INTRODUCTION

Alright, if you have your Bibles, let's go ahead and open to Philippians chapter one. we're in week four of a series going through this New Testament letter that you'll find in a grouping of letters, Ephesians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, and we'll be there in just a moment. it's good to see all of you, good to be with you.

My name is Josh. privilege of being the senior pastor here and excited to be with you this morning. So speaking of joy, I would like to share some of my joy with all of you this morning.

So Nathan briefly mentioned last Sunday's picnic and the kickball game. And I don't wanna go without talking a little bit more about this kickball game. So last Sunday, Nathan sought to divide the church. He asked you to vote on if you were cheering for Team Nathan or Team Josh. And some of you voted incorrectly, by the way. A lot of them.

And so we had a little friendly competition. we went out to the kickball diamond and we divided up teams. Not the old school way where you pick and there's last pick. We didn't do that. we said Nathan, you can take the teens, the students, and we'll take the adults. And so what we lacked in athleticism, we made up for in numbers and in experience. And so I just want you guys to know that team Josh dominated last Sunday in Jesus' name. yeah. It was good.

I think the score it was embarrassing. I most of the teens haven't even come to church yet today because they're they don't want to show up, but it we had a good time and nobody was seriously injured except for the pride of Team Nathan.

And so and in the summertime, Nathan and Rosalie have a friendly competition for VBS where they will there's a prize, they have like a belt, like a championship belt. And I was feeling a little bit left out of all this, and so I took it upon myself to get a trophy made that is a kickball trophy. So on behalf of all the adults that were victorious last Sunday, this is for you. This we did this together. It says Evident Church Best Kickball team ever. And then it says amazing explanation point on it. So they give you so many free characters, I wanted to use all of them.

It looked much more glorious online than it does in person, but it's still pretty glorious. So this is how churches get like trophy cases and start stacking up trophies. This is gonna be hanging out in my office until the next kickball, and I'll just hang on to it for a while.

Hopefully we will celebrate that. But anyway, you if you want to come up and get pictures taken with this afterwards, you're welcome to. So I was gonna leave that standing up, but I won't.That would be too distracting. But all right, so there you go. You can share in some of my joy or our joy this morning.

SERIES RECAP

So if you've been with us, we've been going through Philippians, we're talking about joy. if you're just joining us, one of the really looking at and contrasting true biblical joy and contrasting that with a shallow kind of superficial happiness or joy that our world promotes. And I just want you guys to know, and hopefully you're getting the sense of this that they're there they're completely different. They're radically different. The joy that our world promotes and encourages is very fickle. It's very easy for come and go.

It's very dependent upon what's going on in your life around you. And I just want you to know that that in Christ there is a joy that is deep and is full and lasting that is not dependent upon things around us. And I also want you to know that you were made, you were created to experience this joy.

That God made you in a way as what we'd maybe call like a joy container. That God desires for you to be filled with this joy. And so it's just been a joy, it's been a privilege to be going through this together and just thankful for what God's doing.

So here's the definition that we're working with, and it's this: that true biblical joy is a supernatural, deep-seated gladness that is dependent on Jesus and not on temporary changing circumstances. So if your happiness, if your joy is tied to what's going on around you or circumstances, no, it's going to be very fickle. It's going to be very come and go.

But our joy as believers is tied to Christ. Jesus said this in John 15, verse 11, These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be, what's the word, may be free. So I just want to encourage you.

I want to challenge you that joy is something that God has designed you for. Joy is found in Christ. And there is also there are also things that you can do to fight for joy. That you're not just passive in this thing called joy. That you're called to meditate on the things of Christ, and that as you do that, you will be filled with his joy. We also learn that this is a joy, this kind of joy that God gives us is rooted and connected to his grace.

So the truth is if you don't know God's grace, if you haven't experienced God's grace, if you're not growing in your understanding of God's grace, you will not be growing in your understanding of this joy. Because God's joy and God's grace are connected. This is one of the reasons why believers can go through struggles and difficult circumstances and come out on the other side more joyfully.

Isn't that kind of annoying sometimes? I mean that like kind of joke, like but you as a believer, you can go through struggles and come out on the other side more joyful because God's joy, this deep-seated gladness, is connected to God's grace, and in struggles and trials, God's grace only increases in your life. When Paul prayed for God to remove this struggle that he had, he called it his thorn and his flesh or his side, the answer was no, I'm not going to remove it, but the answer was my grace is sufficient for you. So when you go through trials and challenges and struggles, God's grace only increases as you trust in Him. And as His grace increases in your heart, then also this joy will increase in your heart as well.

This is a joy that's very different than what the world offers. This is a joy that doesn't go away. This is a joy that's not tied to external circumstances. This is a joy that comes from God Himself. So last week we saw that Paul had chosen to rejoice in his present circumstances. For quick review, where is Paul presently as he's writing this letter to the Philippians? Is he at not Disneyland? Right? He's not at Disneyland. He's in prison. He's writing in prison to these believers in this town called Philippi, and he's encouraging them to have joy. So Paul is choosing to trust God.

He's joyful because the gospel is advancing. And for him, that's more important than his comfort and convenience. He cares more about the gospel advancing, and so whether he's in prison or not in prison, he's joyful because he sees God at work.

And so today we're going to look and see that Paul is choosing to rejoice, even though his future is uncertain, because again, his hope and his joy are rooted in Christ, and Christ, who is our hope, doesn't change. So that's what we're looking at this morning. It's how can Paul have joy in his future?

How can he be confident of joy in his future? And that's because his joy is rooted in Christ. So that's where we're gonna be this morning. So if you would, let's stand together out of the reading of God's word. Philippians chapter one, we're gonna start in the middle of verse eighteen. Here's what God's Word says through Paul. in the middle of verse 18,

SCRIPTURE READING - PHILIPPIANS 1:18b-30

Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 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. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

PRAYER FOR THE MESSAGE

And if you would just join me in prayer. And I just would encourage you as I pray that you'd be in your own heart inviting God and surrendering to Him to hear what He has for you today.

So, Father, we trust you and what you have for us. We believe that the Bible is the truth, is the Word of God, and that it's powerful and effective. And as the Word is preached, we know that it goes forward with the help and the power of the Holy Spirit. To dividing joints and marrows. God, you can you can use your word to penetrate to the depths of our hearts and reveal things to us that we need to have revealed and encourage us where we need to be encouraged and strengthen us where we need to be strengthened.

So God just pray that you'll do all these things. you always do. You are faithful to do this. We know that your word will not return void or empty. It will accomplish what you desire to accomplish this morning. Only would we be able to receive what you have for us and be blessed and be encouraged by it. So God, whatever you have for us this morning, we're ready. We want it and we're desiring of it. For your glory.

Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

THE MESSAGE

You may be seated.

So have you ever met somebody that had a very strong singular focus? Like they were really, really driven concerning something. They had their eye on something and they gave themselves fully and completely to that end. I'm not sure what else describes Paul better than that. Paul had a singular focus. Paul had his eye focus on Christ.

I think Paul of all people was able to grasp how much Christ had done for him. And because of this, Paul was able to rejoice no matter what, because he saw how much of a prize Christ is, and how much of a prize the gospel is. A little bit about Paul's backstory, the author of this letter. Paul had been a persecutor of Christians. Paul had been pursuing Christians, people who believed in Christ, and he'd been rounding them up to persecute them and to imprison them. How ironic is it now that Paul sits in prison as a prisoner of Christ. And Christ had radically and drastically opened Paul's eyes to the wickedness of his sin. And in one of Paul's own letters, he even referred to himself as the worst of sinners. My question is, if that's who Paul is, what does that mean for me?

So Paul recognized the depths of his sin. He recognized the wickedness of his own heart. And he recognized the unfathomable grace of God that saved him. So here's what we believe. Here's a little bit of a rehearsal of the gospel. We believe that God is holy and just. We believe that there's no wickedness or no wrong in God. God is holy and perfect and good. And everything God does is pure and right and just.

There's nothing that God does that's wrong. And because of this, because of God's justice, because of God's holiness, because of God's purity, He must punish sin. The Bible describes that the wages of sin is death. And none of us deserve to live even another breath after our first sin. We are even born into sin because of Adam and Eve. And it's purely the grace of God that you and I even take a breath and have a day in our lives to even trust Christ.

I hope that we can grasp that this morning. Again, that God doesn't owe us anything, but that in his grace and mercy, he's given us his son Jesus. So God is also merciful and patient and kind.

And he has sent his son Jesus. Jesus came and took on flesh. And he lived a sinless, perfect life. And Jesus died a horrendous death on the cross. And God raised him from the dead three days later. And Jesus conquered death and hell and the grave. And Jesus defeated sin and the curse of death. And God even opens the eyes of the blind, and all who acknowledge their sin and their sinfulness before God, and humble themselves and turn from their sin and call upon the name of Christ, they are made alive in Jesus Christ. They're forgiven of their sins. They're given God's Holy Spirit and made to be partakers of the divine nature with Christ. They are united with Christ forever, given all the riches of Christ. This is the gospel. This is the good news. And this is why, for Paul, he couldn't care less about his material and temporary circumstances. He knows that he has Christ and he counts Christ as more valuable than anything else.

For Paul, he recognizes that it's not even close. That's even just a little glimpse of what I hope you walk away with this morning is just to see the value and the treasure of Christ. So today we're going to dive a little bit deeper into Paul's mindset.

What was going on in Paul's mind as he's writing this letter to the believers in a town called Philippi? So last couple weeks I've used an AI generate generated image to give us a picture of what it might have been like for Paul to be in prison. He was under what's called house arrest for two years, likely chained to a Roman guard.

And it's while he's there that he writes several books of the New Testament. The book of Ephesians, , Philippians, Colossians, and the Book of Philemon. And remember how I've commented that this is probably not a very accurate picture, because a couple probably would have been more happier than this. So I had AI generate another one. Here's the here's the updated one. So there you go.

I tried a couple, and like the guard had three or four different hands and it was just weird, but this is this is decent. So here's Paul, a prisoner in chains, full of joy, and he's writing to encourage other believers in Philippi and encouraging them to rejoice. I can just hear Paul saying, I'm going to rejoice because I'm in chains, and I know that Christ, sorry, because I'm in Christ, I know that Christ will not forsake me. I know my life will matter whether by my death or by my life. So if you look at verse 18, verse 18 is kind of split in two parts.

Last week we covered the first part of it, where Paul says, I rejoice. He's in prison and he says, I rejoice because the gospel is advancing. And then this week's passage begins with him saying, and I will rejoice. Paul will rejoice. He has confidence that he will rejoice. So how can Paul be sure that he will rejoice in the future? And here's how he can be confident of that, because his joy is tied to who he is and all that he has in Christ. He recognizes the treasure of Christ and of knowing Christ. And because of this, he always has joy. Maybe not always the emotions of joy, but he always has that deep-seated gladness.

So I like to do what's called the big idea. So you can have like a one-sentence summary of what I want you to walk away with this morning. So here's the big idea for today. That the key to true biblical joy is found not in focusing on your circumstance and not even by focusing on joy, but by focusing on who we are and all that we have in Christ. So the message of this series is not focus on joy. The focus of this series, I hope that you're picking this up, is that you'll focus on Christ, that you'll fix your gaze on Jesus, and through fixing your gaze on Jesus, you'll be filled with his joy. The key phrase in this is to rejoice in the Lord. If you guys have your Bibles there, flip over to Philippians 4 real quick.

And if you don't have a Bible with you, you can just listen. But Philippians chapter 4, verse 4. Philippians 4:4.

It's okay for us to look ahead, alright? We can look ahead and see what's coming in the book. But it says, rejoice in the Lord always.

I will say it again, rejoice. So one of my questions for you to think about is if you're lacking joy in your life, you might want to ask yourself the question: where am I what am I seeking as the source of my joy? Or who am I counting on as the source of my joy?

If you're counting on the economy, good luck with that for the source of your joy. If you're counting on even other people as the source of your joy, you will be disappointed. Even if you're trying to find joy from within yourself, that somehow joy will be created from within yourself, it's not going to happen.

That Jesus is the source of our joy, and and the more you contemplate and focus on Jesus and His grace towards you, the more you'll be filled with this deep-seated gladness, this true biblical joy. So we're going to walk through this passage and just see how Paul gives us more of his mindset. And so number one would be this Paul rejoices because he's confident of future glory.

Let's look at those first couple verses again together of Philippians 1, starting in verse 18, the middle of it. Yes, and I will rejoice, 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.

Let me just pause there for a second. Paul may be thinking that he'll be delivered from prison, but I would argue that probably even more so, Paul's thinking that even if I'm not delivered from prison, I know that I'm secure in my salvation in Jesus. So either way, my deliverance is sure.

Does this make sense? So whether Paul gets out of prison, I don't think that's his focus or aim. I think he's saying whether this leads to my deliverance from prison, awesome. If it doesn't, if it leads toward my execution, Paul's like, hey, I'm still delivered. Either way, I win for Paul. So this is going to lead toward his deliverance. Verse 21. I'm sorry, nope, verse twenty,

“As is my eager expectation hope that I'll not at all be put ashamed, but that with full courage now as and always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death, for to me to live as Christ and to die is gain.”

I would argue that that verse, verse 21, is the theme verse or the thesis of this whole letter. For Paul to live is Christ, meaning his strength comes from Christ, his hope is in Christ. Christ is his life. And for Paul to die is gain.

So what we're noticing in Paul's life is that Paul is thinking about this future glory, this future promise he has in Christ, and that is giving him present joy or joy in the present. I'm curious if you've ever had that Had that happen to you? Where you're thinking about something that's going to happen in the future, and it produces joy in you right now in the present.

Oftentimes we think that we have to have something right now, presently, to experience joy from it. But there's this future promise that you can experience joy today. Maybe it comes at the news of a pregnancy. Maybe it comes at the news of a job. Or I like to use extreme examples, maybe it comes with the news of winning the lottery. I'm not advocating that you play the lottery. But if you won the lottery, hypothetically speaking, and you tithe on it like Nathan was talking about earlier. If you win the lottery, you haven't necessarily received that yet, but you hear that news and you're pretty joyful, right? You're pretty excited.

You've got this present joy for some kind of future fulfillment. The same thing is true in Christ. That you and I as believers have this future hope, this future glory that's in Christ. And it produces in us in the present this joy. So Paul's sitting in prison and he's thinking about heaven. And he's confident that this is what's going to be happening in Christ. And so he's full of joy. And I try to encourage us all that I can, and hopefully it doesn't come across in a morbid kind of way. But I try to encourage us all that I can as believers to think as much as we can about heaven.

The truth is, yes, we have tremendous and glorious hope in this life in Christ because we are in Christ. And I praise God for this. This is why Paul can say to live is Christ, because Christ is our hope, Christ is our identity. We've been united with him because of God's grace by faith. And all the riches that are in Christ are ours now. We've been made a new creation. But we also have joy everlasting or joy evermore waiting for us in heaven. We will be with the Lord. Look at what it says in verse twenty two. He says:

“If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which shall I choose? I cannot tell. I'm hard pressed between the two, my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”

Just a couple notes on those verses. I don't think Paul is saying that he that it's up to him. If I want to go be with Christ, I can choose that. If I want to stay here, I can choose that. I think it's more the idea of preference. Which would I prefer? I think he's trying to figure out, you guys can understand this. I think he's trying to figure out how to guide his heart as he's in prison.

Hopefully this makes sense. As he's sitting there in prison contemplating his future, he's trying to figure out: should I let my heart get wrapped up in the idea of my release? Or should I allow my heart to be carried off to the idea that I may die and I may go to be with the Lord? And he's like he's like, I'm not sure which one I would rather have.

I think that believers need to think need to think more and often about heaven. He says to die is what's the word? Gain. He says, I'm hard pressed between the two. My desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is far what? Far better. That's far better. Just a quick point of teaching. The Bible teaches it's important for you to understand that when you die, that's the question: what happens when you die?

If you're in Christ, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, if you've given your life to Christ, when you die, you don't go to soul sleep, you don't go to purgatory, you go to be with the Lord. To depart from the body is to be present with the Lord. Paul says, I'd rather leave the body and be with the Lord, for that is far better. That's what awaits the believer. The Bible is clear on this. And I think thinking about heaven allows us as believers to have joy in the present as we contemplate these future glories.

Puritan pastor named Richard Baxter said this: if everlasting joys were more in your thoughts, spiritual joys would abound more in your hearts. No wonder you are comfortless when heaven is forgotten. Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 19.

“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

So the great thing is that we have hope in this life in Christ, don't we? Don't we, Church? That we have the Holy Spirit, we have the comfort of being a part of the body of Christ. We have so many blessings as Christians in this life. But if this is the only hope we have, we are most to be pitied. Because if we die and there's nothing else or there's no hope of heaven afterwards, then what's it all for? But Paul's saying we have hope not only now, but we also have eternal hope in the future. Let me ask you to interact with me and fill in this blank for a second.

How would you fill in this blank? To die is what? The Bible says it's destined to for man to die once and then face judgment. Either heaven or hell. And for Paul, for the believer, he says to die is gain. Is that your perspective? To die is gain.

Now I'm not saying we should speed it on any quicker than God has planned. I don't think that's the point. But I think for Paul and for all of us who are in Christ, we should be like, hey, if I'm going to live, that means more fruitful service for the Lord. And if it's my day, then I rejoice because I get to go be with the Lord. This is Paul's perspective. Christ was his life. For the believer, death is gain. For the believer, death is a promotion. For the believer, death is a homegoing or a homecoming.

And I've talked before, I've joked the last couple weeks about hard teachings like this being big boy Christianity and big girl Christianity. You guys have heard me talk about that. These are challenging teachings. I felt convicted this week that I should stop saying that phrase. And here's why: this is not big boy Christianity or big girl Christianity. This is Christianity. This is what it means to follow Christ. That you are so captivated by the grace of God that you see the value and the treasure of Christ, the value and the treasure of the gospel. This is Christianity.

So a couple questions for you. Where are you placing your hope? Where are you placing your hope? Are you confident and rejoicing in the future? Here's another question for you. You don't have to answer it out loud. But are you looking forward to heaven? Are you looking forward to heaven? And can you say with Paul that to live is Christ and to die is gain? This is Paul's perspective.

The second thing we're going to notice is that Paul rejoices because he's confident in future fruitfulness. Just look again at verses twenty two to twenty six with me.

“If I'm to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which shall I choose or which shall I prefer? I can't tell. I'm hard pressed between the two. My desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and for your joy in the faith. So that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again.”

What I find so amazing about what Paul is demonstrating for us as he's writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit is last week we saw that Paul was more concerned about the advancement of the gospel in his own comfort and convenience. And also here, what is Paul showing that he's more focused on what's Paul's priority here is their joy in the Lord. So even though he wants to go and be with the Lord in heaven, he's like, hey, if me staying here is going to help you, I'm willing to stay here so that I can help you. Paul is willing to sacrifice himself. We're gonna see actually next week that this where does this come from Paul? It comes from Christ. When Christ was willing to leave heaven to come here to earth for us, Paul's like, I'm willing to also sacrifice my life for your benefit and for your joy. So Paul is confident of fruitful fruitfulness for the Lord. Paul's goal and aim was fruitful service. This should be the goal and aim for us as believers as well.

Paul said this in Galatians 2:20 -

“I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live. Live, but Christ who lives in me. The life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who called me and gave himself up for me.

So Paul's saying, if I live as many days as God gives me, awesome, I will live those days for the Lord. When the Lord calls me home, awesome, I will be with the Lord. And then Paul gives his final or sorry his first imperative or his first command.

Here's the application. Here's what Paul says in verse 27, starting verse 27. Here's the application number three. That we should live in such a way that shows the infinite worth of the gospel.

Let's read those last couple verses again. He says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God. Listen to the verse twenty nine, for it's been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake. So two things.

It's been granted to you that you would not only believe in him, I'm not sure if you've considered, but it's granted to you, it's also a gift from God that you would have faith and trust in Christ. It's only by God's grace that you could put your faith and trust in Christ. This too is a gift of God by His grace.

So Paul's saying live in such a way that's worthy of this gospel. I don't think Paul is saying that you should live in such a way that you have to earn your salvation. I think what he is saying that is if you are saved, if you're in Christ, that your life should reflect the fact that this gospel truth is worth it.

I believe he's saying that if we say that heaven is real and that heaven is awesome, and if we say that Jesus is of infinite worth and we are in Christ, if we say that forgiveness of sins is the most important thing, and Christ has given forgiveness to us freely, then we should act live and act like it truly is the most important thing in the world. We should stop living like everything temporary matters more.

We should live like eternity is real and like the gospel matters. Let me put it another way. You just won the lottery if you're in Christ. You just won the salvation lottery. Then we're called to live like that. That this grace is the most valuable thing that could be offered to us. God's grace for eternal life, for relationship with Him. It's undeserved. And Paul's just encouraging them to live like the gospel matters. Live like this is the most important thing.

So one of the things I I appreciate about Michigan and so grateful for me about what we get to experience here in Michigan is the four seasons. I say that because I'm I'm not looking forward to winter coming up. but a few weeks ago I got to travel and spend some time on Mackinac Island, and we actually know some people that have a place on Mackinac Island and I was given the opportunity to go and stay there for an extended period of time. It's always been a dream of mine to go there and be able to write. And I had that opportunity back in the middle of August. And Mackinac Island, if you've never been there, is extremely beautiful and the fudge is really good. So it's a great combination. But I got to travel there and spend about 10 days there writing and working on my doctoral dissertation, and just was amazing. I was there writing on the subject of joy and got to experience it in a really unique way. My wife Raelyn came up and surprised me for a couple days. It was a lot of fun. While I was there and while I was headed to the island, I was really just was really just kind of overcome with emotion, just thinking and just contemplating who am I to deserve this? Who am I to deserve this opportunity to go and spend some time there and right it honestly was a little bit overwhelming and and emotional for me and the Lord brought to mind just the parallel with the truth of the gospel. Who am I to deserve or to receive God's grace and salvation through Jesus Christ? I don't deserve it. I don't deserve God's grace. I don't deserve second chances. God's grace is pure unmerited favor. Because of God's desire and willingness to show grace.

This is the gospel. And the more that a person understands what God has done for them, the more that they are filled with this joy that's unspeakable. This is the way that Paul lived his life. Paul lived his life contemplating how blessed he is in Christ. This is why Paul couldn't care less about his circumstances, because he knows who he is and what he has in Christ. Paul counts it a joy to have chains around his wrist and to be confined for the sake of Christ. It's been granted to you that you would believe. Look at verse 29. For it's been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.

I had the privilege of speaking at a church camp at the beginning part of August, and I preached on a passage from Romans chapter 8 that Paul talks again about this idea of present sufferings and future glory. Just trying to encourage believers that we will go through times of suffering and struggle. And I had somebody come up to me after the service, and they were adamant that believers will never suffer.

It's a little bit kind of part of this word of faith or name it claim it kind of perspective that if you just have enough faith you'll never go through hard times. And I'm just like I like show me like Jesus even says people will hate you because they hated him first. Paul Paul's telling the Philippians that God's also granted it to them that they would also suffer.

That even suffering can be a gift because it drives us deeper toward Christ and it drives us to our knees, and we find that God's grace is sufficient and that we're filled with this overwhelming sense of joy when we see and recognize the grace of God even more. I just want to read again just the big idea and we'll close. The key to true biblical joy is found not by focusing on your circumstance.

And not by focusing on joy, but by focusing on who we are and all we have in Christ. Let's pray.

CLOSING PRAYER

Father, this is my heart for all those who've gathered this morning and for our church body. If it means hardship and difficulty, so be it. To live is Christ, to die is gain.

If it means greater conviction of sin and seeing more just how much we need you, may it be so. Because through that we know that your joy increases and is made complete. I just pray that each of us would treasure Christ as more important than anything else.

And we see the treasure that the gospel is, this grace that is extended to sinners. It's undeserved. Even to the point where in your love and grace, God, you pursue us. And you chase us down. And you open our eyes that we can see the love of Christ and that we can experience the forgiveness of sins. It's in many ways it's overwhelming because we don't deserve it. That's really the point. It's your grace. So could you that take us deeper as a church and fill us with greater understanding of your grace?

God help us to see you as a good God, as a loving God, as a holy and perfect and just God, but that shows grace to sinners, to those who would humble themselves before you and ask for your mercy and ask for your grace. You extend it and you give it freely. You give it in abundance.

We go from darkness to light, we go from being dead in our sins to being made alive. In Christ, we go from being enemies of yours to being friends and to being sons and daughters. We go from eternity separated from you and we go to eternal life in Christ.

We have we have very little idea of what awaits those who are in Christ. So God fill us with joy, joy unspeakable right now, as we consider even what we possess right now in Christ, that we're united with Him, and what awaits us as believers. And I pray like Paul that we could say to live is Christ and to die is gain.

May that be the way we orient our lives. May that shape who we are and what we do and how we live and where we find our hope and our joy. God, for our good and for your glory.

Thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.