I want to show you a man in distress, a man in depression, a man who knew he ought to have joy, but couldn’t seem to grasp it. Before we dig into this passage, let me take you back, back many centuries, many books, to Psalm 42. The apostle Paul knew the fullness of Holy Spirit-given joy, something that every believer should know and experience but not all do. This has been called the epistle of joy, and it is called such because the expression of joy and rejoicing fills these brief four chapters. After his opening salutation in verses 1 and 2, in which he identified himself and those to whom he wrote, the apostle Paul speaks about his joy. That’s a joyous beginning to a wonderful epistle. For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, Since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians chapter 1, beginning in verse 3, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. We started last week, we’ll finish next week, so this will be part 2 of what will turn out to be a three-part study. We return this morning to our study of Philippians, so I invite you to take your Bible, if you will, and open to Philippians chapter 1.
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