Joy, joy, joy…down in my heart.

Steve Brown:
Joy, joy, joy…down in my heart. Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
That was Steve Brown. He doesn’t want to be your guru, and he’s not trying to be your mother. He just opens the Bible and gives you the simple truth that will make you free. Steve’s a lifelong broadcaster, author, seminary professor, and our teacher on Key Life.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you were listening yesterday, I was beginning the spade work you have to go through whenever you study a new Book in the Bible. And we are studying and beginning a study, and it’s going to take several weeks, looking at the Book of Philippians, and that’s one of my favorite books in the Bible. If you were listening yesterday and you are going to be tested on this material, we looked at the city of Philippi and what it was like. It was a tourist center and a commerce center and a good place to plant a church. We saw the Biblical significance of Philippi and we put it into context with the Book of Acts. Now, let’s look at some other questions. When and from where was the letter written? Well, Philippians was written around 62 A.D. from the city of Rome where Paul was in jail. It’s possible that shortly after the writing of this letter, Paul was executed in that city. But most scholars believe he was released, went further in sharing the gospel to other cities, eventually came back to Romans, and then was executed. Philippi, or Philippians, is grouped with Colossians and Philemon and Ephesians, and they’re called the prison epistles. What are some of the themes in Philippians? Well, we’ll be looking at them as we go along, and I’ll point them out as we go along. There are a number of themes. For instance, the word joy is mentioned some 18 times in this little letter, and so one can discern that as one of the major themes of Philippians is joy, or rejoicing. I’ve got joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. Did you sing that when you were a kid? Well, if you did, it was a good song. Now, in Philippians, you can find out the reason as an adult, you can sing the same song. The interesting thing about the joy is that the last person you would expect to be joyful would be Paul, given the fact that he was in jail. And we’ll be talking a lot about joy. The word mind is used 10 times in this little letter. Think is used five times, add to that the references to remember and you have a total of sixteen references to rationality, to the mind, to truth. And we’re going to be using our minds in this study. Too often we are just feeling Christians. Now, I’m not putting down feelings, I think emotions are very important. They’re very important in our walk with Christ. I’m a Calvinist. I’m reformed in my theology. And if there is anything lacking among, and there’s a lot lacking by the way. In my background and heritage, the fact is that we’re just not emotional about anything. God is sovereign, deal with it. You’re hurting, deal with it. If it’s hard, deal with it. God knows what he’s doing. Just do what he says to do. You can’t live on that. That won’t make you warm at night. And so, there’s an emotional and joyful and warm side of the Christian faith, which is very, very important. But don’t set aside the importance of systematic, Biblical, propositional truth. Because when you get into trouble, and you know the truth, and you can’t unsee the truth, it’ll get you through whatever you’re going through. And so, as we go through the Book of Philippians, we’re going to pay attention to the rationality of the arguments that are made by the apostle Paul. This has to do with the mind as well as the heart. And then Philippians is a very practical book. Now, it’s not self help. Self help won’t help you. God is a practical God however, and you’ll find here references to truth as opposed to error, and we’ll be talking about what is and what isn’t Christian, and we’re going to be looking at its application in our lives on a daily basis. What was the occasion for the writing of this particular book? Well, the church at Philippi had heard about Paul’s imprisonment and his needs, and they had taken up an offering. That’s what we do in the church, they passed the plate for Paul. They took up a collection, and they sent Epaphroditus to Rome. Epaphroditus, when he got there, saw the need and stayed to help. He got sick, and Paul sent him back home. He sent him, by the way, with this letter. Now, let me look and read to you the first eight verses of the Book of Philippians. Now that you know the context, now that you know who wrote it and why it was written, now that you know what’s happening surrounding this book and this letter, listen to these words in the first eight verses.

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart, for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Oh man, is that good? It is. You know, they say that a good friend is somebody before whom you can weep and complain and brag and plan. That’s true. You can’t do that with strangers. Can’t do it with acquaintances, but you can do it with people you love that you’re bonded with. And Paul was bonded with the people in Philippians. He started the church and God had honored that movement in a wonderful way. And he could brag, and he does in this book. He could complain, and he complains in this book too. He could reach out to these beloved people and make a difference. I think I gave you that quote. It’s become kind of a favorite one with me. A friend is somebody who will forgive you if you kill somebody, but a real friend is somebody who’ll help you bury the body. Well, the people in Philippi were people who, if Paul had done that would have helped him bury the body. Don’t send me letters, it’s a joke. But there was a deep and abiding, we’re going to see that in a little bit, first let’s dig into those first eight verses and let me at least mention the point and we’ll talk more about it tomorrow. First, in the real family of God, the real church, I want you to notice the place of praise. Philippians 1:3.

I thank my God every time I remember you.

Now, I want you to note three things about that verse. First, Paul praises God. Secondly, he praises God for his brothers and sisters. And thirdly, he tells his brothers and sisters that he praises God for them. A number of years ago and I don’t know what I was thinking. I said, Lord, I want to be pure before you. I don’t want to do this, the people that say nice things about me, I want them to stop. I want all of the praise that I get. I get a lot of criticism, but I get some really positive things. I said, I want all of that to stop. And God said, okay, it’s a dumb decision, but I’ll do it for you. And he really did. I just stopped getting any letters telling me anything nice about me and started getting more critical letters. People just didn’t ever compliment me about, I’d preach a sermon and they’d go to sleep and it was awful. And I finally went to him and said, erase that, I can’t live this way. And you can’t either. The church is the place of praise for God and each other. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thanks Steve. That was Steve Brown getting us into the first eight verses of Philippians chapter one. A whole book about joy? Yeah man, count me in. More from Philippians tomorrow, hope you will join us then. So, by now you’ve probably heard about the latest edition of Key Life magazine. It features articles from Steve, Chad West, Alex Early, and Kendra Fletcher. But listen, we now have our annual summer digital issue of Key Life magazine. Whole different thing, this one has pieces from Steve, Kendra Fletcher, Barry Smith, and Matthew Porter. That’s, that’s, that’s me, if you didn’t know, I don’t want to assume. That digital magazine is available now at keylife.org/magazines and again, if you haven’t claimed your free copy of our print magazine, do call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for the magazine. And to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Just ask for your free copy of Key Life magazine. And hey, before you go, if you value the work of Key Life, would you join us in that work through your financial support? Giving is easy. You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or simply pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word or two. It doesn’t matter. Text that to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.