Rejoice in the Lord Always
Philippians 4v4
10th May 2024
Philippians 4v4
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always. Then he says it again. The reason he repeats himself is probably because most people would think the idea of always rejoicing rather ridiculous. How can we rejoice when we're sick or injured, or bereaved, or out of work, or ostracised from a friendship group, or persecuted. How can we rejoice when we're regretting our past sins, or being convicted about our present sins? Paul says we can, and we should! We can't always rejoice that things are difficult, We certainly can't rejoice that we're sinful people, but we can always rejoice in the Lord. No matter how horrible things are, we can rejoice that Jesus has redeemed us, God has forgiven us, and eternal bliss awaits us. Writing to the Corinthians, Paul compared the struggles and grief of this life with the joy of the life to come:
2 Corinthians 4v17-7
... our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is
temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
I think the main reason we find it difficult to rejoice in the Lord always is because we still see the things of this earthly life as more important than the things of heaven and of eternity. That is understandable, perhaps, because earthly life is happening now, and requires some focus. But meditating on the eternal life that Christ has won for us, gives us a necessary and helpful perspective. It can be difficult to see our current pain and struggles as light and momentary, but soon we will see Jesus face-to-face. Soon, all sorrow, mourning and pain will end. If we will remember the joy to come, and the Saviour who died to accomplish it, we will give honour to God and we will ease our own burdens. As the Psalmist said:
Psalm42v5
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.
We don't worship God to make ourselves feel better; we worship God because He's God. He deserves our worship, just as He deserves our gratitude and our obedience. We worship our Creator, our Saviour, our Teacher, our Healer, our Lord. It would be very weird not to. Nevertheless, it is true that worshipping God does improve our mood, because we shift our focus off our difficulties and onto Him, the most beautiful, good, loving, faithful and kind person in existence. Nehemiah was right when he said, "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8v10b).
Paul had earned the right to teach us to rejoice in the Lord at all times. He knew what He was talking about. He was incarcerated in a Roman prison when he wrote this letter. We can read in 2 Corinthians 11v23-29 a list of some of the suffering he had undergone. He suffered much, but he persevered in serving God, and in rejoicing. He lived the principle that we can rejoice at all times. In a previous imprisonment:
Acts 16v22-25
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered
them to be stripped and beaten with rods.
After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer
was commanded to guard them carefully.
When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet
in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other
prisoners were listening to them.
If Paul and Silas could rejoice in the stocks in a Roman prison, if they and their apostolic colleagues could keep going through all the danger, toil, persecution and deprivation they continually experienced, and rejoice in the Lord through it all, then perhaps you and I, too, can rejoice in the Lord always.