Afterwords -- the joy of the Lord
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." (Philippians 4:4)
June 16, 2023
Dear friends,
Earlier this week I led a study at the regional juvenile detention center on having an attitude of joy, as demonstrated by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians. Paul was imprisoned in Rome, in rented quarters, chained to military guards. Despite his confinement, Paul does not grumble or complain. Joy permeates his letter. As we walked through his various statements (Phil 1:4, 18, 25; 2:2, 17-18, 28-29; 3:1; 4:1, 4, 10) the JDC residents noted right away the absence of statements characteristic of imprisonment: physical discomfort, lack of food, poor sleep, health problems, too much cold or heat, abuse, anxiety, court delays, and legal issues. Paul is joyful about God's salvation, the advance of the gospel, the spiritual growth of fellow believers, the care and service he sees from good friends in ministry, and their glorious future in Christ. He's looking at the bigger picture.
THE JOY OF THE LORD, says the Bible, is our strength (Neh 8:10; Rom 15:13), which is not limited only to spiritual strength, but also to the uplifting of emotions and well-being. For Christians our primary joy is supernatural, coming from the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17; 1 Thess 1:6). It is joy "in the Lord". That is, it is supernaturally given to us to delight in who God is, what he has done, what he provides, and what he promises for the future. And to see and feel these as real. Paul certainly wasn't a fan of suffering -- he didn't delight in pain and deprivation -- but his delight in the Lord overshadowed the circumstances of his discomfort.
JESUS AND JOY. Jesus spoke of rejoicing even under persecution (Matt 5:12). He said that his disciples should rejoice that their names are written in heaven (Lu 10:20). He himself rejoiced in lost sheep being found (Lu 15). He said that gathering fruit for eternal life (Christian service) would bring joy for the sower and the reaper both (Jn 4:36). He said that his resurrection would turn our sorrow to joy (Jn 16:20). Jesus' word of greeting after his resurrection, often translated "greetings", is actually a form of the Greek word "to rejoice" (χαίρετε, Matt 28:9). As in the letter to the Philippians, joy should also permeate the lives of believers today!
OUR RESPONSIBILITY. Paul gives a mandate -- both to the Philippians and to us -- in the form of the repeated imperative: "rejoice in the Lord" (χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ -- 3:1; 4:4). The lexicons translate the verb in various ways: "to rejoice, to be glad, to take pleasure in, to find delight in, to find our happiness and well-being... in the Lord." The present imperative tense denotes a call to ongoing practice: "keep rejoicing in the Lord..." It is not a command to merely be happy about things or somewhat thankful, it is a call to be joyful about the things of the Lord. That is, it is our responsibility by faith to find our joy in God, to delight in the Lord and all that he has done and will do. That takes focus, and intent, on our part.
WE NEED JOY. We need the joy of the Lord every day! So many today are discouraged and disheartened about life in this world and are tempted to give up. We should pray for joy, just like we do the other fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Did you ever pray for patience, or love? Note: joy is number two on the list of the fruit of the Spirit! I have frequently thought about this quote from George Müller, a godly man who operated a number of orphanages in Bristol, England, for many years. He trusted God every day for the many needs he faced in ministry. In his autobiography he wrote this:
“I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished...I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.” (George Müller, Autobiography)
C. H. Spurgeon also wrote, "The Lord Jesus is a deep sea of joy: My soul shall dive in and shall be swallowed up in the delights of His company." Take a moment and read this Morning and Evening devotional, "Are You Laughing?"
CURRENTLY READING / LISTENING...
-- In the Bible, the book of Romans. (Using Schaeffer's The Finished Work of Christ as a companion commentary.)
-- The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (Crown, 2020). This is simply riveting, can't put it down.
-- Heaven on Earth, by Thomas Brooks (1608--1680). A Puritan pastor writing on the important role of assurance of salvation in the life of the believer.
-- Revelation chapter 12, in the series of messages by S. Lewis Johnson on the book of Revelation. (Going through this study with some guys at the CRC.)
IN OTHER NEWS...
-- "People struggle like mad to have peace in their hearts. They try all kinds of psychological methods to find some point of integration. But all such efforts lead only to disappointment unless it involves the relationship and the purpose for which we were created." (Francis Schaeffer)
-- "Exploring the nature of modern despair can open up fresh and exciting ways to make the hope of the gospel visible to those around us who so desperately need it." (Gavin Ortlund, on Apologetics in an Age of Despair)
-- "A disenchanted age is not necessarily characterized by complete repudiation of the supernatural. Rather, it is characterized by a fundamental shift in the function of the supernatural." Here's Carl Trueman, explaining Charles Taylor, which is no small task!
-- "Guiding a ship by a reference point on the ship means the ship is adrift, voyaging to nowhere." Read "Pride Month is a Road to Nowhere."
FINAL QUOTE. "Man is man because he can recognize supernatural realities, not because he can invent them. Either everything in man can be traced as a development from below, or something must come from above. There is no avoiding that dilemma: you must be either a naturalist or a supernaturalist. If you remove from the word 'human' all that the belief in the supernatural has given to man, you can view him finally as no more than an extremely clever, adaptable, and mischievous little animal." (T. S. Eliot, from Selected Essays, 1917--1932)
That's it for this week!
Sandy
Image credit: photo above is by Kit Casinillo on Unsplash. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.