He Has Made Me Glad
Philippians 4:21-23

INTRO:
Good Morning.
Today is the last lesson in our series on Philippians. Mark will bring us a message next week. Our text for today is from the end of the book of Philippians, Philippians 4:21-23. I have never preached through a book before, but I have really enjoyed preaching through the Book of Philippians. It’s such a great book of joy. There are well known verses in every single chapter. I have enjoyed walking through this book with you and these lessons almost as much as I have enjoyed the Bible classes Dale is giving on this book. There is very useful guidance for us in this book and we need those instructions and reminders for our journey on this mortal plain.

This is a story about a small country newspaper and an advertisement placed in its pages. It seems there was a widower named R. D. Jones, who wanted to sell his wife’s sewing machine. The ad appeared thus on Monday in the little town paper. “For sale: R. D. Jones has one sewing machine for sale 605-948-0707 after 7:00pm and ask for Mrs. Kelly who lives with him cheap.” Then in the Tuesday edition there was a notice which said: “We regret having erred R. D. Jones ad yesterday, it should have read: one sewing machine for sale cheap, phone 605-948-0707 and ask for Mrs. Kelly who lives with him after 7:00pm.”

In the paper the next day, Wednesday, the newspaper said: “R. D. Jones has informed us that he has received several annoying phone calls because of the error we made in the classified ad yesterday, his advertisement stands corrected as follows: for sale: R. D. Jones has one sewing machine for sale, cheap, phone 605-948-0707 and ask for Mrs. Kelly who loves with him.” Finally, in the Thursday edition was an advertisement that said: I, R. D. Jones have no sewing machine for sale, I smashed it, don’t call 605-948-0707 as the telephone has been disconnected, I have not been carrying on with Mrs. Kelly, until yesterday she was my housekeeper, but she quit.”

Life is full of frustrations and R.D. Jones certainly seems to have experienced one that I suspect did not help his joy much. It seems that sometimes circumstances turn our life into something to be endured rather then enjoyed. That leads me to wonder; how many people are enduring life rather than enjoying it. How many do you know are continuously joyful people? I don’t mean temporarily joyful people. Most of us, if we have just got a promotion, the kids are healthy, and we’re leaving for a 2 week vacation, can put a smile on our face.

But how many continuously joyful people do you know? People who can smile in sickness or in health, times of riches or times of want, people that seem to live above the circumstances that others choose to live under. I believe we should know a lot of people like that because we know a lot of Christians. I think that’s how Christians ought to be. I’m not saying that life in the kingdom of God is comfortable. Jesus promised the opposite.

Jesus tells us, “Understand, if you take up my cross, and follow me, it will be demanding.” Jesus never said, “Life in the kingdom of God would be comfortable” but he did say, “It ought to be enjoyable.” Following Jesus Christ should to be the richest, most adventurous, fulfilling and enjoyable way to live. I suspect that we don’t think of religion that way but that’s the way it ought to be.

I. Jesus tells the story of, “the prodigal son, who went away to a far country, disobeyed his God and his father and rebelled against them. When he came to his senses, he came back, his father ran to him, embraced him, kissed him, hugged him” and the Bible says in Luke 15:24, “and they began to be merry.”
A. I love that story—all of that story. The “Pharisee” in the story, the older brother was upset. Upset that his brother was home and upset that they were happy about it. He was not joyful and like a lot of religious people today, he preferred to go through his life, doing his duty with a frown on his face, but the Bible says, “In the father’s house, where his children live with him, they are merry.”
B. Paul could tell us the day he began to be merry. It wasn’t the day he became religious. He was dutifully religious all his life, but he found joy when he met Jesus Christ, and placed saving faith in Jesus. If you have met, I mean truly encountered the risen Christ, then like Paul, you ought to be able to say, “He has made me glad.”
C. That’s what Paul wanted to tell a church in Philippi 2000 years ago. And maybe that’s what we need to hear today again. What I want us to do this morning, as we close our study of Philippians, is take a few moments and review what Paul has been trying to say to this church in Philippi.
II. You might say that Paul was what I heard one person call, “A Yuppie on the fast track”.
A. Paul said, “I had the right heritage, I had the right ancestry, I was on the fast track in the Jewish religion, I had gone to the right schools, I had the right teachers, I was moving in the right circles, I had status.” Paul could have said, “I was a Yuppy on the fast track but something happened in my life that turned my life and my values upside down.”
B. On the road, he met a guy who used to be dead and now He’s alive. That’s going to do it to you, isn’t it? When you meet a man raised from the dead; you’re going to be changed by the experience. That’s what happened to the Apostle Paul. From that point on, he had a new passion. It wasn’t to be a Yuppie. It was to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and to take hold of Christ as Christ had laid hold of him.
C. Paul says, “from now on, I’m going to interpret every event in my life, every relationship in my life, every circumstance in my life through the lens of my Lord Jesus Christ.” He had a new passion, and it was this, “To live is Christ.” That dominates the book of Philippians. “To live is Christ.” Often people wonder how long they are going to live, that wasn’t Paul’s issue.
1. For Paul the issue wasn’t how long you live but how you live. When someone dies, we tend to say, “Why did it end?” Paul had an answer to a better question, “why did it ever begin?”
2. That’s what Paul would say. Why does anybody’s life, ever begin? Why are you here? What is the purpose, of this short existence? You’re going to have for a few years on this planet before you meet your Maker.
D. Paul tells us this answer. Look at Philippians 1:20-21, Paul says, and I paraphrase; “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage, so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
E. Paul’s joy was not derailed by circumstances because he wasn’t preoccupied with his circumstances; he was preoccupied with our Lord. Only one thing mattered to Paul, only one passion and that was to live for Christ, to the exaltation of Jesus Christ. Paul said, “It’s dawned on me, there’s no circumstance, rich or poor, want or plenty, sickness or health, prison or free, where I cannot fulfill the passion of my life... to exalt Jesus.” “Therefore” Paul says, “therefore, rejoice in the Lord always.”
III. That’s how he expressed his passion. If your great desire in life is to exalt Christ, and you can do that no matter what the circumstance, then you can rejoice in the Lord always. Paul was writing to a church in need of a joy transfusion. He wants them to enjoy life as much as he does, so he directs their hearts to the only source of joy that can never, ever, be taken away.
A. If you believe your source of joy is money, you could lose it. If your source of joy is health, it could be gone tomorrow. Even something as precious as relationships, if they are your primary source of joy, they can be gone. There’s only one thing, one source of joy, you can rejoice in always, no matter what. Paul said in Philippians 4:4 - “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice.”
1. Folks, that is a Biblical command. One commentator puts it this way; “The type of rejoicing commanded here is possible only for the redeemed in Christ.
2. After almost 2,000 years, the incredibly beautiful power of this letter still shines. How could such a document have been written from a prison? Surely its writer was "in the Lord Jesus Christ."”
B. Some might say, “That’s just not my way to be glad, that’s just not my nature.” If it is not, then I’d say repent and obey the Bible, the word of God. We are supposed to rejoice in the Lord all the time. Why is it, when we read that verse in the Bible, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord," that we only think of singing?
C. Turn with me to Psalms 100. “1. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 2. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Certainly singing is mentioned but so are serving, thanksgiving, praise and blessing. I think we should make a joyful noise to the Lord all day long.
D. The moment we open our eyes in the morning and get out of our bed, the first thing that should come from our mouth, ought to be something that is a joyful noise to God.
1. Think of the way we talk to our children, the way we speak to the people we work with, the way we call our spouse on the phone, the way we address our neighbor, everything we do.
2. Any time we open our mouth ought to be a joyful noise to the Lord. Because I think making a joyful noise to the Lord, ought to be... a life style.
3. Just now the old year has passed. We celebrated the coming of the New Year a few days ago and we rejoiced. Why? Because of the promise the New Year brings. We are joyful!
4. How much more should we be joyful about our new life with our Lord?
IV. Paul learned that. He learned to rejoice always, even in spite of unfair circumstances. Think about where Paul was. He was stuck in prison and he learned to rejoice. He was in a prison he did not deserve to be in, victimized by a judicial system that was unfair. Do you know what Paul said? “It doesn’t matter, every day they send in a guard, chain him to me and I tell him about Jesus, isn’t that great?”
A. He was joyful despite unfair circumstances; he was joyful in spite of unkind people. Later in the book of Philippians Paul had said, “There are some people in Rome who have some real bad attitudes, they say ugly things about me but what do I care, they’re preaching Jesus and so I rejoice in that.”
B. He was joyful even in spite of an uncertain future. For us an uncertain future is the biggest joy stealer of all; we don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow so we worry.
C. Paul said, “I don’t know if I’m going to live or die, I do not know what is going to happen tomorrow but I know this, I know that tomorrow, living or dying, Christ is going to be exalted in my body, so I can rejoice.” Paul says, “I can rejoice in spite of unfair circumstances, unkind people, and an uncertain tomorrow.”
V. Paul could truly say, “He has made me glad.” It shouldn’t be a surprise that when Paul closes his letter to the Philippians. He gives us 3 more reasons why Jesus Christ makes us glad. Look at the very end, chapter 4:21-23 of Philippians with me. At first glance this text may not look like it’s got a lot to say, but let me tell you there are some great truths in these three little verses. “21. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. 22. All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar's household. 23. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”
A. Paul just gave us 3 things about Jesus that ought to make us glad. Number one: Paul said “Greet all the saints”, (where?) “in Christ Jesus.” There is something going on here that’s kind of interesting. Remember the church in Philippi was having some unity struggles? He has told them, “I want you to have the same love, I want you to have the same mind,” and he said, “tell my good sisters Euodia and Syntyche to stop fussing.”
B. Now sometimes when Paul closes a letter, he mentions several people by name, but when he closes the letter to the Philippians, he doesn’t mention anybody by name. He stresses the equal worth before God of every member of the congregation.
C. Paul ends this letter just like he started it back in chapter 1:1 by speaking to all the saints in Christ Jesus. In other words, Paul wanted the brethren in Philippi to look at each other and see only one thing, not a Jew, not a Greek, not a Roman, not slave nor free, not male or female. He says, “I want you to see one thing when you look at each other, I want you to see a fellow believer whose been washed by the same blood that washed away your sins.”
D. I wonder, how do Christians look at other Christians today? How do we look at each other? What’s the first thing we notice when we see someone come into this room? Do we see their skin color? Do we identify their accent, their clothes and how they are dressed?
1. Come to think of it; what’s the first thing we identify ourselves with?
2. I’m a preacher, I’m a mechanic, I’m a school teacher, I’m a department manager, I’m a CEO, I live over in the nice part of town, I live over in the old, run down part of town.
3. You see, we tend to identify ourselves by things that indelibly divide us and put us into small groups. Paul says, “This is what I want you to do, I want you to notice first and only that another person is in Jesus Christ,... just like you.” Our common unity is because we have a common identity.
E. Look at chapter 2 of Philippians. In verses 1-2 Paul reminds us. “If you have any encouragement from being “what?” united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” In other words, Paul says, “there is one way you can have unity in Philippi, one way you can have joy when you come together,... focus on the fact that you’re all in Christ Jesus. Paul says when you do that it ought to make you glad.”
F. It should make us glad that there is a place where we can come and it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor; it doesn’t matter if you’re red, yellow, black or white like the children’s song says. It doesn’t matter if you’re sick or well, if you’re old or young, it doesn’t matter. What matters is, all of us have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, that’s what matters and that ought to make us glad. Because you see, it is our identity in Christ that keeps us safe when the world and hell throws all they have got at us. Our identity keeps us safe.
VI. In the western US out on the plains tornados are a significant danger. The United States receives more than 1,200 tornadoes annually—four times the amount seen in Europe. Violent tornadoes—those rated EF4 or EF5 —occur more often in the United States than in any other country. These storms can form quickly and until recently there was no way to predict their formation. The earlier settlers in the Midwest learned to dig shelters which often doubled as food storage close to where they lived. In the event of a storm they would rush to these shelters to stay safe. If you have seen the Wizard of Oz you might remember where they rush from the porch to the storm cellar doors near by. It might be uncomfortable but as the winds howl if they are in that shelter, they’re safe.
A. What is Paul trying to say to you and me today? Paul said, “listen, beloved, the world and hell is going to throw everything at us, some tough stuff, and there are going to be storms in life. There are going to be things that happen in life that make everybody else weep and moan and wail and whine, but not you, you can keep your joy, why?
B. Because you’re safe in Jesus Christ, that’s why.” In Jesus Christ we are more than conquerors, because he’s our identity and secondly we are more than conquerors because he is our victory. That’s what Paul said in verse 22, he said, “All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household.” Why did Paul mention those brethren specifically?
1. I think it goes back to what he said in chapter 1:12-13, where he said, “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.”
2. As we learned the palace guard was this special set of elite Roman soldiers attached to Caesar’s house. Their job was to protect him and his family and all the people that were waiting to see him in trial. Every day, about every 6 hours, a new soldier would come in and he would chain himself to Paul. This provided Paul with a captive audience which included, in time, a number of the Praetorian Guard. It is not hard to understand how Paul would have taken advantage of such an opportunity.
C. Paul is letting the Philippians know that over the two years he has been in prison he has continued his work and now there are a lot of Christians in the palace guard. Do you see what Paul is doing? He’s telling the church in Philippi that the kingdom of a crucified carpenter is already starting to advance against the greatest empire in the world. He’s telling them, they are a part of a movement of God, that hell and the strongest army on earth cannot stop it.
D. When they killed Jesus, the worst of hell and the worst earth combined to put him away. Paul is telling them and us, “hell has no chains that can stop or bind the gospel.” I think Colossians 2:13-15 is very important for us to note, “13. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14. having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” That last part, of verse 15, says “Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them—by the cross.”
VII. When Jesus Christ was crucified and then resurrected, it showed that every power in heaven, on earth and under the earth is subject to the kingdom of Christ. That’s what we are a part of. His vindication has laid the basis for our vindication. Sometimes I hear Christians say, “listen we ought to go out there and fight for victory,” wrong Christian! You don’t fight for victory, you fight from victory. The victory was achieved for you when Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. When you go up against hell and all of what hell’s got to throw at you, you’re fighting from victory.
A. I understand this is a difficult thing to hold in our minds because around us every day we see things going on that make it look like the victory in Jesus doesn’t seem sure. Sometimes maybe even you feel that way. Sometimes maybe we might feel like Jesus Christ is losing the war. Listen folks, Paul wants us to remember, that the victory has already been decided. That’s what he said back in chapter 3, remember verses 20-21? “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, he’s going to transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
B. The outcome of the war is never in doubt, but the outcomes of the battles we must fight are. Satan is a defeated foe but he still has fight in him and he is determined to make our Lords victory as hollow as he can. Every soul he can prevent from coming to Christ, every soul he can turn away to the world again delights him. Those battles are the ones we are here to fight.
C. We’re waiting for the King to come. We’re waiting for the victory to be announced. But folks, don’t give up and don’t lose heart.
D. Let me tell you something, the Bible says, “God gets the last bat.” Someone asked an old preacher, “What book are you reading?” the man replied, “the Book of Revelation”. A much younger preacher asked him rather sarcastically, “what does it mean?” and older man said, “It means Jesus is going to win.” That young preacher said, “That’s the best commentary of the Book of Revelation I ever heard.”
E. The Bible says in Philippians 2:9-11, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
F. One day, we are going to witness the total submission of everything in the universe to Jesus Christ. Every kingdom, every power, every agenda in heaven and on earth and under the earth, they are all going to bow down and call Him Lord. He is our victory, and that should make us glad. The problem is, we’ve got to wait for that day.
VIII. How do we stay joyful in this cruel, sin-cursed world, waiting for that day when he comes back in victory? Well, that’s the last thing Paul tells us. “Jesus is our sufficiency.” Verse 23, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” Paul by becoming a Christian didn’t escape difficult circumstances. What he discovered was that Jesus Christ was sufficient regardless of the circumstances.
A. That’s what Paul meant when he said, “I can be content in any situation.” The word we translate as content, the greek word {autárkēs, (ow-tar'-kace)} literally means sufficient. Paul said, “In any situation I can be sufficient because Jesus Christ is my sufficiency and he’s going to supply me in that moment with all the grace I need, to rejoice.”
B. Remember again when Paul struggled with that thorn in the flesh and he asked the Lord to take it away. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 the Lord replied. The Bible says, “He said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” Paul says, “This is what I’ve learned, I have learned that no matter what my situation, Jesus Christ gives me sufficient grace to survive.”
C. There was a man who was preaching about “The sympathy of Christ”. Afterward someone from the audience came up to him and said, “You would not talk about the sympathy of Jesus if you had just lost your wife like I had, and had babies at home crying for their mommy who will never come home again”. Four days later, that preacher’s wife was killed in a horrible train cash. They brought her body back to the auditorium where he had preached that sermon. When the funeral was over, he stood up to say a few words. He addressed the crowd and said, “the other day a man told me, I wouldn’t speak of the sympathy of Jesus if my wife had just died, if that man is here, I want to tell him, that Christ is sufficient.” “My heart is broken, but it has a song put there by Jesus, I would want that man to know that Jesus Christ speaks comfort to me today.”
D. Paul said, “That’s what I’ve learned, I’ve learned in any situation the grace of Jesus is sufficient.” He said in chapter 4:12-13, “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. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
E. A little further in verse 19 he said, “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Paul said at the end of Philippians, “I don’t need wealth or fame, I don’t need riches or health, I can be content in any situation as long as I am supplied with grace from Jesus Christ.” You can never exhaust the supply of grace that Jesus wants to send. That’s why Paul could truly say, “He has made me glad”.

CONCLUSION:
I wonder this morning if we can say the same. I’m wondering today if we could make the confession that Paul, made in Philippians. I’m wondering today if we could confess, I want to know Christ. Can we say today, “I want to be as sold out to Jesus Christ as the Apostle Paul was?” Let me tell you this, we will never enjoy life if we keep giving 1st class elegance to 2nd class causes.

As long as we keep giving our best energy and our best time and our best money and best affection to 2nd rate agendas, we will never be happy. This is why I want us to fill in this blank, each of us just do it in our own heart. “For me to live is..............” Fill in the blank and be honest about it.

Think about a few things. Think about our checkbook receipts. Think about what we do day to day and where we spend a lot of time. For me to live is............ Then ask yourself, is what we put in that blank something that’s going to make us glad forever? What about, “For me to live is making money and to die is to leave it all behind.” That didn’t make me very glad. What about, “For me to live is fame and to die is to be quickly forgotten.” “For me to live is power and to die is to have none.” “For me to live is nice things and to die is to be empty handed.”

Do we see what Paul is saying? There is only one thing that we can put in that blank that will make us glad. “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” In fact Paul says, “Compared to Christ, all the other answers are just trash.”

Paul said that in chapter 3, “I consider what?” “All the things I used to live for, I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” Folks, we have spent time studying Philippians. If we did not know before we should know now just how precious Jesus Christ is and we need to pursue Him, and to want Him and to know Him and love Him, more than anything else.

Let me say if we really want to know Jesus with everything we’ve got, then we’ll be able to say, He has made me glad.

If you do not know Jesus Christ, then we would like to invite you to come forward and get to know him. He wants baptized believers who really want to know Jesus, If you do this then you’ll be able to say, He has made me glad.

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If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon
Mike Glover