Philippians 4: Five Keys to Happiness
-Introduction
-A question to contemplate: Is happiness a result of circumstance or a result of choice?
-In other words, which does happiness depend upon?
-I plan to address that directly but at the end of the lesson.
-Yet, when it comes to the topic of happiness, we as faithful Christians should be more
acquainted with it than anybody else on the planet.
-We have been adopted by God (Eph. 1:5), redeemed from sin (1 Pet. 1:18), cleansed
by the blood of Christ (Rev. 1:5) and now abide in the hope and assurance of life
everlasting (1 Pet. 1:3, 1 John 5:13).
-We live with an inner peace that those in the world do not have. That’s because, overall,
the world produces turmoil while the Gospel produces peace.
-Phil. 4:7 - “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (ESV)
-It is Philippians chapter 4 that I want to focus on this morning. And, with this chapter, I
want us to note five keys to true happiness.
-Background Information Regarding the Philippians
-During Paul’s second missionary journey, while at Troas, Paul saw a vision in which he
was summoned to Macedonia (Acts 16:8-10).
-So, he (along with Silas, Timothy and Luke) traveled to Samothrace, to Neapolis and
then to Philippi which is described as “a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a
Roman colony” (Acts 16:12).
-There Paul and is company proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to which Lydia and her
household responded. (vs 13-15).
-While in Philippi, Paul and those with him encountered a slave girl who was demon
possessed. Eventually, Paul healed the girl. However, this kind deed was not received
well by her owners. They utilized her to make money. That opportunity was now gone.
-They stirred up the people and initiated “street justice” and cast Paul and Silas into
the prison.
-This brings us to the account of the Philippian jailor (vs 25-34).
-Paul and his company - with the exception of Luke - then continued their travels. Notice
Luke (the author of Acts) changed the pronoun back to “they” in Acts 17:1. Luke stayed.
By the way, Luke again travels with Paul beginning in Acts 20 (vs 5 - “us”).
-Shortly after this, Paul returns to Jerusalem where he is attacked by an angry mob
which had been stirred up by the Jews (Acts 21). From that point forward, in the
book of Acts, Paul is in Roman custody.
-The book of Acts ends (28:30-31) with Paul being held in Rome.
-The Philippians had been benevolent toward Paul and that benevolence continued while
he was held in Rome.
-Phil 4:14-20
-“Epaphroditus made a journey of seven hundred miles over land and sea, exposing
himself to great dangers, to bring the gift of the Philippians. In his lonely prison he
was deeply moved, and ere long he poured all his feelings of gratitude into the most
affectionate letter he ever wrote” (Lipscomb, pg 152).
-The Philippian church had been a great source of joy and encouragement to Paul.
“From first to last they seem never to have given Paul an anxious thought. No wonder
he called them ‘my joy and crown’ (4:1)” (ibid).
-This brings us back to our point of emphasis: Philippians 4: 5 Keys to True Happiness.
1. Stand fast in the Lord (4:1)
- To truly be happy, you need to have a relationship with the Lord.
-Unfortunately, many people look for happiness within the world but don’t find it.
-Even for those who seem to think they’ve found happiness through worldly means:
first, they don’t understand what happiness truly is; second, their perceived happiness
is temporary.
-Luke 12:16-21
-Consider Solomon and the book of Ecclesiastes: Solomon went in search of the answers of life –
Why are we here? What is our purpose? What are we to accomplish? etc., etc.
-He pursued these things through the avenue of worldly means and came up empty.
-He made many mistakes along the way and he wants us to learn from his mistakes.
-What was the lesson that he learned? - Eccl. 12:13.
-1 Cor. 15:57-58
2. Practice “Moderation” (KJV) (4:5)
-“forbearing spirit” (NASB); “gentleness” (NIV); “reasonableness” (ESV)
-1 Tim 3:3 and Titus 3:2 both use this Greek word in contrast to “brawler” (KJV),
“quarrelsome” (ESV).
-After considering this word and exploring its meaning a little bit, I would summarize it
as follows: “Don’t get too worked up about things.”
-To borrow a couple of clichés: Work on having some “thick skin”; “Let the water roll
off your back”; “Roll with the punches.”
-Have you known folks that were always “worked up” about something? They’re feelings
seem to be hurt all the time or they are angry about something. They move from one crisis
to the next. Rarely are they satisfied or very happy at all.
-“He exhorts them not to become embittered and alarmed; but to let all see that they can be
calm and moderate, and that they control themselves in the most trying ordeals through
which they were called to pass” (Lipscomb, pg 222).
-“‘Moderation,’ says Dr. Macknight, ‘means meekness under provocation, readiness to
forgive injuries, equity in the management of business, candour in judging of the
characters and actions of others, sweetness of disposition, and the entire government of the
passions’" (Clarke).
3. Prayer With Thanksgiving (4:6-7)
-Stress and worry deprive us of the happiness we could otherwise enjoy.
-By the way, I recently saw the following on an area church sign: If it’s not worth
praying about then its not worth worrying about.
-Unload your stress and worries through the avenue of prayer. Put those things in the
hands of the One who can do something about them. Continue to work on them yourself
but do so with full trust in God.
-Trust God and enjoy the peace that He offers – Phil 4:7.
-And, remember to tell God “thank you.”
-When we start to think about all the reasons to be thankful, we realize how fortunate
we are. It helps to get our perspective back into more of a proper focus.
4. Proper Focus / Attitude (4:8-9)
-Proper focus/attitude and happiness go hand in hand.
-We can focus on the negatives in life and become pretty miserable. Or, we can focus on
the positives and enjoy more happiness.
-Sometime, look closely at these verses and look into the things that are specifically listed.
-“think on these things” – What “things” do you focus on?
5. Be Content (4:11)
-Matt. 6:31-34
-Think about how good God is to us! – not only in material things but especially in spiritual
terms.
-Yet, on the material side of the equation, take some time to think about how much you
really have – house, car(s), clothes, personal belongings, money, food, toys, etc., etc., etc.
-We are so blessed! Yet, far too often people just want more, more, more. Some are never
satisfied.
-We need to be content – 1 Tim. 6:6.
-Notice, this was something that Paul “learned.” We need to learn it as well.
-It is much easier to reach contentment with a spiritual focus in life (Matt. 6:33).
-Trust in God and contentment go hand in hand.
-Summary and Invitation
-We’ve touched upon these things rather quickly this morning. I hope that you give them
some more thought.
-So, “Is happiness a result of circumstance or a result of choice?”
-I have become more and more convinced that it is indeed a choice.
-Happiness doesn’t come from circumstances. It is the result of a choice (or choices).
-What about you? Can you truly say that you are happy? If not, why not?
-Remember, happiness begins with a relationship with the Lord. Do you have that
relationship? If not, obey the Gospel of Christ: Believe in Jesus (John 3:16, 8:24),
Confess your faith (Matt. 10:32, Rom 10:9-10); Repent of Sin (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 17:30);
Be Baptized into Christ (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38); Walk in Newness of Life (Rom. 6:4;
(Eph 4:22-24).
-If you’ve previously obeyed the Gospel, have you maintained your relationship through
faithfulness? If not, confess your shortcomings, repent of them and seek God’s
forgiveness through prayer (1 John 1:7-9, Acts 8:22-24).
Works Cited:
Lipscomb, David, A Commentary on the New Testament Epistles, Vol. IV - Ephesians
Philippians and Colossians, Nashville, Tenn., Gospel Advocate Company, (c) 1980
Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1996, 2003 by
Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.