Philippians 4:1-9 points towards foundational pillars for the Christian walk: Our need to live with determination (resolve) and our need to live in complete dependence upon the LORD by the Spirit. These two core aspects will secure our firm standing in the LORD with Joy.

If life were a race like Paul describes and our the finish line is eternity with Christ, then the biblical way to stay focused on that goal is to press upward together in biblical community with other believers.

God invites us to the great wedding feast, but we cannot come dressed in the filthy rags of self-confidence. To enjoy the everlasting feast, we must be clothed in the wedding clothes of Christ’s righteousness.

You only have one life to live. Your life may slowly come to a close in your 90s. Or it may come suddenly tomorrow. Remembering we only have one life to live supplies the urgency we need. That’s what this morning’s passage provides us with an opportunity to do.

Here are three ways to find joy from this passage: In God’s work and His pleasure, Shining God’s Light and Living the Long View.

Paul knows the Church is under pressure. Philippian endurance requires kingdom living. They must hold the line together as an outpost which displays the reality of the coming Kingdom. For Jesus will return. And the Church displays those future Kingdom realities in the world now.

How does an old briefcase serve to point us to our call to live worthy of the gospel? What are the three essential habits of those who walk worthy of the gospel? How can you find freedom from thinking too much of yourself or too little of yourself?

As he writes in chains, awaiting his verdict, Paul acknowledges that there are two choices before him—life and death. They aren’t really his choices, but he uses that word to address the fact that his own death is a very real and imminent possibility, and he has a preference. By his own example, Paul models for us what it looks like to find joyful confidence in our future deliverance, even in the face of death.

The gospel can advance under tremendous pressure. Under any amount pressure. God desires to save His people from every nation on earth and God will accomplish their salvation. There’s no pressure that will slow or stand against the power of the gospel in the world. This reality gives birth to a fearless and joyful church.

Christians are rescued from this world but left in world to make Jesus known. It costs us something to endure the rejection and resist the distractions of this world. The Second Coming motivates Christ-exalting devotion and righteousness. Remembering Jesus’s return is a motivation to live by faith. To be awakened and driven by what we can’t see. That’s what Paul prays for. Christ-exalting devotion. And Christ-exalting righteousness.