Study in Philippians

1. Life of Joy 4 -7 Steps to Sustain
Joy
Studies in the Book of Phillipians

2. 1. Positive Christ-like attitude - Phil 2: 5-8
2. Pride killed daily. - Phil 2: 5-8
3. Progressive value system Phil 3:7,8
4. Perpetual renewal Phil 3:10
5. Painful truth: not arrived yet Phil 3:12,13a
6. Past is past: forget and move on Phil 3:13
7. Pursue a goal larger than life Phil 3: 14
1. Completion of the Good work 1:3-6
2. Clarity & Guidance 3:15
3. Physical transformation 3:20,21
4. Peace of God 4:7
5. God of Peace 4:9
6. Strength to accomplish all things 4:13
7. Provision of all NEEDs 4 :19
1. Disunity/discord among believers 2:2; 4:2
2. Disobedient Christian life 2:12,13
3. Grumbling or arguing 2:14 -16
4. Suffering/Death of a fellow believer 2: 27
5. Legalism 3:2-3
6. Carnal/worldly Christians 3: 18,19
7. Worry & Anxiety 4:6
1. Joy of Obedient Christian life– 1:5-6; 2:12,13
2. Joy of Ministry– 1:12 -18a
3. Joy of Answered Prayer – 1:18b-19
4. Joy of Discipleship -1:26
5. Joy of Gentleness – 4:4
6. Joy of belonging to Gods family -4:10
7. Joy of contentment – 4:11-12
Introduction
& Themes
7 Things
that give us
JOY
7 Things
that rob our
Joy
7 Promises
for JOY,
Peace &
Fulfillment
7 Steps to
sustain Joy
The Book of Philippians – Life of Joy
A Five Part Study
Introduction
& Themes
7 Things
that give us
JOY
7 Things
that rob our
JOY
7 Promises
for JOY,
Peace &
Fulfillment
7 Steps to
Sustain JOY
1. “IN Christ” :"under the control of, under the
influence of, in close association with.“
2. Joy IN Christ, Joy or some form of it -16 times
3. Fellowship IN Christ, Koinōnia. "Partnership"
(NIV), "sharing" (NRSV), and "fellowship" (KJV)
"close association involving mutual interests”
4. Unity IN Christ: The Philippians, beloved as they
are by Paul, have some bickering & dissention

3. 3
7 Things
that sustain
our joy

4. Are you
dissatisfied
today?

5. Positive & Healthy
dissatisfaction
PhD.
Philippians 3:7-14
©Anand Pillai; gmail@anandpillai.in

6. 7 Steps to Sustain Joy
1. Positive Christ-like attitude - Phil 2: 5-8
2. Pride killed daily. - Phil 2: 5-8
3. Progressive value system Psalm 37:4
4. Perpetual renewal Phil 3:10
5. Painful truth: not arrived yet Phil 3:12,13a
6. Past is past: forget and move on Phil
3:13
7. Pursue a goal larger than life Phil 3: 14

7. We Over-Exaggerate Yesterday
• Our past successes and failures often look
bigger to us in hindsight than they really
were.
• ―Yesterday Ended Last Night.‖ Today is a
new day.

8. We Over Exaggerate Yesterday
We overestimate tomorrow and
underestimate today
At the end of the year if all that you are
happy about is what you achieved the
previous years you have done nothing this
year

9. 1. Positive Christ-like attitude
Phil 2: 5-8 Your attitude should be the same
as that of Christ Jesus: Who, …..became
obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Hebrews 12:2-3 Let us fix our eyes on
Jesus, the author & perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the
right hand of the throne of God. Consider
him who endured such opposition from
sinful men, so that you will not grow
weary and lose heart.

10. Paul modeled joy in his
prison ministry by having the
attitude of Christ (1:12-30).

11. 2. Pride killed daily
• Phil 2: 5-8 Your attitude should be the
same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in
very nature God, did not consider equality with
God something to be grasped, but made himself
nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being
made in human likeness. And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled himself
and became obedient to death— even
death on a cross!

12. 2. Pride killed daily
3:4-7 If anyone else thinks he has reasons
to put confidence in the flesh, I have
more: ….. But whatever was to my profit I
now consider loss for the sake of Christ

13. • Pride of Race – 1Corn 1: 10-12
―I follow Paul‖; another, ―I follow Apollos
; another, ―I follow Cephas‖; still another, ―I follow
Christ.‖
• Pride of Face – Is 14:12
How you have fallen from heaven, O morning
star, son of the dawn! You have been cast
down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

14. Pride of Grace: Galatians 6:13-15
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, through which the world has been
crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision means
anything; what counts is a new creation.

15. 3. Progressive Value System v7,8
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss
for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider
everything a loss compared to the surpassing
greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them
rubbish, that I may gain Christ

16. 3. Progressive Value System Contd..
―Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give
you the desires of your heart.‖ Psalm 37:4
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.” -
Helen H. Lemmel, 1922
The inspiration for Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,
which Helen entitled The Heavenly Vision, came
from the writings of author and artist Lilias Trotter

17. 3. Progressive value system v7,8
Lilias Trotter was a brilliant artist whose talent
opened the doors to wealth and influence. Her
other love was missions. After struggling in prayer
for two years, Trotter came to the conclusion that she
must lay down her love of art in order to fix her eyes
solely on Jesus, and on His calling to the mission field.
She subsequently served for more than 38 years
as a missionary to Muslims of Algeria.

18. 4. Perpetual renewal v10
• I want to know Christ and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
• 1 Cor 9:26,27: I do not run like a man running
aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the
air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave
so that after I have preached to others, I myself
will not be disqualified for the prize
• What ever it was that got you where you are
today is not sufficient to keep you there!

19. 5.Painful truth: not arrived yet v12,13a
• Not that I have already obtained all this, or have
already been made perfect, but I press on to
take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took
hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself
yet to have taken hold of it.
• You go as for as you can see and when you get
there you will see some more! – The horizon
principle

20. Paul’s successive realization
• 1 Cor 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles
Paul 35 years old
• Eph 3:8 -Although I am less than the least of
all God's people,
Paul – 45 years old
• 1 Tim 1:15,16 Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners--of whom I am the worst .
Paul – 63 years old

21. Paul’s Pursuit of knowing Christ-2 Tim.
• 1:12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I
am not ashamed, because I know whom I
have believed, and am convinced that he is
able to guard what I have entrusted to him for
that day.
• 4: 6-8 ―..the time has come for my departure. I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the
race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store
for me the crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on
that day

22. 6. Past is past: forget and move on v
13
• But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind
and straining toward what is ahead
• Genesis 41: 50,51 Before the years of famine
came, two sons were born to Joseph by
Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh {[51]
Manasseh sounds like and may be derived from
the Hebrew for forget.}and said, "It is because
God has made me forget all my trouble and all
my father's household.

23. 7. Pursue a goal larger than life v 14
• I press on toward the goal to win the prize for
which God has called me heavenward in Christ
Jesus.
• 1 Cor 15:9 If only for this life we have hope in
Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
•―The after taste of
success is boredom‖ –
Michael Novak

24. Pursue a goal larger than life (cont’d..)
―Creatures are not born with desires unless
satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels
hunger; well, there is such a thing as food. A
duckling wants to swim; well, there is such a
thing as water. Men feel sexual desire; well,
there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a
desire which no experience in this world can
satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I
was made for another …………world.” - CS
Lewis(Narnia) Mere Christianity

25. Pursue a goal larger than life
(cont’d..)
If none of my earthly pleasures
satisfy it, that does not prove the
universe is a fraud. It means earthly
pleasures were never meant to
satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to
………………………
suggest the real thing! CS Lewis – Mere
Christianity

26. Paul’s PhD – Philippians
1. 2: 5 Your attitude should be the same as that
of Christ Jesus
2. 2: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not
consider equality with God something to be
grasped, but made himself nothing,
3. But whatever was to my profit I now consider
loss for the sake of Christ.3:7
4. I want to know Christ and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in
his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.
3:10
Note:PhD - Positive and Healthy dissatisfaction

27. Paul’s PhD – Philippians
1. Not that I have already obtained all this, or
have already been made perfect,..3:12
2. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind
and straining toward what is ahead. V13
3. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for
which God has called me heavenward in
Christ Jesus. v14

28. Is your future ensured today?
―Multitudes of people have failed to live
for today. They have spent their lives
reaching for the future. What they have
had within their grasp today they have
missed entirely, because only the future
has intrigued them . . . and the first
thing they knew the future became the
past.‖ - William Allen White

29. What is that you
are doing today
that will guarantee
a better tomorrow?
Is your future ensured today?

30. Discussion Questions
1. Share how you have experienced any of
the 7 steps to sustain joy in your life.
2. How will positive and healthy
dissatisfaction help to augment your
success in your current situation?
3. Share one step you plan to incorporate
today that will guarantee a better
tomorrow. Pray for each other as you
commit this step into God’s hands.