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Sermon

Joy: Your Right and Responsibility

Scripture
Philippians 4:4

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

Joy is not merely a feeling but a command from God, rooted in salvation and sustained by our relationship with Christ. Philippians 4:1-4 calls believers to rejoice always — not as a suggestion, but as an imperative. We are reminded that joy is not dependent on circumstances but on the eternal reality of belonging to Christ.

Key Lessons:

  1. Joy is a command, not a suggestion — failing to rejoice is disobedience to God’s word, and we must treat it with the seriousness of any other biblical command.
  2. True joy is rooted in a Person (Christ) and not in our circumstances — it is eternal, given by God, and anchored in our salvation rather than in temporal blessings.
  3. Affliction and trials are instruments God uses to deepen our joy, produce holiness, and equip us to comfort others who suffer.
  4. We must guard our joy by meditating on godly things, praying through everything, and resting in God’s nearness rather than being consumed by worldly concerns.

Application: We are called to pursue joy intentionally in every circumstance by meditating on things that honor Christ, praying through every situation with thanksgiving, and remembering that the Lord is near. We must stop focusing on the temporal and fix our eyes on the eternal source of our joy.

Discussion Questions:

  1. If joy is a command, how should we respond when we realize we have been joyless — and what practical steps can we take to access the joy God has already deposited in us?
  2. How do trials and affliction produce joy rather than bitterness, and can you identify a time when suffering drew you closer to God’s word?
  3. In what ways do good things and blessings sometimes distract us from the true source of our joy just as much as hardships do?

Scripture Focus: Philippians 4:1-4 provides the central command to rejoice in the Lord always. Romans 5:1-5 grounds joy in justification and tribulation. Psalm 119:67-72 and James 1:2-4 show how affliction produces growth. Habakkuk 3:17-18 models rejoicing in God’s salvation amid total loss. Galatians 5:22 identifies joy as a fruit of the Spirit.

Outline

Introduction

Man, well, good morning again.

I’m going to need your help today. Our sermon topic is joy, your right and responsibility.

Joy is a very broad topic. People say we’re just scratching the surface. I’m just showing you the surface. We’re not even able to scratch it today.

We’re going to be going through a lot of scripture, especially in the second half. I don’t want you trying to turn and chase and find every single reference. I’m going to read everything to you. I have them all.

If you miss something, you can come to me and ask me, you can email me, text me—just don’t call me. You can get the reference, but it’s better to listen and hear God’s word than flipping the pages or asking, “What did you get that one? What’s that?”

I want to make sure that everybody is focusing on what God has for us. Today, we’re going to be looking in the book of Philippians, Philippians 4.

If you have the Pew Bible, it is on page 1,177.

Background of Philippians

So with the book of Philippians, and we say book, it’s really a letter. Many of the books in the New Testament after you get past the book of Acts are letters. They’re usually written from an apostle to a fellow apostle or to an elder or pastor at another church, with a couple exceptions.

Here we have another one of these letters. It’s fairly short and it’s a very practical letter. I’ll go back and forth saying book and letter. Paul had many practical reasons for writing Philippians.

One, he wanted to update them on his imprisonment in Rome. We see that in the first chapter. He wanted to thank the Philippians for their support of him both in sending someone to minister to him and also sending a monetary gift.

“Paul had many practical reasons for writing Philippians.”

He wanted to explain why Epaphroditus, the person who carried the gift to him and was sent to serve him, came back.

He wanted to encourage them to live a life that honors Christ, especially with regards to unity.

He wanted to warn them about false teachers.

But outside of urging them to be unified, there really are no corrections in this letter.

And there’s not much hard doctrine that’s being discussed.

The Church at Philippi

There’s not a lot of major points of doctrine discussed in the book of Philippians, with the exception of details in the second chapter about Christ and his incarnation. This church is one of the early churches. It was founded when Paul took a trip around Asia Minor to spread the gospel, and about AD 49 is when this church was established.

This was the first stop. You may remember his time in Philippi because he was beaten and jailed. In the jail, this is the famous part where at midnight they sang praises and prayed, and there was an earthquake that came and they were freed that way. They were able to preach the gospel even to the jailer, and he got saved.

So this is kind of the backdrop for Philippians.

“At midnight they sang praises and prayed and there was an earthquake… and they were freed.”

Reading of Philippians 4:1-4

And we’re actually going to look a little bit more when we talk about joy into some of the things he had to say to them. But our text today is going to come in chapter 4 and we’re going to look at the first four verses, focusing on the fourth, and that reads Philippians 4:1-4.

Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters whom I long to see, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way. My beloved, I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement as well as the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice.

Let’s pray.

Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice.”

Our eternal and gracious God, we thank you not only for the command to rejoice but for giving us the reasons to rejoice. We thank you God for providing Christ.

We thank you God that you provide relationships and moments that bring us joy. And we just pray right now that as we look into your word, you would speak to each one of us and that you would cause us to be joyful and to spread joy to others. We ask this in Christ’s name.

Amen.

Paul’s Joy in the Philippians

So Paul refers to this congregation as his joy and his crown.

What he is saying here is the salvation of those in the church. It caused Paul to have great joy as he thought of them and saw their growth, especially as he founded this church. Then Epaphroditus comes and brings him this message, and he starts telling him about what’s going on in the church.

You can imagine someone who hasn’t been here for several years, and you go and talk to them. This kid is grown up, and this one is doing this. Remember little David? Oh, he’s off to seminary now. You weren’t that little when you were here, but this is what happens, and we start doing it.

My wife even remarked she hadn’t been here for six months, and praise God she was able to be here today. She saw one of the children and said, “You’ve grown so much in the last six months.”

Paul is hearing these reports, especially about their spiritual growth and their development and the way that they want to serve. It’s causing him great joy, and he says, “You are my crown.” Because he was part of them hearing the gospel—even the ones who never even met Paul heard the gospel. Paul gave the gospel to many, they received Christ, and then they spread that to others.

So he had a huge part to play, and God used him greatly in their conversion and even in their sanctification.

“The salvation of those in the church caused Paul to have great joy.”

Unity Before Rejoicing

And we see similar words that he uses to the Thessalonians as well in 1 Thessalonians 2:19. But not everything was perfect. The first thing he does before he gives the command to rejoice in this passage is in verse two he urges these prominent women in the church to live in harmony or to be of the same mind.

It’s the same phrase that we see in Philippians 2. These two had a disagreement. They weren’t getting along for some reason.

We don’t know exactly what it was, but it was probably over something we would call a philosophy of ministry—how to carry out the particular commands. It probably was not a point of doctrine that they disagreed on because Paul never gives an answer.

If it was some doctrine that they had a question and they had two different viewpoints, he would have just said this is the right viewpoint. Either you’re both wrong, you’re both right, or you’re both misunderstanding something and let me just clarify it. He did that a number of times in his letters when he heard or understood that they were believing one thing and he said, “Well, let me offer a point of correction or a further explanation so you can better carry out what God is commanding here.”

But here, he doesn’t do that. He just says, “I’m urging them to be of the same mind. I’m urging them to live in harmony.” Whatever it was, it was sharp enough to be mentioned in scripture. He could have just told Epaphroditus, “Hey, when you get back, bring those two in a room and tell them they need to get along.” But he actually wrote it in this letter. It’s part of God’s word.

Almost 2,000 years later, we’re talking about it.

“Whatever it was, it was sharp enough to be mentioned in scripture.”

Can you imagine if Brian and Mike just have a small disagreement and in the year 4,050 there’s someone standing up talking about that disagreement? This is exactly what we’re doing today—talking about two ladies in the church who had a disagreement over 2,000 years ago.

Thinking the Same Way

In Philippians 2:1 and 2, Paul says, “Therefore, if there’s any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

This exhortation, even in our text in chapter 4, is to think the same way. Now thinking the same way may not always lead us to the same conclusion about our issue, but our goals and our motivation ought to be the same.

There are some issues where there is not one clear direct command in the Bible that addresses this and says you must go this exact way. In that case, as long as people who are trying to obey are faithful, they may differ a little bit in how to apply it. We’re trying to be faithful, especially in those areas where there isn’t a clear command or clear prohibition and there is a disagreement. You’ve got to put those aside.

This is what Paul is saying. You can’t let those little things trip you up in your ministry. You can’t let those things rob you of joy and peace, especially when they’re not doctrinal.

“You can’t let those little things trip you up in your ministry or rob you of joy and peace.”

Consider whether we should start the service at 11 o’clock or 10:30. You’re arguing about that, and the 10:30 group is talking and they don’t like the 11:00 group because they think the 11:00 group is just lazy and they don’t want to wake up early enough. The 11:00 group says the 10:30 group doesn’t have anything to do Saturday night, so that’s why they can get to church early.

We’re sitting there going through that, and Paul is saying, “How are you supposed to function in ministry?” We have to make sure that anything that can cause bitterness, anything that can grab hold of us and cause us to look at our brother and sister in an ungodly way, is dealt with immediately.

Before he even talks about rejoicing, before he talks about later having the peace of God, he says, “Okay, these two have to get this right.” These were prominent members of this church, and according to verse 3, they have shared in his struggle. They have fought alongside him in the good fight, and this can’t be their legacy. They have to end well.

So Paul needs the church to help them. He says in verse 3, “true companion.” We’re not sure if this true companion is an actual name or if it’s just someone he is saying, “You’re my true companion,” or if it’s someone’s name and their name means true companion. But he’s writing and saying that you need to help them because they’ve shared his struggle.

They ministered together with Paul and Clement. We have to make sure that they are holding up the name of Christ now.

The Responsibility of the Whole Church

And now this wasn’t just to one person.

The entire church is reading this or having this letter read to them. Now it’s everyone’s responsibility to serve these two and to make sure that they are of the same mind and to make sure that they are not adding fuel to the fire.

“Now it’s everyone’s responsibility to serve these two and make sure they are of the same mind.”

He says that these workers are those who have their names in the book of life along with the others who have worked with him diligently.

Disagreement Does Not Erase Salvation

And that is such a beautiful thing even with this going on. Even though their disagreement, their argument, their possibly sin over it is not affecting their eternal status.

Paul isn’t saying, “Look, they’re in danger of going to hell now. They’re going to lose their salvation and lose all the benefits.” He’s saying their names are still written in the book of life, but they’re going to miss out on joy. They’re going to miss out on peace. They’re going to miss out on fully being able to be used by God.

“Their names are still written in the book of life, but they’re going to miss out on joy.”

And so you have to help them.

The Command to Rejoice

Then he issues a command to the church and to all of us today: Rejoice in the Lord always.

“He issues a command to the church and to all of us today: Rejoice in the Lord always.”

And it sounds like a simple thing, but it’s not a new message.

Joy Throughout Philippians

In fact, the idea of rejoicing or having joy appears many times throughout this letter. We’ll look at some of them. In Philippians 1:4, he says, “Offering always offering prayer with joy am I every prayer for you all.” Verse 18: “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.”

In verses 25 and 26, he writes, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your pride in Christ Jesus may be abundant because of me, by my coming to you again.”

In chapter 2, he says what we just read: “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

In verses 16-18 of chapter 2, he continues, “Holding firmly the word of life, so that on the day of Christ, I can take pride because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.”

“But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.” Verse 28.

Therefore, I have sent him to Epaphroditus all the more eagerly so that when you see him again, you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you.

Then in Philippians 3:1, he starts off a new section and says, “Finally my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you.”

Then in chapter 4, he says, “Therefore my beloved brothers and sisters, whom I long to see, my joy and my crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.”

Then in verse 10 of chapter 4, he says, “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked an opportunity to act.”

And then we have the passage we’re looking at today. Verse 4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I would say rejoice.”

I think Paul was pretty concerned about them having joy and them rejoicing.

“I think Paul was pretty concerned about them having joy and them rejoicing.”

And this is the beauty of God’s word.

This is why I find it so great because if Paul said, “I’m going to sit down and write a religious text,” we wouldn’t have most of this in it. This is God using the relationships and the affections and the love of the Apostle Paul for these people to generate this.

And so we see this beautiful call to love and to serve and to have joy all coming from his heart. If we’re just writing a list of dos and don’ts, you don’t get that.

Rejoice Is an Imperative

So, as I alluded to earlier in calling it a command, this word rejoice is an imperative. It is a command. It’s not a suggestion. It’s not a wish. It’s not “oh man, I wish your life was going better. I wish you could be happy.” This is a command. If you are not rejoicing, then you are sinning. You are breaking a command from God.

“If you are not rejoicing, then you are sinning. You are breaking a command from God.”

Now, it’s one thing we have to look at what rejoicing is and what it isn’t. The word translated rejoice in the Greek is the word chara, and it means to enjoy a state of gladness, happiness, or well-being. I think the key there is “a state of.” So it’s not momentary. It’s not just something that you get in and get out of like many other emotions that can come and change in the moment.

There is an aspect of joy that can be momentary, and that is a great blessing from God because we have these moments that are very high highs, these points of celebrations. We have marriages and new births and graduations and milestones like anniversaries that come up, and we can have joy in those times. We can be happy in those moments.

We can rejoice that our kid that we didn’t think was going to make it has graduated, and we thought they were going to drop out, but they made it through. We can rejoice in those things. We can rejoice that these people are getting married. We have four couples so far getting married this year. That’s a reason to rejoice.

A Church That Gave Joyfully in Affliction

So remember about this church—we talked about it a little bit at the beginning. This church had its founders beaten and thrown into jail, and also had two of its prominent members in a disagreement so strong that it made it to scripture.

They’re reading a letter from the founder of this church, from the one who gave the gospel and discipled some of them who is currently in jail in another city.

And listen to what Paul says. If you want, you can turn to 2 Corinthians 8. Paul has something to say about them when he is actually issuing an encouragement to the Corinthians.

In 2 Corinthians 8, the Corinthians made a promise to Paul and to others that they would financially support the church in Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem had been through a famine. There was also a lot of strife there because the believers who came to Christ were ostracized. They were kicked out of their families, kicked out of their homes. Many of them lost their jobs and their way of surviving, and they had to depend on the kindness and the gifts and the ministry of other believers and other churches from different areas.

The Corinthians promised but they had not given what they had promised. In chapter 8, Paul uses another group of churches as an example, and he says, “Now brothers and sisters, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia.” Macedonia is the area where the Philippian church was.

He says that in a great ordeal of affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. That’s a lot. What he’s saying here that I think is important for us is that he’s about to tell you what the churches of Macedonia did, including the Philippian church. They had a great ordeal of affliction and they had deep poverty.

But in verse 3 he says, “For I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability they gave voluntarily, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints.”

“And this not as we had expected but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.”

So he’s saying these people who are in great affliction and in deep poverty—not just gave, but they were looking for opportunities to give.

“These people in great affliction and deep poverty were looking for opportunities to give.”

They didn’t have to be asked. They volunteered.

And verse 4 says they were begging and urging Paul to let them give, and not just of their money but of themselves.

So when we think about what that church was going through—having seen Paul and Silas being beaten and thrown in jail in front of them, experiencing this sharp disagreement between two prominent members, experiencing great affliction on their own, and dealing with deep poverty—they still had joy and they still were able to give.

Why Joyful People Still Need the Command

But even in that, these are the people that Paul is urging to rejoice and to be joyful. That amazes me for two reasons.

The first reason that amazes me is because everything they went through, it would seem if somebody tells you they had gone through all those things it’s kind of like everything that Job went through and it’s like someone coming to him and saying, “cheer up.” I would be afraid to tell them to rejoice because they would look at me as someone who’s just dismissing all their problems.

But the second reason why it amazes me that he issues the command of rejoice and he talks about joy so much is because Paul also wrote that letter of Second Corinthians that we looked at.

He holds them up as an example of people who had joy in the midst of problems, in the midst of trials. It seems like the congregation has already demonstrated their joy. And so what does he tell them to do? This joyful congregation he says rejoice.

Why? Because this is something that ought to be in our lives at all times.

And he said, “It’s nothing, no big deal for me to tell you to rejoice again, to write it again. It’s not a big deal, but it is a safeguard to you because at any moment, something or someone can come and rob you of that joy.”

“At any moment, something or someone can come and rob you of that joy.”

But we can’t have that happen. So I’m going to tell you over and over and over about the joy of the Lord and that you can rejoice.

The Source of Our Joy

Now the source of our joy, we talked about some of the things—celebrations and that which make us happy and that bring us joy, the birth of a new child or grandchild and we’re excited about that. But the source of our joy, we are not told simply to rejoice and then left to find our own motivation to stay happy all the time.

We are told to rejoice in the Lord. So we see here joy is rooted in a person, not a prognosis.

Our joy is founded in our savior, not in our situation.

“Joy is rooted in a person, not a prognosis. Our joy is founded in our savior, not in our situation.”

It was a commentator, Andrew Nolles. He says joy is the deep satisfaction that comes from belonging to Christ and being united in his love and purpose.

And in Romans 5:1-2, it puts it this way. It says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.”

So our joy comes from our sins being forgiven and having a right relationship with God. It comes from now being adopted into the family of God. We were once his enemies and now we’re his friends.

And we’re actually going to be able to celebrate that in a symbolic sense after the sermon celebrating the Lord’s table.

For this truth shall put us in a permanent state of joy that the world can’t take away.

In Luke 10:20, Jesus says, “Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” So again, this isn’t temporal. This isn’t something that comes and then when the moment is over, it’s over. This isn’t, oh, I’m in the running. I’m a finalist for this job. I might get this big opportunity.

And then when we don’t get it, now the joy departs.

This is joy in our savior and in our salvation.

John 15:11 records this. Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.” So after promising the disciples that they would bear fruit as long as they remain in him, remain in Christ, Jesus explains to them that he and all that it means to abide in Christ will be their source of joy.

So the source of joy is our relationship with God. It is what was done on the cross. It is something that is eternal.

The Quality of Our Joy

Now the quality of this joy is not merely happiness or the absence of grief or even denying what our true emotions are so we can put on a happy face.

But this joy is eternal. In Psalm 16:11 he says, “You will make known to me the way of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever.” This joy is something that we are given now and we will carry with us throughout eternity.

Psalm 16:11: “In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

So it is eternal. It was given by God.

Romans 15:13 says, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

This is not something we have to build up or muster up or lock away all of our other feelings and then we are left with nothing but joy. But this is something that God implants deep in us and because of that it cannot be taken away. Because of that it can’t be shaken and it’s also rooted in salvation.

We looked at this earlier. I’ll repeat it just so you have it in this context. Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.”

We are able to celebrate because we have been justified by faith. And because we have peace with God, a God that we once doubted, that we once questioned, that we once hated, we now have peace with him.

And that is the cause for the joy.

So the quality of this joy is eternal. It is given by God and it is rooted in salvation.

Joy Produces Holiness

And this is where we’re going to spend much of our time. The extent of this joy, how far does it go, where does it reach, how long does it last? We looked at that a little bit. One of the things we see about this joy is that it produces holiness.

Psalms 119:67 says, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word.” Get the distinction here.

It doesn’t say, “I learned your word.” The assumption here is that the psalmist knew at least some of the commands and willfully chose to violate them until affliction came.

He says, “I went astray before I was afflicted, but during and after that affliction,” he has time to really wrestle with the word of God and think about it and apply it to his life.

“The psalmist knew the commands and willfully chose to violate them until affliction came.”

Now he keeps your word. We’ll find later that he’s joyfully keeping the word. He’s not keeping the word just to avoid affliction again because he doesn’t say I was afflicted and I’m no longer afflicted. He doesn’t say I got out of the affliction and because you let me out now I’m going to rejoice and now I’m going to obey.

But it’s the affliction that causes us to look at God’s word, to look at our heart, to want to put off sin, and want to put on righteousness.

Rejoicing in Tribulations

In Romans 5, we’re back there again. Now we look at verses 3-5.

It says, “And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

He says that we’re not just celebrating in the hope of the glory of God. We’re not just celebrating in our salvation and that now I know I’m going to heaven. But we celebrate in our tribulations because they cause holiness.

They cause us to reflect on ourselves. They cause us to reflect on God. They cause us to depend on God. When you have nothing else, all you have is God.

When money can’t save you, when the best doctors can’t help you, when grief is too hard to bear and nothing you can do can bring that person back so that grief isn’t going anywhere, you have to call out to God. There is nothing else you can do.

Romans 5:3-4: “We also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance.”

Those tribulations, the trials, the afflictions, they all cause us to look at God as our great provider and our sustainer.

It is a beautiful thing. It’s hard to go through. It’s hard when we’re dealing with it. And sometimes we don’t even know what it is.

We don’t even know why. We don’t know if we’ve sinned in some way. We don’t know if this is just an attack of the devil and he’s busy right now. We don’t know what it is, but we know that God will use this for his purposes and his glory.

We can rejoice because we know that we are being kept by a God who is all powerful and gracious and loving.

Trials Lead to Maturity

James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters.” Hopefully he’s going to tell us something good. He says, “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials.” Here he goes.

“Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.”

This idea of growing and being mature and being complete in Christ—if I asked you all, do you want that? I’m sure everyone would say yes. I want that. I want to be as close to Christ as I can. I want to live like Christ. I want to look like Christ. I want to speak and act like Christ.

And then if I tell you the way to get there is to have trials. When you encounter various trials, you should consider it joy because you just told me you want to be like Christ, and this is how you’re going to get there.

“The way to be like Christ is to have trials — so when you encounter them, consider it joy.”

We should consider it joy. This joy isn’t something that just comes when good things happen.

Because we have this joy embedded in us, it overflows even in the middle of trials and tribulations and affliction.

By extension, it drives us to focus on God’s word. And this is where the growth really happens.

Affliction Drives Us Deeper into God’s Word

So, back to Psalm 119. Just a few verses later, the psalmist says, “It is good for me that I was afflicted so that I may learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”

The wealth that is in the word of God is so rich and so beautiful and so powerful that the psalmist says, “I’m glad that I went through that affliction because that caused me to dig deep and discover it. That caused me to be even more open to hear God’s word.”

And we’ll see in a minute how sometimes even the good things take us away from God’s word, which is another reason why we rejoice when affliction comes.

Psalm 119:71: “It is good for me that I was afflicted so that I may learn your statutes.”

Joy Enables Us to Comfort Others

It also allows us to comfort others.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in our affliction, so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” That was a lot, and it gets tricky sometimes. I went to public school, so bear with me.

What he is saying here is that sometimes you go through trials, you go through something bad, and then you’re comforted by God. That happens to you not only for you but for other people’s benefit.

So when they’re going through something similar or even different—he says any affliction doesn’t have to be the same thing you dealt with, but what it feels like to suffer. What it feels like to call out to God late in the midnight hour. What it feels like to have stress and anxiety. You may even know what it feels like to not know how you’re going to make it through the month on the little bit of money you have left.

And then God is a provider. So when someone else is going through something where they need to know God as a provider, you can speak to them. You can combine your experience with the scripture and you can say, “Look, this is how I applied this in my life and this is how I got through this,” and maybe you’ll even have some practical help for them as well.

This is why, or one of the reasons why, we are afflicted. But it’s only if you handle that affliction and deal with that affliction with a joyful heart that these benefits will come. If you develop bitterness in your heart because you are going through something, or “why me,” or “it’s always something,” or Murphy’s law, or any other ways that we describe suffering in this world, then we won’t be able to comfort because we will never be comforted.

We never allow the joy of Christ to flow in our hearts and overflow into our thinking and our meditations. We focus on our issues. We focus on our problems so much that now we can’t be a help to anyone else. Now we don’t get the benefit and blessing of knowing deeper and richer God’s word and being able to apply it, being able to speak life into other people because of the life-giving word.

It’s only when we allow God’s joy to overtake us in those moments that we can then apply these truths to others.

“It’s only when we allow God’s joy to overtake us that we can apply these truths to others.”

Joy in Times of Abundance and Lack

It also strengthens us to trust in God during times of loss, lack, or even abundance.

One of my favorite passages is Proverbs 30. I won’t be able to read it all just for the sake of time.

Proverbs 30:8-9 says, “Keep deception and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is my portion so that I will not be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’”

Here we see that we are even to rejoice in the Lord in the good times. Why are you even saying this? Why are you wasting my time right now telling me to rejoice when things are good? You’re rejoicing in the Lord. You’re not rejoicing in the good time. You’re not rejoicing in the thing that you’re receiving that you say is a blessing.

That is not what you’re rejoicing in.

Now the king understood that having an abundance can take our eyes off of God just as much as having lack can, just as much as affliction can. Sometimes having the blessing and the abundance of blessing can take our eyes off of God and we focus on the gift and not the giver.

“Having abundance can take our eyes off God just as much as having lack can.”

Worshiping the Gift Instead of the Giver

When I think about this, I picture a vast ocean full of water that’s clean enough for us to drink, and that’s the joy of the Lord.

He’ll give us these moments. He’ll give us these things—births and anniversaries and even our team winning championships—because they’ll give us momentary happiness or even joy if it’s more meaningful, like relationships. These are blessings from God, but they’re like taking a picture from that ocean and then drinking out of that or pouring it into a cup and drinking that.

We don’t want to focus on a picture. We don’t want to focus on this when we have an entire ocean. Because then when that picture dries up, how do I get more? I forgot the ocean exists because I sat and put the picture on a pedestal and I began worshiping that.

I began worshiping my child. I began worshiping my status. I began to define myself by what people told me and how they said I looked great or sounded great or whatever it is. I like that attention. I liked the money, and that is the thing that gives me joy and that’s the thing that gives me security.

Understand, God gives us the emotions to fill these things. God allows us to experience true blessing from these temporal things that come in our lives, but they’re to send us deeper into worship of the true God.

Every time I get that picture, I’m supposed to be thinking of the ocean where that water came from.

“Every time I get that blessing, I’m supposed to be thinking of the ocean where it came from.”

And that makes me reflect all the more on the goodness of God and the mercy that he gives us.

Rejoicing When Everything Fails

And this isn’t just in our personal lives, but this is even when we see things going around us. It’s an interesting passage in Habakkuk 3:17-18. Habakkuk 3:17-18 says, “Even if the fig tree does not blossom, and there is no fruit on the vines, if the yield of the olive fails, and the fields produce no food, even if the flock disappears from the fold, and there are no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”

Again, what is his focus? He’s in a famine. Everything we’re trying to grow is withering. Nothing is growing. Nothing lasts. We can’t even get oil from the olive tree. Everything that we depend on for our sustenance is failing.

And he doesn’t even say there “the God of my provision.” He doesn’t even say what we like to say a lot—Jehovah Gyra. We talk about that God, our great provider. He doesn’t even call him that. He says “the God of my salvation.”

He’s rejoicing in his salvation. Now, salvation there is twofold. We look at salvation as being rescued from either eternal damnation in hell or even being rescued from a temporal event. But who is he focusing on? He is not focusing on the farmer. He is not focusing on the king and saying the king’s policies are bad and that’s why we don’t have any oil and that’s why we don’t have any crops now. His focus isn’t there. His focus is on God.

God is our provider. God is our sustainer. God is my salvation.

Habakkuk 3:18: “Yet I will triumph in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”

And because I know I have salvation in Christ, bringing it to the modern times, we know we have true salvation that we can put our lives in, we can put our trust in Christ. We can put our spirit in him.

We can rest. All those things are taken care of.

Our healing—ultimately, we all will be healed. We all will have bodies that don’t break down. We all will have bodies that don’t bear disease. And we can rejoice in that even now. We can rejoice in it, looking forward to that. I won’t have this broken back anymore.

And let me just say while I’m here, y’all should—I should not give me a mic. I think I was the only elder who put back his chair in there just with my broken back. I just want to point that out since we’re talking about rejoicing. Just rejoice in that. I don’t know how to tie that in, but I just want to say that.

Victory Over Death

But these things that we deal with, these temporal things, these pains, even grief, even death—Paul said, “Death, where’s your sting? Where’s your victory?” Even that thing that separates us is not something that is victorious because why? Death was swaddled up in victory.

Because Christ has given us the ultimate victory over death by dying on the cross and then was raised from the dead. What we just celebrated last week proves that he had victory over death and over sin. And that is why we can worship with such confidence.

That is why we can have joy no matter what is going on in life because we know where we are headed. We know where our life is. We know it’s in the hands of God.

“We can have joy no matter what because we know where we are headed and our life is in God’s hands.”

I love when simple songs, especially things for kids, give such powerful messages. As a kid, they sing this song: “He has the whole world. He’s got the whole world in his hands and he’s got the little babies in his hand and this and that.” And we’re like, “Oh, that’s just so cute.”

That truth will keep you. You are being kept and held in the hands of the creator. There is no better place to be.

Why We Must Be Commanded to Rejoice

How do we think about this?

What is a practical application we can give to this to have joy? It sounds like a big thing, and it is. Maybe it’s something that we should all study. Maybe we should put that on the agenda for the next elder meeting. Then maybe we ought to have the church study joy together.

But what do we do? One thing I want to point out here is that we’re given joy by God, but we’re also given a command to rejoice. So if we have it already, why do we have to work towards it? Why do we have to be told to rejoice if joy is something that already has been deposited in me?

It’s like that illustration with water. We can have it, just like peace. We have not just peace with God, meaning in our relationship with God we are at peace, but we have the peace of God, which he’ll actually talk about later. We have the peace of God, but many times we still deal with anxiety and stress. We still worry.

It is possible for us to ignore the very gift that God has given us, the thing that he has deposited in us. The only reason why we can love and obey Scripture’s command to love is because God has given us the love and then modeled that love. Because that love has been poured in us, now I can love you.

But we’re still commanded to love because there are times where we don’t, or we don’t as we should, or we do it impartially, or we change the definition of love so we don’t actually have to change our behavior.

The same is true about joy. There are many times when, even though we have joy in us, we take our eyes off of Christ and we place them on earthly things—whether earthly good things, blessings, things that make us happy, or trials that cause us to despair. We take our eyes off Christ. The joy is still there.

Galatians 5:22 tells us that joy is a fruit of the Spirit. So it’s still there. God has still deposited it in us, but we have to access it. We have to use it. We have to meditate on it. We have to think about what Christ has given us and who he is.

“Joy is a fruit of the Spirit — God has deposited it in us, but we have to access it and meditate on it.”

We see the same thing with many of the gifts that God has deposited in us. Now we allow the cares of this world to come and they diminish our ability to access or use those gifts. We focus on the temporal things instead of the eternal things.

Rest in the Presence of God

As Paul moves on in Philippians 4, there are a couple of things that he says. First, he says to rest in the presence of God. In verse 5, it says, “Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near.”

Now, he didn’t just throw that in because he needed four more words to hit his word count in the essay. The Lord is near is what allows every other truth to be so meaningful in what he says.

We can rejoice because the Lord is near. We can have peace because the Lord is near. We can put all stress and anxiety aside because the Lord is near. We can be confident in our prayers because the Lord is near. And we can even think on the right things because the Lord is near.

So that is the basis of everything. But only to those who know Christ. If you don’t know Christ and haven’t received him, the Lord is not near. Or when he comes near, it’s in judgment. It’s not for salvation until you put your faith and trust in him.

“We can rejoice because the Lord is near. We can have peace because the Lord is near.”

Pray Through Everything

He says to pray through everything.

Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

We’re praying through things that are good, things that are stressful, things that will cause us to be anxious. We’re giving thanksgiving as well for the things that we see are blessings. We’re praying through everything and acknowledging that everything is a gift from God.

In verse 7, it says, “And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” That is a promise.

Philippians 4:7: “The peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

If you want to have joy, you first rest in the presence of God. Remember the Lord is near.

Second, you pray through everything and you put off any anxiety, any fear, any worry or doubt because you’re in the hands of the great creator and savior.

Third, he says to meditate on godly things.

Meditate on Godly Things

Verse 8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” How often can we say that’s true about us in our thoughts?

You can’t have joy when you’re thinking about or meditating on things that don’t produce joy. It seems simple, but we all do it. We all get swept up in other things, even things that seem good.

We don’t spend enough time meditating on the truth of God’s word. We don’t spend enough time meditating even on the things that God has created, on the beauty in God’s creation. We don’t spend enough time meditating on whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely or commendable.

Too many times we think we’re doing that, but instead we’re focusing on everything that’s wrong with the world and shaking our head. Look what the world is doing now. Look at what they’re doing. Look at where they’re going. We’re watching every bit of news about every negative thing that’s happening in every nation in the world.

We’re sitting and looking at every law that’s passed and we’re studying all of this and we’re reading those things more than we’re reading scripture. Then we wonder why we don’t have joy. Focusing on what’s happening in this world is not going to give you joy.

That doesn’t mean you have to be ignorant of everything. But that means your focus and your foundation has to be in Christ and his word and the things that he provided that will sustain the joy that he has already given you.

“Your focus and your foundation has to be in Christ and his word — the things that will sustain your joy.”

Let that be our mission. Let that be what we resolve to do: that we will pursue joy in every circumstance, that we will meditate on things that honor Christ, that we will pray through everything, and that we will remember that the Lord is near.

Now, let’s go to the Lord in prayer.

Closing Prayer

Our wonderful eternal God, we thank you that you are near and that we can know you. We thank you, God, that you have called us into your family. We thank you, God, that you have given us salvation in your son.

We thank you, God, that that salvation is free. There is nothing that we have to do to earn it because we couldn’t. We just thank you, God, that you give us reason to rejoice because even when we are afflicted, we know that it will glorify you and it is for our good.

We pray that you would help us to maintain this desire that you’ve put in us to seek you. We pray, God, that you would help us to love you with our whole heart, our mind, our soul, and our spirit.

We pray, God, that you would get the glory out of our lives and out of our relationships. We ask you to be with us even now as we celebrate the Lord’s table together and continue to worship you. We ask all this in Christ’s name and for his sake.

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