Happy and You Know It 5 | Exercising Happiness

We're continuing our series here in the book of Philippians called "Happy." Today, we're in Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 through 18, talking about the exercises of happiness. So, open your Bibles with us and follow along.

It is once again that day in America—Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day! This is the one day each year that we set aside to honor our moms. Whether it's your mom, your wife who is a mom, or your sister who is a mom, we take this time to say thank you and to honor them. They deserve to be honored because your mom changed you when you were little. The next person who will do that will cost you a lot of money, but she did it willingly.

Being a mom is tough work. I don't know that experience personally, but I do know it by observation. I know that some moms have it more difficult than others because of their tough children—like me. My mom had a little bit more difficulty with me. I could put two hands up; she will attest to that too. She'll be here in the second service, I'm sure.

We have award ceremonies for actors, athletes, teachers, writers, and all kinds of different people in our society, but we don't really have an award ceremony for moms. However, we do set aside this day to honor the moms in our church. One of the things we do, though it's a small gesture, is give a token of appreciation and love. As you leave today, moms, we're going to be giving you a red rose as you go out the door.

More than that, we want to pray for you and pray a blessing upon you, which we'll do in just a moment. One of the things we've done here at Cross Connection for several years is to acknowledge the sorrows of the day when we celebrate Mother's Day. Over the years, I've met a number of ladies who say it's hard for them to go to church on Mother's Day. Some ladies don't come to church on this day at all.

So, we want to take just a moment to acknowledge the sorrows of the day. There are some people who, when they wake up on Mother's Day, feel a dryness in their throat, a weight on their chest, and a pit in their stomach because they remember difficult things. We remember things like miscarriages, stillbirths, losses of little ones, or losses of adult children. When we think about those things, it's heavy. Some of you are celebrating Mother's Day this year for the first time without your own mom.

It's a heavy, heavy thing. Up here, we have some white roses, and those are to acknowledge the sorrows of the day. If that's you today, we want to honor you as well. At the end of the service, we ask that you don't hesitate to come up and take one of those. We'll even have some people up here to pray with you if you'd like. If you see a gal with a white rose today, just silently lift them up to the Lord as well. We know that this day can be a good day for many people, but it can also be a real tough day.

Moms, would you stand? We want to honor you this morning, and please stay standing as we pray a blessing. Father, we thank you so much for the moms of our church. Lord, we pray that you would pour out a blessing upon them. A simple red rose is nice, but more than that, Lord, we ask that you would just pour out your blessings. We ask that you would continue to work in the hearts and lives of these ladies. Once a mom, always a mom, even when your kids grow up and move out.

I pray for my wife, who, because she's a mom today, can't come to church because she's home with our sick kids. I just pray that you'd be with her and bless her. Bless these moms for all that they do; there's no possible way that they could be replaced. We thank you, God, for them. In Jesus' name, and all God's people said, "Amen."

Now, I'm going to ask all of you to stand. If you would, open your Bibles to the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter 2 is where we are in our series called "Happy and You Know It." We are discussing the topic of happiness and joy in this letter, which has been called by many people the book or the letter of joy.

In Philippians chapter 2, verse 12, the Apostle Paul writes, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation."

Whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on a sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all for the same reason. You also be glad and rejoice with me.

Father, would you fill our hearts with joy and rejoicing as we study through the Scriptures today? I pray, God, that you would give us insight and that you'd help us to make application from this text. In some way, this would transform us, Lord, from the inside out to make us more like You, to help us experience more fully the abundant life that You came to give and the joy that is associated with that. So, God, work in us today. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen."

Then you can be seated. One of the benefits of being a part of a church family like this for a long period of time is that you begin to develop friendships and relationships. You start to relate to the people who are a part of the body of Christ as your brothers and sisters, which is biblical, right, and true. As you're a part of that fellowship for a long time, you build relationships, and it's really a wonderful thing.

I've had the privilege of being a part of this church since I was a kid, so I've had a chance to get to know some of you. Some of you here today, especially in the first service, have been here for a long time. Some of you have been a part of my life for a long time. I've gotten to know you, and I've known your laugh for a long time, or whatever it may be. We've been a part of each other's lives.

Now, I realize that a number of you have joined the church in just the last few years. But if you had been here 15 years ago, you would know that I have changed significantly in my physical appearance. Not just in that I've gotten 15 years older—I know that's the case—but if you were here 15 years ago and you knew me, you would have known that back then I weighed 300 pounds. For some people, that's a surprise because they think it doesn't seem possible. But 15 years ago, I weighed 300 pounds, and from December of 2002 to December of 2003, I lost 125 pounds, going from 300 to 175 pounds. Now, I have found a few of those pounds since then, you know, with getting married and having four kids.

Kids, you find them wherever you lost them along the way. That transformation happened over a period of a couple of years. An interesting thing I experienced during that time, especially here at the church, was that I interacted with people the most. People would come up to me with an inquisitive look and say, "You've lost a lot of weight!" I would respond, "Yeah, how did you do it?" I knew that what they really wanted to hear from me was something like, "Well, I stumbled upon this miraculous spray that, when you spray it on your food, it just kills all the calories, and you can eat whatever you want," or they were hoping I would say, "I found this amazing medication that, when you take it at night, the weight just falls off. It's just awesome!"

Their faces would shift from anticipation and expectation to disappointment when I said, "I ran my butt off, literally. I changed my diet, started running, and worked out a whole bunch. That's what it took." That was not what they wanted to hear. People much preferred to hear about a miraculous anti-calorie spray because, when it comes right down to it, we don't like to exert that much energy and effort. It's just too much, and we've tried it before; it's too hard. So, we think, "I don't want to do that."

I think that truth also applies to the topic of happiness and joy. I don't think it's far off to say that we all want to be happy. Everyone wants to be happy. Although it's provocative and not everyone means the same thing when they say it, I also don't think it's completely off to say that God and Jesus desire for us to experience joy and happiness. They desire for us to have happiness in our lives. There are many texts in the Bible to prove that point, although they can be taken out of context. I recognize that some teachers of the Bible in America today have taken those things out of context.

However, Jesus did say in John 15:11, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full." The Lord spoke the teachings that He shared with His disciples, which we study through here at Cross-Connection every single week, so that their joy would increase and be full.

So, the question is, if we all want to be happy and even the Lord desires that His joy would be in us and our joy would be full, what is the simple answer?

The question is, why aren't we happy, and how can we be happy? I'm afraid that the answers we find in the text today are somewhat like the answers I would give to those who inquire about how I lost weight. The answers are spiritual exercise and a spiritual diet. In Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 through 18, Paul provides what I would call happiness exercises.

Let me tell you, some of these happiness exercises you might not like. They are the biblical equivalent of spiritual crunches, and they can be tough. As we go through these exercises, I recognize that some of them may not be appealing. So, I ask you to put on your stretchy pants with me for the next 30 minutes or so. We are going to engage in what could be described as Christian CrossFit or P90X extreme intensity—whatever you want to call it—of biblical happiness exercises.

The first one we find in verse 12 of Philippians chapter 2. Paul writes, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." If you have your sermon guide in your bulletin, point number one is simple: happiness is a discipline.

Happiness is not just an emotion or something you stumble into; it is a discipline. Just as there is probably not a single one of us here who wouldn't like to wake up tomorrow and find out that we won an incredible amount of money and are now wealthy, there is likely no one who wouldn't want to wake up tomorrow morning and be extremely and eternally happy. However, the odds of that happening are about the same as winning the Powerball lottery. It is not something you will just stumble into and suddenly find yourself happy with everything being great.

What we find in the Scriptures is that there is a discipline to happiness.

Discipline, first, takes obedience. You see it there in the text. Therefore, my beloved, in verse 12, as you have always obeyed—would you underline those two words, "always obey"? That's powerful. You always obey. I think it is safe to say that if we're going to experience the kind of joy, rejoicing, peace, and contentment that Paul is talking about here in this letter to the church at Philippi, then you and I are going to have to do the same.

Now, will we always obey perfectly? No, we will not always obey perfectly, but our target should be to obey the Lord and what He says in the Word. The Bible reveals to us that you and I are the creation of God. God created us; He manufactured us. He made us. In fact, Psalm 139 says He knit you together in your mother's womb. That's a great verse for Mother's Day. He knit you together in your mother's womb; He made you.

Our Creator knows what's best for this equipment. He is the OEM, the original equipment manufacturer. He made us, and He knows the proper use for us. He knows what we should be used for, what our life should do, and what it can't do. When we follow His user's manual and do the things He says, we obey Him. Then we're going to experience the joy of working and functioning in the right way. We're going to experience the abundance of life that He speaks of.

So, our target, even though we're going to miss it, ought to be obedience. Paul says to the church at Philippi, "As you have always obeyed." Not only does the discipline of happiness take obedience, but secondly, here in verse 12, the discipline of happiness takes integrity.

Do you see it? Looking at verse 12, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence." What is Paul saying? He's saying, "Listen, church at Philippi, you obeyed when I was with you in my presence." But Paul also commends them for their obedience when he wasn't there. They did not need the Apostle's constant oversight; they did not need a spiritual trainer, if you will, always there to make sure that they did the right thing.

Last push-ups are always there to make sure that they pushed through to the end of the line. They didn't need that pulse; you had integrity. You obeyed when I was there, and I saw you day in and day out. You have continued to obey when I have been gone.

Parents, isn't it awesome when you hear some other adult talk about how polite and obedient your kids are? It is a wonderful thing. It proves that verse from Third John, verse 4: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth." It is such a wonderful thing when I hear from someone else. Sometimes there are different people in the church who take care of our kids for a day, and I am so blessed when we come in and ask, "Okay, listen, be honest with us. How were they?" They respond, "They are amazing! Your kids were so nice in every way." The Lord has nothing to do with me, but God, you know, it’s an awesome thing. He has joy when He sees us walking in the truth, and we experience that joy as well.

So Paul says, "I’m overjoyed. I’m rejoicing to hear that you are obedient when I was there with you, but even much more in my absence." As we go through this text, we see that happiness requires obedience and integrity. These are exercises; these are things that, if we aim for them, we may not always hit the target perfectly in the bullseye. However, if we aim for these things—target obedience and target integrity—then we are going to experience an increase in our well-being, our joy, and our happiness.

Thirdly, and this is point number two on your outline, happiness is hard work. Happiness is a discipline. How do we know that? Again, it’s in the text. Paul says, "Philippians, my dear brothers and sisters, as you have always obeyed in my presence, now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

Now, the first thing I want you to notice about this is that it does not say "work for your salvation." It says "work out your salvation." You see, there are a lot of Christians who strive for these kinds of spiritual things that we’re talking about—obedience and integrity—because they think, "If I do these, then I’m going to earn salvation." Working for your salvation is a misconception. Unfortunately, there have been some within the church who have emphasized that kind of mindset, where we are always striving to get. But that’s not what we see in the Scriptures. Paul says, "Work out your own salvation." Another translation, the New Living Translation, emphasizes this point further.

It puts this way: work hard to show the results of your salvation. The idea there in the New Living Translation is that you are saved, and now you need to work it out to show what it means to be saved. Work hard to show the results of your salvation by obeying God with deep reverence and fear.

If you want to get fit, like having a six-pack of happiness abs, then it's going to take hard work. Happiness is hard work, and it requires discipline—the discipline of obedience and the discipline of integrity. It means walking in what is right, even when no one else is around to see you. Even though Pastor Miles isn't following you around throughout the day, it is essential to walk in those things that are good and right.

If those two things—obedience and integrity—aren't hard enough, look at what Paul says as he goes on. In Philippians chapter 2, verses 14 and 15, he writes, "Do all things without complaining and disputing." Do all things without complaining and disputing so that you may become blameless and harmless children of God, without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.

Work hard, Christian, to show the results of your salvation. In what way? Paul says to do all things without complaining and without disputing. Now, you don't need to raise your hand, but ask yourself this question: How many of you fulfilled that this week? I did not. I'll be honest; I did not, and I know that probably none of us did.

What is complaining? Well, we all know what complaining is, but let's throw out a few synonyms: grumbling, dissatisfaction, disappointment with the things that you had as expectations, and murmuring. When we use words like murmuring, if you've been around the Bible for a while, you probably think of the Old Testament, especially the book of Numbers, which I just happen to be reading through in my daily reading right now. This last Wednesday, I read Numbers chapter 11, verse 1: "Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord." When the people complained, it displeased the Lord. I can guarantee you, if your...

Life is displeasing to the Lord; you will not be happy. There's no possible way that you and I can live a life that is pleasing to the Lord and experience happiness and joy. Paul says, "Listen, God desires you to experience abundant life." Jesus said, "I've come to give abundant life that you might experience it" (John 10:10).

So here, Paul is a preacher of the abundant life through the gospel; that's the only way that it comes. He says, "Listen, if you want to experience optimal satisfaction and maximal joy, if you want to experience abundance of life, then do all things without complaining." But not only without complaining; he says to do all things without disputing.

Disputing means mere arguments. Moms, wouldn't it make you happy if your kids never argued with each other and never had any sort of disputes? Wouldn't that just be amazing? I realize it's not going to happen forever, but just an hour without that would be incredible.

It's an amazing thing when I come upstairs and stumble upon a couple of my kids just playing nicely together. Recently, it's actually happened a few times where I go upstairs and they are coloring together, sharing the pencils and crayons. It's wonderful—no arguing or disputing. It happens for about twelve seconds, and then it's gone.

Paul instructs us to do all things without complaining and disputing. Notice what he says: as you exercise a complaint-less life and a life without argument and disputing, growth begins to come. You feel the burn as you do these things, and the growth is that you may become blameless, harmless, and faultless individuals. You may become blameless and harmless children of God, without fault in the midst of a crooked generation.

This means you may become one who is undeserving of criticism and rebuke. That is what it means to be blameless. You may be one who is innocent; another word would be simple. The very same word that is translated as harmless here in Philippians 2 is used by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew 10:16, where He says to His disciples, "Behold, I send you out as sheep."

In the midst of wolves, therefore, be wise as serpents but as harmless as doves. Paul uses the same word in Romans chapter 10, verse 9. He says, "I want you to be wise in what is good and simple, harmless concerning evil." Paul states that if you are working out your salvation with fear and trembling, if you are striving for obedience and integrity, and if you are making an effort not to complain or argue with others, then you will be unreviewable—there will be nothing in your life to reprove or rebuke.

Even though others in the world may not be doing these things, especially in America where we are often bred to complain and argue, Paul encourages his people to work at these virtues. He continues and highlights two more aspects of happiness in verses 17 and 18. In Philippians 2:17, he writes, "Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason, you also be glad and rejoice with me."

Point number three on your outline: happiness grows through faithful sacrifice and service. These are spiritual principles of happiness. Quite frankly, none of us like to sacrifice or serve others. Unless we start to do these things—unless we press through to be obedient, have integrity, refrain from complaining and arguing, and sacrificially serve others—we will not experience growth in the area of the abundant life, happiness, and joy.

These things are available to us: happiness and joy in Christ. However, we will not experience them if we do not take action. I meet many different Christians who believe in Jesus, attend church, and want to follow the Lord, yet they are not experiencing the abundance, joy, or happiness that the Scriptures speak about. Sometimes they reach a point of questioning whether it is even possible. I assure you, it is possible, but it requires effort and commitment.

It is going to require some effort on our part to work out our salvation with energy and apply that in our lives. In the same way that you and I are probably not going to wake up tomorrow all skinny and ripped without some sort of routine of exercise and diet, we are not going to experience the joy and happiness that the Scriptures speak of if we don't exercise ourselves toward these things: obedience, integrity, sacrifice, and service. Without complaining and without arguing, you will not experience the joy of Christ until you begin to willingly give of yourself in service to other people. This is what the Scriptures reveal in this passage.

I understand that these things are not easy. In fact, I would say that in my own strength and in your own strength, these things are not only not easy; they are impossible. Happiness is a discipline. It's hard work, and discipline and hard work are not easy. The writer of the Book of Hebrews writes in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 11, "No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful." I went down to the gym yesterday and got on the treadmill. I started running, and I can tell you that for the first five to ten minutes, it was a little rough. I was murmuring and complaining, thinking, "This is too painful." No discipline is enjoyable; it is painful.

However, the author of the Book of Hebrews goes on to say that later on, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Sadly, there are not a lot of people in the world who exercise themselves toward happiness. This means that if you endeavor to do these things, even though we will target it and we won't do it perfectly, you will shine as lights in the world, just as Paul says in this passage in verse 15.

You will shine as lights in the world because this is a dark and depressing place, filled with a lot of unhappiness. People are lacking joy; they are pursuing happiness as an American value and ideal. Many are seeking it, but they are not experiencing it. If we are those who say, "Let’s test the things that the Scriptures say," we can see if this actually works out.

The increase of my joy and happiness in whatever circumstance I'm going through is significant. If the Scriptures are true—and I would suggest that I think they are—then when you exercise yourself toward happiness in these areas, it starts to work. You shine as a light in this world. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, verse 16, "Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." The Lord wants us to let our light shine.

Let me suggest point number four: happiness is bringing light to those who are in darkness. Now, in all honesty, even as I was putting this together this week and thinking about this, I pondered the passage and meditated on it. I thought, "This all sounds really good. It's great stuff to be challenged by and encouraged, but all these things we're talking about—obedience, integrity without complaint, without argument, without disputing, being a light in the dark—this all sounds really good, but I don't know how to do that. How can I accomplish these things?"

Then it occurred to me that right nestled in the middle of this passage is, quite honestly, my favorite verse in the whole Bible: Philippians chapter 2, verse 13. How do we do this? Well, in verse 12, it says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Verse 13 states, "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure." I love the way the New Living Translation translates this verse: "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him."

God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. Because frankly, there are times when I don't want to be the person who doesn't complain. Sometimes I like to complain; I like to argue with people. There are times when I don't want to do the right thing. I'll be honest with you: there are times when we just don't want to do these things. So, it's awesome to know that God is working in us, giving us new desires. He is working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do those things that please Him.

I guarantee, as I said a few minutes ago, that you will never be happy when you're displeasing to the Lord. I guarantee you will be happy when you're pleasing Him; it's a given. Absolutely, God is working in you, giving you the desire and the ability to perform those things that please Him. The desire and the power to accomplish these things come from God.

Yes, I need to engage, and you need to engage in these things. We actually need to target obedience and target integrity. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, but in the midst of that, we know that He is enabling us. He is giving us the desire and the ability to do what we are working out.

Point number five on your outline: God is working in you so that you can work this out. He is the one enabling us to work it out. None of these happiness exercises are possible without the work of God in you and in me through the work of salvation. It's not possible without Him working these things into our lives. In other words, maximal joy and happiness cannot happen apart from the work of God in our lives.

That's why the gospel is so important. We preach the gospel for the joy of all peoples. As we receive the gospel and as God comes in and dwells in us, the Bible says that Christians are the dwelling place of the Spirit of God, the Temple of the Holy Spirit. As He comes and indwells us, He transforms our desires. He gives us the desire to obey, to target obedience, and to not complain or dispute.

Then He says, "I've given you the ability; now work it out." You're not working for your salvation; you've been saved, if you're a Christian today, by the grace of God. Now He says, "Okay, work out that salvation." In what ways? Well, through obedience and through integrity.

Here, in the midst of this verse, we see these charges and exhortations: happiness is a discipline, and happiness is hard work. As we sacrificially serve others, our joy, our experience of the abundant life, is going to increase. As we obey and as we have integrity, we see the trajectory going up on the well-being that we experience in life. He says, "I'm going to work in you, giving you the desire and the ability to do these things that the Scriptures say." Finally, one more.

The essential key in enabling you and me to work out this happiness routine is found in verses 15 and 16. It says, "Do all this that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life." Another translation says, "holding firmly to the word."

Virtually every exercise routine requires some equipment, whether it's bands, bars, or something else. This is no different; the equipment is the word of life. Paul says to hold firmly to the word of life as God is working in you, giving you the ability and the desire to do these things that are pleasing to Him. This will increase your joy and your experience of the abundant life. As He is working in you, hold firmly to the word of life as you work out these things. This is essential equipment in this whole process.

Why is this important? Would you open your Bibles to the Psalms? That's right, about the middle of your Bible, to Psalm 19. Psalm 19 is a psalm of David, king of Israel, written about 3,000 years ago. We read this in Psalm 19, verse 7: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord, or the Word of God, is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord, again the Word of God, are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter are they than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward."

David uses all kinds of synonyms here for the Word of God: the law of the Lord, the testimony of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord, the commandment of the Lord, and the fear of the Lord.

Lord, the judgments of the Lord lead to the conversion of the soul, making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, and enlightening the eyes. They endure forever, making us pure. They are sweet, they are good, they are awesome. The Word of God is the Word of life. Jesus said, "The thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but I have come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly." I am absolutely certain that our experience of this abundant life is related to the things of Scripture.

Point number six on your outline: the Word of life will bring joy to your life. How do I know? We see right there in Psalm 19 that the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The Word of life will bring joy to your life.

This happiness thing takes discipline. The disciplines of obedience and integrity, the disciplines of sacrifice and service—these are essential. As we exercise these things, we grow. As we endeavor not to argue or complain, as we walk through this life knowing that the Lord is working in us, giving us the desire and the ability to do what pleases Him, we will experience what the Bible calls the abundant life.

These are awesome truths and good things to think about on any day, but especially on Mother's Day. Would you stand with me as we close in prayer?

Lord, Your Word is good; it is the Word of life. God, I pray that our experience of this life in You, this abundant life, would grow and expand, that it wouldn't be limited or temporary. God, that it...

It wouldn't be something that we just experienced for a time and then it goes away; it would be expanding and eternal. Lord, we read in the Scriptures that there is coming a day when we will see You face to face and will be in Your presence. We find in the Psalms that in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. It is total, complete, expanding, and eternal joy.

God, make that a reality in our lives today so that we would shine as lights in a world that doesn't have that. May our family members, our friends, and our co-workers see joy in us because it is the fruit of Your Spirit, the evidence of Your presence in our lives. Lord, work these things into us.

I pray for anyone here today who doesn't yet know that joy, that they would come to You, the fountain, the well of joy, and draw freely from You. Jesus, You died on the cross so that we could experience abundant life. You rose from the dead so that it could be a reality in our lives. Would You draw people into that faith, that trust, and that confidence in You today? We ask for this in Jesus' name. And everyone that agreed said, "Let's worship."