In our last issue, we explored 4 reasons why Christians should rejoice. In this issue, we continue to look at 8 more reasons why we are commanded to “Rejoice Always.”
1. Joy increases with the increase of pressure
(suffering, trial, persecution)
Joy has an interesting quality about itself – the more pressure we experience, the more joy should be produced.
My friend Eric often talks about Christians being “cheerios in milk” – utterly unsinkable.
Have you ever tried to sink a cheerio? Every time you push it down into the milk, it pops back up to the top.
Or imagine jumping on a trampoline. The harder the bounce, the higher you soar.
When life presses you with pain, suffering, trials, hardships, or difficulty – that added pressure should only cause our joy to leap all the higher.
There is a classic illustration of the toothpaste tube. When you squeeze a tube of toothpaste, what comes out? Obviously toothpaste – but why? Some might say because the tube was being squeezed … but that’s not the question. The question is why does toothpaste come out? The answer – because that is what is in the tube. The issue is not the squeezing (you will be squeezed, guaranteed!), the real question is WHEN you are squeezed, what will come out of you?
Can you imagine living in such a way that the harder you are squeezed, the more joy bubbles forth?
Sound crazy? Perhaps. But it describes the life of a Christian.
One commentator on Philippians 4:4 said it this way: “Lest there be any detractors or recalcitrant members of the church who resist the encouragement to rejoice in the Lord, Paul repeats the command, I will say it again: Rejoice! He doubles the command in case there are those who object that rejoicing in a time of suffering is inappropriate. A time of suffering is a time when rejoicing in the Lord is the only way to survive. In no way is Paul simply advocating a positive mental attitude or urging his readers to “cheer up” and “have a nice day.” His double emphasis on joy comes from his own experience of knowing the resurrection power of Christ and participation in his sufferings (3:10) in his Roman prison.“
2. Joy is a present declaration in our future hope (we rejoice because we know the future)
When we rejoice, it is our present declaration in our future hope.
If we know the end of the story, and the hope that awaits every believer, we can rejoice regardless of what happens around us.
Jesus said, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). When we know where we are going, we can rejoice!
What if we lived with an eternal perspective – looking at our “momentary afflictions” in light of eternity?
• 1 Peter 4:13 – But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
• 1 Peter 5:10 – And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
• Romans 8:18 – For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
• 2 Corinthians 4:17 – For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
• Hebrews 12:11 – For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
• Hebrews 13:5b-6 – For He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
3. Joy exposes and declares our focus and trust in God
What we rejoice in declares our focus.
When we experience God’s joy in our lives, it reveals that our focus is Jesus and that we trust in His provision and timing (even if we don’t see the results immediately).
4. We rejoice because we know trials and difficulty lead to maturity
When you see the end result of difficulty, you find yourself joyfully enduring it.
James tells us, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4).
Similarly, Paul says in Romans 5:3–4, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…”
When we face trials and difficulty, it produces steadfastness, endurance, character, and hope. In short, trials and hardships develop maturity in our lives.
5. Joy is most evident (or seen more clearly) in our trials, sufferings, hardships, difficulties, and weaknesses
The best place to see if we are rejoicing is not during times of ease. It is easy to have joy when things go well … but joy is proven in difficulty.
As we mentioned in number five, as pressure increases in our lives, so too our joy should expand and be seen more clearly
Paul rejoiced in his weaknesses because it was in his weakness that the power of God was made more evident (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). What if we saw trials, sufferings, hardships, difficulties, and weaknesses not as something to dread but something to rejoice in.
What the world needs now more than ever is to see believers not walking in fear or worry but rejoicing – especially with everything going on in our world.
6. We rejoice because we know God is King … and He has overcome the world
There is always a reason to rejoice because our God is King of kings and Lord of lords and He has overcome the world! He is the victor! He is the savior! He is King!
•Psalm 97:1 – The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
• John 16:33 – I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
7. We rejoice because God is a God of Joy
God is a God of joy.
• Psalm 16:11 – You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
• Zephaniah 3:17 – The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
• Nehemiah 8:10b – And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
• John 15:11 – These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
God does not want us to be conformed to the pattern and image of the world (Romans 12:2), rather we are to be conformed to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29). Since He is full of joy, so too our lives should ever be rejoicing!
8. Joy is to be a distinctive mark of a Christian
Gordon Fee wrote, “Joy,’ unmitigated, untrammeled joy, is—or at least should be—the distinctive mark of the believer in Christ Jesus.”
Another scholar said it this way, “this command calls for the development of a cheerful attitude in every circumstance to be the dominant theme in the Christian life. The fulfillment of all other goals in the Christian walk flows out of the practice of rejoicing in the Lord.”
Is joy one of the distinctive marks in your life?
We know Christians are supposed to be known for love (John 13:35) and Peter says that we are to wear the clothing (the mark) of humility (1 Peter 5:5). In fact, all the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are to be the evidence of the life of the Spirit within a believer – which means joy should be one of the “dominant themes” bearing itself out in our lives.
Paul reminds us that the Kingdom of God is one of joy (remember, He is a God of joy and thus His kingdom bears His nature) – “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).
Let Us Rejoice Always
If joy isn’t an emotion nor based upon circumstances, then there is every reason to “rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!”
Is that true in your life?
Would you allow God, in Whose presence is the fullness of joy, become your joy and bear that fruit in and through your life?
As Isaiah wrote, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10).
1. G. Walter Hansen, The Letter to the Philippians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009), 288.
2. Gordon D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 404.
3. G. Walter Hansen, The Letter to the Philippians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009)
Paul rejoiced in his weaknesses because it was in his weakness that the power of God was made more evident (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). What if we saw trials, sufferings, hardships, difficulties, and weaknesses not as something to dread but something to rejoice in.
Paul reminds us that the Kingdom of God is one of joy (remember, He is a God of joy and thus His kingdom bears His nature) – “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).