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Pastor Thom Keller: True joy is only found in the Lord. You know, our joy, in fact, the root of all true joy, the lightness of our hearts, and the release that we have from guilt and shame, comes from living in the joy of our salvation.

The true source of joy lies in our confident union with Christ. To be in Christ is a source of true peace and joy.

Guest (Male): Joy—is it even possible in the world as we know it? There are many alternatives that promise joy, but there's only one place where true and lasting joy is found. We'll learn about that as we continue in Philippians chapter two on today's Study the Word with Pastor Thom Keller.

Glad you could be with us as we continue to make our way through this encouraging book of the Bible, Paul's letter to the Philippians. Now with today's lesson on the secret source of joy, here's Pastor Thom.

Pastor Thom Keller: A film crew was on location deep in the desert. One day an old Native American went up to the director and said, "Tomorrow, rain." The next day it rained. A week later, the Indian went up to the director and said, "Tomorrow, storm." The next day there was a hailstorm.

This guy is incredible, the movie director said. He told a secretary to hire the Indian to predict the weather so they could shoot their scenes. However, after several successful predictions, the old guy didn't show up for two weeks.

Finally, the director sent for him. He said, "I have a big shoot, a big scene tomorrow, and I'm depending on you. What will the weather be like?" The old man shrugged his shoulders and said, "Don't know. Radio broken."

That weatherman was given a lot more credit for his predictions than he deserved because he had a secret source of forecasts. In the same way, we're going to see today that the Apostle Paul has a secret source for his joy, one that we can tap into. Let's take a look.

Philippians 2:19 and 20: "If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can cheer me up by telling me how you are getting along. I have no one else like Timothy who genuinely cares about your welfare."

Paul says, "I hope to send Timothy to you soon." Why is it that Paul is sending Timothy to the Philippian church? Because Paul is currently in prison, and so Paul sends Timothy as his proxy to check up on them and to report back to Paul how they're doing.

And here once again in verse 19, you see Paul's heart, always believing the best of his sheep. Because in verse 19, it says when Timothy returns to me, I know that his report about you will cheer me up. In other words, I know that my confidence in you will be proven to be warranted, and I'll be rewarded in that confidence in you with a positive report, this good report.

And this was Paul's MO. In 2 Corinthians 7 verse 4, it says this, speaking of the Corinthians: "I have the highest confidence in you, and I take great pride in you. You have greatly encouraged me and made me happy despite all our troubles."

This was Paul's way of looking at people, always looking for the best in each one. Johann Goethe said, "The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become." There's a lot of truth to that. Listen again: "The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become."

So what's your MO? Do you tend to believe the best in people, or do you tend to believe the worst in people? Because that's your choice. Which is your MO? Which is your default? It's been said it's better to believe the best in people and be proven wrong than to believe the worst in people and be proven right, or worse yet, try to prove yourself right in convincing others that they're wrong, that they don't deserve to be believed in.

You know, I've often said this: if you're going to go down believing in someone or not believing in them, go down believing in them. If you're going to be wrong about either one, be wrong about believing the best. I've often said I'd rather get to heaven and hear God say to me, "Tom, remember that guy you believed the best in?" "Yeah." "He wasn't really doing the best." I'd rather hear that than get to heaven and hear God say, "Remember that guy that you did not believe in? Yeah, you should have."

Wow. See, that's your choice. Because you know that's true. You're not always going to get it right with all these people. If you're going to go down in either side of that, try to go down believing the best.

A father was upbraiding his young son for not doing his homework properly. "If I had a computer," the son said, "it would be much easier." "You don't need a computer," said the father. "When Abraham Lincoln was your age, he studied by candlelight in a log cabin." "Yes, I know, Dad," the son replied. "And when he was your age, he was President of the United States."

You know, you give that, it comes back. You give that, it comes back. You say, "But I don't want to take advantage of, I don't want to get snookered by somebody by believing in the best and then being taken advantage of because I guessed wrong."

You know, you can believe the best in people and limit your risks. You can believe the best in people and limit your risks. You know, guys that come out of addiction in U-Turn, as an example, I choose to believe that they will never use again. I believe that of every one of them. Is that not possible? Absolutely. Absolutely. And I choose to believe that.

Now, if they came up to me and said, "I want $100 cash," would I give it? No, I would not. Is it because I don't believe in them? No, it's not because I don't believe in them. I just know what can happen, but I still believe the best in them. You can believe the best in people and limit your risks. You can do that.

1 Corinthians 13—this is Paul: "Love bears all things regardless of what comes, believes all things looking for the best in each one, hopes all things remains steadfast during difficult times, endures all things without weakening." Looking for the best in each one. Critical, critical verse.

Okay, let's go on then, Philippians verse 20: "I have no one like Timothy who genuinely cares about your welfare. All the others only care about themselves and not for what matters of Jesus Christ." Those are strong words. Listen: "All the others care only for themselves and not what matters to Jesus Christ." Those are strong words.

Now, does this go against Paul believing the best in others? No, this is simply Paul speaking factually about these people that have abandoned him. Paul always called a spade a spade. We see that in 2 Corinthians 1:17 and 18: "Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both yes and yes and no and no?" The next verse: "As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between yes and no."

Paul was not double-minded. He would not say yes to appease one group of people, then say no to another. His yes was yes. So he is simply speaking factually about these people. Paul said this because it was a true assessment of their ministries.

Philippians 2:21, listen again: "All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ." Strong words. Ellicott, the commentator, says this: "Paul's declaration is startling." He says it would seem as if at this time he was separated accidentally from his most trusted disciples or that he had a temporary falling away from them. Paul's words need not be taken as accusing all of absolute selfishness and unfaithfulness, and yet his words are startling enough.

Barnes, a commentator, said who Paul had with him at this time is not fully known, but he probably means that this remark should apply to the mass of Christians and Christian ministers then in Rome who did not come to his aid. Perhaps Paul had proposed to some of them to go and visit the church in Philippi, but they had declined because of the distance and the dangers along the way.

He ends by saying we do know that when the trial of Paul came before the emperor, all who were with Paul fled from him. We find that in 2 Timothy chapter four. He said at the first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the good news in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear, and he rescued me from certain death.

And it is possible that this same disregard for Paul's wishes and his welfare had already begun to manifest among the Christians who were in Rome, that what we see here had already been to play out—the abandonment by these men. But Timothy, Paul says, is in every way like a faithful son to me.

Philippians 2:22: "But you know how Timothy has proven himself. Like a son with his father, he has served me in preaching the good news." Paul felt a close connection with Timothy, a close affinity with Timothy unlike any of his other disciples.

The commentator Gill said this: "Timothy had a soul like Paul's, which none that were with Paul besides Timothy had. He was of the same judgment with Paul in doctrine of grace. He received and preached the same gospel as did Paul. He preached the same Christ, the Son of God, without yea or nay. He had the same affection for the apostle and the souls of men as he had. His soul was knit to his and they had, as it were, but one soul in two bodies. He was engaged in the same work of the Lord and pursued it with the same zeal and diligence. He was a second Paul in the pulpit, and there was no man like-minded as was he, or so well disposed to the Philippians as Timothy was and had their good cause and good at heart."

And so Paul sends Timothy to the Philippian church in his stead. Verse 23: "I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what's going to happen to me here." As soon as I find out how my trial ends, I'm going to send him to you. The idea being whether I am finally released from my chains or not, whether I am set free or suffer martyrdom for the sake of Christ or not, whether I live or die, Timothy will come and tell you the outcome.

But then Paul adds this in verse 24: "And I have confidence from the Lord that I myself will come to see you soon." He is confident that he's going to come see them, which means he has confidence in the Lord that he's going to be released so he can visit them.

In Greek, the word "soon" can run from a few weeks to many months. So that's the frame that Paul's talking about. Now most unwavering traditions state that Paul was, in fact, released from this prison in Rome in 62 AD. He was released from this prison in 62 AD having been in prison for two years. And once released, Paul ministered once again for two to three years out of prison, and then in 64 AD, he was again imprisoned and beheaded, tradition says, by a Roman soldier.

Going on to verse 25: "Meanwhile, I thought I'd send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier, and he was your messenger to help me in my need. I am sending him because he has been longing to see you, and he was very distressed that you heard he was ill. And he certainly was ill. In fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him and also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow after another."

Now, this man's name is found only two times in the New Testament: chapter two and chapter four. His name means lovely, and he has a shared distinction as being one of Paul's lesser-known friends. The first fact about Epaphroditus is that he is a member of the Philippian church who they elected to send to Paul in Rome along with some material items, gifts for Paul while he was chained in prison. Perhaps blankets, food, clothing, or money.

Philippians 4:18, we see that detail: "At the moment I have all I need and the more. I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God." So we saw that he brought gifts to Paul.

In Paul's day, there would have been no reliable way of getting these items to Paul except for an individual to take them to Paul. And so Epaphroditus faced the long journey across Greece to Rome. That trip was a 1,200-mile journey. They calculate that in these days, people walked about 20 miles a day, which means it would have been a 60-day journey by foot.

Now it says that he, verse 27 says, that while he was in Rome with Paul, Epaphroditus had an illness that almost killed him. An illness that was probably due to him serving Paul while in prison. Perhaps the illness was due to overexertion in travel, perhaps because his body was used to country life and he could not handle the polluted air of Rome—which was the case—or maybe because Paul's prison was an unhealthy place to be.

At any rate, Epaphroditus worked until he made himself ill. And apparently, the news of Epaphroditus's illness had reached Philippi, but not the news of his subsequent recovery. So when Epaphroditus discovered that his friends in Philippi knew only of his illness and not of his recovery, he got homesick and was restless—King James says "sore troubled"—as the apostle said, because they had heard that he'd been sick and thought that he still was.

And so in Epaphroditus's homesick condition, the thought of home and of his friends, anxiety, anxiousness about his well-being, was too much for him. Here we have a sad picture of this Macedonian stranger from a small town in this great city of Rome, sick, pale face, pining for home and for a breath once again of that pure mountain air, and for the friends he'd left behind who were so worried about him. As a result, Paul, who rarely gave missionaries leaves of absence, sent Epaphroditus back home at once. We can only hope that he made it safe back to his friends, as Paul requested, and that they received him with all joy.

But the truth is we don't know, because we never hear from Epaphroditus again. When you get to heaven, you can ask him, what was that journey like? Moving on, Philippians 3:1: "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you."

"Finally, my brethren." You know, this is really cute. Isn't it just like a preacher to say "finally"? Do you know where he says "finally"? Right in the middle of the book of Philippians. "Finally." Not at the end, in the middle. That's just like a preacher.

Reminds me of the joke of two co-workers, one was Catholic, one was Protestant, and they both went to church. And the Protestant said, "Hey, I'd really like to know more about the Catholic Church. How about I go to church with you one Sunday and explain all that stuff to me?"

So the Protestant goes to Catholic Church and the priest gets out the incense and swinging it back and forth, and he explained what that's about. And he's in the long robe and the collar and he explains what that's all about, and all the other things he does, he explains that. You know, this was a lot of high church for this guy.

So the next Sunday they go to the Protestant church. Really pretty basic. You know, the guy comes up, stands at the pulpit, he takes his watch off, the minister takes his watch off and lays it on the pulpit, turns the face to him. And the Catholic leans over and says, "Hey, what does that mean?" The Protestant said, "Absolutely nothing."

"Finally, my brethren," halfway through. Philippians 3:1 again: "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you."

It says rejoice in the Lord. The Greek word here is *chairō*, and it means to rejoice exceedingly. To rejoice exceedingly. Did I say that again? Rejoice exceedingly. You know, but the question is to rejoice in what? Blind rejoicing is tantamount to insanity. So the question is, what are we to rejoice in?

You know, I believe the Old Testament passage, two of them, give us the answer. Isaiah 61:10 says, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God." Why? "For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with his, the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, as a bride adorns herself with jewels." So he has covered me with his robe of righteousness. Are you happy about that? Is that worth rejoicing greatly over?

Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 18: "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." You know, our joy—in fact, the root of all true joy, the lightness of our heart, and the release that we have from guilt and shame—comes from living in the joy of our salvation.

The true source of joy lies in our confident union with Christ. To be in Christ is a source of true peace and joy. Paul also admonishes us to trust in the Lord and the joy which comes from this trust is the same source—our confident union with Christ. All joy that is worthy, real, permanent, and leads to noble thoughts and actions results from our being in union with Jesus. Why? Because apart from him, I can do nothing.

So that's the only source of real joy, permanent joy, is our union with Christ. And look at the end of verse one. It says, "It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again and it is a safeguard for you." Paul says that this rejoicing in your salvation is a safeguard for you.

In Greek, the word safeguard is *asphalēs*, and it means firm, certain, true. You can rely on this. So your salvation is firm. Your salvation is certain. Your salvation is true. You can rely on your salvation. You can rejoice in your salvation because you can rely on the finality of your salvation.

There will be no joy in your relationship with God until you are certain that you can rely upon, that you can be confident in your relationship with God. Because without relationship, religion is ritual. Without relationship, religion is ritual.

You know, people say about Christianity, it's not a religion, and it's not. Someone says, "What religion do you follow?" You say, "I don't follow religion. I am in a relationship with Jesus Christ." Because following a religion is to follow after ritual. It's the only option.

Do Buddhists have a relationship with Buddha? Do Muslims have a relationship, a loving relationship with Muhammad or God through Muhammad? No, no. 1 John 5:12: "Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God."

How many here believe in the name of the Son of God? Raise your hands. Good, you qualify. Listen: "I write these things who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life."

Guest (Male): And if you believe in Jesus, you too will have eternal life, along with the joy associated with it. We're going through Philippians one verse at a time on Study the Word with Pastor Thom Keller. You can hear this message again any time of the day or night online at ccleb.com or subscribe to our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon.

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