Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. Philippians 1:1
‘If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands’, sing the children in one of their upbeat Sunday school choruses. It’s a good exercise for us all, as we appreciate the joy that our salvation brings. And we will appreciate it, as we read Paul’s epistle to the Assembly in Philippi. The book at least 16 times mentions the words joy and rejoice. Paul urges the Christians to rejoice even in suffering, which he can relate to because he wrote the letter from a prison cell in Rome. The book’s joyful language has inspired some of our beautiful hymns of worship and is a favourite source of material for contemporary Christian music creators to produce their seven-eleven lyrics.
God has always desired that His people be joyful: ‘Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart’ Psalm 32:11. And this admonition is not just for the children of Israel: ‘O let the nations be glad and sing for joy’ Psalm 67:4. Here in the book of Philippians is the admonition for us Christians: ‘Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice’ Philippians 4:4. If these and many other portions of God’s Word tell us to rejoice, we can know that rejoicing is not only possible, but is God’s will and desire for us. And the ‘Rejoice evermore’ of 1 Thessalonians 5:16 extends that rejoicing to all eternity.
Why rejoice? So many reasons! First, we will never perish: ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit’ Romans 8:1. Second, we are bound for an eternity of glory and bliss with our Lord. Third, we have the guaranteed daily and life long protection and provision of our Father in Heaven. And these are just the start; we could go on at length to rejoice in our loving and personal relationship with our Saviour, our bountiful supply of rich spiritual nourishment and guidance from His holy Word, our access to His exceeding rich and precious promises, our enjoyment of sweet fellowship with His dear people. Etcetera!
Read Philippians. And rejoice.
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/v7oFZEbxhXw