Our text tonight is found in
the portion that we read, Philippians chapter 4, and I'll read again
at verse 4. Philippians 4, verse 4, Rejoice
in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. These last chapters, 3 and 4, form what we might term the more
practical part of the epistle. As we've observed so many times,
these epistles of the Apostle Paul do seem to have a certain
structure. The usual practice with him is
that he deals the opening part of the epistles with the great
doctrines of the gospel and then spells out the practical implications
of how these things are to be worked out. in the lives of those
who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. And certainly here
we have that great passage in chapter two, that great statement
concerning the doctrine of the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And As a result of those things
that he's been declaring, when he comes to the practical part
that begins in chapter 3, so that chapter opens, finally,
my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Surely there is a great deal
to rejoice in when we consider of his only begotten Son, and
that great work that the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished
for sinners here upon the earth. And so, we're again in the practical
part of the epistle, as some of the old writers would say.
Last Lord's Day evening, we were considering words in chapter
3, and there at the end of the tenth verse I sought to say something
with regards to the believer's sufferings and the believer's
sanctification. We consider the fellowship of
Christ's sufferings and what it means to be made conformable
unto his death, the great truth the great need of our sanctification
which is altogether in the Lord Jesus Christ being crucified
with him. And now we turn to the verse
in chapter 4 and this exhortation to rejoice. He is giving a number
of exhortations as he comes to the close of the epistle. Previously,
He speaks in verse one of the need to stand fast, speaks of
steadfastness. Therefore, my dearly beloved,
and long for my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord's,
my dearly beloved. How important is that steadfastness
in the life of the child of God, the steadfastness of saving faith,
not wavering when he comes to our prayers. Remember what James
says, let him ask in faith. Nothing wavering either, waver
if he's like a wave of the sea driven of the winds and tosses.
Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the
Lord. A double-minded man is unstable
in all his ways. We should desire then that we
might be those who do indeed stand fast, have steadfastness,
and it's all as we see there in the first verse in the Lord. And then he goes on to address
two individuals there in the church at Philippi, who seem
to have been in some disagreement. I beseech you earlier, she says,
I beseech Sintike that they be of the same mind in the Lord. He's exhorting them then to be
of one mind. And it's that mind of Christ
that they should be desiring that, that he's spoken of, remember,
in that second chapter, let this mind be in you, he says, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Look, not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. There's that
need to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond
of peace. So he's giving these various
exhortations, be it to steadfastness, or be it to unity of spirit in
the church. But now, in verse four, we have
this exhortation to rejoicing. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say rejoice. First of all, I want to observe
with you how that In these exhortations we actually have commandments.
These two verbs that are used, twice we have the word rejoice,
and on each occasion it's in the imperative mood. He is commanding them really. Rejoice, he says. Rejoice in
the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. And it's the same in
that opening verse of the previous chapter. Finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord. And Paul is speaking with authority,
the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, the authority of one
who has been called to be an apostle of Christ. We were thinking
this morning of that call that came to the disciples, particularly
to Simon Peter and Andrew, to be followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ, how they would become fishers of men. as the Lord did
ordain 12. And we know, of course, how Judas
fell from his apostleship. This man, Saul of Tarsus, was
then called to fill that particular place in reality. And so he has
the authority of Christ as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. And oftentimes in these epistles,
we see him defending that authority. And so he can speak the language
of commands. The remarkable thing that we
can observe with this man is that he was one who practiced
what he preached. What it was that he commanded
others to do, he would also be doing the same himself. And really I would say that joy
and rejoicing is very much one of the hallmarks of the life
of this man. How he rejoiced in believers
themselves. Look at how the chapter opens.
Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, I long for my joy. Lo, he rejoiced in the people
of God. He had such an intensity of love
towards those who by the grace of God were being converted through
his ministry. How he was a man who rejoiced
in prayer. Look at what he says in the opening
chapter of verse four. He says, always in every prayer
of mine for you all, making requests with joy. And he rejoiced in
preaching. even when some were not motivated
in the right manner to be engaging in that preaching. Again, we
have it there in the first chapter. At verse 15 he says, Some indeed
preach Christ, even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preached Christ of contention,
not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds, the other
of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel,
but then, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in
truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, yea, and
will rejoice." Oh, he was full of great joy at the thought of
the gospel of Christ being proclaimed and said before a multitude of
sinners. It mattered not what motivated
them. Some, out of envy towards Paul,
he seems to be a man who was the cause of much contention
sometimes amongst even those who profess to be the believers
of Christ. But whatever why, he was joyful in the thought
of the ministry and the preaching of the gospel. And then also
we see him as a man who is rejoicing in the very prospect of death. Look at what he says in chapter
two, verse 17. Yea, and if I be offered upon
the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice
with you all. For the same cause also do ye
joy and rejoice with me. We know that he was at this time
a prisoner. Accusations had been made against
him by the Jews at Jerusalem. He's appealed unto Caesar. He'd
been taken from Jerusalem to Rome and there he was nearly
one of the prison epistles. He was a man who was in bonds
really. He was not free. He was not free
to travel, whatever he could do. Look at what he says again
there in chapter one. He says, I have you in my heart
in as much as both in my bonds. And in the defense and confirmation
of the gospel, he all are partakers of my grace. And then again,
in verse 13 of that chapter, he speaks of my bonds in Christ
manifest in all the palace and in all other places. Even as
he thinks that there's that prospect that he is going to die yet,
in these things he is able to rejoice. And of course the very
last of his epistles is that second one to Timothy, there
in the last chapter. He says, I am now ready to be
offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth
there is laid up for me crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me
only, but also unto all of them that love his appearing. Oh, the prospect, the prospect
of death with this man is even a cause for rejoicing. It will be absent from the body
and present with the Lord. Martyrdom then was very likely,
but in all those sufferings that would come upon him, whatever
they may be, how this man could rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. You think of what had happened
when he first went to Philippi with Silas, and they were there
preaching the gospel of the Lord, that dreadful uproar that we
read of in Acts chapter 16. And these two men ultimately
find themselves in the prison. What do we read there in that
chapter, Acts 16? At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed
and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. He was a man then, who throughout
his life and all his ministry was a joyful person. He had so much to rejoice in.
prayer, preaching, even sufferings for the cause of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Paul's joy was no superficial
joy. There was nothing superficial
about the joy that this man knew in the Lord. Think of that little
couplet of Joseph Hart's, A sinner may repent and sing, rejoice
and be ashamed. Paul knew something of what it
was to feel ashamed. What was he ashamed of? He had
an awful sense of the reality of his sin, that indwelling sin,
and how it filled him with shame. And he speaks of it so remarkably
in that seventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. Oh, there
was much cause for shame in himself, and yet Always, always calls
for rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ. But now time and again
we see Him as one, you see, who feels the need of repentance.
Yes, He rejoices and yet He is ashamed. What does He say in
chapter 3 and verse 6? concerning Zeele persecuting
the Church. There, as he speaks of his life
as a self-righteous man, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, all his trust,
all his confidence was in himself and in the flesh. is seeking
to address those Judaizers, those legalists who wanted to bring
the believers at Philippi under the bondage of the Lord of God.
They must submit, said the legalists, to circumcision and become debtors
to the law. What does he say? We are the
circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in
Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might
also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. Or what
a pedigree! Circumcise the eighth daughter
of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew
of the Hebrews, as touching the Lord a Pharisee concerning zeal
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the Lord blameless. He's ashamed now. of all that
he thought of himself. So zealous as a Pharisee, he
would persecute the followers of Christ, those who would embrace
the gospel of the Savior. And he's brought to count all
those things but loss for Christ, for the excellency of the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But you see, at times he is ashamed
when he thinks of what he was. his awful self-righteousness. Again, it's seen in the way he
addresses the churches of Galatia. He says there in verse 13 of
chapter 1, you've heard of my conversation in time past in
the Jewish religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the
church of God and wasted it. Or no wonder he goes on to say,
I am the least of all saints, or the least of the apostles,
and I'm not meant to be called an apostle, because I persecuted
the church of God. There was cause then for shame
when he thought of his life, and yet, in that little couplet,
that we referred to just now, the sinner may repent and sing,
rejoice and be ashamed. How necessary this exhortation
was. He addresses it to the Philippians,
but is he not in a sense addressing it also to himself? Rejoice in
the Lord, all men, and again I say rejoice, all All his joy
must centre in the Lord Jesus Christ. And isn't that true? Of any who know the great gift
of salvation, when we look to ourselves, think of the language
of Robert Murray McShane, I think it was a favourite saying of
our late dear friend Sidney Norton, one look at self, ten, a hundred,
a thousand looks to Christ. Well, that's what we have to
do. Yes, we have to examine ourselves and prove ourselves and know
ourselves. There's a place for self-examination. But pour not on thyself too long,
lest it sink below, and look to Jesus kind, as strong mercy
joined to power. Or the blessed object of the
believer's faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. The only object
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end to glorify God
and to enjoy Him forever, to enjoy Him forever. That joy can
only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. So here we have
a command, an exhortation rejoice in the Lord, all one. And again,
I say rejoice. But let us observe how that all
of this joy does very much center only in the Lord. There is something
objective about this rejoicing. And it's interesting how that
repeatedly here with these exhortations he refers them to the Lord. There in verse 1, so stand fast,
this is steadfastness, so stand fast in the Lord. And then addressing
these two, who must have had some serious disagreement, the
earliest in Tzitziki, they are told to be of the same mind in
the Lord. And these prepositions are very
Very important. I remember once hearing a minister
make the observation that when it comes to a right understanding
of doctrine and theology, all the doctrine and all the theology
is in the prepositions. And these little words, this
little word, in, in the Lord, in the Lord with regards to steadfastness,
in the Lord with regards to unity, in the Lord with regards to rejoicing. But there's such a richness and fullness
in the Word of God that it's also observed that the prepositions
that we have here could be understood as being instrumental. They could
just as well have been rendered by the Lord. in the Lord by the
Lord. Stand fast by the Lord. What does that mean? By means
of the Lord. Thy right hand hath holden me
up, says the Psalmist. How can we remain faithful and
true? How can we be steadfast in believing? We have to be kept by the power
of God. by the power of God, through
faith unto salvation. You see the importance of these
little words. Again, when it comes to unison,
they're in verse 2b, of the same mind, by the Lord. It's by the
Lord. It's a complete dependence upon
the Lord if we're going to know that unity of the Spirit, that
bond of peace. Is it not the very thing that
the Lord Jesus Christ himself prays for? There in the high
priestly prayer in John chapter 17, here is Christ praying to the
Father. What does he say? Verse 20, verily, verily, the
wrong passage, chapter 17 of John, and verse 20. He says, neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their
word, that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me, And the glory which thou
gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as
we are one. And the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one.
I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one,
and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them as thou hast loved me. And that prayer of Christ, it
must be answered. And it is answered. All that
unity then comes only from the Lord. And here you see, rejoice
by the Lord. And again I say rejoice. How is it by the Lord? It's by
the Spirit of the Lord. What is this joy? It's one of
the fruits of the Spirit that Paul speaks of in Galatians 5.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness,
meekness. All is fruit of the Spirit, and
amongst that fruit of the Blessed Spirit is that of joy. Now, we need to observe, therefore,
the relationship between duty and dependence. When we consider
these practical parts of these words of command and exhortation,
isn't the apostle setting before the church at Philippi what their
duties are? But how can they perform these
duties? Well, they perform these duties
as they are ever, always learning their complete and utter dependence
upon the Lord. As we said last week when we
were considering those words in the previous chapter, seeking
to say something with regards to that sanctification, that
holiness, where does it come from? It all comes from the Lord. I can do all things through Christ
which strengthens me, says the Apostle. How can we rejoice? Well, think of that lovely expression
that we find in the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah 8.10, the joy of the
Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord, it's that
that is of the Lord. It's that that comes from the
Lord. And what do we see here? Well,
look again at the words of the text, not just the preposition. but the noun that the preposition
is joined to. We have the verb, to rejoice,
we have the preposition, which is in or by, and then we have
the noun, the Lord. The Lord. And what does this
word, this noun that is given to Christ Jesus remind us of? It reminds us of his sovereignty. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, each part of that
name declares something to us. He is indeed the Christ of God,
the promised Messiah, the Anointed One. And his human name is Jesus. that name that speaks to us of
the work that He came to accomplish here upon the earth. Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. That was the work that He came
to accomplish, the great work of salvation. And who is this
One who has come to accomplish salvation? He is nothing less
than the Lord. He reminds us then of His day.
As Peter confesses our Christ, the Son of the living God. Oh, he is that one who is truly
the Lord of lords. It reminds us in this very name,
Lord, it reminds us of his absolute sovereignty. Oh, this is the
one that we are to rejoice in. What then does it matter? whatever
situation or circumstances we might be. We sang it just now
in that lovely 80 seconds, in rejoice ye saints, in every state. Divine decrees remain unmoved,
no turns of providence abate. God's care for those he once
has loved. Firmer than heaven his covenant
stands, the world should shake and skies depart, you're safe. in your Redeemer's hands, who
bears your names upon His breast. Even in these days, when many
are fearful, many are afraid, terribly afraid because of this
awful plague that has come on the face of the earth. And we
take these matters seriously. But we have cause to rejoice.
We know that all things work together for good to them that
love God. to them who are called according
to his purpose. The one in whom rejoice is that
one who is sovereign over all things. And this was Paul's experience. He doesn't address these epistles
theoretically. He speaks out of all the fullness
of his own heart and all his own experiences of the grace
of God. Going back to the first chapter,
What does he say, verse 12? I would, ye should understand,
brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen
out rather unto the fervorous of the gospel, so that my bonds
in Christ are manifested in all the palace and in all other places. Many of the brethren in the Lord,
waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the
word without fear. It seems that by means of his
experience, having been in a situation at Jerusalem
where the Jews were scheming and planning for his death, brought against him in appeal
to Caesar, and now he's there in Rome. And what does he say
at the end of the chapter? All the saints salute you, chiefly
they that are of Caesar's household. The gospel was even reaching
into the household of Caesar, the emperor. Oh, here is Paul's
confidence, you see, in the midst of all that he is suffering. All these things falling out
for the furtherance of the gospel, the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the furtherance of the gospel. It was cause for rejoicing. Is there not joy in the presence
of the angels of God over one's sin of the repentant? Rejoice
in the Lord always is. And again, I say rejoice. And thus here we see this joy centering in Christ
and centering in him as that one who is the Lord, who is truly
God, God manifest in the flesh, the only saviour of sinners.
So again, we think of Christ's prayers, Christ's supplication.
He has accomplished his work here upon the earth and now he
has ascended on high. He was here, that great high
priest, who made sacrifice. And now, as a priest, he has
entered into that within the veil, he is in heaven, and there
he ever lives to make intercession for all that come unto God by
him. And so, Isaac Watts in the hymn
can say, with joy, we meditate the grace of our high priest
above his heart, is made of tenderness, is bowels, mouths with love. We can with joy meditate where
he is, he's in heaven. And can we not rejoice in that? Or Paul says to them, here in
the context, the following verse is verse six, be careful for
nothing. But in everything, by prayer
and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known
unto God. He says previously, verse five,
let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at
hand. How is the Lord at hand? The
Lord is at hand to hear, to answer prayers. It's by praying to this
one that every need of the saints is met. What does Paul say? Verse 10, I rejoiced in the Lord
greatly, that now at the last your care of me has flourished
again, wherein you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak in respect of one, for I have learned in whatsoever
state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased
and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer
needs. He knows that the Lord will provide
for him. Come what may. Verse 19, my God
shall supply all your needs. according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. What a chapter this is. It is
full of so much comfort to the people of God. Did Christ pray? Christ prays there in his high
priestly prayer, he has now entered into heaven and his very presence
there in glory is a constant prayer on behalf of his people,
his very presence. And the apostle prays. And we
are to Pray to this one and in prayer surely we will see every
cause for rejoicing. All this joy, it all centers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then finally, what we have
here is that that should be the continuous and continual experience
of the people of God. Observe the word always. Rejoice
in the Lord, All right. Whatever be our circumstances,
our situation, the Lord is that one who is the unchanging one.
Jesus Christ. The same yesterday, and today,
and forever. For whatever be our situation,
He's unchanging. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Why? His very name as Lord, the
Great I Am, that I Am declares to us that He is the Unchanging
One, and He is that One who is the God of the Covenant, that
Covenant ordered in all things and sure. That's where we're
to look. Or we're to look to that covenant
that is ordered, and ordered where? In the councils of Eternity,
in the councils of the Trinity, Father's time, and Holy Ghost,
the great purpose of salvation. We're to look then at these objective
truths that are so clearly revealed to us here in the Word of God. There's that lovely passage that
we have at the end of the prophecy of Habakkuk. There in Habakkuk 3.17, although
the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the
vines, the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall
yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fort, and
there shall be no herd in the store, yet says the prophet,
I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength and
he will make my feet like hydrate and he will make me to walk upon
mine high places. So the chief singer on my string
instruments. Why? It's a song of praise. It's a song of thanksgiving.
That's how we rejoice. Do we not rejoice when we come
before our God to sing his praises? And this is the source of all
our rejoicing and all our joy, that salvation is truly of the
Lord himself. And so, as Peter, as Paul gives
exhortation, so too does the apostle Peter. There in 1 Peter
1.8, he says, Rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Oh, what a word then. The Lord
be pleased to come and to impress it upon our hearts. It's a great
exhortation. It's a double exhortation. We
have the words not just once but twice. in this short text. Might the Lord then be pleased
to write it indelibly, in every heart, rejoicing the Lord, alright. And again I say, rejoice. May the Lord bless His Word to
us.