SERMON FOR FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY,
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2007

Readings:
Psalm 19, page 304
Micah 6:1-8
Philippians 4:4-13

Text: Philippians 4:4: Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Sermon Topic: “The necessity of rejoicing in the Lord”

INTRODUCTION
Rejoicing in the Lord is the topic of today’s message. When I was 17 years old, just finishing high school, I used to attend a Bible Study fellowship group once a week at school. One of the little songs which was popular at that time was based on this verse: it was sung as a two-part round. This verse stands out from the exhortations St. Paul gives at the end of his Epistle to the Philippians, and yet we do not hear it often preached. The commentator Albert Barnes wrote this comment on Philippians 4:4:

It is the privilege of Christians to do this, not at certain periods and at distant intervals, but at all times they may rejoice that there is a God and Saviour; they may rejoice in the character, law, and government of God - in his promises, and in communion with him. The Christian, therefore, may be, and should be, always a happy man. If everything else changes, yet the Lord does not change; if the sources of all other joy are dried up, yet this is not; and there is not a moment of a Christian’s life in which he may not find joy in the character, law, and promises of God.

Matthew Henry comments more briefly:

Joy in God is a duty of great consequence in the Christian life; and Christians need to be again and again called to it. If good men have not a continual feast, it is their own fault.

Henry speaks of rejoicing in God as a duty, and Barnes describes it as a privilege and shows the constancy of God and his promises, character, law and government as causes for rejoicing in God. At the start of the Eucharistic Prayer, our Prayer Book reminds us of the duty of always giving thanks to God:

It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, Everlasting God. (p. 97)

Now a duty is something which we owe to another or must perform by legal or moral obligation. Of course we all owe God more thanksgiving and rejoicing than we can ever give Him in this life, yet sometimes we think of duty in such solemn fashion, that we find it difficult to apply it to the command “rejoice in the Lord”! This problem, however, may derive from our personalities or from our experience of life and approach to it. Often, because our priorities are set on earthly things, or because we too often allow our mood to be affected by circumstance, we look upon rejoicing as an onerous duty.

EXPOSITION OF PHILIPPIANS 4:4 AND CONTEXT

In the Greek text, the word for rejoice, “chairete” is a present tense imperative, implying a continual rejoicing in the Lord. It is a command for us to do this always and continually. The command is given regardless of the varied circumstances, trials and persecutions which Christians may find themselves in. The Lord expects us to trust them all to him.

The Revised English Bible in its translation of this verse does not capture the force of the original language, for it reads: “I wish you all joy in the Lord always. Again I say: all joy be yours.” If this translation were correct, it would mean that joy is something that comes and goes, and we can wish it for others and for ourselves. The command “Rejoice in the Lord” implies that we take the initiative for our own joy in the Lord by praising Him and thanking him continually.

The same Greek word in its present infinitive form was used as a greeting. We find it, for example, at the beginning of the Epistle General of St. James. It is a word expressing joy at meeting someone or communicating with him. Our joy in the Lord derives from all that He has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ, on the Cross, through which He brought us out of spiritual death and darkness into the splendor of his light and life. It derives also from the wonderful relationship we have with Him through His Son. St. Paul writes in Romans 5:1-5, KJV:

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Note that the text does not read, “Rejoice in your wealth”, or “Rejoice in your hamburgers”, for neither of these, nor any earthly thing can give us joy, as God himself gives us, when we delight in Him and rejoice in Him. Yet God gives us the joy of our inmost prayers and godly desires fulfilled when we live for him, rejoicing in Him, for the Psalmist testifies in Ps. 37:4:

Delight thou in the LORD, and He shall give thee thy heart’s desire.

Thomas a Kempis, the 15th Century mystic, wrote:
BEHOLD, my God and my all! What more do I wish for; what greater happiness can I desire? O sweet and delicious word! But sweet only to him who loves it, and not to the world or the things that are in the world.
My God and my all! These words are enough for him who understands, and for him who loves it is a joy to repeat them often. For when You are present, all things are delightful; when You are absent, all things become loathsome. It is You Who give a heart tranquillity, great peace and festive joy. It is You Who make us think well of all things, and praise You in all things. Without You nothing can give pleasure for very long, for if it is to be pleasing and tasteful, Your grace and the seasoning of Your wisdom must be in it. What is there that can displease him whose happiness is in You? And, on the contrary, what can satisfy him whose delight is not in You?  (Imitatio Christi, 34th Chapter)

So important is it for the Christian to rejoice in the Lord that St. Paul repeats the command, “Again, I will say, rejoice!” Christians are prone to fall into a state of not rejoicing, which is why St. Paul needs to repeat the command. Some writers have made much of rejoicing and giving thanks for all the adversities which Christians face. This may be hard to do, and it is often best to focus on the Lord, and on his provision, his foreknowledge of how “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, KJV) John Wesley, in Sermon 18, notes how joy is one of the distinguishing marks of the new birth:

5. And thus is the Scripture fulfilled, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” For it is easy to believe, that though sorrow may precede this witness of God’s Spirit with our spirit; (indeed must, in some degree, while we groan under fear, and a sense of the wrath of God abiding on us;) yet, as soon as any man feeleth it in himself, his “sorrow is turned into joy.” Whatsoever his pain may have been before; yet, as soon as that “hour is come, he remembereth the anguish no more, for joy” that he is born of God. It may be, many of you have now sorrow, because you are “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel;” because you are conscious to yourselves that you have not this Spirit; that you are “without hope and without God in the world.” But when the Comforter is come, “then your heart shall rejoice;” yea, “your joy shall be full,” and “that joy no man taketh from you.” (John 16:22 .) “We joy in God,” will ye say, “through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement;” “by whom we have access into this grace,” this state of grace, of favour, or reconciliation with God, “wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Rom. 5:2 .) “Ye,” saith St. Peter, whom God hath “begotten again unto a lively hope, are kept by the power of God unto salvation: Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith may be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ: In whom, though now ye see him not, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” (1 Peter 1:5 .) Unspeakable indeed! It is not for the tongue of man to describe this joy in the Holy Ghost. It is “the hidden manna, which no man knoweth, save he that receiveth it.” But this we know, it not only remains, but overflows, in the depth of affliction. “Are the consolations of God small” with his children, when all earthly comforts fail? Not so. But when sufferings most abound, the consolations of his Spirit do much more abound; insomuch that the sons of God “laugh at destruction when it cometh;” at want, pain, hell, and the grave; as knowing Him who “hath the keys of death and hell,” and will shortly “cast them into the bottomless pit;” as hearing even now the great voice out of heaven, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.” (Rev. 21:3 , 4 .)

 

CLUES FROM THE CONTEXT OF PHILIPPIANS 4:4

The verses following Phil. 4:4 give us some clues to maintaining an attitude of rejoicing in the Lord. The word “epiekes” in verse 5 probably means “gentleness”, but it can also mean “moderation”(KJV), “consideration for others”, or “magnanimity” (New English Bible), or “fair-mindedness”, or “forbearance”. This is the kind of attitude God has toward all of us, his kindness and forbearance being intended “to lead us to repentance” (Romans 2:4). If we show such loving forbearance and gentleness to everyone, even to those who are hostile towards us, we shall more easily stay focused on God, and on rejoicing in Him.

The second clue is given in verse 6:

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (KJV)

This contains a series of commands, the first of which is to avoid anxiety or worry about anything. The modern translation of “care” in this verse is “anxiety”, or “worry”; similarly “careful” means “anxious”. Anxiety, I know from experience, although it should not be my experience, quickly steals a Christian’s joy in the Lord. The antidote to anxiety is to pray to the Lord about every concern you have and to also give thanks to Him that he has heard your prayer. What will be the result of praying to God about every need, and giving thanks to God that He will meet it? It will surely be another part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), the fruit of peace. This peace from God, the peace “which passes, or transcends, all understanding” will keep watch over and protect our hearts and minds in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The third clue to our rejoicing is maintaining a pure heart and mind with pure thoughts, according to Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Once, when I was a teenager, I had a keen interest in reading horror stories, and my father saw me reading a volume of horror stories, and remarked that I should be always thinking of what is good, noble, honorable and true, and he quoted me this verse. It made a deep impression on me, and I afterwards lost my love of horror stories, and much later was delivered from the longing to read about evil, ugly and awful things.

The fourth clue to rejoicing in the Lord effectively is to live the Christian life (Phil. 4:9) as modeled by the Lord Jesus Christ, by St. Paul, the Apostles and other heroes of the faith down the ages, and in the history of our families.

The fifth clue to living a life of rejoicing in the Lord is to be content in all circumstances, as St. Paul writes,

Phi 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Phi 4:12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Phi 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

In my own experience, God has looked after me and my family miraculously for 1 year of unemployment so far, and I thank God for His merciful provision. But like St. Paul, we have had to learn to be content whether we abound or suffer need. Many Christians are fond of quoting Phil. 4:13 out of context, but it clearly applies to the endurance of trying circumstances, and yet being content.

Rejoicing in the Lord is a command given to all Christians. How well are you obeying this command?

Too easily we neglect to rejoice in the Lord, and we can fall into a lifelong habit of being negative and miserable. Don’t let this be your case!