THE JOY OF KNOWING JESUS & THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION, PART 1: ALWAYS BE REJOICING IN THE LORD

PART 2: WATCH OUT FOR THE DOGS

PART 3: THE SURPASSING WORTH OF KNOWING JESUS

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Abiding and abounding joy in the Lord (in knowing everything we can about Him, what He accomplished for us, and His will for us) is the safeguard against the power of sin to shipwreck our faith.

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Philippians 3:1
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a protection for you.

Introduction to the Series

Do you have the joy of knowing Jesus and the power of His resurrection? Has a relationship with Jesus and the reality of His resurrection power set the course of your entire life? It did Paul’s, and we are going to be reminded of what that looks like today and the next two Sundays.

Introduction to the Sermon

If there is one thing we should be doing today, should we not be rejoicing in our risen Lord? Should we not be celebrating Him - celebrating that He is alive and we can know Him, living for Him and with Him? But do we only rejoice in Him one day out of the week, four days out of the month, and fifty-two days out of the year, or, should rejoicing in Him be constant in our daily existence? How do we understand rejoicing in the Lord as it relates to the true condition of our hearts?

We need to look carefully at this command to rejoice.

The meaning of the Greek for "rejoice" (‎chairo /khah·ee·ro/) can best be understood in saying, "Always be rejoicing - always be being glad - always be delighting." This is an imperative - a command. Now, how can Paul command us to rejoice? Isn't rejoicing an emotional action? Isn’t that something I have to feel first? How can I rejoice if I don’t feel like rejoicing? Well, the answer to that is…

We need to look carefully at the Cause & Subject of our rejoicing.

Paul commands us to always be rejoicing in the Lord with the intent of telling us to always be looking at the Lord - to always be focusing on everything about Him - to always be gazing upon His greatness. And what will be happening in our hearts when we are doing that? We will well up with such joy in Him that it fills us and overflows out of us in the worship of rejoicing in Him. And I dare to say that worshipful rejoicing in the Lord is the mark of the true Christian. The only people that can look at the Lord and not respond to Him with overflowing joy, are those that are dead to Him. Rejoicing in Him - being glad in Him - delighting in Him - savoring Him - celebrating Him - treasuring Him - affectionately adoring Him - produces and sustains everything in the life truly lived for Him. Without this, all you have are shallow, sentimental efforts to satisfy a therapeutic need for spiritual self-fulfillment, or, slavishly dutiful efforts to scab over a guilty conscience.

Rejoicing is our response to the magnificence of the Lord. He is the cause and the subject of our rejoicing. There is a difference between rejoicing in the Lord and rejoicing in rejoicing. Much of the church in America just gets together for a good time, and Jesus is just their excuse to do that. According to Miley Cyrus, it's a head-nodding, hip-shaking party in the USA, and many that call themselves Christians seem to be saying to America, "Look, we can party, too!" Even if the party ends in America, we are called to have deep-seated joy in the Lord that culminates in the celebration of rejoicing in Him, not the shallow happiness that bubbles out in the giddiness of a party with Jesus' name printed out on all of the party favors. I have sat under preaching on this verse (along with 4:4) that emphasized the good time of our rejoicing more than the good Lord of our rejoicing - seeming to cause more joy in rejoicing, rather than joy in the Lord expressed in rejoicing. Am I suggesting that we deliberately downplay the good time of rejoicing in the Lord? Absolutely not. The wonderful fact is that when the good Lord is magnified with our intent to rejoice in Him, the good time of rejoicing, even in the midst of hard times and heartbreak, will follow.

We need to look carefully at the context of the rest of what Paul had to say.

Whether Paul was saying he was wrapping up or continuing the letter (the sense of the two Greek words (ho loipon) translated "finally" or "furthermore", depending on the translation, can be captured in saying, "As for the rest of what I have to say...") - going into the rest of what he had to say, he implored them to rejoice in the Lord. I can't help but think that there is a link in Paul's chain of thought between his imperative to rejoice in the Lord and his intent to write the same things (probably elaboration on 1:27-28, judging by what follows). I just don't see him making such a brief and abrupt point, as to move on to other things unrelated to that point. Rejoicing in the Lord is much more than a routine event of the emotions to check off a list of things to do (as if to think, Okay, I do spend some time rejoicing in the Lord. What else do I need to do?). No, rejoicing in the Lord is the life-defining intention of a heart delightfully devoted to Him. For the true believer in the Lord and the true follower of the Lord, rejoicing in Him is the lifelong expression of every life-directing decision ever to be made. Temptation will become increasingly distasteful as we grow in our understanding of and joy in the Lord, realizing how the temptation to sin against the Lord can only be effective by diminishing our view and experience of Him, thereby diminishing our joy in Him, even while recognizing that the decision to sin itself is the deadly fruit of an idolatrous lack of delight in Him. Therefore, I see Paul reasoning this way: "I want you to rejoice in the Lord. So, I am writing these same things to you again, to magnify Him to you, with no extra trouble for me, and for the safety of you."

What does Paul mean by safe? To write the same things was the safe thing for him to do for them (and for us) so that they would have a secure grip on those things and not be stumbling and fumbling around. Spiritual security and stability was what Paul had in mind.

Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by them you may strongly engage in battle, having faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and have suffered the shipwreck of their faith. (1 Timothy 1:18–19)

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:16 ESV) 

Abiding and abounding joy in the Lord (in knowing everything we can about Him, what He accomplished for us, and His will for us) is the safeguard against the power of sin to shipwreck our faith.

Conclusion

In the hustle and bustle, ebb and flow, trials and tribulations of grinding out our every-day existence, it is far too easy to lose sight of and our joy in our Lord. We need reminded every day, “Always be rejoicing in the Lord.” When we can’t rejoice in anything or anyone else - when we can’t rejoice in our homes - when we can’t rejoice in our jobs - when we can’t rejoice in our economy - when we can’t rejoice in our government - when we can’t rejoice in ourselves - we can rejoice in our Lord, Who lives and rules over it all.

PART 2: WATCH OUT FOR THE DOGS

PART 3: THE SURPASSING WORTH OF KNOWING JESUS