Prayer: May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "Let God be exalted (Psalm 70:4)! "
Our God, who looks over us day by day, hour by hour, and in each minute of our lives, keep us in Your favor. Convict us in the times that we stumble and grieve You, oh Lord. Forgive us and bring us back to full fellowship with You so that we might experience a continual flow of grace and mercy coupled with Your direction in our lives. Our joy is in you and you alone, oh Lord. Amen.
Main Scripture:
Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 3:1)!
Associated Scriptures:
On that day, they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation (Isaiah 25:9).”
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Corinthians 13:6-7).
Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love (Psalms 33:1-5).
Correlative Quotes:
Paul called on believers to rejoice in the Lord. The word "rejoice" appears several times in the epistle (1:18 [twice]; 2:17-18. [twice]; 3:1; 4:4 [twice], 4:10). It seems from this repeated emphasis, that the Philippian Christians needed this word. Most of God's people need this challenge often. It is easy for believers to let circumstances discourage them. The cure for discouragement is to rivet one's attention on the Lord and rejoice in Him.[1] – John Walvoord/Roy B. Zuck
Paul was able to rejoice in spite of his suffering because he knew and trusted God. He did not let his circumstances discourage him. When life goes well for people who don't know the joy of the Lord, they feel elated. When hard times come, they may sink into depression. But true joy enables us to transcend the rolling waves of circumstance. Joy comes from a consistent relationship with Jesus Christ — thus believers "rejoice in the Lord."[2] Tyndale House Publishers
The main thrust of verse 1 is Paul’s instruction to rejoice. Let me make several observations from this verse. First, notice with me that Paul is commanding us to rejoice. The form of this verb is imperative. We are not given an option as to whether or not we should rejoice; our only option is whether or not we will obey this command to rejoice. Dr. A. T. Robertson renders it, “go on rejoicing.” We are to establish a pattern, a lifestyle, of rejoicing.[3] – Bob Deffinbaugh
Study:
INTRODUCTION
“Rejoice in the Lord”: This statement reflects Paul’s overriding intent for this letter. His prayer for the Philippians is that they would rejoice in the Lord due to their salvation, their spiritual growth, and their hope of eternity.
Romans 15:13 tells us, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Joy has its birth in salvation. When we become born again, given new life in Jesus, God fills us with His Spirit who introduces us to joy. The joy that God gives us at the point of our redemption is in its infancy but we feel the assurance of his grace immediately. As time goes on, we will grow in that joy as we successfully experience increasing hope by allowing God to lead us through times of suffering.
1 Peter 1:8-9 encourages us when it says, “Though you have not seen Him (Jesus; author’s note), you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Though we have never seen Jesus with our eyes, though we have never touched Him with our hands, nevertheless we love Him for what He has accomplished for us. We find joy in the fact that through our new birth we discover Jesus and feel Him working in and through us by the power of His Spirit.
Every word of scripture deepens our understanding of Him and the sacrifice that he made for us. Not only did Jesus leave His position in Heaven to walk among us, not only did He experience temptation as we feel it, not only did He feel sorrow, pain, and hunger as we have felt them; but the cross. We will never know or completely understand the agony of the cross. Thank God.
In Revelation 19:7 the apostle John says this about our Joy, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” The wedding of the lamb marks the culmination of our earthly relationship with Jesus, but it begins our Heavenly. eternal union with Him. We are the bride of Christ. Jesus will be the head of His church as He becomes the Groom that we have longed for.
No more pain. No more suffering. The joy will be fulfilled, completed in this final act of compassion and love. Praise be to God the Father and to His only Son, our Savior; Jesus. Our joy increases with just the thought of that great day.
Summary Statement:
Jesus has paid the ultimate price for our redemption. Not only the physical pain and embarrassment of crucifixion, hanging their naked, beaten, and bleeding but the spiritual pain of the acceptance of the sin of the world. He accepted God’s punishment for all sin, for all time, for all of us. All for us. He gave it all for us. All for our increasing joy. Nothing more needs to be done by God for us to be rescued from our disobedience or sin. However, even though we are now positionally perfected by Jesus’ sacrifice, we still must live through this life to get to the next. The incredible gift of joy will accomplish that. It will not do away with the heartache or physical and mental suffering. But, as we grow in our joy, He will give us the strength and courage to withstand and attack. Praise Him. As others without Jesus suffer with no hope, no peace, no comfort, we who know Him will have our joy to carry us through these trials.
Lesson within the Lesson:
If we are redeemed, why do we still suffer?
What is the remedy that God has given us to withstand suffering?
Where does joy come from and how do we increase our joy?
When will the suffering end and with what will it be replaced?
[1] John Walvoord/Roy R. Zuck, from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries; Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries. All rights reserved.
[2] Tyndale House Publishers, from The Life Application Commentary Series Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 by the Livingstone Corporation. Produced with permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
[3] Bob Deffinbaugh, June 29, 2014 bible.org/seriespage/10
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