Self-centeredness is a cancer that robs you, as a child of God, of the joy that is your spiritual birthright. The paradox of the Christian life cannot be found when we focus on ourselves. The joy of the Christian life can only be found, can only be experienced by denying self and focusing on the needs of others, and the first chapter of Philippians teaches us that there is joy in self-denial. If you remember from the first message in the series a couple of weeks ago, I said that there was a problem in the church of Philippi. And what was the problem? Well, the problem was a problem of self-centeredness that had reared its ugly head between two of the members of the church.
Now Paul, he does address the problem head-on, but he doesn't do so until chapter four, which means that he spends three-quarters of this letter laying a foundation to show the church that self-centeredness has no place in the church. And one of the ways he does this is by real-life example. Paul does not talk in theory. Paul does not deal in theory. Paul does not deal with abstract, abstract truth. No, Paul brings it right down to where we live. He deals in real life. And so, in this passage we have before us this morning, what Paul does is he uses the real-life circumstances that he is experiencing. He uses his own life as a demonstration, as an illustration of what it means to live a life that stands in stark contrast to self-centered living. So, Paul teaches us that as we put the needs of others first, we live, not only as Christ lived, but we live as Christ would have us to live. So, in the preceding verses, verses twelve through eighteen, Paul rejoiced at how the gospel was being advanced by his imprisonment (Phi 1:18 ). And in verse eighteen, at the close of verse eighteen, which we just read, he says that he will continue to rejoice.


"Where does this joy come from?"

Now, we have to ask ourselves a very important question. The subject of joy has been mentioned frequently this morning. So, we have to ask ourselves, where does this joy come from? After all, we all want to experience joy. Let's be honest. But, we live in a world of uncertainty. We live in a world filled with both emotional pain and physical pain. We live in a world where we experience death and loss. We live in a world where we suffer abuse. We suffer through fractured relationships. We want joy. We could say more strongly, it's more than just wanting joy. We need joy. The problem is, even as Christians, we find ourselves repeatedly searching for joy where it can't be found. And because as Christians we still battle with sin and we still have to fight our fallen bodies, our fallen flesh, every moment of every day and because our minds have yet to be completely renewed, we continue to look to the dry wells of this world in order to try and satisfy the thirst of our souls. We need joy. We want joy. So, where does this joy come from? Where can joy be found? Well, if we learn from the Apostle Paul, we learn where it certainly cannot be found. Your joy, as a Christian, will never be found in your circumstances, regardless of how good they may be at the moment.
Too many Christians believe that joy comes from their circumstances. So, as a result, what do they spend so much of their time and their energy doing? Trying to control their circumstances and manipulating, easy for me to say, their circumstances. They try and change their circumstances. We're desperate in this. But remember, beloved, that our circumstances are used by God for the accomplishment of His eternal purposes. So, therefore, to try and control the uncontrollable will not bring us joy. What will it bring us? Frustration. We'll live in a constant state of frustration because we're always out there trying to control what we think will bring us joy when in reality, our circumstances were never designed by God to bring us joy. And Paul's life certainly teaches us that, and just think about this. The reality of life is that our external circumstances constantly change. Our external circumstances can change in the blink of an eye.
As hard as it may be to believe, we are already halfway through the year 2020. Yesterday was the fourth of July. This time last year, schools were preparing for the beginning of another school year, and guess what? They were preparing as they had been preparing for years, but not this year. Schools, just like the rest of us, are facing uncertainty. Students and teachers here in Berea and Madison county will have to wear masks. They're going to have to have plexiglass installed, I believe, between the desks. There's no changing of classes. There's no recess. Poor, poor teachers. So, our circumstances have changed dramatically and they have changed quickly. We were all caught off-guard. This was not how 2020 was supposed to be.
So, let me ask you. Has there been much joy for you in 2020? Considering everything that has gone on, can we look at our circumstances, can we look at our society, can we look outside of ourselves and say, "Yeah, this all makes me very joyful"? I don't think so. And as we read Paul's words, all we need to do to see through the fallacy of thinking that the joy of the Christian comes from our circumstances is to simply stop for a moment and think about Paul’s circumstances.


"First, he has lost his freedom. Second, Paul was dealing with uncertainty. Thirdly, he lost friends."

There are three things that are apparent to me from Paul's circumstances. First, he has lost his freedom. Right? For the past four or five years, he has been in chains. We looked at this last week. He was a man who had a desire to preach the gospel to as many people and in as many nations as possible, but he's lost that freedom. He no longer has that freedom. He's not been able to do that for a long time, but yet, what does he say? "I rejoice. Yes, I will continue to rejoice" (Phi 1:18 b). Second, Paul was dealing with uncertainty. I know that we are dealing with a certain amount of uncertainty, but you talk about uncertainty, Paul was dealing with uncertainty. Say, "What was he so uncertain about?" Whether he would live or die. Can you imagine living day after day, knowing that the knock at the door one of two things could happen? Either, you would be set free, or you would be killed. Now, think about that. That is the height of uncertainty. "Does the knock at the door mean that I've been set free? Or does it mean I'm on my way to the executioner's bench?" That is incredible to think about. He lived with that day after day after day. But yet, he says, "Yes, I will rejoice" (Phi 1:18 b).
Thirdly, he lost his friends. We seem to forget that when Paul went to Rome, people forgot about him. He wrote to Timothy in Second Timothy. He said, "May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains..." Now, listen to this, "...but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me" (2 Tim 1:16-17). You know what I take away from that? The believers in Rome had forgotten all about him. Perhaps, they were afraid to be identified with him. Perhaps, they were embarrassed by him, but here he is, when he needs his friends the most, he's been deserted. And how bad was the situation? Well, this man, Onesiphorus, he wants to come, and he wants to minister to Paul, but he gets there, and he starts asking around, and nobody knows where Paul's at. Can you imagine the heartbreak? Can you imagine the loneliness? Paul, sitting there day after day, with the expectation that perhaps he dies, and he knows he's going to die all alone. You know, one of the tragedies of the past few months is these poor folks that have to die all alone. And we recognize what a tragedy that is, but here's the Apostle Paul, the man who had given his life in service to the Lord and had helped so many people, here he is. He's been completely forsaken and forgotten, and he very well may die alone. But yet, he says, "Yes, I will rejoice" (Phi 1:18 b).
So, if you think that you're going to find joy in your circumstances, something's wrong. Paul certainly didn't find any joy in his circumstances. He didn't even begin to look for joy in his circumstances. Why? Because he knows he's not going to find it there, and neither will you or me. If we continue to look to our circumstances, we will never experience that the joy, excuse me, that God wants each one of His children to experience. Would you fix this fact in your mind? God wants you to experience joy. That doesn't mean that everything is going to be happy-clappy in your life. Do not make that mistake. God does not want us to go around looking like we've been all sucking on 'Sour Patch Kids' or whatever those things are. There should be some real joy in our lives, not because of our circumstances, but because of our relationship with Christ, and that's what Paul understood.


"His joy came from the purpose of his life..."

So, if Paul's joy didn't come from the circumstances, then where did it come from? Again, his joy... This is so simple, we'll just gloss right over it. His joy came from the purpose of his life, and it was a purpose that Paul would hope would soon be vindicated. Look at verses nineteen and twenty. He says, "For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death (Phi 1:19-20). Paul rejoices that through the power of the prayers of the Philippians, as well as the power of the Spirit of Christ, that his uncertain circumstances will turn out for his certain deliverance. Now, what does he mean by deliverance? He means his spiritual salvation. The underlying word there is the same word that's translated elsewhere as 'salvation'. And remember, the man who wrote these words to