Today we continue our look at I Thessalonians 5:16: "Rejoice always"
If you missed the previous installments scroll down the page or click on the following links:
Intro
Rejoice Always - Part 1
Yesterday we talked about the fact the joy is not tied to our earthly circumstances.
This can be a difficult concept to grasp. We live on a cursed earth (Gen. 3) and bad things are going to happen—you need to expect that. But as Christians, we can be joyful in whatever earthly circumstances we find ourselves ( I most certainly have not arrived at this point yet - but am working on it)
One of our old Bible school teachers used to say:
“It’s not what happens to you in life that matters, it’s what happens in you; because if what happens in you is right, then what happens to you doesn’t matter.”
The Christian can lose his car, house, and even his family and still have this joy. I read about a minister who went to visit a family that had just suffered the loss of everything they owned in a fire:
The minister said to the woman, “I give you joy, Madam.”
Surprised and ready to be offended, she exclaimed, “What!? Joy that all my property is consumed?”
“Oh, no,” he answered, “but joy that you have so much property that fire cannot touch.”
He was talking about our treasures in heaven (as Jesus called them).
The Thessalonian Christians had already demonstrated this joy. In 1 Thess. 1:6, we read, “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit...”
From an outward point of view, early Christians had difficult lives and little that could cause rejoicing (from an outward point of view); yet they still had it.
I love the example of the apostles as seen in Acts 5. The apostles had been arrested and those in authority were trying to figure out what to do with them. A Pharisee named Gamaliel gave some advice and then we come to verses 40-42, “And they took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them to speak no more in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”
How is it that we read in Acts 16:25 about Paul and Silas singing in prison?
How could Paul tell the Colossian church, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake...” (Col. 1:24)?
How could the Hebrew writer say Jesus “for the joy set before Him endured the cross” (Heb. 12:2)?
And how could James tell us to “consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2)?
The apostle Paul went through some amazingly terrible things, but as he said in 2 Cor. 6:10 of himself and his companions, “...as sorrowful yet always rejoicing...”
Peter, in his writings, said, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation” (1 Pet. 4:12-13). In that letter, Peter talked a lot about persecution and seems to be saying, “You can kill a Christian, but you can’t hurt him. As a Christian, stuff is going to happen to your flesh, but it can’t touch your spirit.”
I like the way Raymond Kelcy put it, “The true Christian can always find reason for rejoicing. He rejoices in the newness of life he has found in Christ and in the hope which he shares with other Christians. Even though he is experiencing sorrows and tears and is burdened with life’s cares, he can rejoice beneath all these weights. His joy is not that which is born of outward conditions and circumstances. It is a joy existing in the depth of his heart because of his spiritual riches.”
We possess the forgiveness of sins, the hope of eternal life, and the peace of mind from realizing the truth of Rom. 8:28: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
In his commentary on this verse, R. C. H. Lenski comes to this conclusion:
“Earthly joys fade after a brief moment; our joy of salvation never fades. Yet we need to be told ever to rejoice, for we let so many little adversities lessen and even darken our joyfulness. The Christian life is the only truly joyful and happy life even as it merges into eternal joy.”
You can rejoice always!
Join me tomorrow as we look at how to "pray without ceasing." |
Posted by Brandon 
