Sermon Series: Jesus: Everything We Need

 Enjoying Life 

Philippians 1:1-2 

CBC Bishop-1/26/03

In a nutshell: If you want to enjoy life, you need a relationship with Jesus. When you know Him, you have the privilege to serve Him; He has made you a saint; He has given you a purpose for life; And He has blessed you with grace and peace.

I. Introduction

A. Endured or Enjoyed?

Let me ask you an important question. Was life meant to be enjoyed or endured?

I guess if we're honest, we'd have to say it's some of both. The problem comes when enduring is all you do. But that's the way a lot of people feel today. On the front of your bulletin this morning, I put a quote from an advertisement that appeared in Time magazine a couple of years ago. Bob Buford quotes it in his book, Game Plan …

My life is hectic! I'm running all day, meetings, phone calls paperwork, appointments. I push myself to the limit, fall into bed exhausted, and get up early the next morning to do it all again. My output is tremendous; I'm getting a lot done. But I get this feeling inside sometimes, "So what? What are you doing that really counts?" I have to admit, I don't know.

You see, friends, that sentiment of frustration comes because deep down inside we believe that life should bring us some joy-some enjoyment.

B. What brings Joy?

So, what do you think brings about joy? -Is it things? -Is it more money or material possessions? -Can poor people enjoy life? -Is there a special secret formula that would help us rise above difficult circumstances and experience a joy that doesn't depend on our circumstances?

Jesus said in…

John 10:10 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Think about that. God wants you to have life in all its fullness. Some of us learned that verse in the King James Version, and that phrase, "full life" is called an "abundant life". So why don't we all have it?

Well, I believe that one of the big reasons people aren't experiencing an abundant life is because they think their entitled to something they think is abundant-not necessarily what really is abundant.

Let me explain. A lot of people have it fixed in their minds that an abundant life has to do with… …a certain standard of living, …or a certain kind of marriage, …or the behavior of their children, …or a specific career path, …and so on and so on.

But something to consider is whether or not expectations like these are realistic.

You see friends, our expectations for an abundant life have to be based on facts not on fantasies. If we have false expectations for a full and abundant life, what we really have are illusions. And illusion always leads to disillusion.

That's why it is so important to know and understand what's in the Bible. Because the Bible is truth. It tells us truthfully what a full and abundant life really is all about. And that's where this new sermon series is going to start.

C. Transition

The New Testament book of Philippians is one of the most encouraging books in the entire Bible. It focuses on our relationship with Jesus, and the joy that comes from knowing Him. I'm convinced that this study in this book will give each of us a new perspective on what it means to have a full and abundant life.

And today we're going to look at just the first two verses of this letter. The letter or book was authored by the apostle Paul. Paul opened this letter in a way that was the standard of his day. He started with… …the name of the sender, then… …the name of the recipient, then… …a greeting.

And because this is so standard in most of Paul's letters, most of us, when we begin reading a book like Philippians, are tempted to blow right on past the beginning verses and miss the significance of what he is saying.

But what he says here is incredibly significant-especially when it comes to understanding what is true about the full or abundant life that we are supposed to have when we enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ. In these first two verses of chapter 1, Paul describes who we are and what we have been given when we have this relationship.

If you have your Bibles, why don't you turn to Philippians, chapter one. This morning, I'm going to unpack four truths that are found in the first two verses. And I know that if we take them to heart and apply them to our lives, they will show all of us what we can do to increase our enjoyment of life. So, let's look at the first of those four things.

II. Four Things to Increase Enjoyment of Life

A. Make Sure You're a Slave

The first thing you and I must do to experience joy and abundance in our lives, is to make sure we're slaves.

Philippians 1:1a 1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus…,

Stop there. Paul describes himself and his friend, Timothy, as servants of Christ Jesus. In reality, the Greek word is more accurately translated "slaves." What Paul is saying by this is that his relationship to Jesus Christ is one of total obedience and complete loyalty. That was true for him, and it should be true for any of us who call ourselves Christians.

Think about where you were before you entered into a relationship with Jesus, and where you are now. You've gone from bondage to sin to allegiance to the Savior. Listen to what is said about us in…

Romans 6:17-18 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

There's the truth! You and I were once slaves to sin. This is true for everyone who doesn't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that all of us are born with a nature that has a sinful bent. Part of the truth is that we sin because that's what we want to do. But the rest of the truth is that we can't quit sinning. We are slaves to sin. In other words, we are in bondage to sin.

But Jesus Christ has set us free from that bondage. Those verses in Romans I just showed you say that we have been set free from sin. And that new freedom gives us another allegiance. Our allegiance has been transferred from our former master, sin…to our new master, Jesus Christ. So, now, rather than being a servant or slave to sin, you are now a servant or slave of Christ Jesus.

How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as a slave of Jesus?

Friends, I'm afraid many of us don't. Instead of seeing ourselves as servants of Jesus, we see ourselves as volunteers of Jesus. Let me explain… -You see, a volunteer gets to choose the agenda. A servant doesn't. -A volunteer gets to define the terms of his or her service. A true servant must be obedient to the will of the master. -A volunteer leads, but a servant follows.

How do you see yourself? Are you a volunteer for Christ or a servant of Christ? Paul saw himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. And friends, that's where we must begin if we're going to experience joy, abundance and fullness in our lives.

But there's a second thing we must do.

B. Understand Your Position

You must understand your position. First we must be servants of Jesus. But we don't stop there. You see, becoming a servant of Jesus brings us into a new position before God. We are now, not just servants, but saints. Look at the second half of verse one…

Philippians 1:1b 1b …To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

Paul addresses this letter to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi. He also mentions the overseers and deacons, who served as the spiritual leaders of the congregation…, but they are also called saints.

The point is that those of us who have entered into a relationship with Jesus, and are following Him as our leader, then we are given a new position-we are now saints.

Look at what Paul says in…

Ephesians 2:19 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household…. (NAS)

The word that is translated saints here could be literally translated as "holy ones." It refers to people who have been set apart for God.

Most of us are familiar with the Roman Catholic church's view of saints. But as far as the Bible is concerned, every Christian is a saint. A saint is not someone who has performed three miracles and been canonized by the church. A saint is someone who has been set apart and chosen by God to be part of His family. You are a saint if you have a relationship with Jesus. That's who you are right now. (Saint Tom. I like that!)

You may be saying, "Well, I don't feel like a saint." With all do respect, so what? You don't have to feel like a saint to be a saint. The way that you start to feel like a saint is to begin to understand that you are a saint. You'll never begin to feel like a saint and live like a saint unless you start to see yourself as a saint. Remember, you are not a saint because you are perfect. You are a saint because God has said that you are one. It's really as simple as that.

Now, a fantastic thing starts to happen when you see yourself from this new perspective. You see, a fact of being human is that we tend to live up to the image we use to define ourselves. -If you have a poor self-image of yourself, you'll live down to that. -If you have a good self-image of yourself, you'll live up to that. The problem comes in who we let define us. And most people let the wrong people define them. If I am going to be defined by anybody, I want to be defined by God.

C. Accept Your Purpose

But we not only do we have to make sure we're slaves to Jesus, and understand that we are now saints. We also have to accept our purpose in Christ.

Notice, in verse one that he is writing to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi. The implication of this statement is that those people were in that location for a reason. For such a time as this, God had placed them there . In other words, they were there to do God's work in that place, at that time!

Do you see the same thing for yourself? Do you see that you have been placed right here in Bishop or one of the surrounding communities by divine Providence? God has a purpose for you in this place. You are exactly where God wants you to be, at this time in your life. The real question is what are you going to do here?

Friends, I've seen so many Christians just sitting and waiting. If that's your case, what are you waiting for? Do you think God is going to hit you over the head with a celestial baseball bat? Are you waiting for the lightning to strike? Are you waiting for some miraculous sign? Quit waiting and start acting. God doesn't steer parked cars. When you get moving, God will start guiding. And if you're at a loss of what to do, come to Harvest University on Sunday nights at 6PM. By the end of May, we will have given you some specific ways of starting to act. The point is that God has a purpose for your life. He has something for you to do, no matter what your age and no matter what your stage in Christian maturity.

So, let me re-cap things so far. If you want to really enjoy your life and experience abundance in living, then you must commit to being a slave to Jesus; understand your position; and accept your purpose…But there's one more thing you must do.

D. Recognize Your Blessings

You must recognize your blessings.

Philippians 1:2 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul mentions two extremely important blessings that each one of us has been given-grace and peace.

1. Grace

Let's look at grace first. What is grace? Many of us have learned it as God's unmerited favor. In other words, …grace is getting God's blessing when we deserve God's curse. …grace is being forgiven when we deserve to be punished. …grace is getting God's love when we deserve God's wrath.

There is a great verse in Romans that describes grace

Romans 5:8 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The fact that Christ would die for us while we were yet sinners is a beautiful picture of grace. -He didn't wait for us to clean ourselves up, to make things right, or to get our act together. -He made the first move. -While we were shaking our fist at him, he was reaching out to us.

There is a familiar acrostic for grace: God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

Thinking of grace, always reminds me of the life of John Newton.

Illustration: John Newton began his life in a Christian home. But by the time he was six, he was an orphan. As things happened, he ended up in a very undesirable living arrangement with a non-Christian relative. To escape he ran away and joined the British Navy.

Eventually he deserted and ended up in Africa where he wanted to "sin his fill." But life didn't get any better for John Newton. He ended up working for a Portuguese slave trader, and was treated very cruelly. At one point the slave trader's wife, who hated white men, compelled him to eat his food off the floor like a dog. He eventually escaped to the coast and lit a signal fire and was picked up by ship on its way to England.

While on board he stole some rum from the ship's supply and got so drunk that he fell into the sea and almost drowned. Later in the voyage the ship encountered a storm and began to sink. He was sent down into the hold to man the pumps. He was sure he would drown and became terrified. As he worked the pumps in that hold, he remembered several Bible verses he had been taught as a child. He began to call out to God and asked Jesus to forgive his sins. From that point on, he began to follow Jesus as the leader of his life. When John reached England, he felt God call him into pastoral ministry. And John Newton went on to become one of the greatest preachers in the history of England. He also wrote a song or two. And one of his songs we sang this morning. It begins like this:

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see.

2. Peace

But friends, grace is just one of our blessings. According to Paul, another one is peace. Now, last week, we examined peace. So, I'm not going to rehash that sermon. If you missed it, you can get the tape, or you can read the message on our web site.

But what I do want to show you this morning, is that there are two different areas of peace that belong to us.

a.) The first kind of peace is peace with God. Look at…

Romans 5:1-2 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Peace with God means that the struggle is over. We have surrendered. We're now on God's side. And we have peace because we are not fighting against God anymore. Our sins have been forgiven and we can finally relax.

2.) The second area of peace is the peace of God. Look at…

Philippians 4:7 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The peace of God comes as a result of having peace with God. It is that peace which transcends all understanding. -In other words, it's a peace that we shouldn't have in the midst of the life's storms, but that we do have anyway. -It's the peace that allows us to trust in God when everything around us is shaky. -You can't explain this peace. Only God can give a person this kind of peace. And you have it, when you have a relationship with Jesus.

III. Conclusion

So, do you see who you are? -You are a servant of God. -You are a saint of God. -You have a purpose from God. -and You have been blessed by God!

To quote the movie actor, Jimmy Stewart, "It's a wonderful life!" And it really is, if you know Jesus Christ.

Friends, to put this in perspective this morning, I have to point out that it all centers in Jesus. In fact, the entire book of Philippians is focused on Jesus. That's why I've called this series " Jesus: Everything We Need " because Philippians points out that all of these blessings depend upon your and my relationship with Jesus Christ.

Later in the letter Paul will declare that he can do all things. But as he states, it is only through Christ that he can do all things. As we'll see, Jesus Christ is the key to everything!

Friend, if you want to enjoy your life, if you want abundance, and you want all the fullness you can handle…you must focus on Christ and what He has done for you. He has set you free from sin. Therefore… -You now have the privilege to serve him. -He has made you a saint. -He has given you a purpose. -and He has blessed you with His amazing grace and peace.

And friends, all of this is just the beginning. There is so much more that's still ahead.

Amen.