Rejoice evermore. 1 Thessalonians 5:16
I recall a man coming into our little one-room schoolhouse when I was a youngster, and writing a word on the chalkboard: ‘Smiles’. That, he told us, is the longest word in the English language, because there is a ‘mile’ between the first and last letters. Tell that one to your friends. If ‘smiles’ is the longest word, then our text today is the longest sentence, because it never ends. Evermore we are to rejoice in time and evermore we will rejoice in eternity.
In the original Greek text, this verse is the shortest in our Bible, even shorter than the ‘Jesus wept’ of John 11:35 in the English. These verses form a matching pair. It is only because of the weeping of Jesus that we can rejoice evermore. Today, we gather to remember our Saviour’s sorrow, His shame, and His suffering on our behalf. In our hearts, there is surely sorrow, too, as we recall how much He must endure to purchase our redemption. But our sorrow is mingled with rejoicing over what our Redeemer has brought us into, both now and evermore.
Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God – Hebrews 12:2. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/WRRSCNmgz-s