Rejoice in the Lord always! (Phil 4)

 Rejoice in the Lord always

Philippians 4:1-23

Key verse 4*

Introduction

As we stand for the truth of the Gospel, we may face many challenges in life and must even be willing to  suffer along with Christ. All men face many crises in life, and there is no exception, even for us believers. As the world  faces such challenges, they fall into fear and anxiety; their mode of handling  these life crises is likely found in their fight-or-flight mode. But, for those of us who trust in the Lord, it is, or at least should be, different. Paul shared his experience and, according to it, he taught the Philippians what to do. It is rejoicing-in-the-Lord mode,  unique and different from the way the people of the world handle difficult circumstances. Crises and joys are at odds with each other, and seem to be an impossible combination, but, not only is this combination  possible, but Paul also  encourages us to rejoice in the midst of our troubles and hardships. Paul illustrated this teaching through the situations that he had experienced. Paul, by rejoicing in the Lord, had experienced  great success in getting through such tough times. He eventually praised God for His wonderful love and wisdom. I pray that we may all  consider his teaching and adopt this ‘rejoicing mode’ in times of crisis in our lives, so that we too may taste such a victory.

Paul rejoiced in the Lord when he faced a very tight situation.

Paul wrote this letter in a Roman prison. Unlike the prisons of our country, the Roman government did not supply the basic needs of their prisoners, such as food and clothing. The prisoners’ families and friends had to supply for their needs.

Philippians 4:10a “I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.”

Paul used the past-tense in describing this event, which had occurred sometime before the time he was writing this, after he had received  new supplies from the Philippians. When I say ‘new’, I mean that there was  a period of time when the support from the Philippians did not come as Paul had expected, and he was badly in need . So, he was writing about this particular window of time, when he had suffered greatly because of a shortage of his basic necessities, i.e. food or clothing. Why was he writing about this?

Philippians 4:11a “I am not saying this because I am in need.”

He is writing this, not because he wanted to address his need at the time he was writing this, but rather to teach the Philippians the truth that he had learned through the tough time he had experienced during this period. What was the truth that he had experienced and learned? He teaches this v4-9:

Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

What did he mean by  ‘rejoice in the Lord’?

It has to do with having a  joyous spirit. Have you had an occasion where you experienced  extreme joy? I remember the last day of my final exams in  medical school. Soon after I had submitted my final exam paper, my heart was filled with extreme joy, because I had finally made it through all the hardships of  school. So joy is always connected with something happy; if there is nothing to be happy about, we do not have joy. But Paul teaches that we are to rejoice in the Lord always. This commendation was particularly given for  times of difficulty in life. Here we can raise two questions: can we live life without any hardships? If not, then how can we find joy in the midst of life’s crises?

A couple of years ago, I toured Turkey and visited some sites where the believers from the first few centuries hid themselves. I became acquainted with their stories during those times. I came to know that, for them, the persecution, death threats, and martyrdom were normal, rather than the exception. A few months ago, one of our missionaries to central Asia was threatened with a gun and he had to leave that country. In addition, it (persecution) has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to enable you to believe in him more fully, but also so that you may suffer with him (1:29). Paul mentioned that rejoicing in the Lord is a safeguard in Jesus. Likewise, if suffering is an inevitable part of our life in Christ,  rejoicing in the Lord is also an essential ability that we believers should learn.

Rejoicing in the Lord means  finding joy in the midst of crisis. As we know, there is nothing to be happy about or  give us joy in a crisis, so we must seek and find that joy. It must be substantive enough to give us true JOY in our innermost being. So, rejoicing is not merely laughing away the current crisis; Paul teaches us how to rejoice in the Lord didactically, based on his experience.

The imminent problem here is not something out of God’s hand, but as He  protected Paul in love and care, this is  a part of His will. So He commands believers to rejoice, as we have been doing all along. The focus of our rejoicing is in the Lord.

Rejoice in the Lord:

“In the Lord” is where a substantive reason for rejoicing is found. It is the ability to see what is beyond the current reality, which is in the Lord, by looking through the current reality. How can one find the Lord’s presence in the present, troublesome reality?

First, we are to accept and  honor the Lord’s will and purpose in this current reality. The  problems we face do not come into our lives without God’s cognition or  will. So the first thing  we have to do is  honor God’s will and purpose in this difficult event, even though we may not know what it is.

God’s sovereign will! It is beyond explanation or comprehension, but His will is here and  it is good and right.

Secondly, God’s ultimate will is not to punish us but to do good for us. The God’s ultimate good  is to impart eternal life. So it is for our own wellbeing that God is good and, in His goodness, He saved us through His son Jesus.

And third, we are to abide in godly goodness. Whether we are remaining in godly goodness or not is seen in our gentleness towards others and whether anxiety or peace drives our heart.

Let your gentleness be evident to all.

Philippians 4:5a “Let your gentleness be evident to all.”

Gentleness is the way or manner in which  we engage with others. This attitude comes out of a heart that is filled with peace and confidence. It is interesting that we are commanded to be gentle to all. I am gentle in my dealings with all people at work, but when I get home I easily lose my gentleness, especially towards my wife and children. This is an expression of anxiety in my heart. I put a lid on top of my anxiety while I am working; however, the anxiety and dissatisfaction has built up inside of me with so much pressure that, as soon as I get home, this lid is taken away and my gentleness is gone. My wife often says that she thought I was  gentle like a lamb, and, because of my gentle character, she married me. Over the years, however, she came to realize that there is not much gentleness in me. But, based on this Scripture, we have to be gentle to all. We should not let our fear and anxiety affect our relationships with anyone. Though our current problems may have been created by and through the hands of men, the solution is not through lashing out at the one who caused us trouble. Also, we have to come to know and accept that godly solution is not found in how smartly we work  with people, but in how or what we do in seeking Gods’ will.

Anxiety is a natural response to the tough situations that we face.

Philippians 4:6a “Do not be anxious about anything”.

When we face trouble, we may see no possible solution; instead, we might see only ruin in our lives. The current reality we live in speaks powerfully about imminent ruin, loss, death,  tragedy, suffering, and pain. In order to see beyond what we face, we must have the determination not to give in to  anxiety. As I noted earlier, when one faced such a life crisis, people start to think and act in fight-or-flight mode. If we let anxiety drive our hearts and minds, then we will surely take this response. In these situations, only our sinful nature plays out the course of the situation.

Present your requests to God

Philippians 4:6b “but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

We are to present our requests to God. He not only controls the processes, but also determines the ultimate outcome. We seek His will and ask for His mercy and grace. By presenting our requests to the Lord, we show our respect and honor  for Him as the only One who is  sovereign over all. This is also how we show our dependence on Him by faith.

The Lord is near.

In between these two is a warning and a hope: the fact that the Lord is near. It won’t be long until  we see the Lord Jesus, so we need to make this decision before the Lord, as if we are to see Him tomorrow. We need to recognize this as the true reality beyond what we see in our trouble. In this, we rejoice.

According to Paul’s direction, even if we reason out and understand  what we have to do,  if we fail to act on the reality of the Lord’s coming  and our meeting Him soon, than we may not have power and courage to make sound, godly decisions. The Lord is near - this is the most powerful reality that we must realize beyond any troubling situation at hand.

Next, Paul describes what we should think about during such troubled times. If we are driven by a fight-or-flight mode and self-centeredness, than, most likely, our minds will be filled with these things:

Romans 1:29-31 “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,  slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.”

Not all these were driven by efforts to save themselves — they resorted to these measures in order to save themselves. Yet instead of this response, Paul suggests:

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”

These qualities belong to godly goodness. In order to abide in God, we think and reason in this godly mindset. Additionally, we are to act based on these things:

Philippians 4:9 “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me -- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

What Paul did was an excellent example for the Philippians to follow. Thus, we can say that, under duress, Paul  thought such things and  chose to do what would please God and  advance the Gospel. Consider the incident described in Acts 16:16-34. Paul was put in a Philippian prison, because he drove a demon out of a girl. While he was praying, there was a violent earthquake and the prison doors were opened. Paul could have left the prison without anyone noticing. At that moment, the jailor woke up and attempted to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners, including Paul, had run away; however, Paul had not run away and was in the prison cell. He said told the jailer not to harm himself, because all of the prisoners were still there.

The Philippians all knew this story very well, because this happened in their city; the jailor was one of their citizens. Paul and his companion, Silas, did not run away, because they believed in God and His goodness. When our minds are fixed on how we can save ourselves from  crises, they can easily  entertain all kinds of ungodly ways and means. This is our fight-or-flight mode, but, instead, we are to think and reason about how we can honor and glorify God. So, live and remain in godly goodness! Dare to lose your life in order to uphold God’s goodness and  righteousness. This is far more important than  saving our lives from imminent danger! When we honor God and His authority, He is sure to bless us and show us His mercy. Rejoice in the Lord! Think about good and godly things, and how we can honor God in any situation. Our choice is between a fight-or-flight-mode or a rejoicing-in–the-Lord-mode.

Paul was in a very troublesome situation. He did not have enough supplies for life and he went through hungry and cold, while waiting supplies from the Philippians. In this time, Paul rejoiced in the Lord as he described. The outcome was remarkable:

Philippians 4:11b “for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

He uses present perfect here. So he is sharing what he learned through that period of  great need. His conclusion from that experience is this:  to be content in whatever circumstances he faced. Here the word ‘learned’ is different from ‘learned’ in v12. The meaning here is to learn something by going through it or by doing something. In other words, Paul went through many hardships, not having life’s basic necessities,  being hungry, suffering cold, and having to find a way to get through those tough times by rejoicing in the Lord. In this experience, he acquired a new knowledge that he had never known before, as he expressed in v12. In the original language, this word ‘learned’ is a different word than the one used in v11, and is used to describe the experience that one may acquire as he goes into secret place of pagan religious sanctuary;  it is  acquainted with a very private experience that is not publicly known and is very unique,  unable to be described in the ordinary terms of life. It is deeply rooted in one’s heart, without any traces of doubt or ambiguity.  As he came to know this secret, his confidence grew sky high.

This confidence was a great source of strength; this experience was captured in two words, “content” and “can”. These two words make up the reserved power and strength in his inner being. Also, out of these, comes peace and joy.  

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The confidence is found in and through Christ; this is the peace that cannot be shaken or taken away by any of this world’s evil forces. Also Paul would not exchange his experience with Christ for anything else!

In the next paragraph, Paul turned his topic to the Philippians’ good work in Christ;  but it is more about what he came to grasp about godly truth in a fresh way, regarding the Philippians’ support for him.

It was a new and fresh idea, in comparison to the thinking that went through his mind while he was in trouble, because he had  received  supplies from the Philippians.

Philippians 4:15-16

Paul came to be reminded that they were the first ones who had supplied for his needs. They were the only ones that had helped him while he was in Macedonia, and had  sent more than one gift to him when he was in Thessalonica. He gained a comprehensive understanding of what the Philippians had done for him, and came to fully appreciate  what they did. In this way, his understanding came from a comprehensive and godly perspective, unbiased by his personal predilection. We see things and understand others through our perspectives - what we have heard, what we have received, and what we have come to know in our relationships with others. No matter how fair we try to be, our understanding is almost always  tainted by our own limited and sin-stained mind, but when Paul went through  tough situations with God and “in the Lord” he came to have a godly perspective on the entire event!  

His mind became filled with  joy that was far greater than he had had before; so he says in v10, “I rejoiced greatly. This meant that he rejoiced before,  has been rejoicing through this hardship, and, at the receiving of the new gifts, he rejoiced greatly again. He came to feel that what the Philippians sent was more than he needed. It is possible that they sent more than before, but  it is also possible that, though they sent the same or less than before, to Paul’s renewed mind, it was  far more than he needed (Philippians 4:18b).

He came to realize the gift’s significance, and to truly appreciate the spiritual significance of this help; it was not just a gift, but a fragrant offering, a sacrifice pleasing to God (Philippians 4:18c).

This is a fully god-oriented perspective of the supplies sent by the Philippians. It was not just the Philippians’ respect and care for Paul; it was not just an expression of human compassion and love.  It was a sacrifice and a fragrant offering to the Lord.

Paul came to have this insight into God’s will and  blessing for the Philippians.

Philippians 4:19-20 “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

We all want to have spiritual insight into God’s will and purpose. If we have it, we will be exhilarated; this is particularly true for  leaders. This insight and the God’s secret truth did not come to Paul simply by him sitting and meditating on God’s words; it came to him as he went through  tough times while rejoicing in the Lord. This means to have joy in God’s righteousness and goodness, and to have joy in His utmost wisdom and will, even in the midst of turmoil and hardship. It is a God-centered understanding of the situation and a God-centered decision to act in and by faith.

Rejoicing in the Lord creates in us confidence and peace from Him. Out of this peace and  confidence, we become able to bear again and again the cross of mission.

The Lord is near. Rejoice in Him always!