Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always: [and] again I say, Rejoice.
4. Rejoice in the Lord.] Cp. Php 3:1, and note.
alway ] This word is a strong argument against the rendering “ Farewell,” instead of “ Rejoice.” “ Always ” would read strange and unnatural in such a connexion. And cp. 1Th 5:16.
He leads them here above all uncertain and fluctuating reasons for joy, to Him Who is the supreme and unalterable gladness of the believing soul, beneath and above all changes of circumstances and sensation.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Rejoice in the Lord alway – see the notes at Phi 3:1. It is the privilege of Christians to do this, not at certain periods and at distant intervals, but at all times they may rejoice that there is a God and Saviour; they may rejoice in the character, law, and government of God – in his promises, and in communion with him. The Christian, therefore, may be, and should be, always a happy man. If everything else changes, yet the Lord does not change; if the sources of all other joy are dried up, yet this is not; and there is not a moment of a Christians life in which he may not find joy in the character, law, and promises of God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Php 4:4-8
Rejoice in the Lord alway
Three elements of Christian character
I.
The keynote of the Epistle and of Christian life is cheerfulness. The repetition here, and the enforcement of the same in other Epistles shows us the importance of this duty.
1. If the Philippians neglected or undervalued this duty they have many imitators today. Some professing Christians set their faces against it, and make the best of days the saddest, the best of books the most forbidding, and the best of services the least inviting. Those who take their cue from these, come to regard sourness and sanctity as synonymous. This is a gross and dishonouring perversion of that which was heralded with notes of joy.
2. It is in the Lord that we are to be glad. Christ has brought the materials out of which gladness is made–new and happier thoughts, power, purposes, hopes.
3. The advantages are manifold.
(1) To ourselves.
(a) Cheerfulness brings us within the charmed circle of the noblest and brightest spirits. Without this we can never enter into the rapture of psalmists and prophets.
(b) The perception of cheerfulness nourishes the very cheerfulness it sees. The sun not only reveals and makes the beauty and fragrance of the flower.
(2) To others. Nothing breaks down the opposition of men to Christianity like a bright cheering life. It more faithfully represents the true spirit of Christianity. Christ came to make the world glad, and only as we rejoice in and with Him are we true to Him.
4. We are to rejoice alway, which teaches us to cultivate the habit of looking on the bright side, of always being on the look out for compensation, of considering the purposes of difficulties, the lessons of adversity, the Sender of sorrows.
II. Forbearance.
1. In what does this show itself.
(1) In waiving our just rights; not pushing them always to the utmost.
(2) In checking ourselves under provocation: not returning evil for evil, but contrariwise. This needs large Christian grace.
2. The powerful motive: the Lord is at hand.
(1) As seeing all.
(2) As soon coming to end our vexations.
III. Devout trustfulness.
1. In arguing this (verse 7), the apostle does not teach us to have no care and let everything drift, but not to be full of care. Whilst we are ordering our affairs with discretion, we must not be over anxious. The Lord is at hand. His Providence will be equal to all emergencies. Do your best, and leave the issue to Him.
2. Let prayer be your antidote to worry. God knows what is best. Submit to His will, thankful for His many mercies. Gratitude is a condition of successful prayer
3. The grand issue–the peace of God.
(1) Its channel–He in whom we have to rejoice.
(2) Its character.
(a) God-like.
(b) Transcending every effort of the mind to grasp it.
(3) Its effect. To stand sentry and keep guard over the heart and mind. (J. J. Goadby.)
Christs nearness
I. A fact stated. The Lord is at hand, may apply either to time or place. He is coming, and till He comes to wipe away our tears, to raise our dead, and fill us with glory, He is, in the meantime, our solace in trials, conflicts, difficulty and danger, our light in darkness, and our triumph in death. We greatly wrong Him to conceive of Him as above the stars. He is very nigh His people, the shade on their right hand. Let us therefore walk circumspectly, and let nothing cast us down. Let also our enemies beware.
II. The command grounded on the facts.
1. Rejoice in the Lord alway.
(1) How little there is of this amongst us. Yet the Lord is at hand that we may rejoice in Him as a Refuge, a Support, a Friend
(2) The all-sufficient ground of this rejoicing. There is nothing in Him that is not an occasion for joy, life; righteousness, abounding grace. There is nothing our souls can want, our hope desire, our happiness need, our immortality grasp, that is not laid up in Him.
(3) There is no true joy that does not find its spring in Him.
(4) This joy is perennial–whatever be our times, or circumstances, it is our privilege to rejoice.
2. Let your moderation, etc. When the eye has once seen, the ear heard, the heart occupied with Christ, all other matters take a subordinate position. The attractions of the world are nothing, its anxieties are lost in the comfort of His love, and its entanglements cannot keep us from resting in His bosom. Sit, then, loosely to the things around you. Let men see that you have a better portion, and know by your forbearance, gentleness, and moderation, that the things that once occupied you are now quite secondary. What matter if other things fade from your grasp, if the presence of the Lord is realized in your soul.
3. Be careful for nothing.
(1) There is no need for this care. Think of the eye ever watching you, the arm around you.
(2) Be not full of care; it does not mean be indifferent to the concerns of life, but be not anxious. The Lord is at hand; He will provide. There is nothing in God, in ourselves, in the world, or in Satan that we need be careful for.
4. In everything by prayer, etc. He is beside you, and you rob yourself of a great privilege if you keep back anything. Pour out your heart, only with thanksgiving. Dont murmur. Thank Him for what He has done, is doing, and will do.
III. The precious promise, which is conditional on the keeping of the commands. The peace of God, etc.! Christ has made peace with God.
2. This peace must be apprehended and enjoyed (Rom 15:13; 1Pe 1:8). It can only be enjoyed by faith, and it must be maintained by a consistent walk.
3. This peace will keep us from sinking, from sinning, it will keep us calm amidst disturbance, at rest amidst restlessness, tranquil in anticipation of death and judgment. (Marcus Rainsford.)
Spiritual mindedness
There is a natural world, and there is a spiritual world. It is folly to ignore either. True wisdom lies in adequately acknowledging the claims of each, and skilfully adjusting their relations to each other. A man may be so engrossed by the natural, as to live as if there were no spiritual world, and vice versa In the one case he becomes a materialist; in the other, a mystic. We are now in this world, and have duties here which religion must help us to discharge. But there is a spiritual world, and nothing gives such elevation of character, and such power and consistency of living, as a sense of its real presence. The spiritually-minded have ever been the pioneers of human progress. Paul did not disparage the life that now is; he rather exalted it by constantly bringing upon it the power of the life to come. In the text he represents the effect of a spiritual faith on this human life. The key to the whole is, The Lord is at hand. There are four characteristics of spiritual mindedness as thus understood.
I. It will surprise materialists that the first is Joy–the delightful enjoyment of the feelings of pleasure at good gained and actually enjoyed, or at the prospect of good which one has a reasonable hope of obtaining.
1. The natural world can give joy.
(1) There is the joy of youth, when the blood is hot, and burdens have not bowed, and disappointment have not soured the man, where there are many beautiful hopes and no bitter memories.
(2) The joy of health, when the humours are wholesome, the circulation unimpeded, the nerves unjaded, the lungs sound, and the brain clear; when food is pleasant, sleep sweet, and activity exhilarating.
(3) The joy of success, when the battle has been won, the office secured, the bride wedded, the fortune made.
(4) The joy of the affections, when the heart has loved well.
2. But the great defect in all joy that is not in the Lord is that it is transitory. Youth, health, success, are good while they last, but they last so short a time.
3. Our faith does not offer us a choice as between natural and spiritual joy. On the contrary, the sources of natural joy are intensified by our spiritual joys, and placed upon a more enduring basis. Would not (let conscience speak) your natural joys be trebly sweet if you did not feel that if these were swept away there would be nothing left? If you did but rejoice in the Lord all of earth that is sweet and beautiful would be more so. To the spiritually-minded the Lord is at hand to help every human joy.
II. To be spiritually-minded is to have habits of honesty in business, of candour, good temper and forgiveness, for that is the meaning of moderation.
1. This is a provoking world, full of things which create disagreeable feelings. The weariness and tricks of others make us shut up ourselves and become uncandid, and cynical, and hard. Life becomes a game. We must not show our hands. The wicked will take advantage of it, and we shall lose.
2. Well, if this natural life be all there is, we cannot afford to be candid and good-tempered toward all men. But a spiritually-minded man can so afford, The Lord is at hand to help him. Put Him away, saying that each man must care for himself only, and if you fail, no matter the failure; if you succeed, how barren the success.
3. Whether you will or not the Lord is at hand. He sees all in the light of the spiritual world, and judges accordingly. He is at hand to help. The factory operative, the merchant, the capitalist, may all have a sense of His nearness, and if they have, then their moderation, fairness, self-control, and forgiveness will be known unto all men.
III. Elevation of soul–a serenity of temper over which the changes of life may pass as Storms do over a mountain, loosing here and there a stone, breaking here and there a tree, shaking the whole mass and drenching it, but leaving the mountain rooted in the earth.
1. Much of our life is frittered away with carking cares and anxieties. These came from too close a look at things which are temporal. This nearness must be corrected by spiritual mindedness. To a man who has no feeling of the Lords nearness every trouble exaggerates itself. He cannot put his full powers to any one thing, because he is troubled about many things.
2. Right spiritual-mindedness does not unfit us for the duties of life. Faith does not teach carelessness. It is the care that distracts which must be avoided. That is only avoided as a man comes to feel that the Lord stands by Him. That realized, he can attend to his multifarious duties without distraction. He has then a powerful motive to do his best, and that being done, he calmly leaves what he cannot do.
IV. Devoutness–a sense of the presence of One who takes an interest in our lives, and to whom we can speak specifically about everything that concerns us, and therefore concerns Him, and from whom we can get direction and help. In conclusion, when we are spiritually-minded Gods peace–
1. Keeps our hearts steady and true when temptations and troubles and bereavements seem bearing them away.
2. Our minds. No mind loses its balance as long as it perceives the Lord at hand to help.
3. Through Jesus Christ, the connecting link. (C. J. Deems, D. D.)
Joy
The gospel takes hold of every string in human nature. The beginner only plays on the central octaves of the pianoforte, while the master hand makes the seven octaves discourse music in their turn. Joy is soul elation, or the feeling of extreme pleasure. There are certain conditions when that string is touched by the hand of truth.
I. The joy of conversion. Relief from the burden of sin, and finding the pearl of great price. After Philip explained the matter, the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. No one can contemplate the fact that Christ is slain for His sins, and is risen for His justification, without experiencing a sense of happiness (Act 8:27-40). See also the account of the conversion of the Philippian jailer, and Lydia. Joy from a sense of safety is not the highest type, but very real.
II. The joy of Christian fellowship. When friends meet, there is a reciprocal feeling of esteem (Act 2:40-47). Two old Peninsula veterans accidentally met after a separation of twenty years. Words could not depict the beaming faces. It was the joy of esteem. Whenever the apostles met their brethren there was joy: Paul, the prisoner, was full of happiness in anticipating to see the Philippians again.
III. The joy of service. God loves a cheerful giver. There was great joy when David collected the funds for the building of the Temple (1Ch 29:9). Greater still was the joy of the redeemed in building the walls of Jerusalem (Neh 12:43). God must be served with gladness.
IV. The joy of prosperity. The Christian has no prosperity apart from the kingdom of Christ (Luk 15:10). The father made a feast because the lost had been found. The visit of Philip to Samaria was blessed abundantly. There was great joy in that city (Act 8:8). The gospel is good tidings of great joy to all people. The more souls are saved the more the joy of the Church (Luk 10:1-42)
V. The joy of special revelation. There are moments of supreme happiness given to all good people, such as the time of the Transfiguration. The happiest moment in the life of the Christian is the last, when the servant is dismissed his present service in peace, and advancing towards the crown. One word of caution–see that the right motive produces joy. There are superficial influences of a charming nature, but without depth or worth. Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience. When conscience says, rejoice, we are safe. It is a joy that will continue evermore. (Weekly Pulpit.)
Christian joy
I. What does this precept mean?
1. Joy, like every other simple emotion, cannot be defined; it must be felt to be known. The text enforces that form of joy which we should call habitual cheerfulness as–
(1) Opposed to gloom and dejection. These are natural to some, fostered by the circumstances of many, but forbidden to a Christian. Though gloom be in harmony with my constitution or temperament, that cannot justify me in cherishing it. I may have a natural propensity to steal, but I am to fight against it; and so with a tendency to dejection. The Christian is not like Cain, a fugitive and without a friend; but like Abraham, whose resources for everything were in the sufficiency of God. What Habbakuk did (although the fig tree, etc.) St. Paul tells all Christians to do, Count it all joy when you fall into divers trials.
(2) As distinguished from levity and mirth. Mirth is an act, cheerfulness a habit. Mirth is like a meteor; cheerfulness like a star. Mirth is like crackling thorns; cheerfulness like a fire. Mirth is like a freshet formed by a sudden overflow; cheerfulness like a river fed by deep springs and numerous brooks.
(3) As distinguished from indifference and insensibility. It is a positive state; a very distinct and vivid consciousness. A man may be very far from miserable; but it does not follow that he is cheerful. He may be stolid and callous of soul.
2. The text requires that cheerfulness should be habitual.
(1) It is required of us in working. We are to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow or brain joyfully, not counting work a hardship.
(2) There should be cheerfulness in giving, which God loves.
(3) In Christian communion.
(4) In general social intercourse.
(5) In suffering.
(6) In worship.
3. The precept directs us to derive our habitual cheerfulness from the Lord. No creature was ever happy in itself separated from God. You must not, therefore, try to get it from yourself.
(1) You will never get it from increase of wealth. That brings increase of care.
(2) Nor from the Church;
(3) but from Christ; His character, advent, death, righteousness, exaltation.
This is the lesson continually put before us in the Bible. My people have committed two evils. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord.
II. By what may this precept be enforced?
1. Habitual religious cheerfulness is a personal advantage.
(1) It benefits the body and the spirit. A merry heart doeth good like medicine. There are many persons who seriously impair their health by nursing gloom. Many nervous diseases may be traced to a state of mind cherished.
(2) A man works with great power who cherishes this spirit: Neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Soldiers after a long days march would hardly walk as nimbly as they do if they did not march to music. Get a cheerful heart and the yoke is easy and the burden light.
2. It is a strong qualification for rendering service to others. It is of little use trying to instruct, especially in religion, even a child, unless you are cheerful. And certainly a man is no use in the sick chamber, or in the house of bereavement, unless he has a cheerful heart.
3. If a Christian cannot rejoice always no man can.
(1) The infidel cannot.
(2) Nor the worldly.
4. For this the Christian has the largest possible provision. He has been born again, is a son of God and joint heir with Christ. It is quite true that Christians are soldiers and that the fight is hard, but victory is sure; they are racers and the running is exhausting, but the crown is sure; they are pilgrims and the journey is wearisome, but the arrival at home is sure; so that the soldier, racer, pilgrim, may rejoice alway.
5. The precept is enforced by Divine authority, by the example and word of Christ.
Conclusion:
1. When you are inclined to despondency, investigate the cause. Why art thou cast down?
2. When in circumstances that are grievous call before you all that is joyous and hopeful. How strange it is that people who have never had a real trouble are always grumbling.
3. Never lose sight of the fountain of gladness.
4. Avoid vain and foolish anticipations of evil. (S. Martin.)
The Christians joy
This joy is–
I. Intellectual.
1. The reason has its moments of inexpressible delight. Why do you sit up so late at night? was asked of an eminent mathematician. To enjoy myself. How? I thought you spent your time in working out problems. So I do, and there is the enjoyment. Those persons lose a form of enjoyment too keen to be described who do not know what it is to recognize after long effort and various failures, the true relation which exists between two mathematical formulae. We may be strangers to this form of enjoyment, but we may know enough of other subjects to believe its reality. All knowledge is delightful to the human mind because it involves contact with fact, and this contact is welcome to the mind because the mind is made for God the Truth of truths, in whom as manifested in His Son are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
2. In our day this delight is especially observable in the study of nature. The scientific spirit is almost concentrated upon this study, and it deserves a warm welcome from Christians; for if revelation is Gods second book, nature is His first.
3. And if the contact of mind with reality has thus a charm all its own, what should not be the delight of steadily contemplating God as He presents Himself to us in His revelation. There the Being, the perfection, the life of God, are spread out before us like a boundless ocean, that we may rejoice in Him always as the only, the perfect satisfaction of our intellectual nature.
4. But alas! while this is the case, a new plant in your botanical gardens, a newly discovered animal in your menageries, an octopus in your aquariums, will send a thrill of delight through those who claim to represent the most active thought of the day, and all the while the Being of beings, with all the magnificent array of His attractive and awful attributes is around you. How much of the mental life you bestow so ungrudgingly on His creatures is given to Him! O intelligence of man, that was made for something higher than any created thing, understand, before it is too late, thy magnificent destiny and rejoice in the Lord.
II. Moral.
1. It is the active, satisfied experience of a moral nature, a coming in contact with the uncreated and perfect moral Being. Joy has much more to do with the affections than with the reason. It is the play of the affections upon an object which responds to them and satisfies them. To the man of family, his wife and children call out and sustain this delight, which the ordinary occupations of his intellect rarely stimulate. And little as he may think it, on that threshold, beside that cradle, the man stands face to face with the attributes of the everlasting Being who has infused His tenderness and His love into the works of His hands.
2. Gods attributes of holiness, justice, mercy, may well delight the human mind, but they address themselves inevitably to our moral nature. As we gaze on God the holy, we turn our eyes on ourselves, and ask If He is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity what does He see in me? Between that uncreated beauty and our enfeebled, broken nature, we know that some dark shadow has passed, and yet light enough is left to enable us to see how little we are like Him. Man, conscious of this radical flaw hides himself from the Lord God and a deep gloom takes possession of him. He would fain bury himself in amusement or work–anyhow–in self-forgetfulness–anywhere out of the sight of God.
3. The work of our Saviour has made it again possible to rejoice in God. Christ has destroyed the discord between our conscience and His holiness. His graces establishes a union between the believing soul and its object. We are accepted in the beloved. Read Rom 5:1-11 and see what are the consequences of this new relation to God.
(1) Peace; and then as the soul finds what it is to have entered into the state of grace comes
(2) Joy; and joy as it is one of the first experiences, so in its more magnificent forms it is the crowning gift of the new life. Not only being reconciled shall we be saved by Christs life, but we also joy in God through Christ from whom we have received the atonement. The old fear which skulks away behind the trees of the garden is gone. Clinging to the Cross of Christ we behold the face of the Father, and with joy we draw water out of the wells of salvation.
Conclusion:
1. Our power of rejoicing in the Lord is a fair test of our moral condition. The heart that does not break forth into joy at the mention of His name is surely paralyzed or dead. If earthly friends, pleasures, etc., rouse in us keen sensations of delight, and this name which is above every name, this love which transcends earthly affections, finds and leaves us cold and unconcerned, be sure that it cannot be well with us.
2. This power of rejoicing is the Christians main support under the trials of life. St. Paul after saying that we rejoice in hope of the glory of God adds, not only so but we glory in tribulations.
3. This power is one of the great motive forces of the Christian life. Within the regenerate soul it is a well of water springing up into everlasting life, fertilizing everything–thought, feeling, resolution, worship: it gives a new impulse to what before was passive or dead, and makes outward efforts and inward graces possible, which else had been undreamt of. (Canon Liddon.)
Joy a duty
Joy drives out discord. Our text follows as a remedy upon disagreement (verses 1-2). Joy helps against the trials of life. Hence it is mentioned as a preparation for the rest of faith (verse 6).
I. The grace commanded–Rejoice.
1. It is delightful: our souls jubilee has come when joy enters.
2. It is demonstrative: it is more than peace: it sparkles, shines, sings. Why should it not? Joy is a bird; let it fly in the open heavens, and its music be heard of all men.
3. It is stimulating, and urges its possessor to brave deeds.
4. It is influential for good. Sinners are attracted to Jesus by the joy of saints. More flies are caught by a spoonful of honey than by a barrel of vinegar.
5. It is contagious. Others are gladdened by our rejoicing.
6. It is commanded. It is not left optional. It is commanded because
(1) It makes us like God.
(2) It is for our profit.
(3) It is good for others.
II. The joy discriminated.
1. As to the sphere–In the Lord. That is the sacred circle wherein the Christians life should always be spent.
2. As to the object.
(1) In the Lord, Father, Son, and Spirit; in the Lord Jesus, crucified, risen, etc.
(2) Not in
(a) temporals, personal, political, pecuniary.
(b) Nor in special privileges, which involve greater responsibility.
(c) Nor even in religious successes (Luk 10:20).
(d) Nor in self and its doings (Php 3:3).
III. The time appointed–Always.
1. When you cannot rejoice in any other, rejoice in God.
2. When you can rejoice in other things, sanctify all with joy in God.
3. When you have not before rejoiced, begin at once.
4. When you have long rejoiced, do not cease for a moment.
5. When others are with you, lead them in this direction.
6. When you are alone, enjoy to the full this rejoicing.
IV. The emphasis laid on the command–Again I say, Rejoice. Paul repeats his exhortation.
1. To show his love to them. He is intensely anxious that they should share his joy.
2. To suggest the difficulty of continual joy. He twice commands, because we are slow to obey.
3. To assert the possibility of it. After second thoughts, he feels that he may fitly repeat the exhortation.
4. To impress the importance of the duty. Whatever else you forget, remember this: Be sure to rejoice.
5. To allow of special personal testimony. Again I say, rejoice. Paul rejoiced. He was habitually a happy man. This Epistle to the Philippians is peculiarly joyous. Let us look it through.
(1) He sweetens prayer with joy (Php 1:4).
(2) He rejoices that Christ is preached (Php 1:18).
(3) He wishes to live to gladden the Church (Php 1:25).
(4) To see the members likeminded was his joy (Php 2:2).
(5) It was his joy that he should not run in vain (Php 2:16).
(6) His farewell to them was, Rejoice in the Lord (Php 3:1).
(7) He speaks of those who rejoice in Christ Jesus (Php 3:3).
(8) He calls his converts his joy and crown (Php 4:1).
(9) He expresses his joy in their kindness (Php 4:4; Php 4:10; Php 4:18).
Conclusion: To all our friends let us use this as a blessing: Rejoice in the Lord. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The duty of rejoicing
I. There are some precepts of Scripture which we may have difficulty in performing, but which, at least, we have the power of attempting. Such, e.g., as to forsake a bad habit or to undertake a certain course of action. But there are others which seem to enjoin what is beyond our power, e.g., those which demand a particular aspect of mind, whatever may be our feelings, such as our text. It seems strange that joy should be a duty. Unless there be cause for it, how can we have the power? Well, we may surely reckon up our occasions for sorrow and joy, and if the latter preponderate we might, at least, be ashamed of being unhappy, and that is a great preparation for a thankful state of mind. When a man is downcast, he is often raised by a friend who points out that things are not so bad as he thinks. And the Christian has reasons for joy which far outweigh reasons for sorrow. Count up then your mercies. Adjust yourselves to the breathings of Gods Spirit. If you cannot call forth the melody which slumbers in the heart, you can awaken the breeze of its music.
II. Joyfulness is as much within our power as honesty and industry. It is not as though it were only a question of natural disposition, etc. One great purpose of religion is to furnish us with motives and aids to correct our natural temperament, and to bring into play moral forces to counteract those which are opposite to good. Is not the Christian entitled to discharge all his cares on Gods providence; lay his sins on Gods Son; and his fears on Gods promises? Has he an excuse then for being disquieted.
III. Some Christians regard joy as permitted but not as commanded, a privilege, not a duty. Had this been so numbers would have wanted it; but as God has enjoined it all must strive after it, and that for many reasons. The believer is asked to state what is religion. If he fails to rejoice he brings disgrace upon it, for he is disobedient. And here is the triumph of infidelity; and the inquirer after religion is deterred when he sees in its professors, how it defers the happiness of which he is in search.
IV. As joy is a command which proceeds from Gods mouth, so it may be kept by Gods grace. We are bidden to rejoice in the Lord. Whatever be the attribute contemplated there is reason for gladness even in the holiness which condemns our sin. For did not that very holiness provide a means whereby the sinner might be honourably and eternally forgiven. If there be nothing in God in which we may not rejoice, it is evident that there is nothing in the universe.
V. The redeemer is a model for the Christian in this as in every other virtue. He who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross says, Ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full.
VI. Half the depression of Christians arises from looking at and into themselves. Even when looking at Christ for righteousness, they look to themselves for comfort. It is Christs hold on the believer that makes him safe. Rejoice, then, in the Lord. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Christians joyful in the Lord
As sorrow is attendant on sin, so is joy the companion of holiness. Joy is a feeling of pleasure caused by the remembrance of some past, the possession of some present, or the hope of some future good.
I. The Christian looks back on the past. Then sin on his own part is seen side by side with love upon Gods. He thinks with sorrow of his sinfulness, but remembers the forbearance which withheld the Almighty hand, the goodness that led to repentance and the grace that saved, and so rejoices in the Lord.
II. The present gives the same cause for rejoicing. There is much to abase and arouse painful feelings, but in the prayer which brings fresh supplies of strength, in the grace which is all-sufficient, in the promises, and in the work of faith and labour of love there is abundant cause for joy.
III. The future presents a joyful outlook. The extinction of sin, the removal of all hindrances to holiness, the full blessedness of body and soul in heaven. (Canon Chamneys.)
Constant joy in God the duty of Christians
I. What is implied in this duty.
1. That Christians are pleased that God exists. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Man in a state of nature dreads God. Naturally wishful of independence he dislikes the idea of one above him who can dispose of him according to His pleasure. But in Christians this enmity has been slain.
2. That they are pleased that He exists possessed of all Divine perfections. They could not rejoice in Him were it possible for Him to make a mistake or use any deception.
3. That they are pleased that He formed the most wise, just, and benevolent designs from eternity.
4. That they rejoice in His constant execution of His original designs. The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice.
II. The propriety of this duty. No one questions the duty of rejoicing sometimes; but how always? Is there not a time to weep? Thousands of things are the proper objects of mourning. Yes; but the text says: Rejoice in the Lord. In Him there is no ground for mourning. And even mourning over evil things admits of an element of joy, inasmuch as they are ever working out His plans. We mourn over our afflictions, yet we may rejoice in God, inasmuch as a patient may rejoice in the skill of the surgeon while he bewails the pain of amputation.
III. The reasons for this duty. We are to rejoice because–
1. God always knows what is best to do with all His creatures. He is the only wise God.
2. He is always immutably disposed to do what is best. As a father feels towards his children the Father of mercies feels towards His whole family. The fountain of all good is in its own nature a just cause of rejoicing apart from the thousand streams of goodness which flow from it.
3. He is absolutely able to do what is best. If there were a single case of inability it would wreck our confidence in Him.
4. If, then, He knows what is best, is disposed to do what is best, and able to do it, He certainly always will do it.
Improvement:
1. To rejoice in God always is the most difficult duty Christians have to perform. It is easy to rejoice in favours; but how about trials.
2. To discharge this duty is to do what is most pleasing to God, implying as it does the purest faith, love, and obedience.
3. To do this is to do peculiar honour to religion. Mere selfishness will dispose men to rejoice when they receive good at the hand of God.
4. Those who obey this precept are the happiest men in the world. Men of the world are in some measure happy, but their rejoicing is often interrupted.
5. To neglect this precept is unwise, sinful, and injurious. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
Christian rejoicing
I. What it is.
1. It is more than contentment. To be content is not to murmur, not to wish for a better lot; to rejoice is to be right glad, and to be persuaded that we have got the best we could expect.
2. Can this be the duty of the disciples of the Man of Sorrows? Undoubtedly a true Christian is serious, and often sad (Psa 119:136; 2Co 7:7); and therefore has no part in such mirth and revelry as flows from thoughtlessness and intemperance.
3. But it does not follow that he may not be truly happy–only his rejoicing is in the spirit, in the Lord. And to thus rejoice must be computable with sorrow for sin and self-denial; yet for all this it may be a real, lively, and lasting satisfaction (1Pe 1:8; Rom 8:8; Mat 17:4).
II. When it may be felt.
1. In prosperity; especially if we have set our hearts on Gods good gifts of grace. But it consists not in the goods we enjoy, but in those we hope for; not in the pleasures we experience, but in the promise of those which seeing not we believe. Riches may abound, but we know they are of no value compared to those in heaven; health may flourish, but what is that compared with life for evermore; friends and families may grow up and multiply the joy of all we have, but these serve only the more to make us glad that we have a Friend who will never fail and a home where with them we may enjoy His blessed company forever.
2. In adversity; which was the condition of those here addressed. Paul repeats his words as though aware that it might seem a hard saying. But the grounds of their rejoicing are yours. For you the same Saviour died; for you there is the same heaven, the same unsearchable riches. Do you believe all this? Then rejoice.
3. In temptation. Whichever way this comes we are prone at first to be sorry, because of our weakness and proneness to fall. Yet James (Jam 1:2) tells us to rejoice. Why? Because one thus feels sin to be the heaviest of afflictions, which is thus a sign of grace. So St. Peter (1Pe 4:12-13). Whatever then may be the trials of our faith now we are to rejoice because we shall be glad hereafter when Christs glory shall be revealed. Thus may we pray not to be led into it, and yet when brought into it rejoice that by Gods grace we may come out of it triumphant.
4. In death. Nowhere is Christian joy distinguished from worldly satisfactions more than here. For this is the introduction to an eternal consummation.
(1) We lose nothing by the change we call death. We cease to breathe; but we still feel, think, love, and are beloved. If we part with our friends it is only for a brief season.
(2) Besides, losing nothing we gain everything (Mat 6:19). (C. Girdlestone, M. A.)
Rejoicing in Christ
I. In His atonement (Rom 5:11).
II. In His righteousness (Rom 4:1-25).
III. In His faithfulness (Php 1:6).
IV. In His power. Kept by the power of God.
1. In sorrow.
2. In persecution.
3. In bereavement.
4. In death. (R. J. McGhee, A. M.)
Rejoicing in God
I. God who requires His people to rejoice affords them ample reason for doing so: hence the requirement is reasonable and practicable. The Christian is not required to rejoice in nothing or in an inadequate cause: but in the Lord all-sufficient.
II. There exists equal reason why the Christian should rejoice in God at all times as at any time. The cause is uniform, so should be the effect. If God ceased to be his friend then he might cease to rejoice, but not otherwise (Hab 3:17-18).
III. Joy and sorrow in the same heart and at the same time are perfectly compatible. There may exist contemporaneously reasons for both sorrow and joy. Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. When we are commanded to rejoice always it is not meant that we should rejoice only.
IV. In the case of the Christian the causes of joy always predominate over those of sorrow. Not so with the sinner. A saint may lose a part of his possessions: but the larger part he cannot lose.
V. The very sorrows of the Christian are to be rejoiced in. They work for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. It is good for me that I have been afflicted. Inferences:
1. If it is our duty to be happy then it is a sin to be miserable.
2. How grossly they misrepresent religion who speak of it as a gloomy thing.
3. We learn what it is that makes the soul happy. Not the world; that is passing away; but the Lord who abides.
4. If God alone can make His creatures happy what madness it is to live in ignorance of Him, or in estrangement from Him. (W. Nevins, D. D.)
Sunshine: a talk for happy times
I. Rejoice in the Lord. At the outset–
1. Dont think this means–
(1) a seventh-heaven rapture. Nothing is easier, more common, or disheartening than the way we exaggerate religious joy. It is not given to many of us to soar to great heights; much less to live there. We want a joy that can walk along lifes dusty roads, as a good days work, and thrive amidst bustle and home cares.
(2) The short lived offspring of a passing excitement; an April day of sunshine, and showers that end in a night of sharp frost.
(3) Nor is it the childlike merriment of good spirits.
(4) Nor a natural hopefulness that forgets the past, and doesnt trouble much about the future.
2. But it is a calm, deep, settled gladness in the Lord.
(1) It does not change life so that there are no difficulties and burdens; but it edges the clouds with brightness, and in the darkness it can always see the stars. It does not turn the desert into a garden, but it is an angel presence bidding us fear not, and opening our eyes, it shows us a well of water.
(2) It is of much importance that we keep from exaggerations. Many young people turn from religion disappointed because they have been encouraged to look for sustained raptures and have not found them.
(3) Depend upon it this oil of gladness is something that commonplace, everyday people can have if they will.
II. The ingredients of this joy. It is not distilled from rare exotics and delicate plants that grow only in hothouses and cost much to cultivate. There are three simples growing just by the gate of the Kings garden, and whoever will cultivate and mix them shall have this balm.
1. The sturdy plant Confidence–the superlative degree of hope; that in the dark today sings of a bright tomorrow; that does not think or believe that a loving Father orders all things, but rests in the assurance of it.
2. Confidence must be mixed equally with a little lowly plant that grows on the bank of the river–Contentment–a rarer plant than the other. Contentment keeps its desires level with its condition. When much is taken it counts up how much is left, and turns the evil round to find a better face upon it, thinking of the worse that might have been.
3. Put in Gratitude, to enrich it and make it sparkle.
III. But if it be thus easily made why is it so uncommon?
1. There are timid souls who have not the courage to forget themselves.
2. There are the stern, the gloomy, the severe, possibly too selfish to forget themselves, or too exact to forget anything. Hard-natured men of narrow sympathies to whom the brighter things of the world are vanities. Music and children and flowers and holidays have no charms for them. Business, duty, absorbs them. O! it is a pitiful thing when all the child is dead in men.
3. There are those whose religion is mostly a regular observance of services, a half-hearted round of duty. The religion that rejoices in the Lord must have something intense about it. A languid, pale-faced, sickly man who gets up for an hour or two and sits by the fire cant enjoy anything; he hasnt vigour enough. Type of dead-alive Christians, whose religion is true enough, but they have not enough of it. They want more warmth and life and heart.
IV. Can Christians afford to live without this joy in the Lord?
1. It is repeatedly commanded. Is he guiltless who passes by the word with light indifference?
2. It is encouraged by every promise and precept. May not the man suspect the religion that is so unlike the Scripture sample?
3. It is the natural fruit of spiritual life: and if the fruit be wanting, the tree is not worth having.
4. Surely we have no business to keep twitting the world about a peace it can neither give nor take away, if all we can tell them is a dismal tale of trials and temptations, failure and sin. This is not what the Bible holds out to us, what Christ purchased for us, and is not likely to fetch home the prodigal from the far country.
V. How may we make this joy our own? Confidence, Contentment, Gratitude, where can we find them? only in the Kings garden.
1. We must go out of ourselves for everything worth having. He who sees self will never see anything but what he may weep over. He who sees the Lord may live always triumphing.
2. The opposite to this joy is not sorrow. The Man of Sorrows was anointed with the oil of joy above His fellows.
(1) The real killjoy is worry. Hundreds of religious people trust the Lord to save their souls; but to feed and clothe the body, train the children, etc., all that they must fret over as if their loving Father did not sit on the throne.
(2) The wasp nest of ill temper. This too may be conquered. I can do all things through Him that strengtheneth me. (Mark Guy Pearse.)
Amusements in the light of the gospel
The text shows that religion is no killjoy: and yet it is frequently regarded as involving a renunciation of the pleasures of life. To ascertain the relation of piety to amusements is of great importance. Every man has leisure and inclination for amusement. How far may it be indulged? A man is made or marred by the way in which he spends his leisure. A certain amount of amusement is beneficial, but multitudes are ruined by amusement.
I. The extent to which mere amusement is needful and beneficial.
1. The alway of the text covers the whole sphere of life but mere amusement can only be an occasional thing, and therefore not the only form of happiness. That must be found also in those experiences, duties, toils, anxieties, and sorrows which constitute the main stream of our daily life.
2. The key to this is in the Lord. If God makes us glad we may be always glad. A richer joy may be found in discharging lifes duties and bearing its burdens so as to secure Gods approval than in any amount of amusement.
3. Seeing that it would be a great mistake to seek happiness in amusements which would imperil the proper conduct of lifes more serious business. He who neglects duty for amusement makes a great mistake.
II. What teaching there is in the text respecting the lawfulness of amusements and the main principles to guide us.
1. Rejoicing is a Christian duty. Hence we ought to cultivate it as much as justice, etc.
2. Can cheerfulness be cultivated without paying special attention to the matter? Certainly not: hence the gospel sanctions a certain amount of amusement. Happiness is the outcome of the healthy play of our faculties. Now in the daily stress some of them are sure to be overstrained. Our constitution is like a harp of many strings. To keep it in tune, therefore, we must naturally give the overstrained strings periodic rest, but touch up the others and play upon them: this is amusement, and the text implies its necessity.
3. But what kind of amusement does the gospel sanction?
(1) Our pleasures must be pure and unselfish, to be indulged in in the spirit of holiness and kindly consideration for others. We are to rejoice in the Lord always; and holiness and unselfishness were the most conspicuous features of Christs character.
4. God has placed within the reach of all an infinite amount of ennobling entertainment. In the world around us there is an inexhaustible wealth of beauty, grandeur, and skill whose observation and imitation supply us with abundant entertainment.
(1) We are born into a theatre where a drama of the most thrilling interest, now comedy, now tragedy, now both, is constantly going forward, and we are taking our own little part in it.
(2) We are born into a museum such as monarch never erected.
(3) We are born into a palace whose roof is the firmament, whose walls the horizon, and whose floor the earth and sea.
(4) Besides this music, art, poetry, and literature are at command.
(5) And, yet more, God has so made us that the lawful satisfaction of our appetites and exercise of our bodies may be a constant source of pleasure.
5. How is it, then, that we make such a mess of our amusements. We want–
(1) Christs training to make us Christlike in our tastes and habits–eyes trained to appreciate beauty in form and colour; ears trained to appreciate music, and a decided taste formed for literature and science. The lower appetites are always ripe for entertainment–the higher want cultivating, and the lower will then give way.
(2) Unselfishness and charity in our pleasures. The man who can amuse himself at the expense of wife and children or any of his fellows, cannot rejoice in the Lord, and such amusements will always be unhallowed and unblessed. (Dr. Colborne.)
Christian rejoicing
To rejoice is in one sense a happiness, in another a duty. In one sense it is an art: there are those who contrive to rejoice, find food for joy, where others can see nothing but gloom and grief: in another aspect it is an attainment; a result arrived at by long experience, in the latter days of a consistent Christian course. But in every point of view Christian joy can only be found in the Lord; by communion with Him, by close watching, by living much in things above. Compromises with the world drive it away. Sin destroys it in a moment. (Dean Vaughan.)
Afraid of joy
Joy has been considered by Christian people very largely as an exceptional state; whereas sobriety–by which is meant severity of mind or a non-enjoying state of mind–is supposed to be the normal condition. I knew a Roman Catholic priest that was as upright and conscientious a man as ever I met, who said he did not dare to be happy; he was afraid that he should lose his soul if he was; and he subjected himself to every possible mortification, saying, It is not for me to be happy here, I must take it out when I get to heaven. There I expect to be happy. That was in accordance with his view of Christianity. (H. W. Beecher.)
The happiness of religion
An infidel was lecturing in a village in the North of England, and at the close he challenged discussion. Who should accept the challenge but an old bent woman in most antiquated attire, who went up to the lecturer and said, Sir, I have a question to put to you. Well, my good woman, what is it? Ten years ago, she said, I was left a widow with eight children utterly unprovided for, and nothing to call my own but this Bible. By its direction, and looking to God for strength, I have been enabled to feed myself and family. I am now tottering to the grave, but I am perfectly happy, because I look forward to a life of immortality with Jesus in heaven. That is what my religion has done for me. What has your way of thinking done for you? Well, my good lady, rejoined the lecturer, I dont want to disturb your comfort; but– Oh, thats not the question, interposed the woman; keep to the point, sir. What has your way of thinking done for you? The infidel endeavoured to shirk the matter again; the feeling of the meeting gave vent to uproarious applause, and he had to go away discomfited by an old woman.
Christian cheerfulness
Of Major Vandeleur, one of the most beautiful characters found among the Christians of the Crimean War, another officer who knew him at Gibraltar said to his biographer, Miss Marsh: Everybody on the old rock liked Vandeleur, and regretted him when he left us. He was blue you know (i.e., religious)
, but then he was such a bright blue! No gay man, I should think, was ever half so cheerful and charming as a companion. (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)
The oil of joy
Years ago a party on board a pleasure yacht in the United States discovered to their dismay that they were being silently and slowly drawn towards the Falls of Niagara. Skill and energy began at once to cope with the horrible emergency. The furnace was filled and refilled with wood until the fuel at command was entirely exhausted. What was to be done? Dismay showed itself on every face, and despair was paralysing them when a happy thought occurred to an officer. The oil used for the machinery of the steam engine was thrown into the fire. This gave just sufficient impetus for the moving of the vessel out of the strong current into smooth water, and she was saved. The oil of joy keeps many a one from being swept over the rapids of temptation. Let us, then, rejoice in the Lord–rejoice in His nearness, sufficiency, and immutability. (T. L. Nye.)
The motive for rejoicing
The motive for a repetition of this exhortation lies in the immediately foregoing context. Those whose names are in the book of life may well have within their breasts, even now, the sweetness and the calm of their promised bliss. The Saviours own express command to His disciples sets this directly before us (Luk 10:20). (J. Hutchison, D. D.)
Uninterrupted Christian joy
If the Christians joy be interrupted it ought only to be as the suns brightness may be dimmed by a passing cloud, which quickly leaves the firmament as radiant as before. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Napoleon when sent to Elba, adopted, in proud defiance of his fate, the motto, Ubicunque felix. It was not true in his case; but the Christian may be truly happy everywhere and always. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Means of Christian joy
If you go into Steinways manufactory and strike certain chords of the powerful instruments, the chords of the other instruments, though they are covered up and apparently mute, will sound. Such are the correspondences which exist between them, such is the sympathy which is communicated from one to the other by the air, that when one vibrates, all vibrate. Though the sound be low and almost inaudible, it is there. When the grandeur, beauty, and love of the Divine nature are presented to a man, they draw some response from every part of his nature which corresponds to that which is presented. When the hearts of men are drawn towards the heart of God there begins to be an interplay between them; and thus Christian rejoicing, while only possible, is inevitable, in the Lord. (H. W. Beecher.)
The sphere of Christian joy
God has made the human soul, and every instinct of faculty that composes it for Himself. He alone is the key to unlock its varied and mysterious powers, to discover their true range and capacity: and as this is the case with the other emotions so it is with joy. Joy, undoubtedly, that active sense of happiness which caresses the object which provokes it; which seeks some outlet or expression of its buoyancy–joy has an immense field of modified exercise in the sphere of sense and time, and Scripture recognizes this in a hundred ways. To the counsellors of peace there is joy. A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth. The virgin, in Jeremiah, rejoices in the dance, and Isaiah speaks of the joy of harvest, and of the rejoicing of men after victory who divide the spoil; and Solomon observes that folly is joy to him who is destitute of wisdom; and James knows of Christians who rejoice in their boastings, whose rejoicing is evil. The range of joy is almost as wide as that of human thought and enterprise. Its complete satisfaction is only to be found in God. God is the exceeding joy of the Psalmist. God is the one object who can draw out and give play to the souls capacity for active happiness; and therefore the Psalmists heart dances for joy, and his mouth praiseth God with joyful lips, and he bids the children of Zion be joyful in their King; and he looks out on heathendom, and would have all lands, if it were possible, make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob; and he looks out on nature and bids the field be joyful and all that is in it, and the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord. This is the language of exuberant delight, and St. Paul is only adopting the expression of the Psalmist, of Israel, of Joel, of Habakkuk, of Zechariah, when he bids the Philippians rejoice in the Lord. (Canon Liddon.)
Why Christians are not joyful
Our florists make up packages of seeds labelled Gorgeous purple, Exceedingly beautiful, Remarkably fine, and so on, referring to the flowers. Now let these seeds go into the lands of a clumsy person who has perhaps raised corn and potatoes, but who has never raised flowers; and let him plant them in cold, wet, barren soil, and at an untimely season. A few of them will sprout, and will come slowly up, pale and spindling, and will be neglected, and the weeds will overrun them: and when the time for blossoming comes there will be found here and there a scrawny plant, with one or two stingy blossoms, and men will say. Now we see the outcome of this pretence. Look at the labels. It is all humbug. But do you not perceive that the way in which you plant the seed, and the preparation of the soil, and the season have much to do with the successful growth? It is true that beautiful plants might have been produced. They were deserving of all the praise bestowed upon them. There was no deception. They might have been what they were represented, but they are not for want of knowledge, skill, and adaptation of conditions to ends. There may be persons who suppose because Christianity is joy producing that when they become Christians they will be joyful. They suppose that they are to take it as they would nitrous oxide gas, a magnificent Divine intoxicant, and are miserably disappointed when ecstatic effects do not take place. And the reason why there is not more joy in the Church is because you do not know how to plant the seeds and cultivate the flowers. They are real seeds, and the flowers are beautiful, and the plant bears blessed fruit to those who know how to give it proper culture. If you have the faith of Christ and heaven and God near to you; if you so love that all parts of your being are pervaded with a sense of these things; if the affluence of God reaches down to you and you open your soul to let in the consciousness of Christ, you will have joy. Oh says one, I might be joyful if I were not so harassed with care. Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you. There is provision made in Christ for care. But I have such grief! Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous etc. If the earth had sensibility when the spade opened it, it would cry, Oh! why art thou wounding me? But in that open earth I drop seed, and cover up again, and by and by the ground is covered with beautiful flowers–does the earth mourn now? God is opening the furrow in you and putting in seeds. It is affliction to you now, but afterward it will produce in you the peaceable fruit of righteousness. (H. W. Beecher.)
No joy in heathenism
The old Greeks and Romans had their pleasures, their glories, their learning, their art, but theirs was not a happy life. There was always a shadow across their path, a skeleton at their feast. They saw the roses which crowned their heads wither and die; they saw the pale messenger, death, knocking with impartial hand at the doors of rich and poor alike. They knew that they grew older, and nearer the grave, and beyond that they knew nothing. There was no hope. They grew weary of the dance and the wine cup; they looked on their painted walls at Rome, or Pompeii, and felt that they cared for them no longer. They had ceased to believe in their cold, passionless gods of wood and stone, who could give them no help, no comfort; they were without God in the world. Such was the selfish life of the heathen, without God. No wonder that one day the Roman, who had nothing to live for, nothing to hope for, entered his bath, and opened a vein, and so bled quietly and painlessly to death. This is what a famous Greek poet said about life, that it was best of all not to be born, and the next best thing was to get quit of life as soon as possible. How differently speaks the Christian, Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say rejoice. (H. J. W. Buxton, M. A.)
No joy in infidelity or worldliness
The infidel cannot be habitually cheerful. Hear Hume say in his treatise on human nature, I am affrighted and confounded with that forlorn solitude in which I am placed by my philosophy. When I look abroad, I see on every side dispute, contradiction, distraction, When I turn my eyes inward, I find nothing but doubt and ignorance. Where am I and what? From what causes do I derive my existence and to what condition shall I return? I am confounded with this question, and begin to fancy myself in the most deplorable condition imaginable. Here you have one of the most philosophic, and, in many respects, one of the best of infidels, making this as his confession. Then, if you turn to the man of poetry and pleasure, Lord Byron says There is nothing but misery in this world, I think. This sentence was not written for effect; it was the genuine outpouring of that mans heart. He had tried everything earthly. He certainly had been to every human and temporal fountain of enjoyment. He had gone through experience like that through which the wise man takes us in the Book of Ecclesiastes, and this is his conclusion–There is nothing but misery in this world, at least, so I think. (S. Martin.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. Rejoice in the Lord alway] Be continually happy; but this happiness you can find only in the Lord. Genuine happiness is spiritual; as it can only come from God, so it infallibly tends to him. The apostle repeats the exhortation, to show, not only his earnestness, but also that it was God’s will that it should be so, and that it was their duty as well as interest.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He doth here, considering the importance of Christian cheerfulness, which he had twice before put them upon, Phi 2:18; 3:1, stir them up to true rejoicing, not only by repetition of the injunction, but by extending the duty to all times, and under all conditions. For though there be woe to the enemies of Christs cross, who laugh at his followers, Luk 6:25; yet they who are really found in him, have evermore ground of rejoicing, for all the benefits of God they have through him, and the far more excellent they do expect to receive upon his account, Joh 16:33; 1Co 1:31; 1Th 5:16; 1Pe 1:8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. (Isa61:10.)
alwayeven amidst theafflictions now distressing you (Php1:28-30).
againas he had alreadysaid, “Rejoice” (Php 3:1).Joy is the predominant feature of the Epistle.
I sayGreek,rather, “I will say.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Rejoice in the Lord alway,…. This is a repetition of the exhortation in the preceding chapter; [See comments on Php 3:1]; with this addition “alway”; for there is always cause and matter for rejoicing in Christ, even in times of affliction, distress, and persecution; since he is always the same; his grace is always sufficient; his blood has a continual virtue in it, and always speaks for peace and pardon; his righteousness is an everlasting one, and so is his salvation, and such is his love; though some join this word with what follows,
[and] again, I say, rejoice; this is what was continually inculcated by him, as being of great importance and use for the comfort of believers, and the honour of Christ.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Again I will say ( ). Future active indicative of defective verb .
Rejoice (). Present active imperative as in 3:1, repeated for emphasis in spite of discouragements. Not in the sense of “Farewell” here.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Rejoice in the Lord alway,” (Chairete en kurio pantote) “Rejoice ye in (the) Master always.” This appears to be the optimistic mood of genuine faith that controlled the later years of Paul’s ministry. The rejoicing Command is restricted to that that is “in the Lord,” Luk 10:18-20; Luk 15:24; Luk 15:32.
2) “And again I say, rejoice” (palin ero Chairete) Io again I will say, rejoice.” A double command indicates there is to be no occasion for objection or disobedience, 1Th 5:16 reads: “Rejoice evermore,” Rom 12:12; Psa 32:11; 1Pe 4:13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
4. Rejoice in the Lord It is an exhortation suited to the times; for, as the condition of the pious was exceedingly troublous, and dangers threatened them on every side, it was possible that they might give way, overcome by grief or impatience. (223) Hence he enjoins it upon them, that, amidst circumstances of hostility and disturbance, they should nevertheless rejoice in the Lord, (224) as assuredly these spiritual consolations, by means of which the Lord refreshes and gladdens us, ought then most of all to show their efficacy when the whole world tempts us to despair. Let us, however, in connection with the circumstances of the times, consider what efficacy there must have been in this word uttered by the mouth of Paul, who might have had special occasion of sorrow. (225) For if they are appalled by persecutions, or imprisonments, or exile, or death, here is the Apostle setting himself forward, who, amidst imprisonments, in the very heat of persecution, and in fine, amidst apprehensions of death, is not merely himself joyful, but even stirs up others to joy. The sum, then, is this — that come what may, believers, having the Lord standing on their side (226), have amply sufficient ground of joy.
The repetition of the exhortation serves to give greater force to it: Let this be your strength and stability, to rejoice in the Lord, and that, too, not for a moment merely, but so that your joy in him may be perpetuated. (227) For unquestionably it differs from the joy of the world in this respect — that we know from experience that the joy of the world is deceptive, frail, and fading, and Christ even pronouces it to be accursed (Luk 6:25). Hence, that only is a settled joy in God which is such as is never taken away from us.
(223) “ Il se pouuoit faire que les Philippiens, estans vaincus de tristesse ou impatience, venissent a perdre courage;” — “It might be, that the Philippians, being overcome by grief or impatience, might come to lose heart.”
(224) “ Non obstant les troubles et les fascheries qu’ils voyoyent deuant leurs yeux;” — “Notwithstanding the troubles and annoyances that they saw before their eyes.”
(225) “ Qui plus que tous les autres pouuoit auoir matiere de se contrister;” — “Who might more than all others have had occasion to indulge sorrow.”“
(226) “ Ont le Seigneur pour eux;” — “Have the Lord for them.”
(227) “ Que vostre ioye se continue en iceluy iusques a la fin;” — “That your joy may maintain itself in him until the end.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Php. 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord.R.V. margin, Farewell. The word is neither farewell alone, nor rejoice alone (Lightfoot). That the A.V. and R.V. texts are justified in so translating seems clear from the always which follows.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Php. 4:4
Christian Joy
I. Is in the Lord.Rejoice in the Lord. The joy of the Christian is not in his own achievements, still less is it in himself or in his own experiences. A glance at ourselves and the imperfections of our work for God fills us with shame and sadness. Pure, lasting joy is found nowhere but in the Lord. When Mhler, the eminent Roman Catholic symbolist, asserted that in the neighbourhood of a man who, without any restriction, declared himself sure of his salvation, he should be in a high degree uneasy, and that he could not repel the thought that there was something diabolical beneath this, he only afforded a deep glance into the comfortlessness of a heart which seeks the ultimate ground of its hope in self-righteousness, and in making assurance of salvation to depend on attainment in holiness instead of in simple faith in Christ. The friends of Haller congratulated him on the honour of having received a visit in his last hours from the emperor Joseph II.; but the dying man simply answered, Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. The more we realise Christ, not as a dim abstraction or a mere historic personage, but as a living and loving personal reality, the more truly can we rejoice in Him.
II. Is constant.Always. Christian joy is not a capricious sentiment, a fitful rapture, but a steady, uniform, and continued emotion. The direction of the apostle to rejoice always sounds like a paradox. How can we continually rejoice when we are continually in the midst of sin, suffering, and sorrow? Still, when we think of the change divine grace has wrought in us, when we think of the ample provisions of the gospel every moment available to us, when we contemplate the bright prospects before us which even present distresses cannot dim, and when we remember the infinite ability of our Lord to accomplish all He has promised us, our joy may well be perennial. Airay, the earliest English expositor of this epistle, has well said, When Satan, that old dragon, casts out many flouds of persecutions against us; when wicked men cruelly, disdainfully, and despitefully speake against us; when lying, slandering, and deceitful mouthes are opened upon us; when we are mocked and jested at and had in derision of all them that are about us; when we are afflicted, tormented, and made the worlds wonder; when the sorrowes of death compasse us and the flouds of wickednesse make us afraid, and the paines of hell come even unto our soule; what is it that holds up our heads that we sinke not, how is it that we stand either not shaken, or, if shaken, yet not cast downe? Is it not by our rejoycing which we have in Christ Jesus?
III. Is recommended by experience.And again I say rejoice. Paul recommended what he himself enjoyed. If he, in the midst of disappointment, imprisonment, and suffering, would rejoice and did rejoice, so may others. It might be that, as he wrote these words, a temporary depression crept over him, as he thought of himself as a prisoner in the immediate prospect of a cruel death. It was but a passing feeling. In a moment divine grace triumphed, and with heightened elation and emphasis he repeated, And again I will say, rejoice. We have already remarked that joy is the predominating feature of this epistle, and to the last the apostle maintains the exalted strain.
Lessons.
1. Great joy is found in working for God.
2. Joy is found not so much in the work as in the Lord.
3. It is the Christians privilege to rejoice always.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE
Php. 4:4. Rejoicing in the Lord.
I. The text involves the fact that believers may and should rejoice.
1. The world holds that believers have no enjoyment.
2. There are believers who all but teach this; for
(1) they use not the language of joy themselves;
(2) they discourage it in others.
3. But that believers may and should rejoice is evident for
(1) joy is commanded as a duty;
(2) it is mentioned as a fruit of the Holy Ghost;
(3) it is a feature of the Christian, portrayed in the Scriptures (Act. 2:46-47).
4. The spiritually-minded, if not warped by some defective system of doctrine, rejoice.
5. Joy is quite consistent with those states of mind which are thought to be inconsistent with it. Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
6. Joy is the natural result of peace with God.
II. The text exhibits the nature of the joy peculiar to the believer.He rejoices in the Lord.
1. The world rejoices in the creature and shuts out God.
2. The believer rejoices only in God.
3. This joy has several elements.
(1) The believer rejoices that God isI am.
(2) He rejoices that He is what He is.
(3) He rejoices in the manifestations of His glory, which He has made in His word, works, and ways.
(4) He rejoices in his own relation to Him in Christboasting himself in God.
(5) He rejoices in the hope of the glory of God.
4. Every element of pure and elevated pleasure is found in His joy.
5. It is fellowship with God Himself in His joy.
III. The text renders it binding upon the believer at all times to seek this privilege and to cherish this feelingalways.This command is reasonable, for:
1. God is always the same.
2. The believers relation to Him is unalterable.
3. The way to God is always open.
4. The mind may always keep before it the views which cause joyby the indwelling Spirit.
IV. The manner in which the commandment of the text is pressed teaches us the importance of the duty it inculcates.Its importance is manifest, for:
1. It is the mainspring of worship and obedience.
2. It prevents a return to sinful pleasures.
3. It renders us superior to temporal sufferingfits for enduring for Jesus Christ.
4. It presents to the world
(1) True religion.
(2) Connected with enjoyment.
V. The manner in which the commandment of the text is expressed implies that there are obstacles in the way of obedience.What are some of the obstacles?
1. A habit, natural and strong, of drawing our satisfaction from the creature.
2. Not keeping a conscience void of offence towards God and man.
3. Not having the heart in a state to have sympathy with Gods character.
4. Not proportioning aright the amount of attention given to self and Christ.
5. Not making sure of our interest in Christ.Stewart.
Joy in the Lord
I.
Is intellectual.
II.
Moral.
III.
Spiritual.
Lessons.
1. Our power of rejoicing in the Lord is a fair test of our moral and spiritual condition.
2. Is a Christians main support under the trials of life.
3. Is one of the great motive forces of the Christian life.H. P. Liddon.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
4. Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. 5. Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Translation and Paraphrase
4. Be rejoicing in the Lord (Jesus) always. Again (after considering all the possibilities of sorrow in this world,) I (still) say, Be rejoicing.
5. (By kind deeds) let your gentle, reasonable nature be known to all men. The Lord is near (unto us always; yea, his visible coming is always near too).
Notes
1.
Wm. Barclay describes these verses as Marks of the Christian Life. The two marks are joy and moderation.
2.
Rejoice is present tense: Be rejoicing!
3.
We rejoice in the Lord. Only in the Lord is constant joy possible. Paul could rejoice in the Lord even in chains in the dungeon at Philippi. Act. 16:23-25.
4.
Paul repeats the command to rejoice. It seems as if he said, After considering all the possibilities for sorrow in this world, I repeat with emphasis, REJOICE. Compare Php. 2:17; Php. 2:28; Php. 3:1; Php. 4:10.
5.
Let your forbearance (KJV, moderation) be known. This word means reasonableness. It implies a quality of gentleness and mildness; a nature not unduly rigorous, not overly strict, not judging people severely. Some related forms of this word are translated gentle. (It is thus rendered in 1Ti. 3:3; Tit. 3:2; 1Pe. 2:18; Jas. 3:17).
6.
Forbearance must be shown to all men, not just to church members.
7.
The Lord is at hand. This can either mean that the Lord is always near, always close at hand (which is true; Mat. 28:20); or it has also been interpreted to mean that the Lords second coming was thought to be near. (Jas. 5:8). Either meaning is a good reason to cultivate the quality of forbearance, as the Lord desires.
To the Christian the second coming of the Lord is always looked upon as near. 1Th. 5:2-6; Mat. 24:42-44. In this sense the Lord is always near.
However, to allege that Paul was under a delusion common in the first century that Christ was definitely going to return in that generation is a serious accusation against an inspired apostle of God. The simple statement that the Lord is near does not necessarily imply such a far-reaching conclusion.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(4) Rejoice in the Lord . . . and again I say, Rejoice.The original word is the word always used in classical Greek (see the corresponding word in Latin) for farewell (i.e., Joy be with you!), and this verse is obviously a resumption of Php. 3:1, after the digression of warning. But the emphasis laid on it here, coupled with the constant references to joy in the Epistle, show that St. Paul designed to call attention to its strict meaning, and to enforce, again and again, the Christian duty of joy. It is, of course, a joy in the Lord: for only in the Lord is joy possible to any thoughtful mind or feeling heart in such a world as this.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(4-7) St. Paul returns once more to the exhortation to joy so characteristic of this Epistle. But it is a joy in the sense of the Lords being at hand. Hence it turns at once to thanksgiving and prayer, and finally is calmed and deepened into peace.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Exhortations to the whole Church, Php 4:4-9.
4. Rejoice The keynote of the epistle is again struck, and repeated with emphasis. By its foundation in fellowship with the Lord, the believer’s joy towers above all external circumstances, and may always abide, even in the most distressing conditions. Such is not the joy of the worldling.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, Rejoice.’
The first exhortation is a call to ‘rejoice in the Lord’. It is addressed to the whole church, being repeated from Php 3:1. It is not a call just to sing a few hymns, but one that calls on them to face the hardships of the future with confident joy (compare Act 13:52). Note especially the dual emphasis. Paul did not want to be seen as giving simply an idle exhortation, but desired rather to emphasise the perseverance in rejoicing that would be required. For he was well aware that the Philippians were facing trials and persecution. On the other hand he knew that they were facing these precisely because of the value that they put on knowing the Lord. Thus he turns their eyes from their troubles to the One in Whose Name they will be suffering. The point he is making is that Christ Jesus and what He has done for them is worth it. Let them then consider all that Paul has written to them concerning Him, and all that they have learned from his fellow-workers, and rejoice continually in Him, as they press on towards the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Php 3:14). Let their eyes be fixed firmly on the LORD.
And as their eyes are fixed on the Lord they are especially to be fixed on His own triumphant progress of faith in the face of suffering (Php 2:5-11), a progress into which they are to enter by setting their minds in line with His, and receiving His mind, taking the way of humility and the way of the cross so that finally they might receive the crown (Php 2:5-11; Php 3:10-21). Having their minds set on Him involves entering in to all that He entered into, just as having the mind of the Spirit involves full participation in the Spirit (Rom 8:1-16).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul Now Gives Final Instructions To His Beloved Philippians ( Php 4:4-7 ).
Paul now commences a series of injunctions in staccato form which are not directly connected in the Greek. In a sense each is separate so as to give it emphasis, although we should recognise that that does not necessarily mean that Paul wanted them to be seen as totally independent of each other. The first is ‘upward’, looking towards the Lord (Php 4:4), the second is outward, looking towards the world (Php 4:5), and the third is inward, looking at themselves (Php 4:6). Php 4:7 possibly applies to them all.
His rapid-fire statements are:
Rejoice in the Lord (Php 4:4).
Let your forbearance be known to all men (Php 4:5 a).
The Lord is at hand (Php 4:5 b).
Be anxious in nothing, but let your prayers and supplications be made known to God (Php 4:6).
And the consequence will be that ‘the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard their hearts and minds by faith in Christ Jesus’ (Php 4:7).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The rejoicing of the Christians Especially in Their Fellowship with Christ.
The care-free joy of believers:
v. 4. Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice.
v. 5. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
v. 6. Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
v. 7. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Here the apostle once more brings out the theme of the letter. He was obliged to include this warning against disharmony, but all the while his heart was overflowing with love and joy toward the Philippians. And so he breaks forth in another appeal: Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, Rejoice! With Christians their joy is always in the Lord and on account of the Lord. That is the fundamental sentiment of their entire life, to be happy in the salvation which is theirs through the atoning work of Christ, to feel exultant joy over the fellowship with His sanctifying power. Lest the Philippians raise the objection that it is impossible in the midst of the tribulations of this vale of tears to feel happy always, Paul repeats his admonition, thus cutting off all remonstrances: the Christians can and shall rejoice at all times. See 2Co 4:8-9
Out of this feeling, which dominates their whole life, there follows: Your mildness make known to all men; the Lord is near. There is so much contained in the Greek word used here by Paul: moderation, forbearance, gentleness, patience, selflessness, equity, mildness; it is that quality by which a Christian always puts the best construction on everything. This should become evident before all men, it follows out of the joy of faith, from the knowledge of their acceptance with God. Toward all men they should exhibit this feeling, because it is the one characteristic attitude which will tend to win people for Christianity. There must, of course, always be an uncompromising opposition to all that is evil and condemned by the Word of God, hut this must never result in gruffness and harshness, which would be incompatible with the spirit of Christ. In this connection the Christians should always remember that Christ is near at hand, His advent is about to take place. He wants to deliver His believers from all evil. They will be with the Lord always. Then all the afflictions, all the anxiety, trouble, tribulation of this life, will be past. In view of this prospect, earthly bickerings and wranglings are utterly trivial. This thought should always encourage and spur on the Christians to show true lenity.
Another thought follows from the facts as presented: For nothing be anxious, but in everything, by supplication and prayer with thanksgiving, make known your wishes toward God. Here is a clear and inclusive injunction. The Christians should not be anxious, consumed with worry and anxiety about anything in this life. The Philippians may have had occasion to feel anxious, since they were suffering from the enmity of many opponents. But instead of being concerned about the things of this world, they should put all their trust in the Lord, leave all matters to His fatherly direction and care. In general prayer and in specific supplication, combined with the giving of thanks, they should make known their wants before God. Even the smallest, apparently insignificant detail of daily life, as well as the large, momentous facts which confront them, should be brought to the attention of God. There is nothing too small for His consideration if it concerns the welfare of His children or of the Church. And the giving of thanks must never be omitted. It is an essential part of prayer, since the Lord’s gifts always surround us and we are never without specific reasons for thanksgiving. By carrying out this injunction carefully, a Christian will always be in the right mood and spirit for kindness toward all men.
Since these gifts, however, are such as cannot be obtained by a Christian of his own strength nor be retained by his own power, the apostle adds the prayerful wish: And the peace of God which goes beyond all understanding keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. The peace of God enables the believers to do what they cannot perform of their own reason and strength. It keeps the hearts of the Christians secure in the trust that His presence and promise is with them at all times, and that it is but necessary to rely upon Him in childlike faith. The peace of God is a condition brought about between God and man as a consequence of salvation. There is now no more a dividing wall of enmity between God and man, but only the fullness of peace. This consciousness actuates and governs the Christians in all their relations toward their fellow-men, it keeps their hearts in a wonderful watch and guard. For this peace of God transcends all understanding. It is not only too wonderful for all human understanding and comprehension, but it is stronger than all understanding of men, it can accomplish far more than any human mind. What human mind, reason, and understanding cannot do the peace of God can accomplish with ease. It keeps the heart in check, it watches the mind, it guards against all mere human affections and sinful thoughts. And this is possible only because the efficacy of this peace is based upon its connection with Jesus Christ. It rests in the Savior of mankind. For through Christ the peace of God, with God, has been gained. If we have a firm stand in Christ Jesus, we shall think and do such things as are pleasing to Him. Thus the peace of God permeates and governs the entire existence of the Christians, it is the primary influence of their lives.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Php 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord alway: The Apostle, in this advice, seems to have a respect to thesuffering condition in which it appears, by other passages in the Epistle, that he considered them. This is confirmed by the strain of his advice in the next verses. See ch. Php 2:18 Php 3:1. 1Th 5:16.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Phi 4:4 f. Without any particle of transition, we have once more general concluding admonitions, which begin by taking up again the encouraging address broken off in Phi 3:1 , and now strengthened by the key-note of the epistle. They extend as far as Phi 4:9 ; after which Paul again speaks of the assistance which he had received.
] not to be connected with (Hofmann), which would make the very superfluous, is an essential element of the Christian ; comp. 1Th 5:16 ; 2Co 6:10 . Just at the close of his epistle the apostle brings it in significantly. Paul desires joyfulness at all times on the part of the believer, to whom even tribulation is grace (Phi 1:7 ; Phi 1:29 ) and glory (Rom 5:3 ), and in whom the pain of sin is overcome by the certainty of atonement (Rom 8:1 ); to whom everything must serve for good (Rom 8:28 ; 1Co 3:21 f.), and nothing can separate him from the love of God (Rom 8:38 f.).
] once more I will say . Observe the future , which exhibits the consideration given to the matter by the writer; consequently not equivalent to , 2Co 11:16 ; Gal 1:9 . , , , , Chrysostom.
] your mildness [ Lindigkeit , Luther], that is, your gentle character , as opposed to undue sternness (Polyb. v. 10. 1 : , Lucian, Phal. Proverbs 2 : . , Herodian, ii. 14. 5, ix. 12; 1Ti 3:3 ; Tit 3:2 ; Jam 3:17 ; 1Pe 2:18 ; Psa 85:5 ; Add. to Est 6:8 ; 2Ma 9:27 ). Comp. on 2Co 10:1 . The opposite: , Arist. Eth. Nic . v. 10. 8, . As to the neuter of the adjective taken as a substantive, see on Phi 3:8 ; comp. Soph. O. C . 1127. It might also mean: your becoming behaviour; see e.g . the passages from Plato in Ast, Lex . I. p. 775. But how indefinite would be such a requirement as this! The general duty of the Christian walk (which Matthies finds in the words) is not set forth till Phi 4:8 . And in the N. T. . always occurs in the above-named special sense.
.] let it be known by all men , through the acquaintance of experience with your conduct. Comp. Mat 5:16 . The universality of the expression (which, moreover, is to be taken popularly: “let no man come to know you in a harsh, rigorous aspect”) prohibits our referring it to their relation to the enemies of the cross of Christ , against whom they should not be hatefully disposed (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact), or to the enemies of Christianity (Pelagius, Theodoret, Erasmus, and others), or to the Judaists (Rheinwald), although none of these are excluded, and the motive for the exhortation is in part to be found in the outward circumstances full of tribulation, face to face with an inclination to moral pride.
The succession of exhortations without any outward link may be psychologically explained by the fact, that the disposition of Christian joyfulness must elevate men quite as much above strict insisting upon rights and claims as above solicitude (Phi 4:6 ). Neither with the former nor with the latter could the Christian fundamental disposition of the subsist, in which the heart enlarges itself to yielding love and casts all care upon God.
] points to the nearness of Christ’s Parousia , 1Co 16:22 . Comp. on , Mat 24:32 f.; Luk 21:31 ; Rev 1:3 ; Rev 22:10 ; Rom 13:11 . The reference to God , by which Paul would bring home to their hearts, as Calvin expresses it, “ divinae providentiae fiduciam ” (comp. Psa 34:18 ; Psa 119:151 ; Psa 145:18 ; so also Pelagius, Luther, Calovius, Zanchius, Wolf, Rheinwald, Matthies, Rilliet, Cornelius Mller, and others), is not suggested in Phi 4:1-2 ; Phi 4:4 by the context, which, on the contrary, does not refer to God until Phi 4:6 . Usually and rightly, following Chrysostom and Erasmus, the words have been attached to what precedes . [183] If the Lord is at hand, who is coming as the Vindex of every injustice endured and as the of the faithful, how should they not, in this prospect of approaching victory and blessedness (Phi 3:20 ), willingly and cheerfully renounce everything opposed to Christian ! The words therefore convey an encouragement to the latter. What follows has its complete reference, and that to God, pointed out by the antithesis . . .
[183] They do not belong, by way of introduction, to what follows , as Hofmann thinks, who understands “the helpful nearness of the Lord” (Mat 28:20 ; Jas 4:8 ) in the present, and consequently the assurance of being heard in the individual case. Comp., rather, on the habitually used of the future final coming, in addition to the above passages, Mat 3:2 ; Mat 4:17 ; Mat 10:7 ; Mar 1:15 ; Luk 21:8 ; Luk 21:28 ; Rom 13:12 ; Heb 10:25 ; Jas 5:8 ; 1Pe 4:7 ; and the of the Apocalypse. The simply correct rendering is given after Chrysostom by Erasmus ( “instat enim adventus Christi” ), Grotius, and others.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(2) General exhortation to Christian joy
( Php 4:4-7).
4,5Rejoice in the Lord always: (and)5 again I [will] say, rejoice. Let your moderation 6[gentleness] be known to all men: The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request [requests] be known unto [before] God. 7And the peace of God, which passeth [every] understanding, shall keep [guard] your hearts and [your] minds through [in] Christ Jesus.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Php 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord always ( ) takes up in connection with Php 4:3 ( ) the theme of the epistle. See Php 3:1. A tone of special emphasis rests on always (): there lies the difficulty and the glory of rejoicing in the Lord.Again I will say, rejoice ( , ) repeats the command with emphasis.Bengel incorrectly joins with .[The verb () is future, not present, as in the A. V. This reiterated exhortation is the more remarkable when we recollect that Paul as he wrote or dictated the letter had his right arm chained to the arm of a Roman soldier, or at all events was a prisoner under the eye of a sentinel who never left him (see Act 28:20).H.]
Php 4:5. Let your forbearance be known to all men, though without any external notation, connects itself logically with , since joy has of itself a tendency to make us mild and gentle: gaudium in domino parit veram quitatem erga proximum, (Bengel,). is stronger than the substantive, (2Co 10:1; Act 24:4), and implies that this quality ( ) pervades the entire nature of the . Comp. Php 3:8; Rom 2:4; Heb 6:17. It signifies mildness, forbearance, (used with , 1Ti 3:3; Tit 3:2; between and , Jam 3:17; with , 1Pe 2:18), hence not becoming conduct (Matthies). It is to be known to all ( ) without exception, to strangers, and so much the more to neighbors, because they have such occasion to see it manifested towards themselves and towards others. The context leads us to think more directly of the adjustment of difficulties, the removal of dissension (Php 4:2-3) for effecting which the gentleness which spares the delinquent is a great assistance. [The stands in contrast to the , as being satisfied with less than is ones due. Arist. Eth. Nic., Php 4:10 (Lightfoot).H.]The Lord is at hand ( ) in whom they are to rejoice, hence Christ, under whose eye they are to walk and act, who will also judge them: judex vobis propitius, vindex in malos (Bengel). This is a strong motive to the exercise of forbearance. We are not to refer to God (Calvin), since follows in Php 4:6, and the subject here is not that of the providence of God, but the or advent of Christ. Meyer incorrectly joins it with what follows. [This nearness of Christ admits of other explanations. It may mean that He is ever near to His people as their efficient supporter and helper, so that with such an arm to defend them they have nothing to fear from the power or malice of their enemies (comp. Mat 13:11; 1Pe 4:7); or, more probably, that He is always near to them in point of time, will soon come to relieve them of their cares and trials, and receive them to their appointed rewards and rest in heaven (Joh 14:3; Rom 13:11, sq.) See note on Php 1:7. There is no necessary, certainly no exclusive, reference here to a definite expectation of the near advent of Christ, and the end of the world.6H.]
Php 4:6. Be careful for nothing, ( ) enjoins freedom from anxiety since gaudium in domino legitimam securitatem in suis rebus parit (Bengel). , accusative of the object, excludes every subject of harassing care, whether fruitless labor or the events which precede the Lords advent (Php 4:5); hence not anxious solicitude merely is forbidden (Grotius).But in every thing ( ) is the antithesis to (comp. Eph 5:24).By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God, ( ) is the antithesis of [. He who rejoices in the Lord has not to do with earthly things ( , Php 3:19). , are the contents or objects of the prayers, desideria veslra (Luk 23:24; 1Jn 5:15). The verb has a threefold limitation: 1) the way ( ) which the article points out as the appointed one, and its repetition as consisting of two parts or acts (on the difference see Eph 6:18); 2) the accompaniment: (comp. Eph 5:4; Col 2:7; Col 4:2), which should never be wanting in prayer and request; and 3) the direction ( ) to whom the prayer should be directed. We are not to run to men with our complaints and lamentations. Bengel well points out the connection of Php 4:4-6 : tristitiam et curam comitatur morositas.
Php 4:7. And the peace of God, which passeth every understanding. adds now a promise. Joy in the Lord is accompanied by the peace of God, etc. The genitive marks the author (see Eph 1:2; Col 3:15; and comp. Winers Gram., p. 186), and the participial clause the value of the peace which as the context shows must be understood as an inward state or peace of soul, in contrast with violence (Php 4:5), anxiety (Php 4:6) and in connection with joy (Php 4:4). Hence the peace () is not harmony with one another (Meyer), which does not accord with the following predicates, nor reconciliation with God (Erasmus), which peace of soul presupposes, and on which it is founded. This peace of God is a possession defined as , i. e., towering above (Php 2:3; Php 3:8; Eph 3:19) the reach of mans understanding, however strong it may be ( ), (Eph 4:17). The comparison is between peace as the object of emotion and experience, and the understanding as the perceptive or rational faculty, and not between the incomprehensibility of this peace and the understanding (Erasmus, res felicior, quam ut humana mens queat percipere, and so Meyer et al.) [According to Meyers view (1859) the comparison lies in the efficacy of Gods peace, on the one hand, and of mans reason or understanding on the other, to lift the soul above disquietude and the power of the world. So essentially Lightfoot: Surpassing every device or counsel of man, i.e., which is far better, which produces a higher satisfaction, than all punctilious self-assertion, all anxious forethought. Ellicott translates: which overpasseth every understanding, i.e., which transcends every effort and attempt on the part of the understanding to grasp and realize it. The similarity between the language here and Eph 3:20 speaks almost decisively for the latter and more obvious interpretation: Who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, .H.] We are not to think at all here of the doubting or perplexed understanding (De Wette.)Shall keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, characterizes the efficacy of the peace in question. The verb () signifies to guard, while the. tense marks the continuance of this protection; it is a promise, assurance, not a wish (Vulg., custodiat, et al.) The object , is the inner personality, made emphatic and exhaustive by the repeated article and pronoun. Bengel: cor sedes cogitationum. Comp. 2Co 3:14-15. Thus the whole and its parts, the principal and derivative, in the individuals life, are preserved adversus omnes insultus et curas (Bengel); or , (Chrysostom). Comp. 1Pe 1:5. [The reside in and issue from the (comp. 2Co 3:14-15): for in the Apostles language is the seat of thought as well as of feeling (Lightfoot)H.] This result is accomplished , and hence apart from Him it does not spring from any inherent efficacy in the peace itself. Without His aid it is not possible to abide with Him, to obtain or to keep His gifts.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Joy in the Lord is the theme of this epistle, and the chief feature in the portrait of the Christian. On this frame of mind much depends: gentleness towards all men, in word and deed, since it causes many a provocation to pass unnoticed, or to be borne patiently; freedom from care and delight in prayer, for the Christian knows and frequents the way to God, and casts all his care upon Him who cares for him, being driven by care to prayer, and by prayer driving away care; inward peace, which God has wrought, and continues to strengthen in the soul.
2. Our consciousness of the nearness of the Lord, is strengthened by our very joy in the Lord, which is only perfected in the other world, so that we feel His coming to be a blessing, and desire it (Php 4:5).
3. The prayer for what is lacking should never be separated from thanksgiving for what has been granted (Php 4:6).
4. All that moves, disquiets thee, may and should become a subject of prayer, but the sort of prayer, manifold as may be the reason for it, is definite, and not every prayer avails.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Starke:Two things trouble us: sin and affliction; on the other hand we find here a double incitement to rejoice in the Lord; Rejoice!A Christian must be no towering tulip, but rather a humble violet, dispensing everywhere a sweet perfume.Thou lion and tyrant in thy house! When an honorable man, a stranger approaches thee, thou ceasest perhaps to scold, and curse, and rage: why hast thou not as much reverence for the Lord who is near thee?To care is Gods part, but to labor and in prayer to commit the issue to Him, is oursTo-day peace, to-morrow war! So it was formerly in the world, so it is now and so it will be to the end; but the peace of God is an eternal peace.
Rieger:Everything in the Lords life, character, and experience is indeed a cause of joy to you. His condescension in His incarnation and birth, His walk in the world, His sufferings, cross, and death, His life and glory, His present concealment in God, His revelation from heaven ever near and nearer to us.One may have the inward ground of joy in the Lord, though he has not the same susceptibility at one time as at another.Yet joy in the Lord does not lead one to violent outbursts, or on the other hand to sit indolently, but to work, and it is this exercise which keeps it pure. A joyful follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, has to deal with different men, who in many ways have need of his forbearance.Sometimes, indeed, even our reason performs good service against care, and promotes contentment of mind. But too often our reason is itself the fountain of many cares, or at least meets with cases where it is entirely helpless.Out of the heart the life flows; if it is not protected it evaporates, and the senses bring in many a thing from the world, which has power to disturb our contentment.
Gerlach:Let the Lord who in grace and judgment is ever near His people, care for all things. Address no prayer to Him, even out of the deepest distress, without thanksgiving; for even in the greatest misery you have more reason for thanksgiving and joy than for sorrow and complaint. Thus you can maintain joy in the Lord and gentleness towards men, at the same time.
[Robert Hall:Seek repose by prayer. If your mind be overcharged or overwhelmed with trouble and anxiety, go into the presence of God. Spread your case before Him. Though He knows the desires of your hearts, yet He has declared He will be sought after; He will be inquired of to do it for you. Go, therefore, into the presence of that God who will at once tranquillize your spirit, give you what you wish, or make you more happy without it, and who will be your everlasting consolation, if you trust in Him. He will breathe peace into your soul, and command tranquillity in the midst of the greatest storms. How much are they to be pitied who never pray. The world is to them all gloom and disappointment; for there they see none of the kindness and protection of our heavenly Father. We do not wonder that the sorrow of the world worketh death, with the distresses, afflictions, and disappointments to which human nature is exposed (Php 4:6).H.]
Schleiermacher:What then are the chief things in the holy joy of Christmas? 1) Joy in the entire Lord and Redeemer. 2) A common feeling of love and joy (a) in the consciousness of the kindness and favor of God, our heavenly Father, which have been manifested in Christ Jesus; (b) in the purity and serenity of Christian joy. 3) Joy not over this or that aspect of heart and life, but over universal inward development.
Passavant:This gentleness manifests itself at one time as equanimity and patience under all circumstances, among all men, and in manifold experiences; at another as integrity in business relations; as justice, forbearance, and goodness, in exercising power; as impartiality and mercy in judging; as noble yielding, joyful giving, and patient enduring and forgiving.As the epistle for the fourth Sunday in Advent.
Heubner:The true joy of the Christian in Advent. 1. Its nature. It springs from the past, the present, and the future coming of the Lord. 2. Its effects: gentleness, freedom from care, disposition to pray, peace. It is the best preparation for Christmas.
Lhe:The approach of the festival as typical of the second coming of Christ greets us with a four-fold trumpet-blast: 1) Joy in Christ; 2) gentleness and goodness; 3) prayer and thanksgiving; 4) a prolonged sweet tone of peace, which is higher than all reason.
Ahlfeld:Supplication and thanksgiving are better than care: 1. Care gnaws the marrow and pith out of Gods gifts. 2. Rise above it and leave it to your Lord. 3. Live in prayer and thanksgiving. He will gladly help you.
Law and Testimony. It is necessary to call solemnly to mind the much forgotten second coming of the Lord. 1) It brings holy joy in every way; 2) it is a rampart and wall against all hate and harm; 3) it inspires care-conquering prayer; 4) it enfolds us in Gods peace.
Prhle:The Christian disposition of mind in the holy time of Advent. 1) Holy joy; 2) tender love of men; 3) firm trust in God; 4) divine peace.Difference between the holy mind of Christians and the wanton mind of the world. 1) The sources: the former springs from believing, sanctified hearts; the latter from a fortunate gift of nature, or it is the fruit of the sinful flesh. 2) Expressions: the former in religious joys, in lawful earthly pleasures used with moderation, a gentle, loving spirit, with God before the eye and in the heart; the latter, in sensual joys and violent passions. 3) Duration: the former always, the latter now and then. 4) Effects: the former liberates from care and melancholy, and renders one inclined to and qualified for the good; the latter leads away from God into sin.The Lord is near! The thought (1) sanctifies our joys; (2) dissipates our cares; (3) consecrates our prayers; (4) fills us with love and forbearance towards our neighbor.
[J. S. Howson:The Apostle Paul illustrated his precepts by example. He was remarkable for his habit of combining thanksgiving with his prayers (see Php 4:6).I know of no more instructive study than to go over all the ground from Romans to Philemon, taking the structure of the Epistles as we find it, and noticing these streams of prayer and praise, sometimes as they appear separately, very frequently together. We have grand doxologies after the commencement of some great truth, or at the prospect of some glorious future, as in the letter to the Romans, (Rom 11:33); O the depth of the riches; both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! or in the First to the Corinthians (1Co 15:57): Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ! The habit strikes us more forcibly when the reference is to something personal. Thus, at the mention of the long-delayed, but at last accomplished meeting with Titus (2Co 2:14): Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ! Even in his statement of a fact, Paul uses a eucharistic form (Rom 8:25): Who shall deliver me? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thanks be to God which put this into the heart of Titus. 2Co 8:16. I thank God that I baptized none save Crispus and Gaius. 1Co 1:14. I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all. 1Co 14:18. Even when he speaks of food, the name which he employs is: That for which I give thanks. And what is said of thanksgiving may similarly be said of prayer. Thus, with the same kind of exuberant impulse, after a doctrinal statement: For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He would grant you to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. Eph 3:14-16. So when he has been describing his projected journey: Now the God of peace be with you. Rom 15:33. So when he has been giving advice to an individual: Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. 2Ti 2:7. Evidently with St. Paul the law of Prayer is the law of Praise. Supplication and gratitude are almost always inter-linked together; or at least when one is present, the other is seldom far absent. I will pray with the Spirit, and I will sing with the Spirit: I will pray with the understanding, and I will sing with the understanding. 1Co 14:15. In the Christian life he clearly assumes that Thanksgiving will follow easily in the footsteps of Prayer, and that Prayer will be mindful to fill the place which has just been occupied by Thanksgiving. Two parallel sentences from the Ephesians may conclude this imperfect list of illustrations: Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Eph 5:20. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance. Eph 6:18. Different as St. Pauls Epistles are in most respects from the Psalms of David, they resemble them in this combination. The lesson derived from both, and in both cases alike enforced by the writers example, is this: Offer unto God thanksgiving; and call upon Him in the time of trouble; so will He hear thee, and thou shalt praise Him, (Psa 50:14-15). See Lectures on the Character of St. Paul, p. 150 (London, 1864).H.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
(4) Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. (5) Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. (6) Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
These Apostolic exhortations, very sweetly, and seasonably follow what Paul had before said, of the names of the Church being written in the book of life. For who but must rejoice, yea, and rejoice alway, when conscious of such an eternal sonship in Christ? Reader! the people of God have reason to blush, when anything for a moment damps their joy, from the trifling events of this dying world. Children, of the King eternal, immortal, invisible, going home to their Father’s house; can there be a single affliction, or sorrow, sufficient to induce distress, while these vast thoughts are cherished in the mind? Every moment lessens our abode here, and brings us nearer to our everlasting inheritance. So fast are we hastening on that even since I began the first line, in this observation, I am by so much further on, towards the glorious open view of God in Christ. Is not this enough to make every regenerated child of God rejoice, and to rejoice alway? Is God my Father, who hath chosen me in Christ that I should be holy, and without blame before him in love? Hath he from everlasting predestinated me with the Church to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself? Am I accepted in the Beloved, have redemption in Christ’s blood; the forgiveness of all my sins, according to the riches of his grace; regenerated by God the Spirit, and sealed, unto the day of redemption: and shall I cease to rejoice alway; and when God the Holy Ghost by his servant saith also, again I say rejoice? Reader! do you not behold in these things, what an everlasting source, of the most heart-felt rejoicing there is, when the Lord the Spirit hath brought all these things home to the believer’s conscience, and formed Christ in the heart the hope of glory? Do you earnestly desire to participate in this joy unspeakable and full of glory? Do then, as the Apostle saith, and look up to God the Holy Ghost to enable you so to do. Be not poring over difficulties, in flesh and blood; but give all diligence to make your calling and election sure. So the Apostle taught the brethren. And, if a brother, so he speaks to you. For if ye do these things, that is, make your calling and election sure, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. See 2Pe 1:10-11 . and Commentary.
How very blessedly the Apostle speaks, of the nearness of the Lord, of the believer’s casting all his care upon Jesus, of bringing all before him, of leaving all with him, of besieging the throne and mercy-seat of Jesus unceasingly, both with supplication, and thanksgiving. And, with what a blessed promise, the passage closeth: the peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Reader! bear with me, while I remind you again and again, (for I need to be continually reminded myself,) that these blessed Scriptures are not Paul’s, but the words of God the Holy Ghost. Paul is but the penman of them. It is God the Spirit which endited them; for all scripture is given by inspiration of God. 2Ti 3:16 . We are too apt to lose sight of this. And when, we do, we forget with it, that the promises in Christ Jesus, are not yea, and nay; but yea, and Amen. 2Co 1:19-20 . The one before us, is on this account, sweet. The peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Ver. 4. Rejoice in the Lord ] That is the true and only joy (said Mr Philpot the martyr), which is conceived not of the creature, but of the Creator; to this all other joys being compared are but mournings, all delights sorrows, all beauty filth, &c. Other joy besides this may wet the mouth, but not warm the heart; smooth the brow, but not fill the breast.
And again I say, Rejoice ] No duty almost more pressed in both Testaments than this of rejoicing in the Lord. It is no less a sin not to rejoice than not to repent.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4 9 .] Exhortation to ALL.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
4 . ] AGAIN I Will say it : referring to ch. Phi 3:1 , where see note. It is the ground-tone of the Epistle.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Phi 4:4-9 . GENERAL EXHORTATIONS ON THE RIGHT SPIRIT AND THE RIGHT CONDUCT OF LIFE.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Phi 4:4 . expresses the predominant mood of the Epistle, a mood wonderfully characteristic of Paul’s closing years. . “He doubles it to take away the scruple of those that might say, what, shall we rejoice in afflictions?” (G. Herbert). . The future of this verb is probably used here, as apparently often in late Greek, for the present.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Philippians
REJOICE EVERMORE
Php 4:4 .
It has been well said that this whole epistle may be summed up in two short sentences: ‘I rejoice’; ‘Rejoice ye!’ The word and the thing crop up in every chapter, like some hidden brook, ever and anon sparkling out into the sunshine from beneath the shadows. This continual refrain of gladness is all the more remarkable if we remember the Apostle’s circumstances. The letter shows him to us as a prisoner, dependent on Christian charity for a living, having no man like-minded to cheer his solitude; uncertain as to ‘how it shall be with me,’ and obliged to contemplate the possibility of being ‘offered,’ or poured out as a libation, ‘on the sacrifice and service of your faith.’ Yet out of all the darkness his clear notes ring jubilant; and this sunny epistle comes from the pen of a prisoner who did not know but that to-morrow he might be a martyr.
The exhortation of my text, with its urgent reiteration, picks up again a dropped thread which the Apostle had first introduced in the commencement of the previous chapter. He had there evidently been intending to close his letter, for he says: ‘Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord’; but he is drawn away into that precious personal digression which we could so ill spare, in which he speaks of his continual aspiration and effort towards things not yet attained. And now he comes back again, picks up the thread once more, and addresses himself to his parting counsels. The reiteration in the text becomes the more impressive if we remember that it is a repetition of a former injunction. ‘Rejoice in the Lord alway’; and then he seems to hear one of his Philippian readers saying: ‘Why! you told us that once before!’ ‘Yes,’ he says, ‘and you shall hear it once again; so important is my commandment that it shall be repeated a third time. So I again say, “rejoice!”‘ Christian gladness is an important element in Christian duty; and the difficulty and necessity of it are indicated by the urgent repetition of the injunction.
I. So, then, the first thought that suggests itself to me from these words is this, that close union with Jesus Christ is the foundation of real gladness.
Pray note that ‘the Lord’ here, as is usually the case in Paul’s Epistles, means, not the Divine Father, but Jesus Christ. And then observe, again, that the phrase ‘Rejoice in the Lord’ has a deeper meaning than we sometimes attach to it. We are accustomed to speak of rejoicing in a thing or a person, which, or who, is thereby represented as being the occasion or the object of our gladness. And though that is true, in reference to our Lord, it is not the whole sweep and depth of the Apostle’s meaning here. He is employing that phrase, ‘in the Lord,’ in the profound and comprehensive sense in which it generally appears in his letters, and especially in those almost contemporaneous with this Epistle to the Philippians. I need only refer you, in passing, without quoting passages, to the continual use of that phrase in the nearly contemporaneous letter to the Ephesians, in which you will find that ‘in Christ Jesus’ is the signature stamped upon all the gifts of God, and upon all the possible blessings of the Christian life. ‘In Him’ we have the inheritance; in Him we obtain redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins; in Him we are ‘blessed with all spiritual blessings.’ And the deepest description of the essential characteristic of a Christian life is, to Paul, that it is a life in Christ.
It is this close union which the Apostle here indicates as being the foundation and the source of all that gladness which he desires to see spreading its light over the Christian life. ‘Rejoice in the Lord’–being in Him be glad.
Now that great thought has two aspects, one deep and mysterious, one very plain and practical. As to the former, I need not spend much time upon it. We believe, I suppose, in the superhuman character and nature of Jesus Christ. We believe in His divinity. We can therefore believe reasonably in the possibility of a union between Him and us, transcending all the forms of human association, and being really like that which the creature holds to its Creator in regard to its physical being. ‘In him we live, and move, and have our being’ is the very foundation truth in regard to the constitution of the universe. ‘In Him we live, and move, and have our being’ is the very foundation truth in regard to the relation of the Christian soul to Jesus Christ. All earthly unions are but poor adumbrations from afar of that deep, transcendent, mysterious, but most real union, by which the Christian soul is in Christ, as the branch is in the vine, the member in the body, the planet in its atmosphere, and by which Christ is in the Christian soul as the life sap is in every twig, as the mysterious vital power is in every member. Thus abiding in Him, in a manner which admits of no parallel nor of any doubt, we may, and we shall, be glad.
But then, passing from the mysterious, we come to the plain. To be ‘in Christ’ which is commended to us here as the basis of all true blessedness, means that the whole of our nature shall be occupied with, and fastened upon, Him; thought turning to Him, the tendrils of the heart clinging and creeping around Him, the will submitting itself in glad obedience to His beloved and supreme commandments, the aspirations, and desires feeling out after Him as the sufficient and eternal good, and all the current of our being setting towards Him in earnestness of desire, and resting in Him in tranquillity of possession. Thus ‘in Christ’ we may all be.
And, says Paul, in the great words of my text, such a union, reciprocal and close, is the secret of all blessedness. If thus we are wedded to that Lord, and His life is in us and ours enclosed in Him, then there is such correspondence between our necessities and our supplies as that there is no room for aching emptiness; no gnawing of unsatisfied longings, but the blessedness that comes from having found that which we seek, and in the finding being stimulated to a still closer, happier, and not restless search after fuller possession. The man that knows where to get anything and everything that he needs, and to whom desires are but the prophets of instantaneous fruition; surely that man has in his possession the talismanic secret of perpetual gladness. They who thus dwell in Christ by faith, love, obedience, imitation, aspiration, and enjoyment, are like men housed in some strong fortress, who can look out over all the fields alive with enemies, and feel that they are safe. They who thus dwell in Christ gain command over themselves; and because they can bridle passions, and subdue hot and impossible desires, and keep themselves well in hand, have stanched one chief source of unrest and sadness, and have opened one pure and sparkling fountain of unfailing gladness. To rule myself because Christ rules me is no small part of the secret of blessedness. And they who thus dwell in Christ have the purest joy, the joy of self-forgetfulness. He that is absorbed in a great cause; he whose pitiful, personal individuality has passed out of his sight; he who is swallowed up by devotion to another, by aspiration after ‘something afar from the sphere of our sorrow,’ has found the secret of gladness. And the man who thus can say, ‘I live: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,’ this is the man who will ever rejoice. The world may not call such a temper gladness. It is as unlike the sputtering, flaring, foul-smelling joys which it prizes–like those filthy but bright ‘Lucigens’ that they do night work by in great factories–it is as unlike the joy of the world as these are to the calm, pure moonlight which they insult. The one is of heaven, and the other is the foul product of earth, and smokes to extinction swiftly.
II. So, secondly, notice that this joy is capable of being continuous.
‘Rejoice in the Lord always ,’ says Paul. That is a hard nut to crack. I can fancy a man saying, ‘What is the use of giving me such exhortations as this? My gladness is largely a matter of temperament, and I cannot rule my moods. My gladness is largely a matter of circumstances, and I do not determine these. How vain it is to tell me, when my heart is bleeding, or beating like a sledge-hammer, to be glad!’ Yes! Temperament has a great deal to do with joy; and circumstances have a great deal to do with it; but is not the mission of the Gospel to make us masters of temperament, and independent of circumstances? Is not the possibility of living a life that has no dependence upon externals, and that may persist permanently through all varieties of mood, the very gift that Christ Himself has come to bestow upon us–bringing us into communion with Himself, and so making us lords of our own inward nature and of externals: so that ‘though the fig-tree shall not blossom, and there be no fruit in the vine,’ yet we may ‘rejoice in the Lord, and be glad in the God of our salvation.’ If a ship has plenty of water in its casks or tanks in its hold, it does not matter whether it is sailing through fresh water or salt. And if you and I have that union with Jesus Christ of which my text speaks, then we shall be, not wholly, but with indefinite increase of approximation towards the ideal, independent of circumstances and masters of our temperaments. And so it is possible, if not absolutely to reach this fair achievement of an unbroken continuity of gladness, at least to bring the lucent points so close to one another as that the intervals of darkness between shall be scarcely visible, and the whole will seem to form one continuous ring of light.
Brother, if you and I can keep near Jesus Christ always–and I suppose we can do that in sorrow as in joy–He will take care that our keeping near Him will not want its reward in that blessed continuity of felt repose which is very near the sunniness of gladness. For, if we in the Lord sorrow, we may, then, simultaneously, in the Lord rejoice. The two things may go together, if in the one mood and the other we are in union with Him. The bitterness of the bitterest calamity is taken away from it when it does not separate us from Jesus Christ. And just as the mother is specially tender with her sick child, and just as we have often found that the sympathy of friends comes to us, when need and grief are upon us, in a fashion that would have been incredible beforehand, so it is surely true that Jesus Christ can, and does, soften His tone, and select the tokens of His presence with especial tenderness for a wounded heart; so as that sorrow in the Lord passes into joy in the Lord. And if that be so, then the pillar which was cloud in the sunshine brightens into fire as night falls on the desert.
But it is not only that this divine gladness is consistent with the sorrow that is often necessary for us, but also that the continuity of such gladness is secured, because in Christ there are open for us sources of blessedness in what is else a dry and thirsty land. If you would take this epistle at your leisure, and run over it in order to note the various occasions of joy which the Apostle expresses for himself, and commends to his brethren, you would see how beautifully they reveal to us the power of communion with Jesus Christ, to find honey in the rock, good in everything, and a reason for thankful gladness in all events.
I have not time, at this stage of my sermon, to do more than just glance at these. We find, for instance, that a very large portion of the joy which he declares fills his own heart, and which he commends to these Philippians, arises from the recognition of good in others. He speaks to them of being his ‘joy and crown.’ He tells them that in his sorrows and imprisonment, their ‘fellowship in the Gospel, from the first day until now,’ had brought a whiff of gladness into the close air of the prison cell. He begs them to be Christlike in order that they may ‘fulfil his joy’; and he may lose himself in others’ blessings, and therein find gladness. A large portion of his joy came from very common things. A large portion of the joy that he commends to them he contemplates as coming to them from small matters. They were to be glad because Timothy came with a message from the Apostle. He is glad because he hears of their well-being, and receives a little contribution from them for his daily necessities. A large portion of his gladness came from the spread of Christ’s kingdom. ‘Christ is preached,’ says he, with a flash of triumph, ‘and I therein do rejoice; yea, and will rejoice.’ And, most beautiful of all, no small portion of his gladness came from the prospect of martyrdom. ‘If I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all; and do ye joy and rejoice with me.’
Now, put all these things together and they just come to this, that a heart in union with Jesus Christ can find streams in the desert, joys blossoming as the rose, in places that to the un-Christlike eye are wilderness and solitary, and out of common things it can bring the purest gladness and draw a tribute and revenue of blessedness even from the prospect of God-sent sorrows. Dear brethren, if you and I have not learned the secret of modest and unselfish delights, we shall vainly seek for joy in the vulgar excitements and coarse titillations of appetites and desires which the world offers. ‘Calm pleasures there abide’ in Christ. The northern lights are weird and bright, but they belong to midwinter, and they come from electric disturbances, and portend rough weather afterwards. Sunshine is silent, steadfast, pure. Better to walk in that light than to be led astray by fantastic and perishable splendours. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always.’
III. Lastly, such gladness is an important part of Christian duty.
As I have said, the urgency of the command indicates both its importance and its difficulty. It is important that professing Christians should be glad Christians with the joy that is drawn from Jesus Christ, of course, I mean, because they thereby become walking advertisements and living witnesses for Him. A gloomy, melancholy, professing Christian is a poor recommendation of his faith. If you want to ‘adorn the doctrine of Christ’ you will do it a great deal more by a bright face, that speaks of a calm heart, calm because filled with Christ, than by many more ambitious efforts. This gladness is important because, without it, there will be little good work done, and little progress made. It is important, surely, for ourselves, for it can be no small matter that we should be able to have travelling with us all through the desert that mystical rock which follows with its streams of water, and ever provides for us the joys that we need. In every aspect, whether as regards men who take their notions of Christ and of Christianity, a great deal more from the concrete examples of both in human lives than from books and sermons, or from the Bible itself–or as regards the work which we have to do, or as regards our own inward life, it is all-important that we should have that close union with Jesus Christ which cannot but result in pure and holy gladness.
But the difficulty, as well as the importance, of the obligation, are expressed by the stringent repetition of the commandment, ‘And again I say, Rejoice.’ When objections arise, when difficulties present themselves, I repeat the commandment again, in the teeth of them all; and I know what I mean when I am saying it. Thus, thought Paul, we need to make a definite effort to keep ourselves in touch with Jesus Christ, or else gladness, and a great deal besides, will fade away from our grasp.
And there are two things that you have to do if you would obey the commandment. The one is the direct effort at fostering and making continuous your fellowship with Jesus Christ, through your life; and the other is looking out for the bright bits in your life, and making sure that you do not sullenly and foolishly, perhaps with vain regrets after vanished blessings, or perhaps with vain murmurings about unattained good, obscure to your sight the mercies that you have, and so cheat yourselves of the occasions for thankfulness and joy. There are people who, if there be ever such a little bit of a fleecy film of cloud low down on their horizon, can see nothing of the sparkling blue arch above them for looking at that, and who behave as if the whole sky was one roof of doleful grey. Do not you do that! There is always enough to be thankful for. Lay hold of Christ, and be sure that you open your eyes to His gifts.
Surely, dear friends, if there be offered to us, as there is, a gladness which is perfect in the two points in which all other gladness fails, it is wise for us to take it. The commonplace which all men believe, and most men neglect, is that nothing short of an infinite Person can fill a finite soul. And if we look for our joys anywhere but to Jesus Christ, there will always be some bit of our nature which, like the sulky elder brother in the parable, will scowl at the music and dancing, and refuse to come in. All earthly joys are transient as well as partial. Is it not better that we should have gladness that will last as long as we do, that we can hold in our dying hands, like a flower clasped in some cold palm laid in the coffin, that we shall find again when we have crossed the bar, that will grow and brighten and broaden for evermore? My joy shall remain . . . full.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Php 4:4-7
4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Php 4:4 There are two present active imperative forms of the term “rejoice” in Php 4:4. The term can be translated as a farewell, but in this context they must be translated “rejoice” (cf. 1Th 5:16). This is a major theme in Philippians. Notice the number of times the terms “all” and “every” are used in Php 4:4-13 as in Php 1:1-8. Joy must not be linked to circumstances. The key is the believers’ relationship to Christ (“in the Lord”).
Php 4:5
NASB”gentle spirit”
NKJV, NRSV”gentleness”
TEV”a gentle attitude”
NJB”good sense”
This call to Christian lifestyle began in Php 3:1, but the discussion of the false teachers drew Paul’s mind away until this point where he renews the emphasis. The term itself is best translated “kind,” “gentle,” or “yielding” (cf. 1Ti 3:3; Tit 3:2; Jas 3:17; 1Pe 2:18).
“be known to all men” This verse has been interpreted in two ways:
1. believers are to have this gentleness toward other believers so that those outside the church will notice and be attracted to Christ (cf. Mat 5:16)
2. this gentleness is to be applied to all people, regardless of their relationship to the Lord, as a witness to His power in the lives of these converted pagans and as a deterrent to unfair criticism by unbelievers (cf. Rom 12:17; Rom 14:18; 2Co 8:21; 1Pe 2:12; 1Pe 2:15; 1Pe 3:16)
NASB, NRSV,
NJB”The Lord is near”
NKJV”The Lord is at hand”
TEV”The Lord is coming soon”
This word “near” is used of time (cf. Mat 24:32-33). The Second Coming is a recurrent theme in Philippians. This has a very similar meaning to the Aramaic word maranatha (cf. 1Co 16:22; Rev 22:10). The any-moment expectation of the Second Coming was and is an encouragement to Christian living (cf. Rom 13:12; Jas 5:8-9).
It is also possible that this could have referred to the Lord’s moment-by-moment presence with believers (cf. Mat 28:20; Rom 10:8 and F. F. Bruce’s Answers to Questions, p. 201).
SPECIAL TOPIC: MARANATHA
Php 4:6 “be anxious for nothing” This is a present active imperative. The church at Philippi was under great tension, both from without and within. Anxiety is not an appropriate characteristic for the Christian life (cf. Mat 6:25-34 and 1Pe 5:7). There is nothing that should worry believers except possibly their standing fast in the Lord and serving Him. The great enemy of peace is anxiety.
“but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” This is a key answer to anxiety-prayer, for others and ourselves, mixed with thanksgiving. It is interesting how often Paul uses the term “thanksgiving” in combination with prayer (cf. Eph 5:20; Col 4:2; 1Th 5:17-18; 1Ti 2:1). There is an obvious contrast between “for nothing” and “in everything.” See Special Topic: Paul’s Praise, Prayer, and Thanksgiving at Eph 3:20.
“Let your requests be made known to God” This a present passive imperative. There are several passages in the NT which emphasize that believers should persist in prayer (cf. Mat 7:7-11; Luk 18:2-8). Possibly, thanksgiving and perseverance are the two missing elements in a proper theology of prayer. God knows what is needed but He desires the fellowship and trust involved in prayer. God has limited Himself in many areas to the prayers of His children; “We have not because we ask not” (cf. Jas 4:2).
Php 4:7 “the peace of God” It is interesting that in this context the peace of God is mentioned in Php 4:7 and the God who gives it is mentioned in Php 4:9. The first emphasizes what God gives and the second His character. Peace is used in several different senses in the NT:
1. it can be a title (cf. Isa 9:6; Rom 15:33; Rom 16:20; 2Co 13:11; Php 4:9; 1Th 5:23; 2Th 3:16)
2. it can refer to the peace of the gospel in an objective sense (cf. Joh 14:27; Joh 16:33; Col 1:20)
3. it can refer to the peace of the gospel in a subjective sense (cf. Eph 2:14-17; Col 3:15)
Sometimes 2 and 3 are combined as in Rom 5:1. See Special Topic: Peace at Col 1:20.
“which surpasses all comprehension” This is a present active participle. It has been interpreted in two ways: (1) God’s peace is better than human reason or (2) God’s peace is beyond human reason. The parallel passage in Eph 3:20 is helpful. God’s ways are beyond our ways (cf. Isa 55:8-9). An example of this peace that passes all human ability to understand is found in the life of Paul in this very chapter (cf. Php 4:11-13). The peace of God must be unconnected with circumstances and locked securely to the person and work of Christ. For “surpasses” (huperech) see Special Topic: Paul’s Use of Huper Compounds at Eph 1:19.
“shall guard your hearts and your minds” God’s peace acts as a soldier guarding believers. This same beautiful truth of God’s garrisoning of His children can be seen in 1Pe 1:4-5. The two Greek terms “heart” (kardia) and “mind” (nous) are synonymous in speaking about the whole person (feeling and thinking). Paul emphasizes Christian thinking throughout this letter. See note at Php 3:15. See Special Topic: Heart at Col 2:2.
“in Christ Jesus” He is the key to Paul’s theology. All of God’s benefits and blessings flow to fallen mankind through the life, teachings, death, resurrection, Second Coming and personal union with Jesus Christ. Believers are vitally united with Him. This is theologically synonymous with John’s “abide in me” of John 15.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
4-9.] Exhortation to ALL.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Php 4:4. , , , rejoice in the Lord: again I say, always rejoice) The particle, again, requires an Epitasis,[52] as in Gal 1:9, where the Epitasis is in , comp. Php 4:8; so the Galatians are more strongly bound, because [not only Paul preached, Php 4:8, but] they also received or took up the Gospel which was preached. Add Gal 5:3, where I testify makes an Epitasis to , I say, Php 4:2; and , to every man, has an Epitasis to unto you, Php 4:2; and , he is a debtor, to shall profit you nothing, Php 4:2 : here the word, always, forms such an Epitasis with rejoice ye, repeated. At the beginning of the verse, it is said, rejoice ye in the Lord, as ch. Php 3:1. Some join with the preceding words.
[52] See Append.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Php 4:4
Php 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice.-When we surrender self and lose ourselves in Christ, the fountains of joy are at once opened. Having yielded the heart wholly to Christ, man is at once with himself, and in this harmony begins a joy which this world can neither give nor take away. To be in Christ as the basis of all true blessedness means that the “Whole of our nature, shall he occupied with and upon him; thought turning to him, the will submitting itself in glad obedience to his supreme commandments; and all the current of our being setting toward him in earnestness of desire, and resting in him is the secret of blessedness. If thus we are joined to the Lord, and he is in us and we in him, then we have that blessedness for which we seek. They who thus dwell in Christ by faith, love, obedience, and enjoyment can look over all the fields alive with enemies, overcome unrest, and have opened to them the source of assurance, and unto such the apostle says: Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Christian Joy
Rejoice in the Lord alway: again I will say, Rejoice.Php 4:4.
1. It has been well said that this whole Epistle may be summed up in two short sentences: I rejoice; Rejoice ye! The word and the thing crop up in every chapter, like some hidden brook, ever and anon sparkling out into the sunshine from beneath the shadows. This continual refrain of gladness is all the more remarkable if we remember the Apostles circumstances. The letter shows him to us as a prisoner, dependent on Christian charity for a living, having no man like-minded to cheer his solitude; uncertain as to how it shall be with him, and obliged to contemplate the possibility of being offered, or poured out as a libation, on the sacrifice and service of his faith. Yet out of all the darkness his clear notes ring jubilant; and this sunny Epistle comes from the pen of a prisoner who did not know but that tomorrow he might be a martyr.
2. This is not the enervating speech of the lotus-land; it is a bracing exhortation ringing through the stifling air of difficulty and strife. Age is not frequently associated with such sunny exuberance of spirit. Its song is apt to crack, its lights burn dim, its disposition becomes despondent. Age is so prone to become reminiscent, and memory is a fertile breeding-ground of dark and tearful regrets. Age fondly dwells on radiant morns which have passed away; it turns its eyes away from the east whence new mornings break. And so the psalm changes into a threnody, and minor tunes pervade the evening hymn. But here is an old man in whose vespers the minor note finds no place. Hard circumstances have not made him hard. Apparent failure has not soured him into a cynic. He retains his fine, appreciative sense of lifes essential sweetness. He has not become moodily reminiscent of past glories and of vanished feasts. He feels the days before him. The pains of to-day are only the birth-pangs of a better to-morrow. The immediate difficulty is only a prickly burr which contains most toothsome fruit. Rome may separate the Apostle from his fellows, she is powerless to separate him from his Lord. Imprisonment still provides a room for two, and by no earthly conspiracy can he be bereft of his great Companion. The Lord is with him, and so the prison is ablaze with light. Old age glows with sunny optimism. The psalm of adoration rises night and day. And the captive sends forth to his fellow believers the invigorating counsel, Rejoice in the Lord alway.
3. This is the Apostles farewell. When a Roman wished to say Good-bye, he said, Be well, Be strong. When a Greek would say it, he said, Be happy. And it is in this simplest sense first that St. Paul says Rejoice. It is one, nearly the last, of the farewells which he essays again and again in this Epistle to his beloved Philippian Church. But just as we might dwell on our own formula of leave-taking, delighting to feel that in saying Good-bye we were saying the best and truest of prayers for those from whom we partedif indeed it means God be with you!so St. Paul dwells on the formula and puts its full meaning into it, Be happy; yes, not only in the formal, idiomatic, complimentary sense, but in very truth. Be happy, be happy always in the Lord. It is a wish, but it is more than a wish; it is an exhortation.
Bishop Hacket chose as his motto, Serve God, and be cheerful. Golden words these. I do not know how it may be with you; but the remembrance of these words has often lifted me up from the pit, and dissipated the cloud of gloom. Yes, learn to connect with the direct service of God this obligation of cheerfulnesscheerfulness having its springs in Christian joy, cheerfulness flushing and refreshing the heart, cheerfulness overflowing in deeds and thoughts of kindliness towards others, and of thankfulness towards God.1 [Note: J. B. Lightfoot, Ordination Addresses, 314.]
The worst thing Carlyle did was his incessant barking at mankind, and it was an ill legacy to leave to us. It damaged all the rest of his work, made it less effective than it would otherwise have been. It pressed despair into the heart of man, and though he pressed duty also into our hearts, the sense of duty he impressed was weakened by the sense of despair he encouraged. Had his statement been true, I should not complain. Let us have the truth by all means, however unpleasant it may seem. But his abuse was not true. Men are not mostly fools. All work is not ill done. Cheating does not cover all business, nor gabble all speech, nor is the great river of things running in darkness. Whoever would get the good out of Carlyle, let him put apart all this side of him as one of the untrue things he himself denounced so heartily. The voice of the true Prophet speaks better things. He believes in God and therefore he believes in Man, Gods child. And his face should be bright, his voice clear, his eyes with a light of victory, in his right hand the sword and in his left the trumpet. The spirit of St. Paul should be in his heart, and the praise of St. Paul on his lips.1 [Note: Stopford A. Brooke, The Kingship of Love, 117.]
Rejoice we are allied
To That which doth provide
And not partake, effect and not receive!
A spark disturbs our clod;
Nearer we hold of God
Who gives, than of His tribes that take, I must believe.
Then, welcome each rebuff
That turns earths smoothness rough,
Each sting that bids nor sit nor stand but go!
Be our joys three-parts pain!
Strive, and hold cheap the strain;
Learn, nor account the pang; dare, never grudge the throe!
Yet gifts should prove their use:
I own the Past profuse
Of power each side, perfection every turn:
Eyes, ears took in their dole,
Brain treasured up the whole;
Should not the heart beat once How good to live and learn?
Not once beat Praise be Thine!
I see the whole design,
I, who saw power, see now love perfect too:
Perfect I call Thy plan:
Thanks that I was a man!
Maker, remake, complete,I trust what Thou shalt do!2 [Note: Browning, Rabbi Ben Ezra.]
I
The Source of Christian Joy
1. The secret spring of Christian joy is union with Christ.When we surrender self and lose ourselves in Christ, the fountains of joy are at once opened. Having yielded his heart utterly to Christ, man is at one with himself, and in this harmony begins a joy which this world can neither give nor take away.
To be in Christ, which is commended to us here as the basis of all true blessedness, means that the whole of our nature shall be occupied with, and fastened upon, Him; thought turning to Him, the tendrils of the heart clinging and creeping around Him, the will submitting itself in glad obedience to His beloved and supreme commandments, the aspirations, and desires feeling out after Him as the sufficient and eternal good, and all the current of our being setting towards Him in earnestness of desire, and resting in Him in tranquillity of possession. And, says St. Paul in the great words of the text, such a union, reciprocal and close, is the secret of all blessedness. If thus we are wedded to that Lord, and His life is in us and ours enclosed in Him, then there is such correspondence between our necessities and our supplies that there is no room for aching emptiness; no gnawing of unsatisfied longings, but the blessedness that comes from having found that which we seek, and in the finding being stimulated to a still closer, happier, and not restless search after fuller possession. The man that knows where to get anything and everything that he needs, and to whom desires are but the prophets of instantaneous fruitionsurely that man has in his possession the talismanic secret of perpetual gladness. They who thus dwell in Christ by faith, love, obedience, imitation, aspiration, and enjoyment are like men housed in some strong fortress, who can look out over all the fields alive with enemies, and feel that they are safe. They who thus dwell in Christ gain command over themselves; and because they can bridle passions, and subdue hot and impossible desires, and keep themselves well in hand, have stanched one chief source of unrest and sadness, and have opened one pure and sparkling fountain of unfailing gladness.
What holy whispers would pass to and fro between the Father and us if, at every hearts beat and at every pulse of breath, we could repeat our untiring hallelujah with them on high, who, again and again, at each pause, at each close of Gods unceasing display are ever saying, again and yet again, Hallelujah. Here is the secret of Christian cheerfulness; and no power on earth can break it down when once we have discovered that there is absolutely nothing but sin itself which is not fitted to renew and to replenish the delight of giving thanks. Why, then, are any Christian faces clouded and thick? Why are there any Christian hearts that are sullen and tired? Call upon your spirits to give thanks unto the Lord God. That door of escape is ever open, that gateway into gladness can never be shut; and, day after day, you can magnify the Lord, and worship His Name, ever world without end. Lift up your hearts unto the Lord, for indeed it is meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks to God for His great glory.1 [Note: Canon H. Scott Holland, Helps to Faith and Practice, 121.]
It is interesting to note that the earliest representations of the face of Christ in art picture Him in the bloom of youth, suggestive of the eternal youth of the Word. Such representations are ideal in their nature, and are founded on classic forms, and they express the joyfulness of primitive Christianity as well as its radiant belief in the risen Christ. It was not until the fourth century that the representations of the Saviour became clouded over: sorrow, austerity, anguish taking the place of youthfulness and beauty, and Christ becoming the grief-stricken sufferer.2 [Note: J. Burns, Illustrations from Art (1912), 24.]
(1) When we are divided between many conflicting interests, halting between two opinions, trying to serve two masters, distracted by the cares of many things, which enter in and choke the word, we cannot be really joyful. But when the whole current of our being sets in towards God, wiping out the minor ruffles and cross-currents of the stream; when we have no motive save to please our master Christ and do His will; when we are the gilded temples for His indwelling, the channels for His outworking, then our peace begins to flow as a river, and having peace with God, we rejoice in hope of His glory, and rejoice in tribulations also, and rejoice in God Himself through our Lord Jesus Christ.
When Haydn was once asked how it was that his church music was always so cheerful, the great composer made a most appropriate and beautiful reply: I cannot, said he, make it otherwise; I write according to the thoughts I feel. When I think upon God my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen; and since God has given me a cheerful heart, it will be pardoned me that I serve Him with a cheerful spirit.1 [Note: W. J. Armitage, The Fruit of the Spirit, 22.]
Be very sure that it is right and good to appear cheerful as long as ever you can, and that it has nothing hypocritical in it. To aim at appearing cheerful would be wrong; not so to aim at being cheerful. And the only way to aim at being cheerful is to try to cheer others, to see the bright side, and to show ones best. Just as we try to become good by doing painfully what we might perhaps do so easily if we were already good. And God does not leave us alone, so doing. Joy comes by giving joy, often when things look most unpromising for ourselves.2 [Note: Life of William Edward Collins, Bishop of Gibraltar, 51.]
Let us never believe for a moment that God looks askance at human happiness. It is true that He has sanctified sorrow as a discipline and a preparation; but only that it may be turned into joy. Sorrow may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning. The blessed Lord did not hesitate to take His part in the wedding feast. He noted with disapproval those who imagined that to be religious was to be of a sad countenance. His eye was attracted to the children playing in the market-place. Man of sorrows as He was, He rejoiced in spirit, and promised to His followers that they should be partakers of His joy. We are made for gladness, and shall not be able to fulfil our destiny until we know how to be glad.3 [Note: A. W. Robinson, The Voice of Joy and Health, 188.]
(2) Men find their truest joy not in the things they ask for, but in the things they surrender. The truly happy life at all its points of contact with the world does not ask for anything, it gives something. Happiness is founded, as far as all earth relations are concerned, not on what the world can do for us, but on what we become able to do for it. Happy are they who can take to their fellows the treasures of mercy and peace. Happy are they who can add something to the common stock of the worlds tenderness and quietness.
The secret of happiness is not found in selfishly seeking for it, as an end in life, any more than Prince de Leon found the fountain of perpetual youth by seeking it among the flowers of Florida. The Golden Rule of life will bring the golden reign of joy and happiness into the heart. Paul and Silas have more joy in the dungeon than those who confined them there. Jeremy Taylor, while in the hands of thieves, had welling up in his heart a joy that surmounted all adverse conditions. Says he, They have left me the sun and moon; fire and water; a loving wife and many friends to pity me and some to relieve me, and I can still discourse, and they have not taken away my merry countenance and my cheerful spirit and the good conscience; and he that hath so many causes of joy and so great, is very much in love with sorrow and peevishness, who loses all these pleasures and chooses to sit down on his little handful of thorns. Looking out upon the beauties of nature, recognizing the necessities of life that were supplied him, the love of wife and friends, the privilege of discourse, he was happy in the thought that his merry countenance could not be taken away, for without were still so many pleasantries and within a cheerful spirit and a good conscience. He found the secret of happiness in the peculiar sense of victory over the untoward conditions of life. To how many has this thought given courage and renewed length of happy days!1 [Note: C. F. Ireland.]
Joy is a most contagious, catching thing. But of all joys, joy in the midst of trouble. Nothing more wins men to the Gospel of Christ than the witness of a bright life; and that witness we have all of us within our power to bear. Nothing persuades the world of the reality of religion more than the deep rest it brings to the believing heart. A mind at perfect peacethat is the mystery of Christian living, that is the secret of communion with God. But this strange, inward power is most clearly perceived in the midst of distress. Men cannot fathom it; human nature cannot furnish it. It is no worldly stoicism crushing down the natural impulses of the heart. It is a Divine thing to glory in tribulations; to feel the power of Christ resting upon you, raising you above yourself, turning your very weakness to strength.2 [Note: R. W. Barbour, Thoughts, 49.]
2. This joy is fed by belief in the steadfast love of Christ.Mans soul is not only discordant but vacant. It cries out for emotion. The fulness of emotion is its life. Now that vacancy is the death of joy, and it sends men on that perpetual chase after happiness, which we see so much of in the world. Hence the life-cry of most men is, Give, give; for the human soul, unsatisfied with the world, unsatisfied had it possession of the starry universe, yearns for that fulness of emotion which is given only by the love of God. Hence it is that you so often find the young heart, while yet undegraded in its first fresh feelings, willing and even wishing to die in its youth. For what means that sentimentalism which so many young souls feelviz., that to die young is youths divinest giftbut this, that they are becoming conscious of that hollowness and vacancy in the heart which no mere human emotion can fill? Or to see this in its crisis, look at the unbeliever. The man who has lost his early faith in Christianity will often tell you in unutterable sadness, I have looked upwards, and backwards, and beyond, and I find nothing in life but the shadow of that vanity and vexation which fill my own soul. For there is no sorrow so intense as that which enters a man when he is tempted to believe that there is no Christ. The hollowness of the heart is awfully realized then. But belief in the love of Christ gives this fulness of emotion. It is the perception of that love in all its grandeur, caring for us in every personal sorrow, sympathizing with us in every individual experience, that fills the hearts vacancy, and at once creates joy.
There is one thing which Christs followers can do, and that is to keep themselves in the delightful atmosphere of His love. It is our fault and our shame if we spend so many days in the chilling fogs or under the heavy clouds of unbelief, or in the contaminating atmosphere of conformity to the world. Is it always foggy here on the banks of Newfoundland? inquired a passenger of an old Cunard captain. How should I know, madam? I dont live here.1 [Note: T. L. Cuyler.]
Joy. What is joy? Love awake and alive, fully conscious of herself. If love be the hearts first beat, joy is its counter beat. If love be the outflow of the heart, joy is the inflow, the flowing back of the loving heart. The rise of temperature which love brings, the heightened being, the effervescencethat is joy.2 [Note: R. W. Barbour, Thoughts, 2.]
Twixt gleams of joy and clouds of doubt
Our feelings come and go;
Our best estate is tossed about
In ceaseless ebb and flow.
No mood of feeling, form of thought,
Is constant for a day;
But Thou, O Lord, Thou changest not:
The same Thou art alway.
I grasp Thy strength, make it mine own,
My heart with peace is blest;
I lose my hold, and then come down
Darkness and cold unrest.
Let me no more my comfort draw
From my frail hold of Thee;
In this alone rejoice with awe,
Thy mighty grasp of me.
Out of that weak, unquiet drift
That comes but to depart,
To that pure Heaven my spirit lift
Where Thou unchanging art.
Lay hold of me with Thy strong grasp,
Let Thine Almighty arm
In its embrace my weakness clasp,
And I shall fear no harm.
The purpose of eternal good
Let me but surely know;
On this Ill lean, let changing mood
And feeling come or go;
Glad when Thy sunshine fills my soul;
Not lorn when clouds oercast;
Since Thou within the sure control
Of love dost hold me fast.1 [Note: J. C. Shairp.]
3. This joy is independent of circumstances.Real joy must be independent of outward changes. The longing to attain a state of life superior to the accidents of time and change shows this. The wisest men have spoken of following the right in the face of all consequences as the source of the highest and purest joy of man. The fellowship of Christs joy gives this. It is a joy undisturbed by sorrow; it may seem to be weakened, but it is in reality strengthened, by suffering. So those men found it to whom Christ said that their joy should be full. They never fully understood what He meant until they suffered. Peter came to feel it, not when looking into the silent depths of the Sea of Galilee in the calm evening, and remembering Him who once walked there, but when made a partaker of the sufferings of Christ. It was not when rising to some lofty region of thought, wherein his fiery pulse beat fast with the contemplation of the Everlasting, that Paul felt this deep blessedness, but when cast down, forsaken, always bearing about in his body the sufferings of Christ, and while glorying in infirmity, that he knew the peace which passeth understanding. So with the followers of the Saviour now. Changes, disappointments, battles, sufferings, only deepen the joy which springs from the utter surrender of self, and which finds its expression in the cry, Thy will, O Father, be done. And even death itself, which damps out the joy of all other men, consummates the blessedness of those who, through fellowship of life, are partakers of the joy of Christ.
Stevenson prescribed cheerfulness for books as well as for people: As I live I feel more and more that literature should be cheerful and brave-spirited, even if it cannot be made beautiful and pious and heroic. The Bible, in most parts, is a cheerful book; it is our little piping theologies, tracts, and sermons that are dull and dowie. And all this was not the easy outflow of health and animal spirits, bidding other people be gay because the mantle of gaiety clung without effort to his own shoulders. It was the sturdy creed of a harassed, suffering invalid, with death constantly at his elbow; a body hampered and restricted, denied what it most coveted, kept in a subjection that at moments bent the spirit but never broke it. No one ever had more obstacles between him and his ideal, or brought a more unfaltering courage to surmount them, or could say with a greater sincerity, sick or well, I have had a splendid life of it, grudge nothing, regret very little.1 [Note: J. A. Hammerton, Stevensoniana, 223.]
Paul rejoiced in his bonds in Christ Jesus, because, being chained to a soldier, he was enabled to speak the gospel message to that soldier; and, having a new guard chained to him every day, he was enabled in the course of due time to speak in turn to the whole of the Praetorian Guard. What a blessed triumph it is, when a man rejoices in fetters, thanks God for his bonds! The very clanking of the chains of the Apostle Paul had a voice for his Master! When Dober, the Moravian missionary, first went down to St. Thomas to labour for the blacks, and was told that he could never get a chance to reach and teach the slaves there because he was not a slave himself, he said, We will sell ourselves into slavery and work by their side. Dober rejoiced in bonds for Christ Jesus if those fetters could be the means of telling the gospel story. Paul and Silas rejoiced in the stocks if the stocks could be the means of a wider preaching of the gospel; and Paul writes that his own imprisonment, and his own boldness in preaching Christ notwithstanding his imprisonment, became the means of inspiring courage and confidence in more timid souls, so that many other brethren were waxing bold and confident to speak the Word of God in the face of opposition.1 [Note: A. T. Pierson, The Heights of the Gospel, 204.]
I do not believe there lives on Gods earth a man who has lived through more sorrow, shame, toil, danger, drags and insult than I have. This I know, whatever tries other men, everything that had deadly power to try me came. For fifteen years, from thirty-three to forty-eight or fifty, I never knew real health, and had to work on in pain and weakness day by day. For thirty years the only thing I ever really longed for was bed. It sounds mean, I dare say it is mean, but it is true, and I wish to tell you the truth; whatever joy or sorrow came, the overwhelming sense of weariness and endless pain made bed, forgetfulness, the only human solace that satisfied. It is only in the last three years that I have begun to joy again in my waking life. Yet, strange contradiction to all this, I count myself blessed to have been allowed to live such a life. I felt the warrior joy of life and the conquerors joy of getting the mastery. In my worst agony I could not pray to have it taken away, so utterly, by degrees, did I feel the power and light that came. And now all creation has opened out to me by living, and everything that I count happy I know to have come out of the self-mastery and training and truth which those years of anguish brought. My positive creed is an absolute unfaltering certainty of life triumphant.2 [Note: Edward Thring, Head Master of Uppingham.]
Joy and blithe serenity which received death with no alarm or self-abasement were the marked characteristics of the early Christians. St. Luke throws a flood of light on the tone of their societydrunken, but not with wine; intoxicated, so to speak, with the rushing influences of Pentecostwhen he says that they did take their food with exultation and singleness of heart. The words indicate their bounding gladness, their simplicity and smoothness of feeling, as of a plain without stones, or a field without furrows.1 [Note: Dean Farrar.]
Speak to me, heart of mine, old and weary of years,
Labour and loss have been thine, pains and terrors and tears;
Why art thou now so light, making my tired feet
Forget the steps of their pilgrimage and spring as if life were sweet?
Why? Because life is sweet. Thy secret I know, I know,
By the stream in the beautiful street the trees of gladness grow,
And under their fruitful boughs I see one Angel stand,
So close, so close, that I sometimes think he lays a hand in my hand.
Red Love still rules the day, white Faith enfolds the night,
And Hope, green-mantled, leads the way by the walls of the City of Light.
Therefore I walk as one who sees the joy shine through
Of the Other Life behind our life, like the stars behind the blue.
II
The Continuity of Christian Joy
It is one of the most important features in Christian joy, that it is not of man, and that it cannot be undone. Sometimes it may be brighter and more glowing than at other times, and by contrast we will occasionally feel that there is very little of it stirring our hearts and beautifying our lives; yet we are distinctly taught that, however faint and weak the gift that is in us may appear, if we only stir it up, as the Apostle directs, we shall again go on our way rejoicing. Let us remember, then, that this spiritual joy continues for ever in the heart of him who has given himself to God, as it is Gods gift and in its nature eternal. If it be ours, no one can deprive us of it, for He has attached His promise to itYour joy no man taketh from you.
We sometimes speak as if the joy peculiar to childhood were but a dream, as though the best thing a man can do is to associate with children in order to catch by reflection a fleeting ray of the sunshine which once rested on his own childhood. We sometimes speak as if the young mans joy, the sense of life, of boundless hope, of a widening horizon, must die out of heart and soul as a mere illusion. We speak as if the mature mans joy, the relish for work, the rejoicing activity can last only a certain time, that the joy of our work must cease with the newness of it. But do you not know that it is Christs function to keep open the springs of life within us with the special joys which belong to each period of it? To be children always with the hearts of children, that is the privilege He bestows on those to whom He gives a place in the household of God. We cannot be children when we pass from the care and home of our earthly father. But we never pass from the care and home of our Heavenly Father. We need not cease to be gay, to be free from care. Nay, we should not cease to be so. To look hopefully forward, to lean trustfully back, that is the attitude of children. Children do not question. No, I am wrong; they do question, but it is things they question. They never question love. They never question the power and wisdom of a parent. Their gladsomeness would go at once, the sunshine of their life would pass into shadow at once if they did. If we could renew our childhood we should be glad, and the command to rejoice always is simply a command to renew our childhood. God wants us to remove the stones and earth from this clearest, brightest spring of water, that it may bubble up afresh. To receive the Kingdom of Heaven as little children; to walk and live in the Kingdom of Heaven as little children; that is the secret of perpetual joy.1 [Note: J. F. Ewing, Unsearchable Riches of Christ, 120.]
Napoleon, when sent to Elba, adopted, in proud defiance of his fate, the motto, Ubicunque felix. It was not true in his case; but the Christian may be truly happy everywhere and always.2 [Note: C. H. Spurgeon.]
III
The Duty of Rejoicing
The joy of the Lord is a duty. It is so because it is the natural effect of faith, because we can do much to regulate our emotions directly, and much more to determine them by determining what set of thoughts shall engage us. A wise and strong faith is our duty. To keep our emotional nature well under control of reason and will is our duty. To lose thoughts of ourselves in Gods truth about Himself is our duty. If we do these things, we cannot fail to have Christs joy remaining in us, and making ours full. This is a truth which we have great need to lay to heart. It is of no great consequence that we should practically confute the impotent old sneer about religion as being a gloomy thing. One does not need to mind much what some people say on that matter. The world would call the joy of the Lord gloom, just as much as it calls godly sorrow gloom. But we are losing for ourselves a power and an energy of which we have no conception, unless we feel that joy is a duty, and that not to be joyful is more than a misfortune, it is a fault.
There is always a sunny side to the house of our lifea chamber where brightness is, and the door of this chamber is never locked against us, though it sometimes requires some art and patience to open the door. And it is because joy is a possibility that it becomes more than a possibility, viz., a duty. We do our best work when we are joyous; we ought to be joyous that we may do our best work. And when we are inclined on our own account to be grave and gloomy, let us strive to be joyous on Christs account, and on account of others. We cannot dispel the worlds shadows unless there is some sunshine in our own hearts. We cannot heal and cheer and strengthen the men and women around us unless there is some joy in our face and soul.
It had been well for Ruskins health if he could have husbanded all his gradually recovered strength for the studies which brought him peace of mind. His friends, as he says in Fors, often counselled him to avoid controversial and painful subjects. Cardinal Manning, for one, had written to him: Joy is one of the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost. There is before you and about you a world of beauty, sweetness, stillness, peace, and light. You have only to open your whole soul to it. But his eager spirit made such peaceful preoccupation and such economy of power impossible to him.1 [Note: E. T. Cook, The Life of Ruskin, ii. 435.]
Joy is a dutyso with golden lore
The Hebrew Rabbis taught in days of yore.
And happy human hearts heard in their speech
Almost the highest wisdom man can reach.
But one bright peak still rises far above,
And there the Master stands whose name is Love,
Saying to those whom heavy tasks employ,
Life is divine when duty is a joy.1 [Note: H. van Dyke.]
1. Joy is strength.All gladness has something to do with efficiency; for it is the prerogative of man that his force comes from his mind, and not from his body. The old song about a sad heart tiring in a mile is as true in regard to the gospel, and the works of Christian people, as in any other case. If we have hearts full of light, and souls at rest in Christ, and the rest and blessedness of a tranquil gladness lying there and filling our being, work will be easy, endurance will be easy, sorrow will be bearable, and trials will not be so very hard.
Just as joy in ourselves for the time being softens, elevates and purifies, so the influence we exercise on others while we are joyous is more or less strong in helping them to be good instead of evil, soft and kind instead of harsh and cruel. The cheerful master makes gentle, willing and happy servants. The cheerful mate makes work pleasant and keeps off strife. The cheerful husband lightens the burdens of his wifes cares, and thus soothes her temper. The cheerful father makes it easier for his children to obey him, helps them over their moments of ill-temper and discontent, and by joy alone dispels many a gathering storm of anger and strife. The cheerful teacher keeps better order in his class than a surly one, and the cheerful boy is ever so much more teachable and tractable than a sulky one. A morbid, melancholy and discontented person makes it tenfold more difficult to discharge our duties towards him. To say nothing of the elements of domestic discord which are involved in depression of spirits, it leads imperceptibly to estrangement and consequent neglect.
Anyone can rejoice when theres nothing whatever to grumble atthough some people often fail to do so, even thenbut, as Mark Tapley would say, theres some credit in being jolly when everything goes wrong. What a pleasure it is to see anyone with a beaming smile, even though we know that the face wearing it often looks gloomy or cross! But, when the joyous look may be depended on, the effect is magical. Happy people are like sunshine, cheering up everybody around them. When we meet one of these glad souls, we find our smiles rising to match theirs, and we go on our way feeling cheered and helped. We have no right to add to the sorrows of the world by being gloomy or discontented. We all create a certain soul-atmosphere. Let us see to it that the atmosphere we are creating every day may help others to thank God and take courage. We can all walk in the glad consciousness of sins forgiven and in the radiance of Gods wonderful Love. Though it is true enough that anyone may, by determined effort, acquire the valuable habit of cheerfulness, I think those who are glad at heartlike a merry childwithout special effort, help and cheer their comrades far more. Happiness is very infectious. I used to keep a photograph of a laughing baby on the mantelpiece, because I could not help smiling when I looked at itand it is impossible to smile, all to ones self, and cherish melancholy thoughts at the same time. Light must always banish darkness when they are brought together.1 [Note: Dora Farncomb, The Vision of His Face, 156.]
During the South African war, we were told of the scion of a noble house, who had escaped from captivity at Pretoria, being able to live for four days on some sticks of chocolate, because he had begun to taste the inexpressible joy of liberty. What cannot men do when their hearts are glad and free? Joy gives wings to the feet, sinews to the legs, muscles to the arms, elasticity to every motion.2 [Note: F. B. Meyer, The Souls Pure Intention, 83.]
2. Joy garrisons the soul against temptations.The evil one is foiled by song as much as by prayer, and perhaps more. As the microbes of disease cannot exist in the sunlight, neither can temptation succeed against a joyous, singing heart. Song is an antiseptic environmenta bank of sunbeamswhich is utterly impregnable to all the assaults of the adversary.
The first thing that led me to seek the secret of God was the exuberant joy which I discerned beaming forth from the noble nature of a young man who had recently yielded himself entirely to God. What he said was probably not remarkable. At least, it has long ago faded from my mind. But I said to myself, Here is one who is happy in his religious lifenot condemned for the past, not conscious of a cloud between himself and God, not dreading the future. His religion is a light on his inner heart, and the glow of it is on his face. To see it was to hunger for it, and to desire it was to obtain. Yes, there is a spring that rises in the soul, and flows over in musical ripples on the face and in the speech, which is infinitely attractive to those who have just religion enough to make them miserable. If only we were happy in our religious life, with the sparkle, the light, the song that Christ gives, many would come around to ask for our secret, whose joy has been like the brief crackling of thorns under a pot.1 [Note: F. B. Meyer, The Souls Pure Intention, 84.]
We should be as happy as possible, and our happiness should last as long as possible; for those who can finally issue from self by the portal of happiness know infinitely wider freedom than those who pass through the gate of sadness. The joy of the Lord, the joy that is strength, the joy that no man taketh from us, the joy wherewith we joy before God, the abundant joy of faith and hope, and love and praise, this it is that gathers like a radiant, fostering, cheering air around the soul that yields itself to the grace of God, to do His holy, loving will.2 [Note: Bishop Francis Paget.]
Am I wrong to be always so happy? This world is full of grief;
Yet there is laughter of sunshine, to see the crisp green on the leaf,
Daylight is ringing with song-birds, and brooklets are crooning by night;
And why should I make a shadow where God makes all so bright?
Earth may be wicked and weary, yet cannot I help being glad!
There is sunshine without and within me, and how should I mope or be sad?
God would not flood me with blessings, meaning me only to pine
Amid all the bounties and beauties He pours upon me and mine;
Therefore will I be grateful, and therefore will I rejoice;
My heart is singing within me; sing on, O heart and voice.3 [Note: Walter C. Smith, Hilda Among the Broken Gods.]
Christian Joy
Literature
Armitage (W. J.), The Fruit of the Spirit, 21.
Barry (A.), Sermons Preached at Westminster Abbey, 313.
Bright (W.), Morality and Doctrine, 179.
Brooke (S. A.), The Kingship of Love, 114.
Burrell (D. J.), The Gospel of Gladness, 5.
Ewing (J. F.), The Unsearchable Riches of Christ, 113.
Goodman (H. H.), The Lordship of Christ, 73.
Hunt (A. N.), Sermons for the Christian Year, i. 24.
Jowett (J. H.), The High Calling, 169.
Krause (W. H.), Sermons, iii. 13.
Kuegele (F.), Country Sermons, ii. 29.
Liddon (H. P.), Advent in St. Pauls, 207.
Lightfoot (J. B.), Ordination Addresses, 309.
Maclaren (A.), Creed and Conduct, 83.
Manning (H. E.), Sermons, iii. 240.
Martin (S.), Fifty Sermons, No. 10.
Meyer (F. B.), The Souls Pure Intention, 77.
Murphy (J. B. C), The Journey of the Soul, 21.
Noble (F. A.), Discourses on Philippians, 277.
Pierson (A. T.), The Heights of the Gospel, 199.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons, ii. 37.
Watkinson (W. L.), The Education of the Heart, 80.
Wilmot-Buxton (H. J.), The Life of Duty, i. 24.
Christian Age, liii. 18 (Cuyler).
Church of England Pulpit, xxxvi. 145 (Ganby); xlix. 7 (Jones).
Churchmans Pulpit: Fourth Sunday in Advent, ii. 38 (Cotton); The Old and New Year, ii. 490.
Contemporary Pulpit, 2nd Ser., iii. 231 (Wickham).
Literary Churchman, xxi. (1875) 515.
Preachers Magazine, ii. (1891) 31 (Harper).
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
Rejoice: Phi 3:1, Rom 12:12
alway: Psa 34:1, Psa 34:2, Psa 145:1, Psa 145:2, Psa 146:2, Mat 5:12, Act 5:41, Act 16:25, Rom 5:2, Rom 5:3, 1Th 5:16-18, Jam 1:2-4, 1Pe 4:13
again: Phi 3:1, 2Co 13:1, 2Co 13:2, Gal 1:8
Reciprocal: Lev 10:19 – should Lev 23:40 – rejoice Deu 12:7 – ye shall Deu 16:11 – General Deu 26:11 – rejoice Deu 27:7 – rejoice 1Sa 2:1 – My heart 1Ki 8:66 – joyful 1Ch 15:25 – with joy 2Ch 6:41 – thy saints 2Ch 7:10 – glad 2Ch 29:30 – they sang 2Ch 30:21 – great gladness Ezr 6:16 – with joy Neh 12:27 – gladness Psa 9:2 – I will be Psa 32:11 – Be glad Psa 33:1 – Rejoice Psa 64:10 – righteous Psa 89:16 – name Psa 90:14 – that we Psa 97:12 – Rejoice Psa 100:2 – Serve Psa 104:34 – I will be Ecc 3:12 – but Ecc 3:22 – nothing Son 1:4 – we will be Isa 9:3 – they joy Isa 29:19 – rejoice Isa 58:14 – delight Isa 61:10 – will greatly Joe 2:23 – rejoice Hab 3:18 – I will rejoice Zec 2:10 – and rejoice Zec 10:7 – their heart Luk 1:46 – General Act 8:39 – and he Act 16:34 – and rejoiced Rom 5:11 – but we Rom 14:17 – peace 2Co 6:10 – sorrowful 2Co 13:11 – farewell Gal 1:9 – so Gal 5:22 – love Phi 1:26 – General Phi 2:18 – do 1Pe 1:6 – ye greatly 1Pe 1:8 – believing
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
TRUE JOY
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Php 4:4
The bright and joyous tone of this Epistle is well expressed by the frequent repetition of the word rejoice. It is the key-note, all its exhortations conclude with this one expression; but here especially the Apostle is very earnest. He is not satisfied with saying, Rejoice in the Lord alway, but adds, again I say, Rejoice. And observe the subject of this rejoicing is said to be the Lord, our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I. It is then in a constant spirit of thankfulness that the Christian is to live.His whole soul ought to be penetrated with a deep sense of what God is doing, what He has done for man, and especially of the supreme effort wherein He commended His love towards us. But it may be questioned, is not St. Paul insisting too strongly upon thankfulness when he commands every one to exercise this feeling? Are not some dispositions naturally despondent; are not lives so crushed with penury, want, and pain, that they are divorced from joy, and never hope to be reunited? Do we not daily see great sufferers, to whom it seems a mockery to say, Rejoice? It might be so if happiness or sorrow were dependent on external circumstances. True, they exercise a certain influence, but it is possible to be independent of them.
II. The peace which passes understanding is not born of wealth, or prosperity, or honour, or any of those thousand advantages for which men toil and clamour. It is buried in the unseen life; it is in the heart. So long as there is constant intercourse with God, it matters not what happens, joy is in the Lord; it rests upon a firm, immovable rock against which the waves of adversity may dash themselves in vain.
III. If, however, the spirit of true thankfulness is greatly independent of circumstances, it needs encouragement; it will not expand and grow without care.All affections require to be trained. As with the body, so with the soil; the limb which is continually exercised acquires increased strength; faculties are sharpened by use; the arm becomes stronger, the eye more keen, the ear more acute, as demands are made upon their powers. So with the feelings and affections, if they be turned to self and ones own peculiar interests, they will develop selfishness. If God, on the other hand, is in all the thoughts; if we go apart and think of what He has done for us, of the mercies He has showered upon the world, there will grow up an abiding sense of His goodness; we shall find our affections reaching out towards Him, and silently but forcibly influencing our whole being. To this point every faithful Christian must turn; we must encourage a thankful spirit, that it may burn within our hearts continually; and here it is that outward circumstances lend a certain legitimate aid. They are not the sources of happiness, but they are helpful; they may not be despised.
Rev. Prebendary Richards.
Illustration
Some time ago I read a description of a French picture called The Evening of Life. There is a boat on a river, and a company dancing some way off. Others are gathering flowers, or splashing their hot hands in the water. But on the far bank there is an old man sadly surveying the pleasures of the young. He is near a withered tree. A lyre with slack strings is thrown down. The shadows are falling; the moon rises, and the swallows are just flitting across the evening sky. Not so, indeed, must we paint the evening of a Christians life. When the setting sun comes full on his face, and the evening bell calls him home, great peace has he who loves Gods law, like the stillness of an autumn day when the harvest is gathered. At evening time it shall be light. For to the believer in Christ the best joys come last.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
JOY IN THE LORD
St. Paul does not bid us rejoice in: (1) our wealth; (2) our strength; or (3) our pleasures. But in the Lord as
I. A real Brother.All my temptations, my trials, my spiritual conflicts have been undergone by my Lord, and therefore I can cast myself upon His considerate love and compassion, for He knows exactly what I have to go through.
II. A Saviour.What I believe God likes to see in us who believe in the full redemption wrought out for us on the Cross, is brightness, cheeriness, gladness, and joy. If I really believe that my sins are forgiven, if I am conscious of the witness of the Spirit bearing testimony within me that I am a child of God, if I can find in Christ all that I now needpardon, comfort, peace, joy, guidance for my daily life; if, moreover, I can look forward into the future, and can believe that He Who has begun the good work in my soul will carry it on to a triumphant end, why should I give way to sadness? I ought to be as happy as the day is long.
III. The Giver of our future happiness.Our faith in Christ brings us within sight of the shores of our dear fatherlandheaven. We are nearing it, God be thanked, day by day. Who is it that gives us such a happy ending to our perilous voyage? Who is it that will be the first to welcome us to shore? Who is it that has prepared such unspeakable joys for those that love Himbut Jesus?
At all times and in all places, under whatsoever circumstances you may be placed, you are to rejoice. It is easy enough to rejoice when the heart is light and the way pleasant, when all goes well with us; but when troubles, trials, and afflictions overtake us, then is the true testing-time of our faith. And yet, as you have seen the dark background of a picture throws out into bold relief those portions that were painted in lighter colours, so the dark, sombre background of human suffering and sorrow throws out into prominence the love and kindness of Jesus.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
(Php 4:4.) , – Rejoice in the Lord always; again will I say, rejoice. The apostle reverts to what he had started with in the 1st verse of the third chapter. There is no need to suppose any connection between this and the preceding verse. The adverb , which refers to time and not to place, belongs to the first clause. , as usual, designates Christ, while points to Him as the element or sphere of this joy. The joy was to be continual-not a fitful rapture, but a uniform emotion. And the apostle repeats the injunction, which is very different in meaning from the Latin valete, and Cicero’s formula-vale, vale et salve.The apostle wished them to come to a full appreciation of their position and their connection with Christ. Could they but judge truly their condition and prospects, and contrast them with their past state of gloom and unhappiness-could they but realize the nobleness and power of the truth they had embraced, and the riches and certainty of the hopes they were cherishing-could they estimate the saving change effected in their souls, and picture too that glorification which was to pass over their bodies- then, as they traced all blessing to Christ and to union with Him, they would rejoice in the Lord, not in themselves as recipients, but in Him as Source, not only in the gifts conferred, but in Him especially as the gracious benefactor. To rejoice in Him is to exult in Him, not as a dim abstraction, but as a living person-so near and so loving, so generous and so powerful, that the spirit ever turns to him in admiring grateful homage, covets His presence as its sunshine, and revels in fellowship with Him. Despondency is weakness, but joy is strength. Is it rash to say, in fine, that the churches of Christ are strangers by far too much to this repeated charge of the apostle-that the current ideas of Christ are too historic in their character, and want the freshness of a personal reality-that He is thought of more as a Being in remoteness and glory, far above and beyond the stars, than as a personal and sympathizing Saviour-that salvation is regarded more as a process a man thankfully submits to, than a continuous and happy union with Jesus- and that therefore, though Christians may run and are not weary, and may walk and are not faint, they seldom mount up with wings as eagles, and then, if they do, is not their flight brief and exhaustive? On the reduplication of the precept, Chrysostom briefly says- . The earnest English expositor of this epistle thus writes- Now see how it pleaseth the Lord, that as the Apostle comes againe and againe unto this holy exhortation, and leaves it not with once or twice, but even the third time also exhorteth them to rejoyce in the Lord; so I should come unto you againe and againe, even three severall times with the same exhortation to rejoyce in the Lord. Againe, saith the Apostle, I say rejoyce, even in the Lord alwayes, for that is to be added, and resumed to the former place. From which doubling and redoubling of this exhortation, I observe both how needful and withall how hard a matter it is to perswade this constant rejoycing in the Lord, to rejoyce in the Lord alwayes. For to this end doth the Holy Ghost often in the Scriptures use to double and redouble His speech even to shew both the needfulness of His speech, and the difficultie in respect of man of enforcing His speech. In the Psalme, how often doth the Prophet exhort the faithful unto the praises of the Lord, even before all the people, that they and their posteritie might know them, saying, O that men would therefore praise the Lord for His goodnesse, and declare the wonders that He doth for the children of men! Even foure several times in that one Psalme. And wherefore? but to shew how needfull it was they should do so, and how hardly men are drawne to do so. How often likewise doth our Saviour exhort His disciples unto humilitie and meekness? sometimes saying unto them, Learne of Me that I am meeke and lowly in heart; sometimes telling them, that whosoever among them would be great, should be servant unto the rest; sometimes washing their feete, etc., thereby to teach them humilitie. And wherefore doth He so often beate upon it, but to shew how needfull it was they should be humble and meeke, and likewise how hard a thing it is to draw men unto humilitie and meeknesse? How often likewise doth the Holy Ghost exhort to the putting off of the old man, and the putting on of the new man! No part of Scripture throughout the whole Bible, wherein the Holy Ghost doth not speake much, though not haply in these words, yet to this purpose. And wherefore else is it, but to imply both how needfull a matter it is to be perswaded, and how hard a matter it is to perswade the mortification of the old man, and the quickening of the new man? And to let other instances passe, in the point whereof we now speake, how oft doth our Saviour exhort to rejoyce and be glad in persecution, because of the reward laid up for us by God in heaven; to rejoyce because our names are written in heaven by the finger of God’s own hand; to be of good comfort, because He hath overcome the world, that is, to rejoyce in the Lord! And wherefore, but to show how needfull it is to rejoyce in the Lord, and how hard it is to perswade this rejoicing? So that by the usuall course of the Scripture it appeareth, that our Apostle doubling and redoubling this his exhortation, thereby sheweth both how needfull, and withall how hard a matter it is to perswade this constant rejoycing in the Lord, to rejoyce in the Lord alwayes: so needfull, that it must be perswaded again and again, and withall so hard to be perswaded, that it cannot be too much urged and beaten upon.
But it will not be amisse yet a little more particularly to looke into the reasons why it is so needfull to rejoyce in the Lord alwayes, and why we are so hardly perswaded to rejoyce in the Lord alwayes. Who seeth not, that considereth anything, what mightie enemies we have alwayes to fight withall, the flesh within us to snare and deceive us, the world without us to fight and wage warre against us, and the devil ever seeking like a roaring lion whom he may devour? Who seeth not, what fightings without, what terrors within, what anguishes in the soul, what griefes in the bodie, what perils abroade, what practices at home, what troubles we have on every side? When then Satan that old dragon casts out many flouds or persecutions against us; when wicked men cruelly, disdainfully, and despitefully speake against us; when lying, slandering, and deceitful mouthes are opened upon us; when we are mocked and jested at, and had in derision of all them that are about us; when we are afflicted, tormented, and made the world’s wonder; when the sorrowes of death compasse us, and the flouds of wickednesse make us afraid, and the paines of hell come even unto our soule: what is it that holds up our heads that we sinke not? how is it that we stand either not shaken, or if shaken, yet not cast downe? Is it not by our rejoycing which we have in Christ Jesus? The next injunction is-
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians
Php 4:4. See the comments at chapter 3:1 for the explanation of this verse.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Php 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord alway. The apostle now takes up the thread of his thoughts from chap. Php 3:1. Two digressions on Judaizers and on those who mind earthly things have intervened, but he now turns back to his chief theme of joy in the Lord.
again I will say, Rejoice. When we reflect that the Epistle was written from his prison, we may judge of the comfort which the apostle found in Christ, and may see why he is ready to count all things loss for Him who fills his heart with such unspeakable rejoicing.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. The duty exhorted to: Christian cheerfulness and joy; a duty which glorifies God, adorns religion, is beneficial to ourselves, by enabling us to bear afflictions, to glory in them, and to triumph over them.
Observe, 2. The object of this duty, a glorious and replenishing object; Christ the Lord: Rejoice in the Lord.
3. The perpetuity and constancy of the duty: Rejoice alway; that is, at all times, and in all conditions.
4. The difficulty of the duty, implied in the repetition of the command: Again, I say, Rejoice.
From the whole note, 1. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the great, sure, and perpetual joy of his children and people.
2. That it is their duty to be joying in him always, and always rejoicing for him, and to rejoice in their knowledge fo him, in his undertaking for them, in their interest in him, in their influences of grace and comfort derived from him, in their hopes fo glory to be eternally enjoyed with him.
3. That to get the heart up to this duty, at all times, and in all conditions, is no easy work: therefore the exhortation is doubled: Rejoice alway; and again I say, Rejoice; pointing out how averse we are to this spiritual and very beneficial duty.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Maintaining The Right Frame of Mind
Along with rejoicing, Paul taught them to have a gentle demeanor which does not insist on its own rights. Hughes suggests the father in the story of the prodigal son as a good example of this ( Luk 15:11-32 ). This should especially be done since, “The Lord is at hand”. The Christian has strength to forbear because the Lord is always close to help us ( Mat 28:20 ; Psa 145:18-19 .) It might also be said that the Lord’s return should always be counted as near, since we do not know when he will come and must be prepared ( Php 4:5 ; Mat 25:1-13 ).
In using the word “anxious,” which Wiersbe says literally means “to be pulled in different directions,” Paul is saying the Christian should not let even one thing cause him to fear so as to be pulled away from his hope ( Heb 2:1 ; Heb 3:12-13 ; Mat 6:25-34 ). It is alright to take care of the physical ( 1Ti 5:8 ; 2Th 3:6-15 ), but not to the point of neglecting the spiritual. Instead, Christians should approach God and ask his help in times of need. Of course, those who remember to tell him their needs should be sure to remember to thank him ( Eph 5:20 ; Luk 17:11-19 ). If Christ’s followers would take “everything” to God in prayer, including the little things, they might not have so many big things to take to him ( Php 4:6 ).
The result of taking all to God in prayer will be an inner tranquility given by God to the believer ( Joh 14:27 ). This peace will stand like a military guard over the minds of those in Christ Jesus. No one looking at this peace from a human standpoint can understand it. Neither can the one who possesses such peace fully understand or explain it, but they would not give it up ( Php 4:7 ; Isa 26:3 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Php 4:4-7. Rejoice in the Lord alway For, as believers in Christ, as children and heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ of the heavenly, incorruptible inheritance, and as persons assured that all things, even those that are the most distressing in appearance, shall work together for your good, you have sufficient reason for rejoicing always. And again I say, Rejoice The apostle repeats the exhortation, because the honour of Christ, and the comfort of his followers, greatly depend on its being taken. Let your moderation Both in the pursuit of the various enjoyments of life, and in the sense you have of the injuries and indignities you may meet with: or your gentleness and sweetness of temper, as may here be rendered, the result of your joy in the Lord. Moderation, says Macknight, means meekness under provocation, readiness to forgive injuries, equity in the management of business, candour in judging of the character and actions of others, sweetness of disposition, and the entire government of the passions, Tit 3:2; Jas 3:17. Be known unto all men Good and bad, gentle and froward; be made manifest in your whole behaviour. Those of the roughest tempers are good-natured to some, (from natural sympathy, and various motives,) a Christian to all. The Lord The Judge, the Rewarder, the Revenger; is at hand Standeth at the door, Jas 5:9 : he will quickly come to close the scene, and put an end to all your temporal enjoyments, and all that you can suffer from your enemies. Be careful for nothing With a distrusting, distracting care: if men are not gentle toward you, yet neither on this, nor on any other account, be anxiously careful, but apply to God in prayer, committing the matter, which might otherwise be the cause or subject of your anxiety, to his disposal. And in every thing Great and small; let your requests be made known unto God They who, by a preposterous shame, or distrustful modesty, cover, stifle, or keep in their desires, as if they were either too small or too great to be spread before God, must be racked with care, from which they are entirely delivered who pour them out with a free and filial confidence. By prayer and supplication Some by the former word, , understand petition for mercies, and by the latter, , deprecation of judgment; but it seems more probable that by the latter, properly enough rendered supplication, the apostle meant nothing more than enlarging upon and urging our petitions; with thanksgiving For blessings already received, and for the general or particular goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering of God toward us. For thanksgiving there is always room and always occasion, even in circumstances of the greatest affliction and distress, our chastisements being always less severe than we deserve, and being salutary in their nature and tendency, and in all our trials supporting grace being invariably given, and God being engaged by promise to make them all work for our good. The apostles exhortation doubtless implies, not only that the afflicted have many mercies for which they ought to give God thanks, but that they ought to be thankful for their very afflictions, because they are the means by which the Father of their spirits makes them partakers of his holiness, in order to fit them for living with himself in heaven for ever. Thanksgiving, joined with prayer, is a sure mark of a soul free from anxiety, and possessed of true resignation. And the peace of God Not only peace with God, and peace of conscience, arising from the remission of past sin, and a consciousness of present power over sin; but the peace of God, that calm, heavenly repose, that tranquillity of Spirit, which God only can give; which passeth all understanding Which none can properly comprehend or appreciate, but those that receive it; shall keep , shall guard, as in a citadel or place of defence; your hearts Your will and affections; and minds Your understandings, imaginations, intentions, determinations, and all the various workings of them in the knowledge and love of God; through Christ Jesus Through his truth and grace, through his merits and Spirit, through his dwelling in your hearts by faith.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Php 4:4-7. Joy and Peace.Once again Paul sounds his dominant note of joy. For the fifth and last time he refers to the return of Christ (cf. Php 1:6; Php 1:10, Php 2:16, Php 3:20). He deprecates anxiety and commends his readers to prayer, a consequence of which will be that a peace given by God will guard their hearts and thoughts in Christ, secure from the invasion of anxiety. [The peace passes all human contrivance or ingenuity, not all understanding.A. J. G.]
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
SECTION 11. SUNDRY EXHORTATIONS.
CH. 4:4-9.
Rejoice in the Lord always: again, I will say, rejoice. Let your equity be known to all men. The Lord is near. In nothing be anxious; but in everything, by prayer and by supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all thought, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus.
As to the rest, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things honourable, whatever things righteous, whatever things pure, whatever things lovely, whatever things of good report, if there be any excellence and if any praise, take account of these things; what things also ye have learnt and accepted, and heard and seen in me, these things do. And the God of peace will be with you.
A series of exhortations, without grammatical links: cp. Rom 12:9-18.
Php 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord: as in Php 3:1. It takes up, after the interposed matters of 8-10, the thread then suddenly dropped.
Always: the new feature in this verse. Constancy is a distinguishing mark, and a measure, of Christian joy. To rejoice in the Lord always, is to rejoice when all earthly joy is withdrawn; and when the light of earth shines most brightly, even then to find our highest joy in the Masters smile. A noble example in Hab 3:17-18. All other joy is subject to change. But they whose joy is an outflow of union with a Master in heaven walk in the light of a sun which never sets. And their joy is a safeguard against the perils both of earthly joy and earthly sorrow.
Again I will say: emphatic repetition, revealing the importance, in Pauls view, of Christian joy. Of such joy, he is himself, as every page of this Epistle testifies, an illustrious example.
Php 4:5. Equity: a disposition which does not press to the full the claims of absolute justice; but, tempering these claims by a generous reasonableness, is satisfied sometimes with less than is due. It is discussed at length in bk. v. 10 of the Nic. Ethics of Aristotle, who explains it as being akin to justice but better than justice. It is eminently a Christian virtue: and the disposition which presses our claims to the full extent allowed by justice is eminently non-Christian. Paul bids us so to act that all men may see and know our generous reasonableness. Therefore we must treat all men with equity.
The lord is near: at His second coming. For the Day of Christ was ever in Pauls thought: Php 1:6; Php 1:10; Php 2:16. And he has just referred to His expected return. Probably had Paul known that long ages would elapse before the return of Christ, he would not have used these words. But it is unsafe to infer from them that he confidently expected to survive His coming. The greatness and the certainty of that event, for which we to-day like Paul centuries ago wait eagerly as the consummation of all our hopes, occupied his entire field of view; and obscured completely the secondary question of time. If Christ be coming, to bring in by His presence the eternal day, then to our thought in all ages the Lord is near.
The nearness of the coming of Christ is a strong dissuasive from the grasping spirit which made needful the foregoing exhortation. They who look for His appearing will not demand, from dying men around them, the last farthing they owe. Cp. 1Co 7:29; Jas 5:7.
Php 4:6. Anxious: not the forethought which enables us to guard against coming troubles, but the useless and painful care which merely brings the sorrows of to-morrow to spoil the pleasures of to-day. See under Php 2:20.
In nothing: absolute prohibition of all anxiety of every kind. Same prohibition from the lips of Christ in Mat 6:25-34. See under 1Co 7:32. This anxiety arises from the common delusion that our happiness and well-being depend upon the possession of material good. It injures our body; and, by filling the mind with earthly care, blocks out the elevating influence of heavenly things; and exposes us to the terrible temptation of seeking in forbidden paths relief from present distress. This peremptory command, so difficult to obey, assures us that all anxiety is needless.
But in everything: exact positive counterpart of the foregoing negative exhortation. It is virtually Pauls remedy for anxiety.
Prayer and supplication: same words together in Eph 6:18; 1Ti 2:1; 1Ti 5:5; Psa 6:10; Dan 9:21; Dan 9:23. The word prayer is used only in reference to God, and denotes every kind of verbal approach to God.
Supplication, or petition: earnest request for some special good, whether from God or from man. See Php 1:4 Paul bids us go in every difficulty to God in prayer and beg from Him the help we need.
With thanksgiving: same connection in Col 4:2; 1Th 5:18; 1Ti 2:1. Thanks should be an element in our every approach to God, and be associated with every petition. Thus will memory of benefits and answers to prayer already received aid our prayers by stimulating a confident hope of good things to come.
Requests: things asked for. Same word, and the cognate verb twice, in 1Jn 5:15.
Made-known to God: i.e. we must put our wants into words, as though He needed to have them made known to Him. Thus God puts Himself by our side as our friend that we may have the relief of pouring into His ears our tale of sorrow. By so doing, we grasp the consolatory truth that God knows our need.
Notice Pauls remedy for anxiety. In every difficulty we must tell our case to God. We must put it in the form of request for help. This request must be mingled with thanks for the innumerable mercies already received. In the light of these mercies, of Gods promise to answer prayer, and of His loving sympathy, anxiety cannot live.
Php 4:7. And the peace of God will guard etc.: blessed result which will follow the use of this remedy. It is not a prayer but a prophecy.
Peace: inward rest arising from absence of disturbing causes within or around us, a happy consciousness of absolute safety. So Rom 1:7; where see note.
Peace of God: not with God as in Rom 5:1. Rather compare Joh 14:27, My peace I give to you. The words of God distinguish this peace from all other by pointing to its divine source and nature. Cp. righteousness of God in contrast to their own righteousness in Rom 10:3. It is the profound calm of omnipotence which fills the breast of God and which nothing can disturb, which He gives to, and by His presence and power works in, His servants. It shuts out all anxiety, which is always a result of felt helplessness. As the Giver of this peace, He is called in Php 4:9 the God of peace.
All thought: literally all mind: same word in Rom 1:28; Rom 7:23; Rom 7:25. It is the mental faculty which looks through outward appearances to the underlying realities. This peace, because divine, goes further than mans mind can follow or comprehend. It passes the thought not only of those around but of those to whom it is given, who wonder at their own peace in the midst of sorrow or peril and acknowledge it to be a gift and work of God. Same thought and a cognate word in Eph 3:20, beyond all things which we ask or think. It is true that whatever comes from God surpasses human thought. But the peace of God is here expressly said to do so because it is found, not only in heaven where we expect it, but amid the anxieties and unrest of earth. And the unexpected contrast between storms around and peace within evokes surprise.
Shall guard: shall keep with military power; either from injury, as here and 1Pe 1:5, or from escape as in Gal 3:23; 2Co 11:32. Since anxiety exposes us to spiritual peril, the peace of God, by excluding anxiety, guards from peril. Breathed into us by infinite power, it is itself almighty: and, filling our hearts, it will guard us on every side from all evil. Just so the Roman garrisons in frontier towns guarded them from attacks of enemies, and enabled the inhabitants to carry on in peace their daily work.
Our hearts: those inmost chambers whence come thoughts and actions. See under Rom 1:21.
Thoughts: the products of mental activity. Same word in 2Co 11:3, The peace of God will guard the hearts of His people so that sin shall not invade them, and their thoughts so that doubt and fear shall not trouble them.
In Christ Jesus: His divine personality being a bulwark sheltering them from evil. This implies that the peace of God is definitely a Christian grace.
Thus Paul guarantees the effect of the remedy he proposes. He bids us take to God in prayer, with gratitude for past mercies whatever now causes anxiety. And he assures us that if we do so we shall have, instead of anxiety, a peace which is Gods work and gift; and that this peace will be itself a protection guarding our hearts from the entrance of evil and guarding our thoughts from taking a wrong direction. This divine safety is ours in Christ Himself the home and refuge and bulwark of our spiritual life.
Php 4:8-9. Concluding exhortations to meditation in Php 4:8, to action in Php 4:9 a: followed in Php 4:9 b by a promise.
As to the rest: same words and sense in Php 3:1, introducing words which cover all that Paul has left unsaid.
So many things as; suggests number and variety in each of the following classes. Notice the stately six-fold repetition.
True: words, acts, and disposition corresponding with reality, especially with the eternal realities, with which our thought and conduct must ever be in harmony, as opposed both to falsehood and to error. It includes, but is much wider than, truthfulness. Cp. Eph 4:21; Eph 5:9; 1Jn 1:6.
Honourable: deserving and gaining respect. It suggests the dignity which pertains to conduct worthy of Christ. Only, in N.T., here and 1Ti 2:2; 1Ti 3:4; 1Ti 3:8; 1Ti 3:11; Tit 2:2; Tit 2:7.
Righteous: agreeing with the authoritative standard of human conduct; as in Php 1:7; Eph 6:1.
Pure: unstained by evil of any kind, as in 2Co 6:6; 2Co 7:11; 1Pe 3:2; 1Jn 3:3.
Lovely: only here in N.T. Sirach iv. 7; xx. 13. It denotes the attractive sweetness of Christian excellence.
Of-good-report: cognate word in 2Co 6:8 : whatever sounds well when spoken of.
If any etc.: an hypothesis which every one admits to be true, and which if true supports this exhortation. If there be such qualities, as undoubtedly there are, their existence makes them worthy of attention.
Excellence, or virtue: common in classic Greek for excellence of any kind, moral, mental, bodily, or merely material; this looked upon as giving worth to its subject. In N.T., only 1Pe 2:7; 2Pe 1:3; 2Pe 1:5. Possibly the reason of its rarity is that the N.T. writers look upon human excellence, not as inhering in man and giving him worth, but as wrought in him by the indwelling Spirit of God.
Praise: outward verbal recognition of excellence, which is inward and essential. It corresponds with of-good-report. Excellence covers the five preceding details. If there be any intrinsic human excellence, and if it have among men any recognition of its worth.
Take-account-of: reckon them up, so as to estimate and appreciate their worth: same favourite word in Php 3:13. Paul bids his readers calculate the worth of various kinds of moral excellence. And, feeling how many and various are its elements, he goes into detail and bids them contemplate actions, words, and dispositions which correspond with reality; and which therefore claim and gain respect; those which agree with the eternal standard of right; and are unstained by pollution; those which possess the charm of moral beauty; and which when mentioned secure for themselves name and fame among men.
Php 4:8 is Pauls commendation of the science of Ethics. Only by careful meditation can we distinguish and appreciate moral worth. This is the real value of Christian biography. It sets before us in a variety of forms the various elements of Christian excellence. And this value is not destroyed, although the worth of a particular memoir is lessened, by occasional overstatement. Even if the portrait be overdrawn, it sets before us a model worthy of imitation.
Php 4:9. To the exhortation to ponder the foregoing virtues, Paul now adds an exhortation to practise them; and supports this last by his readers previous acceptance of his moral teaching and by his own example. Not only are these virtues worthy of being taken account of but the Philippian Christians have also already learnt them and have accepted them as good.
Learnt: intellectual apprehension.
Accepted: moral approval, as in 1Co 15:1, etc. Probably these virtues were learnt from the lips of Paul. But it was not needful to say this. From whomsoever learnt, they had been understood and approved.
Heard: not to be joined to the foregoing, to which it would add nothing, but to the words following. Not only have ye learnt and accepted these virtues but ye have also heard and seen them exemplified in me, viz. in Pauls verbal intercourse with them and in the life he had lived before their eyes. Happy they who can speak thus to their pupils. Such can with authority say do these things. Thus by the lessons already learnt and approved, Paul urges his readers to practise the virtues he has just bidden them to ponder.
To the above exhortation, as in Php 4:7, Paul adds a promise: and God shall etc. Where God is, there is peace, viz. the peace of God. He is therefore the God of peace. So Rom 15:33; 1Co 14:33.
With you: as in Rom 15:33. The Giver of peace will ever be with those who keep His commands.
Paul cannot conclude his letter without again and more emphatically bidding his readers to rejoice. And in their joy he bids them, in view of the near approach of the Great Judge, to treat all men not merely with strict justice but with reasonable fairness, He bids them dismiss all anxiety; and, in order so to do, to take to God all causes of anxiety, mingling their prayers with thanks for past mercies, All that now remains is covered by two exhortations and a promise. Paul bids his readers ponder the various forms of moral excellence, But in so saying he remembers that they have already learnt and approved the virtues he bids them ponder. And he reminds them that they have seen these excellences exemplified in himself. He exhorts them to practise what they have learnt and seen; and assures them that in so doing the Author of peace will Himself be their companion.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
4:4 {3} Rejoice in the {d} Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice.
(3) He adds particular exhortations: and the first is, that the joy of the Philippians should not be hindered by any afflictions that the wicked imagine and work against them.
(d) So is the joy of the world distinguished from our joy.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. Maintaining tranquillity 4:4-9
Paul gave his readers five other brief positive exhortations, all of which are vitally important for individual and corporate Christian living. They all result in the maintenance of peace in the body so the saints can work together effectively as partners in the gospel even in the midst of opposing unbelievers.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Rejoicing in Christ is something the apostle had commanded earlier (Php 3:1) and had illustrated abundantly for his readers throughout this epistle. He must have felt that there was a great need for this attitude in Philippi. There were many reasons why the Philippian saints could have felt discouraged. Paul’s imprisonment and the possibility of his death, Epaphroditus’ illness, and the antagonism of unbelievers were a few. The attacks from legalists on the one hand and libertines on the other, plus friction among certain members of the church, contributed to this spirit. To counteract this attitude Paul prescribed rejoicing in the Lord. He repeated this charge in this verse for even greater emphasis.
Paul was not urging us to be unrealistic. He was not saying that we should never feel sad. Even Jesus wept (Joh 11:35). However, he was advocating focusing on the blessings we have in Christ and being grateful for these regardless of how sad we may feel at any particular time. He had set a good example by singing when he was in prison in Philippi (Act 16:25). [Note: See Frank Minirth and Paul Meier, Happiness Is a Choice.]
"The truly godly person both longs for God’s presence, where one pours out his or her heart to God in joy, prayer, and thanksgiving, and lives in God’s presence by ’doing’ the righteousness of God. Otherwise piety is merely religion, not devotion." [Note: Fee, Paul’s Letter . . ., p. 402.]