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CONNIE: You’ve heard the counsel, no doubt “Rejoice in the Lord always!” But how do you do that when times are hard and trouble lurks around every corner? Join us as we look for answers in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. How is it for you today, friend? Do you find yourself rejoicing in the Lord, thanking Him for His blessings?

CONNIE: It’s not always easy to find something to be thankful for, but today we’re focusing our attention on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. And this is the letter where Paul expresses his joy and contentment repeatedly. There are only 104 verses in the 4 chapters of the book. But in these few verses, the word joy occurs 6 times, and rejoice occurs 12 times.

LONNIE: That’s a lot of joy and rejoicing!

CONNIE: And it’s also the letter where Paul tells his readers “I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances” (4:13, NIV).

LONNIE: It’s highly significant to consider that when Paul wrote this letter, he had been in prison for several years, and was at that very moment waiting to hear whether he would be given the death sentence or not. Still, he was able to be joyful, and I’ll be looking at the secret behind Paul’s ability to find joy and contentment in all his circumstances in my message later in the program, but before we get to that, we’ve invited Professor Richard Choi, of Andrews University to join us and give his perspective on the message of Philippians

CONNIE: Ken Wade spoke with him. Let’s listen in.

KEN: I want to welcome Dr. Richard Choi to our studio today. Dr Choi is the assistant professor of New Testament interpretation at Andrews University, at the theological seminary there. Welcome Dr. Choi.

RICHARD: Thank you!

KEN: It’s good to have you with us as we tackle this book of Philippians, a wonderful book, and a book as you were telling me, of comfort.

RICHARD: Yes, it’s a book that provides comfort and encouragement to a congregation that was facing hostility and alienation from society. Becoming a Christian in the early Roman, 1st century involved shunning idolatry and immorality, and this caused many of them to lose friendship and family connections. So Paul wanted to provide an encouragement to these people. Now, in this book he unfolds two secrets of comfort, and one is that joy as Galations 5:22 mentions, is the fruit of the spirit, not the result of an outward circumstance like having a nice home or a lot of money. The second secret is seen in the great example of Christ, the way to glory is always paved with suffering, so this is a call for trust in God. That God is in control.

KEN: This concept of joy and rejoicing comes up over and over again in this book, as well as the concept of suffering, and Paul, I noticed in the first chapter, he’s writing to them because they’re concerned for him. These are his friends, he’s writing them, he’s coming into their presence, he can’t leave prison to be with them and he wishes he could, but he’s writing them a letter to kind of be his stand in among them, and he realizes that they are concerned with his suffering in prison.

RICHARD: Yes, in fact his letters, particularly this one are his proxies, or were proxies for his presence, so he wants to share a lot of things about his life, about his own experience in prison, about his own psychological experiences. The letter is full of his personal information, and it’s also full of reminiscence about the experiences they had together in the early part of their Christian experience. So in an age where there was no e-mail or telephone, or modern postal service, these occasional letters delivered by the co-workers of Paul were important in the sharing of his actual personal presence. So, it’s probably a good thing to remember when you hear one of Paul’s letters being read next time, that Paul really wanted you to feel like he was speaking to you in person. These letters are proxies for his personal presence.

KEN: One of the things that he takes up, apparently, things were not all as we say, hunky dory in Philipi. There were apparently some people putting themselves above other people, some arguments, and he has to appeal to a couple of ladies to be of the same mind, but when he speaks of being in the same mind with each other, that takes us back to chapter two and that great hymn to Christ as well, doesn’t it?

RICHARD: Yes! Paul presents a magisterial hymn of Christ in chapter 2:5-7, “Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus.” That’s a great hymn, and as you mentioned if you look closely at the surrounding text you will determine that the reason Paul brings up the hymn is that the members of the church were not getting along with each other. So, at the heart of his exaltation there is the gospel. Now, it is important to realize that this hymn is not like the other mentions of Christ, which you find in other letters like Romans and Galatians, the focus is not the sacrifice of Christ, but His great example. That Christ emptied Himself of His heavenly glory and power for the sake of peace, peace between Him and God, peace between Him and humans, and peace between humans themselves.
KEN: So if we can have that mind of Christ, and if we can follow that example of Christ, many of the hardships, many of the arguments, many of the disputes within the church will go away.

RICHARD: Well, in our troubled times today, I think this is a fitting vision to catch.

KEN: Absolutely! Is there anything else that you would like to bring out of the book of Philippians that we’ve missed so far?

RICHARD: This is a letter written to his friends, and as a letter written to his friends, the letter is full of joy and it is full of cordiality, and sometimes we face difficulties in life and we feel like we’re under the gun, and for those people this letter can really bring joy to their lives.

KEN: Absolutely! Well, thanks very much for sharing with us Dr. Choi, and God bless you as you continue to minister there.

RICHARD: Thank you!

CONNIE: That was Christian Edition, one of our favorite men’s groups, singing “I Will Rejoice.” For more information about any of the music you hear on our broadcast, we invite you to visit us on the Worldwide Web at www.vop.com.

LONNIE: You know, Connie, one of the things I notice about this particular singing group—and they’ve participated with us in several of our Family Reunion concerts—is that they don’t just sing about rejoicing. You can see the joy on their faces as they sing. It just flows right out of them.

CONNIE: That’s really true, Lonnie. I’ve noticed it too. You can’t help but get a smile on your face as you watch or listen to them sing. They exude the joy of Jesus.
LONNIE: And speaking of the Joy of Jesus—that’s the name of a book we produced here at Voice of Prophecy a couple of years ago—based on some of our broadcasts. And we’d like to share a copy of that little book with you if you’re looking for something to put a smile on your face.

CONNIE: We’d be delighted to send you a copy of The Joy of Jesus—absolutely free—as our gift to you. Just ring us up at 1-800-872-0055, and ask for The Joy of Jesus.

LONNIE: You can also write to us of course, and we’ll have the mailing address a bit later. But right now, let’s dig right into our study of the book of Philippians

CONNIE: With Lonnie’s message for today: “Philippians, Joy in the Lord!”

Philippians—Joy in the Lord

The story of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians doesn’t begin in verse 1 with his greeting “to all the saints who are in Philippi.” No, to really understand this epistle, we need to think back about 10 years, to a time when the great apostle to the Gentiles must have been experiencing some confusion—perhaps some questioning—wondering just where his ministry was supposed to take him next.

Knowing the history behind Paul’s ministry to the Philippians can help us understand the book better. And there are some important lessons that can help us in our own journey with the Lord.

Have you ever been in a situation where you just didn’t know which way to turn? When all the doors you thought ought to be opening to you were slamming shut in your face? If so—take heart—you’re in good company. Even a great apostle like Paul had days like that—even months like that, it would appear. Even when he was on his great missionary journeys.

It probably was in the spring of AD 49 that Paul and Silas set out on the trip we know as Paul’s Second Missionary Journey. Departing from Antioch in Syria, they headed north, then west, to Cilicia. It’s likely that they stopped for a while in Paul’s home town of Tarsus, where he had labored as a missionary for several years after his conversion. Then they continued their journey, up through the Taurus Mountains via the Cilician Gates, and across to Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium—cities where Paul had established churches on his first missionary journey. At Lystra he met one of his most faithful companions—Timothy—and invited him to join the traveling missionary troupe.

It may have been the following spring by time Paul and company were ready to head out on a further excursion to the west and north. They didn’t know exactly where the Holy Spirit would lead them, but as they began their journey, it became clear that their mission lay somewhere ahead on the road. Somehow the Spirit prevented them from stopping and preaching in any of the cities of Galatia that they passed through. Sensing that perhaps they should continue northward and minister in cities along the southern shore of the Black Sea, they proceeded to the border of the province of Bithynia [bi thin e a]. Acts 16:7-8 tells what happened there: “When they reached the frontier of Mysia [mish e a] they thought to cross it into Bithynia, but as the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them, they went through Mysia and came down to Troas” (Jerusalem Bible).

God was guiding all this while—but the guidance was all negative: Don’t go here; don’t stop there. It must have been a bit frustrating, don’t you think? To be on a missionary journey and not be able to “missionary.”

Finally they arrived on the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea, at Troas. This is on the west coast of what is now Turkey, but they knew Troas was not to be their destination. So—where to from here?

That’s when it happened. One of the most significant events in the spread of Christianity. Here’s the account, from Acts 16:9: “During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’ ” (NRSV).

There it was, at last. After weeks—perhaps even months—of traveling over rough mountain roads, wondering where the Spirit was leading. At last, a positive message from the Lord: Come across the sea. Come over to Europe, and share the gospel with us.

How Paul’s heart must have leapt for joy. And how excited Timothy and Silas must have been. Especially Timothy—because up to this time his “ministry” with Paul had been basically fruitless. Just a lot of walking, and not much else.

When the call came to go over to Macedonia, they set sail on the next available ship, and within three days were in Philippi.

But the irony, and mystery, of the Lord’s leading continued.

After several days in the city, they still hadn’t met with any success. The man Paul had seen in vision wasn’t waiting at the city’s gates to welcome them. Apparently there was no Jewish synagogue in which to preach. So, when the Sabbath day came, they went and found a group of women worshiping down by the riverside, and Paul preached to them.

Notice this: It was a Macedonian man who had invited Paul to come. But when they arrived, all they could find was Jewish women to preach to. Lydia, the leading woman among the worshipers, wasn’t even from Macedonia. She was from Thyatira, in Asia.

And as the story continues, the missionaries’ next major contact is with a woman as well: “One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave-girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, ‘These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation’ ” Acts 16:16-17, NRSV). If you’re familiar with the story, you remember that Paul was so bothered by this after several days that he finally cast out the demon that was speaking through her.

As a result, things seemed to go from bad to worse for the missionaries. The girl’s owners complained. A mob formed. The authorities got involved. Paul and Silas got arrested, summarily tried and convicted, stripped naked, flogged, and thrown into prison with their feet in stocks.

That’s when the earthquake hit.

You think you’re having a bad day . . .

Can you picture Paul and Silas sitting there in prison—how on earth do you get comfortable sitting on hard, cold stone when you can’t even move your feet, and your back is bruised and bleeding? Can you hear them commiserating, feeling sorry for themselves, and complaining that here they thought they’d set out to serve the Lord, and look what it got them?

No, you can’t hear them complaining, can you. Because you know the story. You know that when the earthquake hit about midnight, Paul and Silas weren’t griping or questioning God’s leading. They were praying and singing hymns of praise to God!

What courage! What faith! I pray that I might have the same sort of faith in such dire circumstances!

But notice something here. Now, at last, they find themselves ministering to a man of Macedonia. It’s their jailer. A man very low on the social ladder—perhaps even a slave—but Paul and Silas are able to bring him, and his whole family, to faith in God. And the very next day they are set free from prison by the authorities.

It took a very bad day, and a horrific set of circumstances. But the end result was the conversion of a man of Macedonia. It’s not that ministering to the women by the river was unimportant. But those women were already believers in God. Now, at last, the mission had begun to reach the non-Jewish people of Europe. The Philippian jailer was the first Greek convert in Europe. And now Paul and company could truly rejoice with newfound enthusiasm!

And rejoice they did. Because in spite of all the things that had seemingly gone wrong, their work in Europe was getting off to a good start.

This “back-story” can help us understand why rejoicing is such an important theme in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This is the letter where he says “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice” (4:4, KJV). It can also help us understand Paul’s stalwart contentment with life, expressed in 4:11-12 “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (NIV).

No doubt Paul’s long journey across Asia Minor, his hard circumstances at Philippi, and the resulting conversion of the jailer, were part of the learning process that had helped him learn this lesson of Christian contentment.

Paul begins this short letter with a warm greeting that includes his thankfulness for their continued love and concern for him, then he goes on to assure them that things really are OK with him.

The Philippians have good reason to wonder about Paul’s circumstances, because he’s writing to them from jail. He’s being held prisoner in Rome, awaiting a hearing before Nero Caesar. He’s been a prisoner for close to five years.

Can you imagine the kind of questions that might rise in their minds? Paul had been thrown into prison in their hometown, but had been delivered after only one night in jail. In fact the whole jail episode was probably viewed by them as an opportunity God had given to Paul to enable him to reach the jailer with the gospel.

So what’s gone wrong now? Can’t God deliver him again? They wonder. Has Paul fallen out of favor with God?

So he assures them that everything is going well, despite his chains, and that he’s had good opportunities to witness for Christ—even to Caesar’s own private guard. God is still good, and He’s still leading and working in Paul’s life.

One of Paul’s strongest appeals to the Philippians is that they will continue to let God lead and bring growth in their lives as well. Right at the outset, in 1:6, he expresses his confidence that this will happen: “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ” (NRSV). In 2:13 he makes it plain just who it is that is going to complete this good work in them: “for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (NRSV). In the next two verses, he goes on to describe the type of life that he expects God will work out in them: “Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world” (2:14, 15 NRSV).

The Philippian church members had apparently been having some difficulty shining as stars of innocence before their neighbors. They weren’t putting up a united front, but apparently were fighting over who was most important. Paul pleads with them to be united in the spirit, and to have the mind of Jesus “who, [quoting 2:6-8] being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (NKJV).

You probably recognize that as part of Paul’s great hymn of praise to Jesus, found in the second chapter of Philippians. And you know, I can’t help but wonder whether that hymn didn’t have special significance to at least one family there in the church in Philippi. Do you remember what Paul and Silas were doing when they were in jail and the earthquake struck?

That’s right—they were praying and singing hymns. Do you suppose it’s just possible that the lines we find in Philippians 2 were part of the hymn the two suffering prisoners were singing that very night? This hymn about Jesus’ humiliation and suffering certainly would have been apropos. Maybe this very hymn was part of the witness that led to the conversion of the Philippian jailer and his whole family.

It is a powerful testimony to Jesus—a testimony that was lived out in the life of Paul, and which he hoped to see lived out in the church.

There’s much more in this book that bears reading over and over again. In chapter 3, Paul testifies that the message of the gospel is so precious to him, that everything else—all his striving for righteousness by keeping the law—is just garbage to him now. And in chapter 4, he urges us to stop worrying and bring all our wants to the Lord in prayer. He also gives us practical instruction on how to maintain a positive attitude: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (4:8, NIV).

Believe me—that’s precious advice in the troubled times we’re living in right now. And near the end of the book, we find this great promise that can help us accomplish whatever our task may be for the day: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (4:13. NKJV).

What a precious, brief letter this is. Full of joy, and wise counsel. Why not take a few minutes and read it through again today? It will renew your own personal faith and joy in the Lord!