So what do you have to fear when Jesus is so close to you? If some things become scary, if some things become overwhelming, will you just talk to him about them? He's right there.
Joel Brooks:You can just pray to him, you can make your request to him because he's right there. It doesn't matter if you don't know if you're ever going to get married, if you don't know if you're going to keep your job, if you don't know what the lab results are gonna come back like. It doesn't matter where life takes you because you know who is with you And you can laugh at the future. So as he has your hand and you're talking to him and you're praying to him, you're asking him for things, Paul says you do all of this with thanksgiving. And actually, this is really the key to that in entire passage there that you do so with thanksgiving because the order of events is important.
Joel Brooks:Paul says that we are to pray. We are to make a request and then we are to thank God before we ever get an answer. We thank God before we ever get an answer. We can thank God regardless of however he answers because we trust him. We know he is good.
Joel Brooks:We know that he is in control. We know that no matter what happens, we can rest because of his love for us. That's peace. Paul then goes on to say that when we do pray and we trust God in these things that the peace of God is literally is going to guard our hearts and our minds. I love this language.
Joel Brooks:Paul's using a military term here. God's peace is is a garrison, a protection over us. Do you remember back to our study on Elisha? When Elisha he's being surroundings in Edothan, he's being surrounded by an opposing army and his servant is just freaking out saying we're all gonna die, we're all gonna die. And Elisha comes out and he basically yawns.
Joel Brooks:He's like, what are you talking about? And his servant is like, don't you see the army? We're about to be attacked any moment. And Elisha prays, Lord will you open his eyes? And he opens his eyes and the servant now sees that they are surrounded by another army, the army of the Lord protecting them.
Joel Brooks:There's chariots of fire all around them. This is the imagery Paul is using is we we have this this army around us protecting us, giving us the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. You need to know that if you are a Christian, nothing can ultimately harm you. Nothing. Not a hair can fall off your head apart from the explicit command of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:So if you do lose a hair or if harm does come your way, no it's not because Jesus is not in control, it's because he is allowing this thing to happen for your good. Though you might not understand why. And actually if you were to lose all of your health, all of your money, all of your friendships, all of your reputation, even lose your very life, you still will not be harmed ultimately. Because you belong to God and you will be his forever. That's a peace that surpasses all understanding.
Joel Brooks:Paul now moves to the final section, he gives us another finally. I think Paul means it this time, he's getting at least he's getting closer when he says finally this time. Says finally brothers whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. If I could put a point on this, Paul does not say whatever is on Netflix, whatever is on Instagram, whatever happens to be on my phone, whatever is on the news, If there is anything worthy of being outraged or at least feigning outrage, think about these things. Yet that's how so many of us live.
Joel Brooks:We we kind of lazily sit at the dinner table of the world and we just eat whatever our culture serves us, and then we wonder why we are so unhealthy. We wonder why we deal with such anxiety. And Paul ends this section by saying, you need to be chewing on something different. That's what the word think means there. Chew on, deeply meditate on this.
Joel Brooks:If you want to live a life of joyful celebration, if you want to not be an anxious people, you've got to start thinking chewing on different things than what you're currently chewing on. Because what you chew on shapes you. And haven't we seen that this past year? Some questions to ask yourself, are the things you consuming are they making you more tribal? Are they making you angry all the time?
Joel Brooks:Do the things that you consume, do they help you move towards those who disagree with you and love or to treat them as enemies? Do they help you to view certain sins as okay and other sins as being terrible? If so, you need to quit chewing on these things. You need to get into the word. The word of God is all of those things that Paul just described.
Joel Brooks:Take time and chew on that. Paul ends this section in verse 9 by saying the God of peace will be with us. I don't know if you notice this, but he he flipped some words around. He begins by talking about the peace of God coming to us and now he sums it up. How is that possible?
Joel Brooks:Well, it's because we have a God of peace. The only way we can have the peace of God is because we have a God of peace who is with us. The Lord is at hand. The Lord is holding our hand always. Pray with me.
Joel Brooks:Lord Jesus, we thank you for the peace that we have in you. For those of us who are not holding on to that and trusting that, I pray that in these quiet moments, you would lead us to trust you once again. I pray that we would chew on the right things. We would discard the dishes that the world serves us, and we would feast on you and your word. Thank you for being the God of peace who comes to us, Who never lets go of our hand.
Joel Brooks:We pray this in your strong name Jesus. Amen.
