We rejoice when we see people maturing in their love, holiness, and knowledge of God. JOY! Ignorance can devastate joy. And so, when we’re commanded to rejoice always, that’s a reasonable command. And so it was that the early church believers greeted each other with, “Rejoice,” and then they often parted with “Grace and peace.”. It is my knowledge of who God is as Creator and Sustainer of the universe, as sovereign over everything, as the lover of my soul, the Redeemer of my life, as the gracious God, as the wise God. Help Grace to You bring important resources like this to people in your community and beyond, free of charge. This is not natural joy, this is supernatural joy. Never were they so exhilarated as when they had come to faith in the Messiah, when they had seen the power of Messiah, when their full trust was in Him and they saw Him as the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior, the one who would bring the kingdom, the one who forgave their sin and gave to them eternal salvation and the promise of heaven. And I belong to that God. Some difficult relationships in her life seemed overwhelming; health struggles of her family members appeared to be too much to handle; her job requirements looked impossible. Guest. Every day something else happens to derail her happiness. It is to be full of glory – Peter also said that. "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'" Rejoice, they say, "in the Lord always!" EASTER READING: “ALWAYS REJOICE IN THE LORD (Sermon by St. Augustine).” May 26, 2020 . Join in their laughter when they’re happy, join in their weeping when they’re sad. That is to say, I don’t have to control everything in my life, I don’t have to manipulate everything in my life. This is your redemption, your salvation, and your sanctification, and ultimately your glorification. Tweet; EASTER READING: “ALWAYS REJOICE IN THE LORD (Sermon by St. Augustine).” The Apostle commands us to rejoice, but in the Lord, not in the world. 3. You don’t want to be ruled by your emotions, you want to express them; they’re wonderful gifts from God. That we may rejoice in the midst of much affliction and oppression. The Word of God enriches it, along with trials. The truth of the matter is, they expressed to me with real zeal and passion, “We lived our whole lives under the sovereignty of Satan. But I find in the Word cause for joy – incessant, unending joy. What’s a Christian? THIS YEAR?" Identify outwardly with normal human emotion.”, But that kind of weeping does not negate joy, as is clear from 2 Corinthians 6:10 where Paul says, “as sorrowful yet always rejoicing.” Paul gives testimony there that he obeyed this command as a way of life. We can always choose to praise the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always. The Spirit energizes it in you. That is not supernatural joy. First John 1:4, “These things we write unto you, that your joy may be full.” It is related to the Scripture. Details. And I’ll just define the world’s joy for you, I mean, you know this. Because we have the Lord in our lives, we always have a reason to rejoice! We’re not talking about that kind of joy. We experience that as fallen creatures. A loving family... steady job... good health — all blessings that should make you happy. But the drawing of that joy is dependent upon the Holy Spirit; that is to say, walking in the Spirit, obeying the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit. And then you could even include the promise of future glory, the promise that is yet to be unfolded for us in the glory which is to come; that certainly is cause for joy. A trial doesn’t make a Christian curse God. I’m going to make the sea part. Recorded. But sometimes people think maybe I’m not emotional on the compassionate side or whatever. If you’re not rejoicing, there are maybe some reasons. You know, God has given a common grace, and that is the ability for people to be happy. If joy is diminished in the Christian’s experience, that is sin, because it amounts to disobedience to this command. And joy is continually stressed throughout the New Testament, the Gospels. Offer to help your neighbor by shoveling their snow. It is also a product of receiving the Scripture, of receiving the Scripture. Experiencing true joy, being able to rejoice always, is a gift from God, given in spite of circumstances. You’re going through a trial, you’re cursing God, you’re mad at God. It is our great privilege this morning to return to our wonderful study of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and I invite you to take your Bible, if you will, and open to that great chapter. I feel things very deeply I think the way everybody, anybody does. Main menu . “And endurance has a perfect result, it makes you mature and complete, lacking in nothing.” You want to be a strong Christian; you want to be resolute, persistent, enduring, patient, faithful; then you have to suffer. The Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.’ Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.” In other words, salvation is like a well of blessing; and once you have salvation you go back to the well, and everything you ever need can be drawn out of that well. In our Lord’s final time with His disciples, John 13 to 17, the Upper Room Discourse, when He was celebrating the Last Supper with them, and the night that Judas betrayed Him, He mentions “joy” and “full joy” eight times. Radio Broadcast. Jan 11, 2020 . He found such consummate joy in the experience of Christian fellowship. Accordingly, we have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions in order to comply with GDPR. I mean, think of it. Psalm 2, it is to be full of awe, because you’re so overwhelmed with what God is providing for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16. If we are always filled with the Spirit, and the Spirit causes us to rejoice, then it follows that we will rejoice always. Here’s the statement: There is no event or circumstance that can occur in the life of any Christian that should diminish that Christian’s joy. I can’t even sum up enough thanks for it.” The wonderful privilege and pleasure, the overwhelming joy that comes from Christian fellowship. Zephaniah 3:14-20 Luke 3:7-18 Philippians 4:4-7. It’ll put a lid on the well so you can’t draw the joy. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Do you know what the shortest verse in the New Testament is? What do I mean by that? That our consideration of the Lord’s nearness makes us gentle and patient. There will be a party & there will be guests. In 1 John 1:4, “These things are written, that your joy may be full.” Jeremiah 15:16, “Thy words were found and I did eat them; Thy Word was the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” Psalm 119 closes in toward the end of that lengthy Psalm in verse, I think it’s 162, “I rejoice at Thy word as one who finds great spoil.” And this was the attitude of the psalmist; there are several more like that in that Psalm. Gaudete Sunday is the Sunday, if we had a pink candle in our Advent wreath, that we would light the pink candle, rejoicing in the coming Savior and King. We’ll talk about that in a few minutes. No qualifiers, no caveats, no exceptions; no ifs, ands, or buts. It is the very joy of which the angels spoke to the shepherds in Luke 2, “Good news of great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David has been born for you a Savior, Christ the Lord.” It is the joy that comes through faith in the Savior. It’s kind of an unconditional joy that is incumbent upon believers. He said – I can’t remember exact words, I should have brought it to read. Lutheran. The Bible and the Sermon Are Not Always Enough Philippians 4:2–3, Part 2. I’m very emotional. The longer you live as a Christian, the more trials and troubles you have, out of which the Lord not only delivers you, but through which – listen – your faith endures, the more you know it’s real, it’s real. Pastor John MacArthur. Jesus gives us a joy that the world cannot take away from us. Having trouble logging into your account? That's a very interesting statement. Psalm 4 would be sufficient, verse 7, “Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than where their grain and new wine abound. It goes like this: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Experiencing true joy, being able to rejoice always, is a gift from God, given in spite of circumstances. Happiness comes and goes, but joy is something deep inside us. Bad things, evil things, terrible things happen all around us. False expectations, that’s a deadly setup. Now let me talk about that from a negative standpoint. If I believed God had to react to the millions and millions of actions and events that go on in the world and try to sort out some way to make sense out of it all, I would have plenty of reason to fear, and my joy would be gone. To start saving items to a SermonFolder, please create an account. Rejoice always, he says. Paul in Philippians 3 expresses this and it ought to be all of our testimonies, “We are the true circumcision who worship in the Spirit of God, and rejoice in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”. We’re talking about a joy that is impossible to a non-believer. Am I not supposed to have healing at my disposal? When we remember that Christ sacrificed Himself for us. Speaker. When all of these events unfold, you’re going to have an unassailable joy that no one can ever take.” And so the theme of joy was on the heart of Jesus the last night. It comes through Jesus Christ. Now somebody might say, “Well, what about Romans 12:15? I think ignorance can steal your joy. It’s not even rejoice in spite of the circumstances, but focus on the goodness of God. Scripture: Philippians 4:2–3. No gain affects it, no deprivation affects it. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-20, Your favorite Scriptures and sermon ideas, 30 themed church media sets for church services, Confident answers to the toughest questions. Here at Grace to You Europe we take our data protection responsibilities very seriously and, as you would expect, have undertaken a significant programme of work to ensure that we are ready for this important legislative change. God is grace-filled. A trial, no matter how severe the trial, only proves the validity of real faith in God. Satan wants to steal your job; he wants to give you cancer.” And here they were always under the sovereignty of Satan, and busy, busy, busy, busy talking to the demons and talking to the devil to try to pronounce formulas on them to get them out of their lives. God is too gracious not to overlook my sin. When we remember that God sent Jesus to die on the cross for us. That is understandable to me. When you go through trial after trial after trial that test your faith, and your faith stands – and the true faith will stand, and it will endure, and it will prove to be the real thing – then you know you’re saved. ‘Rejoicing always’ really means leaning toward the joy rather than the pain, and asking God to deliver us the rest of the way so we can rejoice always. For example, Philippians 3:1, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.” Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice,” just in case you didn’t get it the first time. It is always worth reflecting on the goodness of the Lord. I’m going to prepare a place for you, and I’ll come and I’ll take you to that place.”, Again in that same discourse in chapter 15 and verse 11, “These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you.” He promised them peace, and He promised them provision, and He promised them the Holy Spirit, and He promised them the Scripture, and He promised them answered prayer, divine resources, and all of this, “that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of … And in that wonderful Philippian epistle, “joy” is mentioned, some form of the word is mentioned, sixteen times. “How can I not rejoice when I know the Spirit of God is leading me to understand the truth, when I know the Spirit of God is an anointing from God that teaches me all things so that I don’t need to listen to human teachers, because I have an anointing from God that teaches me all things,” 1 John 2. Do you rejoice in God’s people? You have nothing to fear from him at all, because God is sovereign. You’re struggling because you’ve got to pick up three kids in three locations, get the groceries, make dinner for your husband; and you’re overwhelmed. As you may be aware, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into full effect on 25th May 2018. The doctrine of providence simply means that God takes all the events, all the actions of all the people in the world all the time, moving with a measure of self-determination and freedom, and weaves them together to accomplish perfectly His sovereign and eternal plan. It was a simple song and … It’s a full joy, it’s a spiritual joy, it’s a supernatural joy; it comes from God. You see something, you want it, you go shopping, you get it, you buy it; you find there’s a certain high, there’s a certain euphoria in that experience of getting what you wanted. Ms. Jones spoke to them from her 81 years of wisdom, saying, “You know times are always going to be hard, bad things are always going to be happening to you, so you might as well just trust in the good Lord and have a positive attitude about everything. . It comes into our lives through Christ: “My joy is given to you so your joy is complete.” It is an unlimited, undiminished, full joy. So if they lust after something that their body wants, or they lust after something their eyes see, or they desire strongly something that they think will satisfy their sense of well-being, pride, and they get it, then there’s joy. Little things, big things. The word for rejoice is a Greek verb chairontes in the imperative mood, which means it is a command. No circumstance affects it, no event affects it, no acquisition affects it, and no loss affects it. That’s why they move from partner, to partner, to partner, to partner in relationships incessantly, because the momentary thrill in the fulfillment of their lust dissipates very fast, is delusional, and they look one day at the person they wanted so badly and they don’t want them anymore, and now the grief comes: “How do I get rid of this person to move on to what my lust wants now?” And that’s how they live their life, controlled to some degree by conventional expectations and the expectations of people around them. That’s what delivers that joy. But he said something like this: “He’d never seen such a sense of the depth of loss without tears.” And what he was saying was that the man had so totally committed that little one to God that it was that confidence that took away the sort of dominant abandonment feeling. Well, you know, you know I’m emotional when I preach. Text 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Readings Psalm 66; Philippians 4:2-13; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 Theme and Purpose It is God’s will that in Christ we should always rejoice, often pray and be thankful in everything. Get the heavenly perspective on this. That would be unconscionable apart from what we might have or not have in this world, which doesn’t matter. Search. This is not a Christian. Find a way to let joy into your life – bit by bit. I’m going to walk on water.” That’s miraculous. I can understand that, I can manage that information better than I can manage the information of providence, it’s just too staggering. Those feelings are controlled by the truth so that the emotions serve your understanding. I had a conversation with a friend this week who was, heavy with anxiety. Register. Reflection on the difference between joy and happiness. We are called to this incessant joy. It’s that joy that’s unassailable, because it’s below the surface, unaffected by the winds and the waves of experience on a human level. This first letter to the Thessalonians is one of Paul’s, first writings we have in scripture. Paul writes to Philemon, verse 7, “I’ve come to have much joy in your love, much joy in your love.”. So how can you stay upbeat … So it isn’t long after you have what you thought you really wanted, and it only brought you a moment of happiness, and you find out what Proverbs says, “The end of joy may be grief.”. Paul says in Colossians 1:24, “I rejoice in my sufferings. It is my understanding of the character and nature of God that anchors my joy. And I just want to read that to you because I think it’s so helpful. " Rejoice? You may recall that "joy" is the keynote of this epistle a. And it created palpitations of the heart, panic attacks, et cetera. Always? That word became an essential element of Christian vocabulary. HOURS. God is merciful. No other part of God’s physical creation has that ability, they don’t have emotions. And I know the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all work together for my good to accomplish the plan of eternal redemption in me; therefore the gracious work of the triune God is the foundation of my unceasing joy. But this is the nature of the joy of the natural man, the natural fallen heart. The ground of our rejoicing is that everything we need in life is available to us and provided for us, and that God controls everything to His glory and our good. It is my theology proper, to be technical. First of all – and I’ll give you a flow here – it comes from God. It’s a joy that comes from God. - Ps 122:1 c. "Rejoice in the Lord always. MINUTES. Everything that Christ has done, is now doing, and will yet do, accrues to my personal, benefit because I am Christ’s and Christ is mine. It’s there, it’s yours, you can claim it; you’ve got this deep well. … The ascent up the hill of self-sacrifice is thorny, laborious, steep. There’s a third element in this flow.
Israel had waited 400 years to hear this prophetic voice, to hear again of the promise of the Messiah. Ecclesiastes 7:6 says, “Like kindling, it burns up fast.” Isaiah 16:10 says, “The joy of gladness is taken away.” That’s the joy of the world. No less than sixteen times in this epistle, Paul uses the word or a derivation of it! I came to Jesus and, you know, isn’t Jesus the one that always helps you win the championship? Forgetfulness will steal your joy. Congregation, In the course of a normal day people will often ask; “How are you?” Or, “How’s your week been?” Or, “How are you getting on?” Usually we answer briefly; “I’m fine. How can we rejoice always? “I have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,” Ephesians 1 says. Give a heartfelt gift to someone who’s not expecting. – “joy, joy.”. Even when he was sorrowing, sorrowing with the sorrows of others, sorrowing over the failure of believers in churches, sorrowing over the disaffection of those he loved, sorrowing over the pain of persecution, sorrowing more often than not over the maltreatment that the gospel preachers received, sorrowing over the dishonor that was literally placed upon Christ, and yet all of those kinds of emotional experiences never touched his joy. God overrules all circumstances. It comes from God. I’m going to heal the sick, give sight to the blind. This doesn’t mean that life won’t hurt, but that even in the midst of the hurts, we can rejoice because God is still good. Our Pastors; Our Vision; Our Structure; Photos; Videos; Events; Serving Hamilton; New to Blessings? What makes me obey this command “to rejoice always”? My friend seems to have lost the ability to rejoice, seeing only the dark horizon and, Scriptures:
REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS Sermon Summary. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Series. One preacher wrote, “One cannot always rejoice in payday and fair weather, but the Christian can always ‘rejoice in the Lord'” 4. Sometimes you think if you just had this house, or that car, or this piece of furniture or that wardrobe thing, or whatever achievement or that job, or that position, or that degree, or whatever it might be, or that person, it would be the end of all your desires. And here’s the way that has to go. It is to be unspeakable, 1 Peter 1:8, that is you can’t even find words for it, it just wells up and just bubbles up in you. Back in my teen years we sang a song based on Philippians 4:4. All of today’s lessons address the theme of joy and rejoicing, but specifically, I want to highlight Paul’s. But their joy is derived from earthly pleasure; and earthly pleasure is connected to the matrix of desires that are part of man’s nature as fallen. Who wants to live like that? This should characterize our lives all the time. They wanted it so badly, and then they got it, and all that thrill was gone very fast. If you understood it, you would rejoice.” He had to say to them, “Let not your heart be troubled, don’t let it be afraid. Visit a member of our church who is homebound. Enter your email address and we will send you instructions on how to reset your password. Laugh at the stupid joke a second grader tells you. And then next, I rejoice always as an act of reasonable response to divine providence, to divine providence. Rejoice Always ( A sermon on Philippians 4:4-7) Posted on October 22, 2014 by Father Dave “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. In Psalm 16 verse 11, “In Thy presence is fullness of joy.” So we’re talking about a joy that comes from God. That’s why people move from material thing, to material thing, to material thing incessantly. Philippians 4:4 is a commandment, repeated twice for emphasis, so that we will not shrug it off. You’ve got to plead the blood, and you’ve got to get Satan out of this and that. I don’t mind being around unconverted people, but I prefer you.
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