Some of you, I know, have come
here tonight with burdens which cause your heart much agitation
and rob your soul and spirit of joy, comfort, peace. Some because of sickness. Some of you come perhaps even
sick now, I don't know. Some have been sick. and the sickness is an agitation
to you. It's never easy to bear sickness. It's never easy to bear pain,
difficulty. Others of you, I know, have earthly
cares, earthly cares that continually vex your soul, break your heart,
rob you of peace and comfort that you desire to have. Some of you have financial strains. You live day-to-day, week-to-week,
hardly knowing how you're going to make ends meet. Some of you
have some domestic trials. I hope none of you have difficulties,
husbands and wives. Maybe you do. I don't know. Some
of you have difficulties with mothers and fathers, sons and
daughters. brothers and sisters, difficulties
in your family that nobody knows about but you, them, and God.
Some of you have problems of varying degrees and varying kinds
that press you down and agitate your heart. All of you, I hope,
have an awareness and a great burden upon your soul because
of personal sin. I hope you know the reality of
your sin, and I hope your sin is a burden to you, a grief and
a vexation to your heart. I hope more than anything else
your personal sin is. And some of you are almost always
gloomy, melancholy, and downcast. I have a friend I love him dearly,
the poor fella. He was, I'm surprised he didn't
always walk around dusting like this, for fear the sky was going
to fall in. He's so, so gloomy. Nothing was ever delightful. Nothing was ever cheerful. The
world's ready to fall apart now, you know. I'm surprised it didn't
fall apart 10 minutes ago. He's just gloomy, always downcast. And some of you are kind of like
that. You have occasional moments of delight, but they're few and
they quickly flee away. You always see the negative side
of things, and I'm not here to preach to you about positive
thinking. That won't do you any good. But some of you spend all
of the energy of your mind and all of the attention of your
heart lamenting your sinfulness and your weakness and your coldness
of heart and your indifference and your uselessness and things
of that kind. Now, these things we must ever
acknowledge. We must, each of us, acknowledge
our personal wretchedness. We must acknowledge our personal
depravity. My sin is ever before me, was
David's cry when he spoke to God. And if Christ is before
us, our sin will ever be before us. If Christ is before you and
you trust him, You will know and acknowledge your sin. Acknowledge
your guilt. Acknowledge that you have no
hope before God but Christ. No righteousness but Christ.
No redemption but Christ. But my soul acknowledge that
you have Christ. Acknowledge that you do have
hope and you do have righteousness and you do have redemption if
indeed you're in Christ Jesus the Lord. Awareness of personal
sin, our awareness of inward corruption and personal depravity
ought never bring believers into despair. I have so many friends
I wish somehow another, by some means or other, I could get hold
of their hearts and turn them around. Most of the time our
hearts are turned looking in here and our hearts being turned
looking in here cause us despair and aggravation and pain and
and discontent and a melancholy spirit. Well, take that heart
and turn it to Him who sits upon the throne and quit looking at
self and look to Him. And that's what I want to do
for each of us tonight. I want by this message that I'm
going to preach to you, if God will enable me to speak to turn
your heart and mind away from yourself, altogether away from
yourself, to Jesus Christ our Lord and our Redeemer. I have
a message. I believe I have a message from
God suited to you for right now, for this hour. You'll find it
in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 4. Now this is an admonition,
an encouragement, and an exhortation, but it's much, much more. This
is a command from God himself to all who believe. This is what
God commands of you and of me. Philippians 4 and verse 4, rejoice. Rejoice. A command? That's what
he says, isn't it? Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord
always and again I say rejoice. Now joy is the fruit of the Spirit. It is the result of faith and
it is the command of God. What a gracious good God we have. He makes joy a duty. He makes
delight a matter of responsibility. He makes happiness to be a matter
of spiritual well-being. Now this joy is not a matter
of indifference. Most people think that it really
doesn't matter whether they rejoice or not. It doesn't hurt anybody
if they want to be sad. But it does matter. God commands
us to rejoice. It's therefore our duty and our
responsibility to do it. Joy is a duty that's good for
us. The wise man Solomon wrote these
words, a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. You'll see it on
a fellow saint. But by sorrow of the heart, the spirit is broken. A merry heart doeth good like
a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. It's good for
us to rejoice because joy drives away strife and division. Look
here at Paul's admonition in verse 1 of chapter 4. He says,
therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, and long for my joy
and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. And
then there were some folks in the church that had some problems.
Folks in the church that didn't get along. Some folks in the
church with some strife, some division, some things kind of
drove a wedge between them. Paul says, I beseech you, Odius,
and beseech Sintete, that they be of the same mind in the Lord,
that is, this mind of joy and rejoicing. And I entreat thee
also, true yoke fellows, Help those women which labored with
me in the gospel, and with Clement also, and with other my fellow
servants whose names are in the book of life. Help them like
this. Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again,
I say rejoice. It's very difficult, if not impossible,
for two hearts to be divided when both rejoice in the Lord.
If we have the same object of joy, if we have the same object
of satisfaction and delight, if the same thing causes our
hearts to beat with delight and to beat with merriness, then
it's not very easy for us to find any grounds of quarrel.
So Paul speaks of this matter of joy as being a knitting factor
in the church of God. This joy also sustains us in
our trials of life. Look in verse six, Paul's admonishing
us to rejoice. It admonishes us to be peaceful,
to be at ease, not let things ruffle us, not let things disturb
us. Let your moderation be known
to all men. That is your ease, your gentleness
of spirit, your gentleness of character. The Lord's at hand.
And this is his instruction, verse six. Be careful for nothing. Stop worrying. Stop fretting. Stop being anxious. Stop being
fearful. but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known
unto God. He's talking about joy. As you
experience your trials and difficulties in this world, don't fret, don't
worry, but rather turn to God with prayer and supplication
and thanksgiving with joy make your request known to God and
endure the trial. With joy, make your request known
to God and face the difficulty. With joy, make your request known
to God and be content and be at peace. Joy glows in the dark. It's a light that shines brightest
when the darkness is deficient. Now, follow me, if you will,
through this verse. I'm going to take it a word at a time and
give you this word from God. First, we have the commandment
given, rejoice. This is God's delightful command. It's a command, but it's a delightful
command. You would not imagine committing
adultery. You would not imagine committing
murder. You would not imagine committing
blasphemy or idolatry. Why? Well, God commands, contrary. The Lord says, thou shalt not.
And since we love him, we would not for anything willfully violate
his law. Because we love him, we would
not willfully for anything violate any command of God. And yet how
often we who are so tenacious about other things take this
matter of God's command for rejoicing to be indifferent. Well, it doesn't
really matter. You know, it's whom I hurt. What's
the bother? What's the big deal? Well, loving
God, he commands us to rejoice and let us not willfully violate
the command. What he says is, rejoice, rejoice. It's his command. It's a commandment
that's profitable for us and profitable for others. You see,
joy is a grace of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit, Paul
says, is love, joy. That's the fruit of the Spirit.
In other words, wherever the Spirit of God resides, there
is begotten in the heart joy, love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, temperance. Against these
things, no law can stand. With these things, nothing can
disturb them. These things abide forever where
the Spirit of God is. Joy is the grace of the Spirit
in the believer's heart. But it's a grace of the spirit
that's seen in his life. You find a man who's joyful,
he can't have it. You find a man who rejoices,
it's not something that he covers up. Now, please understand me,
and I think you do. I'm not talking about a show.
I'm not talking about a pretense. This crazy religious world of
ours, everybody puts on a big Smile, you know, like a possum
eating briars, and they think they got the world, boo. Oh,
it's so good to see you. Oh, praise the Lord. I'm not
talking about that silly mess. No, I'm not talking about that
at all. I'm talking about real, abiding, contentment of heart
and faith in Christ that produces joy before God. Rejoice. This is God's commandment, and
it's seen wherever it's evident. Joy is more than peace. It's
even more than contentment. Joy sparkles and shines and sings. Someone said it's a bird. Let
it loose in the heaven and hear it sing. That's joy. Rejoice
in the Lord. Joy is a grace that stimulates
the soul. Nothing stimulates a man in work
like joy. Whatever his source of joy is,
it stimulates him to go on well. Businessmen, manufacturers, factories,
companies, spend thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars
trying to discover what kind of atmosphere will produce the
greatest measure of joy for their workers, because workers that
are joyful work harder. They just go after their work.
They're stimulated by their joy. Whether it's the joyous prospect
of getting off a little early, or the joyous prospect of a raise,
or the joyous prospect of a job well done, joy causes workers
to work hard. And joy causes faith to be stimulated
as well. Joy is born of faith, but joy
stimulates faith. Nothing stimulates the believer
in deeds of faith like love for Christ, like that joy that is
brought forth in that love for Christ Jesus the Lord and the
joy of faith in him. And joy is an influential grace.
The proverb is, you can catch more flies with a spoonful of
honey than you can with a barrel of vinegar. Pretty good proverb. And if we would induce men, if
we would induce women to hear the gospel we preach, and trust
the Savior we trust, and follow the Lord we follow, we must do
so not only by strictness of life or our straight-laced manners,
but by the joy of faith in Christ Jesus. I don't remember where
I heard it, but sometime back I heard someone say, Most of
the Christians I know look more like jackasses than sheep. You know folks like that? They've
got extra long ears. They're ready to hear gossip
at any time. And they've got a very stubborn will. Nothing
moves them. And they have terribly long faces. That's the picture most people
have of Christianity. And regrettably, it is for the
most part a justified picture among religionists. Most religionists
have anything but this kind of joy. This joy is profitable for
us because it's contagious as well. It's very difficult to
be in the company of someone who's full of joy without that
joy spilling over. You get in the company of people
who are melancholy and downcast and depressed and and anxious
and fearful and grumbling and murmuring and all the time crying,
oh me, oh me, oh me, mourning and mourning and mourning, and
pretty soon everybody around is gloomy and mourning and despair,
and they're crying, oh me, oh me, oh me. Now listen to me. Yes, blessed are they that mourn,
but when they're blessed, they quit their mourning. It's not
blessed are they that mourn and mourn and mourn and mourn and
mourn and mourn and mourn until they can't mourn anymore. It's
blessed are they that mourn their sins are pardoned. They're heirs
of the kingdom of God. Now they've got a reason to rejoice.
As a matter of fact, the word blessed means happy are they
that mourn. Happy are they that mourn. Their
mourning turns to joy for they find the pardon of sin. It's
not only true that despondency and murmuring is
contagious, but joy is contagious as well. And if you would be
a benefit to others, learn to rejoice. Learn to rejoice. We were back in the office a
little bit ago, and I watched, faced it when I talked to folks.
Merle came in, asked him how he was feeling, and he said I'm
feeling good. I think he was feeling pretty
good tonight, I can tell. Joey said he wouldn't tell you
if he wasn't, would he? No, never heard him say he wasn't
feeling good. Now, I can tell when he's not,
but I never heard him say he wasn't. I appreciate it. No need
for me to hear about it if you're feeling bad. No need for me to...
Oh, I had a horrible day. Tell me after I get done preaching,
not beforehand. My soul. Don't load me down with
that beforehand. He said, well, I thought you
said we're not to be pretentious. That's not being pretentious.
If my body's in pain, I still feel good. That's right. I've
got a good God and a good Savior. You remember what Scott said,
Merle? No bad news since I heard the good news. My flesh is in
pain. My flesh sorrows. My flesh mourns. But my spirit rejoices. Rejoice
in the Lord. Rejoice in him. And by all means,
my reasons for joy outweigh my reasons for sorrow. Paul tells
us to rejoice, and we're obliged to do so because it's God's command. But how can we? What can induce
us to rejoice? Look at the next words. Rejoice
in the Lord. Now, this is the source of joy.
Someone said, joy is the flag that is flown from the citadel
of the heart when the king is in residence. I like that. Joy
is the flag that's hoisted up and flown from the citadel of
the heart when King Jesus is in residence. Rejoice! Why? In the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. We must not, and I hope we do
not, rejoice in earthly, material, temporal things. That joy is
just a passing fantasy. It's just a passing moment of
happiness, and happiness depends upon happenings. When the happenings
grow sour, the happiness turns sour. The sphere, the source,
and the object of our joy is the joy of faith. If it is indeed
the joy of faith, it is in the Lord. The source of our joy is
not in or of this world. Paul, in the midst of his trials
and difficulties, he said, we faint not. We continue. We go on. We're steadfast. We're
laboring. We're content. Our hearts rejoice. Why? For we look not at the things
which are seen. Oh God, teach me that. We look
not at anything that can be seen. That is, we do not set our eyes
of our heart upon that which is seen. For everything that's
seen is temporary. It's vanishing away. We look
not upon things which are seen, but upon things which are not
seen. Now then, now I can rejoice. Now I can rejoice. Man comes
home. I trust it doesn't happen tonight,
but you or I go home and find that someone has broken into
the house, destroyed everything that was of any value to us,
of any earthly value, set the house on fire, and you go home
and everything's gone. Well, that sure causes pain,
it does. You may spend some time weeping,
you may, that's understandable, but that's not the source of
our joy. We're not, our hearts aren't set on those things. If
we're God's people, our hearts are not set on the passing, fanciful
things of time. And in the midst of the loss
of earthly, material things, we rejoice in God, our Savior,
who gives and who takes away. Do you see what I'm talking about?
The source of our joy is not even in our spiritual experiences
and spiritual gifts and our place of usefulness in the kingdom
of God. Turn over to Luke chapter 10. Luke the 10th chapter, let
me show you this. And I said, well, I'd just be
so, so happy and so joyful if I could, if I could do this,
or if I could serve there, or if I could preach, or if I could
sing, or if I could witness, or if I could, if I could be
a maid of youth to do this or that, or the other thing in the
kingdom of God. Our Savior is speaking to his disciples and
he says in verse 19, behold, I give unto you power to tread
on serpents and scorpions. Now that's power. That's power
from God. Power to tread on serpents and
scorpions and over all power of the enemy. And nothing shall
by any means hurt you. Now then look at the next word.
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not. Don't rejoice in this. Not because the spirits are subject
unto you. These fellows had come back from
a mission and they said Lord the devils are subject to us.
He said don't put any confidence in that. Don't rejoice in that. but rather rejoice because your
names are written in heaven. The source of our joy is not
in ourselves. Paul says we are the circumcision
which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. The source of our joy is the
Lord our God. We rejoice in the Lord. Our joy
is not a show, a pretense, or an act. It's an inward, substantial,
real, abiding joy. It's a joy that governs the heart,
a joy that governs the passions, a joy that governs our lives,
a joy that governs our attitude about life in this world and
all things pertaining to it. We rejoice in the Lord. There's
as much difference between the joy of faith, real joy, and earthly
joy as there is between a banquet that's eaten and a banquet that's
painted on a piece of canvas. Now, the one on the piece of
canvas may look a lot prettier. I've seen some pretty paintings
of food. And when I'm sitting in my easy
chair at home at night, and I've had all that I can eat for today,
and that's never enough, and I'm sitting there And they come
on with one of those pictures, you know. It ought to be against
the law. I mean, at 1130 at night, they come on with a whopper and
the mayonnaise and the onions and the pickles and the tomatoes.
I can smell that charbroiled thing. I can smell it. It ought
to be against the law. But if I went over there and
bit into that TV screen, it wouldn't do me a bit of good. It wouldn't
do me one bit of good. It's just a picture. It's just
a picture. And I'm telling you that the
joy of the earth is just a picture. It's of no value. It's of no
use. Joy of faith, Joey, that's something
else. That's something else. The joy
that Paul talks about is joy in the Lord. We rejoice in the
Lord God who is our Father. John got hold of this. He said,
O behold, what manner of love the Father in heaven hath bestowed
upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Now, Garrett,
that'll do something for you. That'll do something for you.
Sons of God. Sons of the living God. and what
God calls us, we are right now. It doesn't even yet appear what
we shall be, but right now we are the sons of God. We rejoice
in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. I recognize my sin, and
I hope you know I don't take it lightly. Honestly, it doesn't
really matter whether you know it or not. I don't take it lightly.
I recognize the corruption of my heart, the depravity of my
nature, And I haven't even begun to realize how bad it is yet.
It's a vexation to me. But in the teeth of my sin, in
the very teeth of my sin, I hear Jesus Christ through his word
declare that of God are we in him who of God is made unto us
wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption
and when my heart is so barren and cold and heathen that I cannot
feel anything, I rejoice in Him. He's everything. He's everything. That's all. That's all my confidence.
That's all my confidence. But don't you look somewhere
else? Well, I'll have to be honest with you and confess sometime. And that's my shame. That's my
shame. Now sometimes I get to looking
at those empty feelings and that lack of feeling, lack of love
and zeal and commitment and overabundance of sin. And every time I do, every time
I do, every time, every time it produces one of two things,
either a proud self-righteousness or a despair of hope. One of
the two. But I look to him, that's joy. What's your joy? He's my wisdom.
He's my righteousness. He's my sanctification. He's
my redemption. He's my all. That's all. He's
everything. He's everything. And we rejoice
in God, the Holy Spirit, Jehovah, our comforter. Our Lord Jesus,
when he left this world, he said, I'll not leave you comfortless.
I'll not leave you as orphans in this world, but I'll pray
my father and he'll send you another comforter. He'll send
you the Holy Spirit. And when he comes, this is what
he'll do. Listen to it. In John chapter
14, let me just read it to you. The spirit of truth whom the
world cannot receive because the world sees him not. Neither
knows him, but you know him, for he dwelleth with you and
shall be in you. And I'll not leave you comfortless.
I'll come to you. I'll come to you. He'll take
the things of mine and show it to you. He'll reprove you of
sin, of righteousness and judgment, and he'll do it continually.
He'll keep on reproving you of your sin. He'll keep on showing
you my righteousness, and he'll keep on declaring to you that
judgment has been accomplished by me. We rejoice then in the
Lord. We're commanded to rejoice. and
the source of our joy is the Lord our God. And now Paul shows
us the time to rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always. Do you almost wish that word
wasn't there? Always? Always? The worldling has a calendar
with a few days marked in each year for joy. Lindsay had a calendar
marked a long time ago for Hawaii last week. Vacation time, holiday
time, joy time. That's all the worldling has.
The believer has a calendar with 365 days a year marked by the
hand of God for joy. 365 days a year. On work days, rejoice in the
Lord who gives you strength to work and feeds you with the labor
of your hands. On holidays, rejoice in the Lord
who gives you rest. On days of plenty, rejoice in
the Lord who gives. And in days of need, rejoice
in the Lord who takes away. Stephen Charnock said there may
be joy in God when there is little joy from God. And he is absolutely
right. When you cannot rejoice in anything
else, Rejoice in the Lord. When you're blessed with many
joys in life, sanctify these earthly temporal joys by rejoicing
in the Lord. And if you have not begun before,
begin at once then to rejoice in Him. If you've been rejoicing
for a long time, never cease for a moment, but go on rejoicing
in the Lord. And when you're in the company
of others, lead them by way of example to rejoice in the Lord.
When you're alone with God, especially when you're alone with God, rejoice
in the Lord. Turn over to 1 Thessalonians
5. I want you to see this. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Shortly after God saved me, there were a few scriptures that
he just kind of stuck in my face. as if to say, now, son, you need
these, see to it you get them down. And this was one of them.
Here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul is concluding his arguments
with the Thessalonians in this epistle with these words, verse
16, rejoice evermore. I remember reading that and I
thought to myself, that's not possible. That's not possible. But it is possible. It is possible. Rejoice evermore. Now read the
next line. Pray without ceasing. Now that
sure ain't possible. But it is possible. But it is
possible. We rejoice evermore as we pray
without ceasing. That is, as we continually walk
before God our Savior with an eye and heart of faith looking
to his bountiful hand for everything. He's not talking here about being
on your knees 24 hours a day. He's not talking here about those
special seasons of prayer that we do have and in which we find
great joy. But Paul is talking about the
life of faith. He's saying as you go through
this world, walking through this world in good times and in bad
times, in times of plenty and in times of famine, in times
of health and in times of sickness, walk before God looking as one,
as a dog might look to his master's hand for guidance, for direction,
for provision, for everything. Look to Him. Look to Him. That's
what He's saying. Prove all things. Hold fast to
that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of
evil and the very God of peace. I'm sorry, I missed the verse
I wanted to read, verse 18. Pray without ceasing and in everything
give thanks. For this is the will of God and
Christ Jesus concerning you. Now there's the key. Give thanks. Give thanks because it's God's
will for you to give thanks. Do that. But more than that,
here's your reason for giving thanks. Here's the reason for
it. No matter what it is, that right name of you would say,
child of God, this is the will of God. Call it permissive will,
call it directive will, call it whatever you will. This is
God's will concerning you. This is the will of God. This
is. But, Pastor, how can this be
God's will? If it is, it's God's will. Just that simple. It's God's will designed especially
for you for the glory of Christ, whatever it is. Then rejoice
and give thanks. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. Quench not the spirit, despise
not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast to that which is good,
and abstain from the very appearance of evil. And the God of peace,
the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly. I pray God, your
whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of Jesus Christ our Lord. Faithful is he that calleth you,
who also will do. Whatever it is he calls you to
endure, he's faithful. Whatever it is he calls you to
do, he's faithful. He calls you to rejoice and to
rejoice always. And he's faithful to do it. He's
faithful to do it. Paul admonishes us then to rejoice,
to rejoice in the Lord, to rejoice in the Lord always. Most especially
when we're alone with God, in the midst of trouble and difficulty,
that's when the trial is. John Flavel said, Job was happier
sitting on the dunghill than Adam was in paradise. Because
Job said, I know that my redeemer liveth. That's enough. He knew
something Adam couldn't possibly know. He knew something that
would bring him eternal satisfaction. The commandment given is rejoice.
The source of joy is in the Lord. The time of joy is always. Now notice what Paul says next.
Here is the repetition of the command which Paul has given.
Rejoice in the Lord always and again and again I say rejoice. He repeats the command with emphasis
upon that word, rejoice, because joy is the serious business of
the sons of God, the serious business of the heirs of heaven.
He means for us to understand the importance of this matter,
to take it seriously. Repetition and emphasis is used
because Paul knew that this continual joy in the Lord is difficult
to maintain. What is it? that's better for
you, better for your heart, than joy? Huh? What is it that's better for
your life, your home, your marriage, your family? What's better than
joy? Why, nothing, nothing does so
much joy as best medicine around. It's the best medicine around.
Even the medical experts. I heard a report the other day
on one of those medical reports. They have finally discovered
that laughter is good medicine. Good medicine. Folks who know
something about laughter and joy, they seem to live longer. Just healthy for them. They don't
know why. But this I know. Joy is good
for us, but it's so difficult for us to maintain. So difficult. The best thing on this earth.
Why, it seems like a redundance to say it, but there's nothing
you enjoy more than joy. Nothing you enjoy more than joy.
And it seemed like we run from it. I mean, we work at being
sad. We work at melancholy. We work
at depression. We'll go home in the evening.
You had a good day at work. All the bills are paid. Your
wife's with you. Your kids are with you. And your
wife fixes you your favorite meal. And your children haven't
done anything to ruffle your feathers. And they're taking
good care of things. And they haven't thrown any rocks
through the window of the car. You know, that things are going
well. I mean, they're going well. And you sit down and you begin
to think. And first thing you know, you're not fit to live
with. You're just, everything's falling apart. The world's coming
to an end. You have worked yourself into
a frenzy, wanting to find something to be melancholy about. That's
the way of flesh. That's just the way of our sinful
flesh. And so Paul repeats himself,
realizing that this continual joy is difficult to maintain,
but realizing also that it is attainable even while we live. Paul himself emphasizes this
by his own life and example. You read through this book of
Philippians. If you've got your pen handy, let me just give you
some instances of it. You want to turn to them if you
can do so, do so. in chapter 1 of Philippians and
verse 4. Listen to this. I got this from
Spurgeon today. Paul's prayers were sweetened
with joy. In verse 4 he says, always and
every prayer of mine for you making request with joy. with joy. Chapter 1, verse 18,
he rejoiced because Christ was preached. In verse 18, he says,
Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ
is preached, and I therein do rejoice, and I'll go on rejoicing. In chapter 1, in verse 25, this
man desired to live. He said, I'm in a strait. I want
to go and be with the Lord. That's far better. But for you,
it's needful that I abide here a while. What for? so that your
joy may be full. He said, I'll live a while longer
to fulfill your joy. Look in chapter one in verse
25. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and
continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith. He took great joy in the unity
of God's saints. In chapter two in verse one,
he says, if there be any consolation in Christ, If any comfort of
love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
fulfill ye my joy." What is it? That you be like-minded, having
the same love, being of one accord and of one mind. Now, there are
two of us here who can kind of relate to that, Gary and I. Oh,
there's nothing to bring joy to a pastor's heart like the
unity of God. Nothing to bring joy to God's
people like this unity, this fellowship in the gospel. The
apostle Paul rejoiced also to know that he had not labored
in vain in the gospel. Look at verse 16 of chapter 2.
Holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day
of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Chapter 3 and verse 1, he gives
this word of farewell. What is it? Finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord. This is the last thing I've got
to say. Rejoice. Rejoice. It's good for you. It's honoring to God. It's good
for you, brethren. He calls for his brothers and
sisters in Christ Jesus as those who are his joy and his crown
in the Lord in chapter 3 and verse 3. This same man there,
or chapter 4 and verse 1, rather. In chapter 3 and verse 3, he
makes joy in Christ to be an evidence of faith. We rejoice
in Christ Jesus. And then he rejoiced in the Lord
when he saw the kindness and generosity of these Philippians.
Look in chapter 4 in verse 10. I rejoiced. I rejoiced in the
Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished
again, wherein ye were all so careful, but you lacked opportunity. He said, your kindness overwhelms
me and floods my soul with joy. Verse 18, I have all and abound,
I'm full, having received of Epaphroditus the things that
were sent from you, an odor of sweet smell and a sacrifice acceptable
and well-pleasing to God. So Paul exemplifies what he commands. Now, let me bring this message
to a conclusion by giving you the reasons to rejoice. Let me
give you just a few. Our joy in Christ is a well-founded
joy. We have abundant reason to rejoice
in the Lord and to rejoice in him always and at all times.
No matter what I experience, no matter what comes to pass,
no matter what the trial, no matter what the heartache, no
matter what the pain, if I belong to Jesus Christ, my Savior, my
Redeemer, my Lord, my King, I have reason to rejoice. I will rejoice
in his blood that cleanses me from all sin. The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's son, cleanses me from all sin. Now you tell me what can cause
me not to rejoice in that. Tell me what can rob me of that
joy. Find me anything that can overwhelm and overshadow that.
The blood of Christ. God's Son has and continues to
cleanse us from all sin. All of it. So that before God
Almighty, there's no record of sin. He blotted it out. He cast
it behind His back to remember it no more. The blood of Christ
has put away our sins. Rejoice in the Lord. I will. I will. Because His righteousness has
been imputed to me and makes me perfect and complete before
my God. I am not what I want to be. My faith is not what it ought
to be. My love is not what it ought to be. My joy is not what
it ought to be. I have not yet attained to that
which I'm seeking. But this is mine. Jesus Christ
is made to me righteousness. He's the Lord my righteousness. And in him, in God's eyes, I
am perfect and complete. Now, I just don't want anything
better than that. I don't want anything better than that. Anything
added to that is just gravy. Anything added to that is super
abundance. He's my pardon and he's my righteousness. That gives me reason to rejoice.
I'll rejoice. in the Lord because of his grace
that saves us, that grace that chose us before the world was,
that grace that redeemed us when Christ died at Calvary, that
grace that called us by the Holy Spirit's irresistible power in
life-giving, regenerating mercy, that grace that sustains us and
has kept us, that grace that will yet keep us unto the day
of his coming and unto the day of our glory in him. I rejoice
in the Lord. I'll rejoice in his intercession,
that intercession that secures us. Children of God, don't sin. You understand that, don't you?
You don't have any difficulty understanding that. Is there
anybody here who mistakenly is of the opinion that your pastor
is saying it's all right for you to sin? Anybody who's ever
gotten that opinion? No, don't sin. Don't sin. Don't do it. Don't do it. But
when you sin, don't despair. We have an advocate with the
Father. His name is Jesus, our Savior. His name is Jesus Christ. He's the one God appointed. His
name is Jesus Christ, the righteous. He's good enough for God to hear.
And he's the propitiation for our sin. Now rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord even in the
midst of difficulties. Rejoice in that Word which comforts
you. This Word of Holy Scripture that
is given for our consolation. Rejoice in His providence that
works for you. We know. Do we? Do you know it? Do you know it? We know. We know by the witness of Scripture.
The Word of God tells us so. We know by the intuitive knowledge
of the Spirit of God dwelling within us. We know because we're
taught of God. We know because past experience
of faith tells us so and because faith believing God tells us
so. We know. We know that all things All things work together. They don't work independently,
they work together. They don't work opposed to one
another, they work together. They work together like finely
meshed gears in a piece of machinery. They work together for good,
spiritual good and eternal good. temporal good, physical good,
material good, really doesn't matter. All things work together
for good, spiritual, eternal good. To them that love God. I fit that. I fit that. I love him. I don't love him
like I want to, but I love him. To them who are the called according
to his purpose, I fit that. He's called me by his grace.
Now, please understand me. All things
work together for our good personally, but that's not the important
point. All things work together for good, eternal spiritual good
to all them that love God, to the whole body of his elect,
those who are the called according to his purpose. Let me illustrate
it for you. I've told you the story before,
I believe. 13 years ago, 12, 13 years ago.
God graciously brought a sickness into my life, cancer, and I had to spend the
better part of a year taking treatments in North Carolina. One Wednesday night, I guess
it was Wednesday night, I was asked to preach at a church that
Brother Daniel Park's father pastors, because I was there. Kind of like, you're here. I
was asked to preach, so I agreed that I would preach. I wouldn't have been there if
I hadn't had cancer. I wouldn't have been there if I hadn't been
down to taking those cobalt treatments. But I was there. And I preached. And Daniel Park's wife, Sandy,
was there. And she heard what I had to say.
And God gave her faith in Christ. Now, that's good. That's good. Do you understand what I'm saying?
All things work together for good, eternal good to all God's
elect, to everybody that loves God and everybody that's called
according to his purpose. Let him do what he will. He's
doing good. Rejoice then, children of God. Rejoice in the Lord always. And
again, I say rejoice. And in the midst of all those
trials and difficulties that you face, rejoice in his presence. Say, well, if I could just know
his presence, I would rejoice in it. Well, do you believe his
word? Do you believe what this book
says? If you believe it, you know his
presence. You may feel it more at times than you do at others,
but you can know His presence. I know He's with me. I know He's
with me. This is what He said. He says,
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy
name. You're mine. You belong to me.
And when you pass through the waters, I'll be with you, and
through the rivers they'll not overflow you. When thou walkest
through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall
the flame kindle upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy
One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for your ransom,
and Ethiopia and Cebu for thee, since you were precious in my
sight, and you've been honorable. I have loved you, therefore will
I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not, for I'm
with thee, I'm with thee." That's what he says. Now then, what
do you say? What do you say? I believe it. I believe it. And in the midst of pain and
sorrow and difficulty and trial, I will believe in God I will,
by his grace, rejoice in him. I'll rejoice in him. He well deserves it. He deserves
it. It's best for me and it's best
for you. We'll rejoice in the Lord. This
is Paul's admonition. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Now he gives us some help. I'll
just read it to you. Let your moderation be known
to all men. The word moderation is gentleness,
peace. Ever see anybody that seems like
nothing ruffles their feathers? They're just like that, just
steady as steel. That's the word. Let your moderation
be known to all men. The Lord's at hand. That'll make
you peaceful. Be careful for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, Let your requests
be made known unto God and the peace of God. Peace of God nobody
can preach about. Peace of God nobody can explain.
The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep
your hearts. The word keep is the word we
would use for sentinel. The peace of God shall stand
as a guard at the door of your heart. The peace of God will
guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren,
whatsoever things are true, that's Christ. Whatsoever things are
honest, that's Christ. Whatsoever things are just, that's
Christ. Whatsoever things are pure, that's
Christ. Whatsoever things are lovely,
that's Christ. Whatsoever things are of good
report, that's Christ Jesus. If there be any virtue, yes,
there is. If there be any praise, yes, there is. Think on these
things and rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord
always. And again, I say rejoice. Amen.