Warren W. Wiersbe - Be Joyful (Philippians): Even When Things Go Wrong, You Can Have Joy

BE JOYFUL
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; WMS are taken from The New Testament in the Language of the People by Charles B. Williams, 1966 Moody Press, Chicago, IL; AB are taken from The Amplified Bible. Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; TLB are taken from The Living Bible , 1971, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60189. Used by permission; PH are taken from J. B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English, revised editions J. B. Phillips, 1958, 1960, 1972, permission of Macmillan Publishing Co. and Collins Publishers. All italics in Scripture are added by the author for emphasis; NIV taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved; and MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE . Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

LCCN 2008924752

ISBN 978-1-4347-6846-9
eISBN 978-1-4347-6592-5

1974 Warren W. Wiersbe

First edition of Be Joyful by Warren W. Wiersbe published by Victor Books
in 1974 Warren W. Wiersbe, ISBN 0-89693-739-9

The Team: Gudmund Lee, Amy Kiechlin, Jack Campbell, and Susan Vannaman
Cover Design: John Hamilton Design
Cover Photo: iStockPhoto

Second Edition 2008

Dedicated to

Wayne Christianson,
whose friendship I appreciate, and
whose journalistic skill I admire

Contents

: An Introduction to Be Joyful by Ken Baugh

2. (Philippians 1:111)

3. (Philippians 1:1226)

4. (Philippians 1:2730)

5. (Philippians 2:111)

6. (Philippians 2:1218)

7. (Philippians 2:1930)

8. (Philippians 3:111)

9. (Philippians 3:1216)

10. (Philippians 3:1721)

11. (Philippians 4:19)

12. (Philippians 4:1023)

The Big Idea

An Introduction to Be Joyful
by Ken Baugh

Joy leaks. Have you ever noticed that? One minute you can be on top of the world, and the next minute in the pit of despair. To hold on to a joyful state of mind seems as pointless as trying to carry water in a holy bucketit might work for a moment, but that is hardly enough. And yet the Bible exhorts us to be joyful always (1 Thess. 5:16 NIV ). Most of us think thats impossible, thoughjust another one of those suggestions from the Bible that doesnt make sense in real life. But being joyful wasnt impossible for the apostle Paul. He seemed to be able to live his life in a perpetual state of joy, and he wanted to help others live in that joy too.

The book of Philippians is Pauls personal manifesto on how to live a life full of joy. We see this over and over again throughout the letter: I always pray with joy (1:4 NIV ); I rejoice (1:18 NIV ); I will continue to rejoice (1:18 NIV ); be glad and rejoice with me (2:18 NIV ); rejoice in the Lord! (3:1 NIV ); Rejoice in the Lord always (4:4 NIV ). And on and on it goes, chapter after chapter the word joy drips off every page in various forms. It makes a thinking person wonder, How did Paul do it? How did Paul live in a constant state of joy? Was he some kind of super-saint with a faith made of different stuff than the rest of us? Did he live in a constant state of denial? Or did he live such a problem-free life that to be sad, depressed, or in despair never occurred to him?

Well, if there is one thing that is true about the apostle Paul, it is that his life was not easy. Paul lived almost every day of his life in mortal danger and physical pain. In 2 Corinthians 11:2327 ( MSG ), Paul sums up the harsh realities of his life as an apostle:

Ive worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at deaths door time after time. Ive been flogged five times with the Jews thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. Ive been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, Ive had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. Ive been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. Ive known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

As if these things were not enough, Paul also suffered from some type of physical ailment that he called a thorn in the flesh, which tormented him every day of his life (2 Cor. 12:7 NIV ). Finally, according to church history, Emperor Nero killed Paul by cutting off his head sometime around AD 67. Needless to say, despite what some might say about the apostle Paul, he clearly did not live a charmed life. So then here is my question: What was the secret to Pauls joy?

In spite of his incredible hardships and daily physical suffering, how was he able to maintain a continual state of joy? How was he able to say to the Philippians, Be glad and rejoice with me (2:18 NIV )?

Well, I wont disclose to you all of Pauls secrets right nowfor those you need to have your Bible in one hand and Wiersbes commentary in the other. But I will give you a hint: I believe that Pauls ability to be joyful was due to the source of his joy. Three different times in his letter to the Philippians Paul revealed that his joy was in the Lord (3:1, 4:4, 4:10 NIV ) rather than in the difficult, painful, constantly changing circumstances of life. But what does that mean? Simply this: To find joy we must place our confidence and hope in the character and nature of God. For Paul, this happened in two ways.

First, Paul was able to have joy because of his confidence in the sovereignty of God. You see, Paul believed that no matter what happened to him, God was in control of his life; and God never falls asleep at the wheel. For instance, in Philippians 1:1218 ( NIV ) we discover that Paul is in prison as he writes this letter, but he is not discouraged by this. Instead he sees his chains as part of Gods sovereign plan to encourage others in their proclamation of the gospel. Look at what he says: Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. Because Paul was able to see his chains from the perspective of Gods sovereignty, he was able to rejoice. He didnt view his imprisonment as an interruption in his work to proclaim the gospel, rather he saw it all playing out according to Gods sovereign plan. You see, when we trust that God is in control of all thingsthe good, the bad, and the uglywe can be joyful because we know that God is working behind the scenes for our good and His glory.

Second, Paul was able to have joy because of his hope in heaven. God had given Paul a clear vision of heaven (2 Cor. 12:110), and this vision gave him incredible hope for the future that enabled him not only to press on throughout all the difficult circumstances of his life, but to do so with joy! I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14 NIV ). Pauls hope was in Gods promise of heaven and God always keeps His promises. In fact, Paul was so encouraged by the reality of heaven that he considered all the troubles in this life to be small potatoes: These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us (2 Cor. 4:17 MSG ). Never forget that life in this world is not all there iswe live seventy to ninety years at best on this planet, and many of those days are long and difficult, filled with pain and sorrow. But there is a new order of things coming where there will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain or suffering of any kind (Rev. 21:4). There is a lavish celebration awaiting us, where one day we will all sit and share a feast at Gods table! Pauls confidence and hope in the Lord enabled him to live every day of his life filled with joy, and by the grace of God, it will enable you to do the same.