Calvary Road Baptist Church
“REJOICE!”
Philippians 4.4-9
In Exodus 18.9, we read that Jethro, the Midianite priest who was Moses’ father-in-law, rejoiced because the LORD delivered the children of Israel from Egypt.
In Jeremiah 15.16, we observe that the prophet Jeremiah rejoiced because of his delight in God’s Word and the fact that he was associated with God’s cause.
In Luke 10.20, the Lord Jesus directed His disciples to rejoice because their names were written in heaven ... they were saved.
In Luke 15.6-10, He instructed them in a parable to join Him in rejoicing if even one sinner repents.
And in Acts 5.41, we read that the apostles rejoiced in that they had been counted worthy, by God, to suffer shame for His name’s sake.
When I read those passages and many others, I wonder why there are so few Christians in our day who rejoice in the Lord. Do the blessings of God so numb us are we so lackadaisical about our relationship with Christ that when His Word is preached, we cannot rejoice in His Word, like Jeremiah, or rejoice like Jethro and the disciples over God’s deliverance, or rejoice because our sins have been forgiven?
What’s wrong with professing Christians these days? Why are so many reluctant to express their worship, praise, and adoration of God? And why do so many who claim to be Christians have no concept of what it is to rejoice in the Lord in the first place?
I’m going to address that aspect of worship called rejoicing this morning. By the time I’m finished with you, you ought to know to rejoice, you ought to know how to rejoice, and you ought to know what’s wrong when you are not rejoicing, so you can fix it.
IN PHILIPPIANS 4.4, WE TAKE NOTE OF THE PHILIPPIAN CHURCH MEMBER PRIVILEGE
“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
Anyone who has read Paul’s letter to the Philippian congregation realizes that one of the great themes of Paul’s letter to those Church members is “joy” and “rejoicing.” The word “joy” is used at least six times in the four short chapters written to them, and the word “rejoice,” which is a verb that describes the expression of “joy,” is used no less than 12 times. Understanding that “rejoicing” is a significant issue in this letter allows me to make two observations about their rejoicing from this verse alone.
First, rejoicing is important. Were you and I Philippians, who had never before read inspired writings, this verse, alone, shows us how very important it is for us as Christians who are members of a Church of Jesus Christ to rejoice. How do we understand the importance of prayer from a verse that says, “Pray without ceasing,” but we overlook the importance of rejoicing in a verse that says what Philippians 4.4 says?
“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
Can you imagine how wonderful physical life would be without this bothersome activity called breathing? Of course not. So, how can we imagine a Church member’s spiritual life and communion with God without rejoicing?
Not only is rejoicing important, but it’s also imperative. By imperative, I mean it was commanded. This verse does not indicate what Paul, as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, would like for those Church members to do. This is an activity that those Church members and Christians everywhere and on all occasions are commanded to do. When you are not rejoicing, you are as obviously involved in sin as when you are drinking liquor, when you are using profanity, and when you are failing to pray or read your Bible. Is it not an irony that activity of the Christian life which should be regarded as one of our greatest privileges as Christians and Church members, alongside our right to approach the throne of grace and pray to God boldly, is also something that many believers do not ordinarily do, but have to be commanded to do? I think it’s sad.
IN PHILIPPIANS 4.6-7, WE TAKE NOTE OF THE PHILIPPIAN CHURCH MEMBER PRAYER
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
First, the Church member’s requirement before prayer:
“Be careful for nothing.”
This prayer will result in peace of heart and mind for the person who knows Christ, has obeyed in believer baptism and is a Church member engaging in prayer to God. For such reasons, it’s a prayer that each of us must learn to incorporate into our lives. But before we can approach God in prayer to secure peace of heart and mind, we must “be careful for nothing.” We must stop worrying, griping, complaining, and taking issue with God about what He permits us to experience. Being aware and informed about important things is acceptable, but being worried, which is to say fretful, about things that only God can influence or control, is just plain sin. It is wrong. There is no reason for it in the life of one who acknowledges God as wise and sovereign. Before you take a problem to God to solve, you Christians who have been baptized and are Church members, you’d better be fully persuaded that God can and will solve the problem to His satisfaction, if not yours. Who can argue with that?
Second, the requests when we pray. If I read verse 6 correctly and in context, Paul indicates that we should take every problem we have to God and humbly ask Him to bring a solution. And when you take something to the throne of grace, remember two crucial things: First, do not tie a string to that problem and drag it home with you after you’ve given it to God. Once you give a problem to God, let Him keep it. Amen? And second, thank Him in advance for solving the problem, whether you see or do not see a resolution of the problem. Because you see, giving it to Him becomes His problem ... and He solves all of His problems.
And the result of all this praying? You will have peace of heart and mind that the lost people you know simply cannot understand. If your unsaved children, family members, coworkers, and neighbors do not notice and wonder at your peace of heart and mind, you are doing something wrong. What is noticeable to the lost around you is not your righteousness in the sight of God. They take no notice of your standing in heaven. What they notice and what attracts them to your Christian faith is your peace of mind and heart. “But pastor, you’re message is supposed to be all about rejoicing. Why are you talking about peace of heart and mind?” Just hold on a minute, and you’ll see. Our privilege is to rejoice in the Lord, Philippians 4.4, but our prayer is for peace of heart and mind, Philippians 4.6-7.
Now, IN PHILIPPIANS 4.8-9, WE SEE THE PHILIPPIAN CHURCH MEMBER’S PROTECTION.
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.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
God always gives His people instructions for maintaining and holding on to what He has given to us and wants us to have. So here to Christians who are members of the Church in Philippi. Now that they have the means to acquire peace of mind and heart, these two verses show us how to keep peace of mind and mind. How is this done? In two ways:
First, the right thoughts are required. Verse 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.”
What do you watch on your TV or your computer? What do you listen to? What do you read? If these words do not describe the information you place into your mind in this verse, you will not preserve your peace of heart and mind. “But I like what I watch or read or listen to.” Do you like it better than peace of heart? You’d better because it’s either one or the other. You cannot have both at the same time. Therefore, fix your attention on the things of God, the Son of God, the Spirit of God, the Word of God, and things related to service, ministry, and eternity.
But they are not right thoughts, alone, that are required, we notice from verse 9:
“Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
You must also be careful to employ the right actions. You must be determined to live the right life and do the right deeds. “But what are right actions?” They are the things that Paul did. He sought the salvation of the lost for Christ. He fasted and prayed to tend to his spiritual issues. He declared the truths of God’s Word. In his heart, he constantly sought a closer and more intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. So, if your heart is troubled, give whatever the problem bothering you happens to be to God, ask Him to solve the problem in whatever manner He decides is best, and thank Him in advance for letting you give your problems to Him and for taking care of them. If you do that, you will once more enjoy the peace of heart and mind that you formerly had. And if you will protect your peace of heart and mind, as Paul instructs in verses 8 and 9, the God of peace shall be with you, and you will not forfeit your peace. “But pastor, this message is supposed to be about rejoicing.” Yes, and it is. Let me connect the concept of rejoicing, peace of mind, and heart right now. Turn in your Bible to Galatians 5.22-23:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
I want you to notice a couple of things about this spiritual thing identified as the fruit of the Spirit: First, notice that the word “fruit” is singular, not plural. We do not have nine different fruits listed here, but a single fruit has nine different aspects or parts. Think of the fruit of the Spirit much as you would a navel orange, with each of these traits being one wedge, one part, which altogether makes the fruit of the Spirit. So, if you have one item, you will have the rest. And if you are missing one item, you are also missing the rest. It’s all or nothing because they are interconnected as the influence of the Holy Spirit on your personality. That’s the first thing to notice. Second, realize that the action of “rejoicing” is nothing more nor less than the action of expressing that portion of the fruit of the Spirit referred to as “joy.” When you possess “joy,” you will “rejoice.”
And conversely, genuine “rejoicing” is the consequence of possessing “joy” and having all the rest. Now, let’s look at the final point of this message, and I will try to tie everything together. We have examined the Philippian Church member’s privilege, prayer, and protection.
Finally, WE LOOK AT THE PHILIPPIAN CHURCH MEMBER’S POUTING.
Look back to Philippians 4.4. There we saw that the privilege those Church members had to “rejoice” is an activity they would only engage in when they had the “joy” that results from the fruit of the Spirit. But if we look at Philippians 4.6-9, we see that those verses are directly related to Paul’s instructions to the Philippian Church members to retrieve “peace.” And it only makes sense to realize that by securing “peace,” they would be acquiring the total effect on their personalities of the indwelling Spirit of God, the fruit of the Spirit.
“But again, pastor, why would Paul address this matter of the fruit of the Spirit in this way?” It is because “rejoicing” is the most noticeable expression of the fruit of the Spirit outwardly, and lack of “peace” is the most conspicuous absence of the fruit of the Spirit inwardly. Rejoicing is what others notice most frequently about you, with your peace being what you will see most frequently. When you bear the fruit of the Spirit, it is most noticed by others by the “rejoicing” you do. But when the Spirit’s influence on your personality is missing because He is grieved or quenched, the Spirit’s influence, His fruit, is most profoundly noted by your troubled heart and spirit that arises when there is no “peace.”
What happens between Philippians 4.4, when inner “joy” is being expressed by outward “rejoicing,” indicating the fruit of the Spirit is present, and the efforts to regain the fruit of the Spirit, as indicated by praying for and protecting “peace” of mind and heart? What happens between verse 4 and verse 6? Verse 5:
“Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
The word “moderation,” ἐpieikέs, refers to being reasonable. The word signifies a humble, patient steadfastness that enables you to submit to injustice, disgrace, and maltreatment without hatred and malice, trusting in God despite it all.[1] A person with moderation does not have to have their way. This is not a description of the person who must win at tiddlywinks. This does not describe the person who must always have the last word. This is not a description of someone who must show that he is right and will not admit he was wrong, even if he was wrong.
What happens between verse 4 and verse 6 is that someone did not do what Paul indicated they ought to do in verse 5. Someone did not demonstrate “moderation.” Let me describe the scenario: You are a Christian and member of the Philippian congregation who has the fruit of the Spirit of God, personality characteristics the indwelling Spirit of God is gradually producing in your personality. Because you have joy unspeakable and full of glory, you are rejoicing. And you’re rejoicing not with your voice alone, but in all the ways rejoicing is found in the Word of God. And this rejoicing is one of the clearest and most visible demonstrations of the indwelling Spirit of God affecting your personality.
But something comes into your life experience that you don’t like. Or something happens that you disapprove of. At any rate, you are not delighted with how something turned out. In short, you do not get your way on something. So you pout. It’s not a pout that anyone can see, but it’s a pout nevertheless. It’s a spiritual pout. God got His way on something (He always gets His way on everything), but you did not like what God did or allowed to be done or how He did it.
You may not even have been conscious that a battle of wills between you and God was occurring. But it was. Perhaps you blew your stack when you were late on your way to work, and the signal light at the intersection turned red. Maybe your child acted like a child and broke something you valued. Perhaps someone made a foolish decision that you advised them not to make. Whatever it was, the key thing is you did not get your way.
What does that pout do for you? What does it accomplish? It grieves the Spirit of God.[2] It quenches the Spirit of God.[3] It results in you losing not your salvation but the fruit of the Spirit. That is why Paul spends Philippians 4.6-9 showing Philippian Church members how to retrieve the fruit of the Spirit. The lesson? Don’t concern yourself with matters that are God’s business to deal with. Don’t worry about such issues. And then Paul continued, as we have seen.
Bottom line? We who know Christ have the privilege and duty to rejoice and express our joy in the Lord, especially as Church members. When we do not rejoice, it is because our joy has been forfeited. But our joy is a part of the fruit of the Spirit of God, and as such, our joy will always remain unless we have sinned against the Holy Spirit by grieving or quenching Him with bad attitudes or actions, or both. But isn’t that precisely what insisting on your way is? Sure it is. And when we do not get our way, what do we most typically do? We pout. “How could God allow this to happen? Why do these things always happen to me?”
That is why we have to go to the Lord to retrieve the peace Christ wants us to enjoy. John 14.27:
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
We sin against God by insisting on our way and not being content to see things done His way. We sin against God by meddling in affairs that are His alone to deal with, by not allowing the Holy Spirit the freedom to work in others’ lives as we think He has worked in our own. And we sin against God by always having to have our way exactly the way we want it. Those of us who behave that way tend to pout when we don’t get our way, either by getting mad, getting sullen, etc. “Why do these happen to me? Why is God being so unfair?”
We have the great privilege of rejoicing in the Lord. And we have many reasons for rejoicing in the Lord. I am convinced one reason folks don’t miss their joy when it’s gone as they ought to miss it is that they don’t enjoy it as they ought to when they have it. In short, they do not know how to rejoice in the Lord. Well, I’m going to guide you in cultivating your rejoicing.
Remember three things: First, rejoicing is the Biblical way of expressing the joy of the Spirit that God gives to you. Second, the expression of this joy will never be without temperance. That is, God will never lead you to lose control of yourself in demonstrating your joy. And third, if you do not rejoice, you sin because it is commanded.
Acts 5.41:
“And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.”
Here we see evidence of the apostles rejoicing with their mouths for suffering shame. Have you ever done that? Have you ever been so full that you rejoice? You might rejoice with your mouth by singing songs of worship and praise to God. If so, that’s great.
Second Samuel 6.14:
“And David danced before the LORD with all his might.”
This was an expression of King David’s joy expressed physically.
Psalm 149.1-4:
1 Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
4 For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
Some people don’t like it, but a valid expression of joy is dancing. David’s cynical wife, Michal, did not appreciate the fact that he danced before the LORD. She thought it was undignified. It was undignified, but it was also worship. Notice that this did not take place during a worship service. It is important to note that.
Has God ever filled you up to the point that you just danced around? Not in Church. Little kids frequently get so excited that they do this. But did you know that I do too? There are times that truth and blessing so move me that I don’t want to stand still.
I do not advocate behaving immodestly and losing control of yourself. But there is nothing wrong with singing and dancing before the Lord. My Bible tells me that the Lord takes pleasure in His people, and I think the context establishes that He does so when they worship Him in this way.
Psalm 47.1:
“O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.”
Second Kings 11.12:
“And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.”
Has God given you a victory? Have you suddenly taken note of a victory achieved by God in your life? When the people of God realized that God had preserved the seed of David to rule over Judah as king, they rejoiced by clapping. Whether by voice, or by dance, or clapping. These are legitimate means of rejoicing.
Of course, they can be abused, but everything good can be abused. Don’t go home and say, “The pastor said I had to stand up and dance.” I did not tell you that you had to do that. But I did show you in God’s Word that you are commanded to rejoice and showed you, as well, that there are three avenues open to you in which to rejoice. Just not during a worship service, per se.
If God tickles you, say so. If He doesn’t, don’t pretend that He did. Don’t use this as a means of attracting attention to yourself. But do rejoice as a means of expressing your joy.
Do you want God to return your joy to you? This passage in Paul’s letter to the Philippian congregation showed them how to accomplish that. If you would like to talk to me about applying this passage to your life, reach out to me, and we can talk.
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[1] Rogers, Jr., Cleon L. and Rogers III, Cleon L., The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key To The Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1998), page 457.
[2] Ephesians 4.30
[3] 1 Thessalonians 5.19
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