Outrageous Joy – Part 1

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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. There are many of us here today who would say, Robert, I don't have that peace. I don't have that joy in spite of my circumstances. How do you maintain your joy in spite of what's happening around you? Beginning in verse three, Paul is going to share with us four important principles for maintaining that outrageous joy in spite of our circumstances. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, the Declaration of Independence states that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

However, few people really agree on what happiness is or how to go about obtaining it. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shares how to maintain happiness in spite of difficult circumstances. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress? Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. When bad stuff happens to us, it's very tempting to slip into a victim's mentality. We feel like our circumstances are unfair, like we got ripped off. And then we not only act like a victim, we start looking like one too. Our disappointment shows up on our face.

As one of my mentors, Howard Hendricks, used to say, we look like we've been sucking on a lemon. God never intended for his children to live this way. And in the book of Philippians, Paul gives a solid rationale for rising above our circumstances and doing so with joy. Now, if that sounds too good to be true, I want you to get in touch with me today and request your copy of our Standing on the Promises of God scripture card.

Now, there's no cost for this card when you go to ptv.org. You can give this card a high-profile spot on your desk or on your mirror, and it will give you a daily reminder from God's word that you have every reason to have joy. Then, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'd like to send you my book called Outrageous Joy, Living Above Your Circumstances.

It's based on the latest book by Dr. Jeffress. It's a letter to the Philippians by the Apostle Paul, and it shares with you Paul's four secrets for maintaining joy in spite of what's happening around you. I'll say more about my book and other resources a bit later, but right now, let's turn in our Bibles to Paul's letter to the Philippians.

If anyone had reason to become cynical and defeated, it was Paul, and yet he chose unbridled happiness instead. I titled today's message Outrageous Joy. Those of you who are above the age 30, those of you who are above the age 30 may actually remember the time when there was no such thing as email, text messaging, instant messaging, cell phones, cheap long-distance rates. Remember those days? And so, if you wanted to communicate with somebody you cared about and somebody from whom you were separated, by a great distance, you would write what was called a letter. Remember those?

Yeah, yeah. I remember when Amy and I were in high school and college, and we would be separated. We would be on family vacations, different vacations, or we were separated by that great gulf between Austin and Waco, you know, when we were in college and so forth. We would write letters to one another. Somewhere in our garage, there are boxes filled with love letters that Amy and I wrote each other, which we hope our kids never find, but they're stored somewhere. You know, love letters are powerful many times, especially in the motion that they try to express. I came across an article recently about love letters between famous people in history. For example, here's one from Sam Houston written in 1837 to his wife. At least I hope it was his wife, but it was somebody he cared about. Sam Houston wrote, Your letters, when they reach me, they are like visitants from another sphere.

They take me from the somber misery of my constant and intense anxieties and shed delight upon my heart. You didn't know Sam Houston was such a softy, did you? That's what he wrote to his wife. Here's one from Napoleon Bonaparte that he wrote to his wife Josephine while he was away in battle. To Josephine in Milan, I love you no longer. On the contrary, I detest you. You are a wretch, truly perverse, truly stupid, a real Cinderella. You never write to me at all.

You do not love your husband. You know the pleasure that your letters give me, yet you can't even manage to write me a half dozen lines dashed off in a moment. What then do you do all day, madam? What business is so vital that it robs you of the time to write your faithful lover? What attachment can be so stifling pushing aside the love, the tender and constant love which you promised me? Who can this new lover be who takes up your every moment, rules your days, and prevents you from devoting your attention to your husband?

Beware, Josephine. One fine night, the doors will be broken down, and there shall I be. Lovers can pack powerful emotions. What we have when we come to the book of Philippians is really a love letter. It's a love letter that Paul wrote to the Christians at Philippi. In these 104 short verses, Paul packs a lot of emotion. He expresses his love for these Christians he had met 10 years earlier. Not only does he express his gratitude and love for them, he also gives them some guidance, as we saw last time, about some problems they were facing in their church. But above all, Paul in this book of Philippians exhibits how to experience gladness, joy, in spite of your circumstances. Now remember where Paul was when he wrote this letter. He didn't write this letter from the comfort of a pastor's study, but from the confines of a Roman prison. And nevertheless, 19 times he talks about in the book rejoicing, rejoicing in the Lord always.

How do you do that? How do you maintain outrageous joy in spite of difficult circumstances? Well today, in the first 11 verses of Philippians chapter one, we're going to talk about how you can experience that outrageous joy in spite of what is happening around you. But before we get into the body of the letter, notice on the prologue to the letter, Paul is going to give us some valuable information about this letter.

First of all, we find the sender of the letter. He identifies himself in verse one. Paul and his associate Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus.

Last time we talked about who Paul was, originally Saul of Tarsus. But what I want you to focus in on this morning is this word bondservant, doulos in Greek. Now sometimes, some translations translate this slave. But that's not a good translation because of what comes to our mind when we think of slave. When you think of a slave, what do you think about? You think about somebody who's being mistreated, beaten.

We think about Alex Haley's roots, you know, and all of the terrible things that went on in our country against African-Americans. That's our picture of a slave. But really, bondservant is the better translation because in many instances, in New Testament times, a person who became what we thought of as slave was really thereby his own choice. He chose to serve another person in order to erase a debt that he owed that person.

You know, if you were living in the first century and you ran up your MasterCard or Visa, you know, and you were in debt, well, they didn't have those back then. But let's just say you got into debt with somebody and you couldn't pay off the debt, you would choose to become their bondservant to erase the debt. And what Paul is saying is, I am a bondservant of Jesus Christ. I owe him a debt I could never repay because of what he did for me in saving me.

And because of that, I have voluntarily placed myself under his service. And so Paul says, I am a bondservant of Christ Jesus. By the way, by all evidence, Paul was a slave of Rome. I mean, there he was, fastened in chains, tied to a different Roman soldier every eight hours. By all outward evidence, it should have been Paul, a bondservant, a slave of the emperor of Rome. An invisible God who was much more powerful than the emperor of Rome. He believed in a God who had control of every detail of his life. There were no accidents in Paul's life. And Paul said, I am a slave not of the emperor of Rome, but of the Lord Jesus Christ. And ladies and gentlemen, here is a powerful principle.

Remember this. It is not that difficult employer. It is not that husband or wife who deals you grief every day.

It is not that teacher or professor. They are not the ones who are controlling your faith. We think they are.

They are the ones we see. But behind them is the invisible but powerful hand of God who is going to accomplish his purpose for your life. And that is what Paul said. I am a bondservant of Christ Jesus. And then the salutation. Grace, verse 2, to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a common opening for Paul, isn't it? Grace and peace. Somebody has called them the Siamese twins of the New Testament. Grace and peace.

They are tied together. Notice, though, you don't have peace and grace. Never in any of Paul's epistles does he start with peace first and then say grace.

Now there is a relationship here. You will never experience peace until, first of all, you have experienced God's grace. You can never have that inward peace that we all crave and long for until we know that everything is right between us and God.

And that is why Romans 5, 1 says, therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, there are many of us here today, many watching by television who would say, I've experienced God's grace many years ago, but Robert, I don't have that peace. I don't have that joy in spite of my circumstances. How do you maintain your joy in spite of what's happening around you? Beginning in verse 3, Paul is going to share with us four important principles for maintaining that outrageous joy in spite of our circumstances. Paul maintained his joy, first of all, by having a gratitude for God's blessings.

A gratitude for God's blessings. Look at verse 3. Paul says, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. I want you to underline that word remembrance because it's key to understanding what Paul is saying here. Do you remember a few moments ago? I hope you remember.

It's interesting. He also uses the word remember or think or mind 16 times in the letter to the Philippians. Is that just accidental? That he talks about joy six times? And he talks about remember or think 16 times?

I don't think that's coincidental. You see, there is a relationship between how we think and how we feel. And one of the most powerful ways to maintain your joy in life is to change how you're thinking and what you're thinking about. William James, the father of modern psychology, I don't agree with a lot of the things he wrote, but here's one true thing he said. He said perhaps the greatest discovery of this age is that if a person can change his attitude, he can change his life.

By the way, that wasn't a novel discovery by William James. The scripture had said that 2,000 years earlier. Remember what the writer of Proverbs said even earlier than that? He said as a person, what in his heart? Thinks in his heart, so is he.

First principle for maintaining your joy is to change what you're thinking about. Now here's Paul in prison facing what could have been his execution. He could have chosen to think about any number of things. He could have thought about how tight the chains are or how bad prison food is. Or he could have thought about how unfair it is that God would allow this to happen to a faithful servant of his.

But he said no, that's not what I'm remembering or thinking about. Instead, Philippians, I'm remembering you. I'm thinking about you, the people I love so much. Lydia, that first convert down by the stream I led to Christ.

The demon-possessed girl and how God miraculously worked in her life. I'm thinking about the Philippian jailer and his whole family whom I had the privilege to lead to Christ. I'm thinking about all you Christians these last 10 years who have written me letters of encouragement and sent this generous gift. That's what I'm thinking about and that's how I maintain my joy. May I share with you a little secret? It is impossible to be depressed and grateful at the same time. Do you know that?

You can't do it. It is impossible to be depressed and grateful at the same time. Most pastors, if they ever think about resigning, they do it on Monday morning. The physical exhaustion of preaching three or four services, but the spiritual outpouring, you're just depleted on Monday.

About a year ago, I was feeling particularly low on a Monday morning and wondering what I was doing and why I was doing it. I just had this idea to pull out my laptop and just compose a prayer to the Lord on that laptop. In that prayer, I started thanking God for everything he's done for me. For the wonderful church he had given me. For the great ministry opportunities.

For my health and all these things. I'm telling you that depression evaporated immediately. You cannot be depressed and grateful at the same time. Many of you know the name of Matthew Henry whose commentary bears his name. One time, Matthew Henry was on his way home and he was robbed on his way home. That's pretty depressing to get robbed. He went to bed.

He took out his spiritual journal and these are the words he wrote in his journal that night. He said, let me be thankful first because I was never robbed before. Second, because although they took my wallet, they did not take my life.

And third, because they took my all, it wasn't that much. And fourth, let me be thankful because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed. See, the key to overcoming depression is to be overcome with gratitude. And Paul said that's why I have joy. I am grateful for God's blessings in my life. A gratitude for God's blessings. Secondly, a second key for maintaining your outrageous joy in spite of circumstances is a confidence in God's purpose. A confidence in God's plan. Look at verse 6.

He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Do you all remember the Y2K craze of a few years ago? We got ready to enter the third millennium. People were predicting all of these disastrous things that were going to happen. And I remember about that time, Time Magazine had a cover story called the Millennium Craze. And in that article, they were talking about why all of these fantastic predictions probably wouldn't come to pass and giving a sane response to all the hysteria that was gripping our world. The article was a good article until the last paragraph. And this is what the writer closed the article by saying, it is more likely that the world will continue to churn on just as it is.

You know in 2 Peter chapter 3, Peter says in the last days before Christ comes, people scoffers will come about saying, where is the promise of his coming? For having all things been just as they were since the time of the fathers. In other words, history is just going to churn on, continue as it is. That's what unbelievers believe. They believe that history is circular.

But ladies and gentlemen, history isn't circular, it's linear. The world is moving right now toward one great climactic end and that is the return of Jesus Christ. And God is working all things together right now for that great climax in history. But the same God, listen to this, who is working in the world is also working in your life right now. God has a plan. And God's plan, everything He's working together in your life is to accomplish one purpose.

What is that purpose? We're going to discover it in just a few moments here. But I want to talk about for a moment what is it that God's doing in your life. You see Paul was in prison. He could be executed at any moment.

But he said, guess what? I am joyful because I am confident that God is at work in my life. Even though the visible circumstances don't have any evidence of it at all, I still believe God hasn't given up on me and He has a work He's doing in my life. Ladies and gentlemen, God's doing work in your life right now. Even though your world may be falling in around you, He has a work He is doing in your life. Well pastor, what work is God doing in my life?

I'm so glad you asked. I want to mention actually four things God has done is doing or will do in your life one day. First of all, the word justification. Write down the word justification. Justification and then write out beside it what God does for us.

What God does for us. Justification is the act of God by which He declares us not guilty the moment we trust in Christ as our Savior. Justification is the act of God's sin that you need Jesus as your Savior. You can't save yourself but you depend solely on what He did for you the moment the instant you do that in the great courtroom of heaven the gavel comes down and God declares you not guilty. That's justification.

And it's something that happens instantaneously. You are never more justified than you are the moment the instant you trust in Christ as your Savior. You are never more justified by faith.

We have peace with our God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that is a one-time act and it's something God does for you. God doesn't need any help from you or me to justify us.

He does it by Himself. The second work of God is glorification. Glorification. That is what God does to us.

That's something yet to happen. Glorification is that work of God which at the rapture in an instant in a moment in the twinkling of an eye God is going to take these old worn out sinful bodies and He is going to transform them into brand new bodies. That's glorification. 1 John 3 2 says, Jesus Christ look at His resurrection body that He had for the 40 days that He was here on earth.

Your body is going to be just like Him. Now justification, glorification, those are works of God which He does alone. But number 3 there's a third work of God that we partner with Him in and that is manifestation.

Manifestation. That's what God does through us. That is God showing Himself to other people through us.

Now this is important to understand. You know we all say good works are meaningless to God. That's only half true. Before you're a Christian it is true your works the best you can do is like a filthy rag to God. God is not impressed by your good works or my good works the moment before we're saved.

Our works are worthless. But here's where Baptists get it wrong. It is absolutely important after we are saved.

In fact it is our good works after we are saved that prove whether or not we are truly saved or not. Take your next steps in this journey toward a joy filled life. Earlier you heard me describe the book I've written for you. This isn't a pamphlet. It's a full length 168 page book based on our study of Philippians. And the book is titled Outrageous Joy Living Above Your Circumstances.

Take one chapter at a time. I'll guide you through the biblical steps for finding peace and contentment like you've never experienced before. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory you're invited to request your copy of Outrageous Joy. Along with the book I'll also include a scripture encouragement card containing a couple of my favorite verses from Paul's letter to the Philippians.

You can tuck this card into your copy of my book or place this encouragement card in a prominent spot in your home like on your mirror or in the kitchen. Let me say a word of thanks to those who give regularly to Pathway to Victory. Because of your generous investments and because of the new Pathway partners who've come on board to give monthly, we're in a strong position to take on more territory with the message of hope and light. Thank you so much for doing your part in piercing the darkness with the light of God's Word.

David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. A copy of Outrageous Joy is yours today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Request your copy of the book by calling 866-999-2965 or online go to ptv.org. And when you give a gift of $75 or more, you'll not only receive Outrageous Joy but also our current teaching series on audio and video discs.

The series is called Living Above Your Circumstances. Again, call 866-999-2965 or online go to ptv.org. Or you could write to us, PO Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. That's PO Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. Join us again next time when Dr. Jeffress concludes his message called Outrageous Joy, right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Picture yourself relaxing aboard a luxury cruise ship as you sail the Mediterranean Sea on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. This 11-day journey will take you to unforgettable destinations in Italy, Turkey, and Greece.

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