The “epistle of joy” comes now to its joyful apex in the opening five verses of chapter 4. For the 13th, 14th, and 15th times the Apostle Paul will either express or urge joy. “Rejoice in the Lord always,” he tells them (4:4; cf. 31). Even as chapter 3 was tilted to the theological, so this closing chapter of his epistle gives heavy emphasis to psychological benefits of the Christian life: joy (v 1,4,10), peace (v 6,7,9), and contentment (v 11-13). These three states of mind are closely related and interdependent. One can hardly have one without the others, or lose one without losing the other two. Yet they do have nuances, and we will attempt to highlight the particular benefit that each conveys. Together they represent what the world desperately wants but cannot find on its own terms. Why? Because they are found only “in the Lord.”

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Phil 4:4)

“Rejoice in the Lord always,” he says, repeating himself for emphasis, “again I will say, rejoice!” (4:4). The key to the Apostle’s admonition is that our rejoicing is “in the Lord.” It is critical that we understand this.

Negatively

First, negatively, it means that joy is not found in worldly circumstances. The problem with worldly joy is that it is circumstantial. Yes, we can speak of “worldly” joy. We need to face honestly that the world does offer a form of happiness. God sends “fruitful seasons” to all humanity, and fills their hearts “with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17). The rain falls and the sun shines on the just and unjust (Mt 5:45). The world is full of beautiful natural phenomena from waterfalls to forests to coastlines to cool breezes to warm sunshine to delicious food to delightful people.

Beyond licit natural pleasures there are the illicit, “the passing pleasures of sin” (Heb 11:25). Again, we must be honest and recognize that sin’s pleasures are real, though “passing.” They satisfy for a season. We undermine our credibility when we pretend that sin is never pleasurable. Of course it is. This is why people get hooked on it. People would not get drunk or do drugs or live promiscuously or eat gluttonously or pursue success or seize power if there were not psychological satisfaction involved. These things make them happy, for the moment. But this is the problem with worldly joys. They are superficial and temporary. They are only skin deep. They don’t last. Worldly pleasure is fleeting. Back one must go to the fleshly well again and again. The night of excitement or accomplishment is followed by the emptiness of the morning after. The world promises joy, but it cannot deliver. It can only provide momentary thrills which counterfeit the real thing. Eventually the well runs dry. Its seductive images of wealth, sensual pleasure, and prestige promise a satisfying life. Yet those who reach the summit of worldly accomplishment are left wondering, “Is this all there is?” Why does a Queen of France say, “Nothing tastes”? Why does a best selling author, at the height of worldly recognition and honor, say, “I wish someone had told me that when you get to the top that there is nothing there”? Why do so many movie stars, music stars, and athletes, with celebrity status and limitless money, end up in detox facilities, addicted to drugs and alcohol, divorced multiple times, suicidal and miserable? Because lasting human joy cannot be based on positive circumstances in a finite world. Our joy will never be found in our ever-changing circumstances in a finite world. Material things will come and go. People will come and go. Experiences will come and go. If my joy is anchored in and dependent upon a person or group of persons, a thing or a bunch of things, an experience or a collection of experiences, happiness in this world will forever be fleeting. We can state it boldly: I will never be happy if my joy is in any created thing. Never.

Positively

Second, positively, it means that my joy, my rejoicing, is in the Lord Himself. Because it is in Him, and because He is omnipresent and immutable, because He is with us always and unchanging, I can rejoice “always.” Circumstances change. He doesn’t. People change. He doesn’t. Experiences come and go. He doesn’t. An unchanging source of joy means unchanging joy, joy in all the circumstances of life.

Beyond this, our joy is in those things that are connected to the Lord, to His benefits, to those things that reflect His goodness, and bring us back to Him with thanksgiving.

Can we be specific about how we go about rejoicing in the Lord? What is involved? What do we do?

1. We rejoice in our experience of the Lord. We have met the Lord. Our lives have been transformed. We heard of Christ in the gospel. He showed us the love of the Father who gave His only begotten Son (Jn 3:16). The Holy Spirit caused us to be born again (Jn 3:1ff). We experienced the conviction of our sin. We experienced the spirit of repentance. We experienced grief and sorrow for our wickedness. We experienced tremendous relief, the lifting of our burden, through the forgiveness of our sin through the cross of Christ. We heard the word of pardon. We received the promise of eternal life (Rom 6:23). We have become new creatures in Christ Jesus, the old passing away and all things becoming new (2 Cor 5:17). This experience of Christ, as the Apostle says, is of “surpassing value” (Phil 3:8).

We know that this kind of language is unconvincing to unbelievers. They will point to proponents of other religions who make the same kinds of claims. Nevertheless, we’re telling you that this is what we’ve experienced. We have encountered the Lord and He has given us a joy “that is inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Pet 1:8). Our experience of Christ is one that makes it possible for us to “rejoice in the Lord always.”

2. We rejoice in learning about the Lord. We are eager to know about our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, about His attributes and works. We want to know more, and more, and more. This is why we love to open God’s word, to hear it read and preached, to study it privately and meditate upon it. We “delight” in the Lord through His word, and meditate on it “day and night” (Ps 1:2; cf. Pss 119; 174; 37:4). We love God’s law (Pss 119:97, 113, 127, 159, 163, 167). What is more wonderful than hearing a great exposition of and exhortation from Scripture? What is better than a private place in the quiet of the morning for time devoted to Bible study and prayer? What is more wonderful than a clear explanation of God’s will and ways? What is more delightful than studying Jesus’ life and ministry: the Sermon on the Mount, the Parables, His encounters with individuals like the Rich Young Ruler, the Samaritan Woman, Nicodemus, the woman caught in adultery, and His words during His trial and from the cross? What is greater than studying the attributes of God, or the great doctrines of sovereignty, providence, and atonement? In pursuit of this joy we may plunge into contemporary classics such as J. I. Packer’s Knowing God, or A.W. Pink’s Attributes of God, or A. W. Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy, or, for the ambitious, the Puritan Stephen Charnock’s massive The Existence and Attributes of God. These things do not change. The world cannot understand or delight in these things, but we do. For them they are the height of boredom and tedium. But they are our joy.

3. We rejoice in the worship of God. “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go up to the house of the LORD’” (Ps 122:1). We are not dragged off unwillingly to worship. It is our delight to go. There is nowhere else we would rather be. The ballpark and the theater, the concert hall and cinema, hold no candle to the experience of joining with the people in the worship of God. With the psalmist we say, “A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside” (Ps 84:10). Our one desire is that we may dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of our life and behold His beauty (Ps 27:4). We are as the deer that “pants for the water brooks,” our souls “thirst for Thee, O God” (Ps 42:1,2). What is more wonderful than singing the praises of God with the people of God? The world sees this as foolishness, if not incomprehensible. But to join with the pastor in his urgent and passionate prayers, in singing great psalms and hymns, to hear soul-searching and powerful preaching, to come together at the Lord’s table – these are the “solid joys and lasting treasures” that “none but Zion’s children know.”

4. We rejoice in the presence, provision, and protection of the Lord. Jesus is the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:14,15). He is not like the hireling who abandons the sheep. He never leaves or forsakes us (Jn 10:12,13; Heb 13:5). He remains with us even in the valley of the shadow of death (Ps 23:4). He leads us to the green pastures and still waters (Ps 23:5; Jn 10:4). He prepares a table for us, even in the presence of our enemies (Ps 23; Jn 10:9). Our cup always overflows (Ps 23:5). His rod and staff protect us (Ps 23; Jn 10:11-15). His presence comforts and fills us with joy (2 Cor 1:3,4; 7:6,7; Ps 16:11). His nearness is our good (Ps 73:28). We rise early to meet Him in our morning devotions. We gather publicly with the saints to know His presence in the assembly. We rejoice in the protection, provision, and presence of the Lord.

5. We rejoice in the Lord’s people. This is obvious from what the Apostle Paul says in verse 1:

Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. (Phil 4:1)

He uses five terms to describe his affection for the Philippians. They are “beloved,” “brethren,” his “joy” and his “crown.” Moreover he “long(s) to see” (one word: epipothēmai) them. “The Apostle here piles up five distinct terms of endearment,” Silva observes.1 He loves the people of God. Notice in particular that the Philippians are the Apostle Paul’s “joy!” This is not an unusual thing for the Apostles to say. They frequently, we might say typically, speak of the joy that they have or we are to have in each other (1:4; 2:2,29; 2 Cor 7:13; 1 Thess 2:20; 3 Jn 4; cf. 2 Cor 7:7-16; 2 Jn 4; 3 Jn 3; 1 Thess 3:9). This doesn’t mean that the early Christians were perfect. It doesn’t mean that they were without flaws. Indeed, we’ll see in a moment that they weren’t. The logic is like this. If we love Christ, and the church is the bride of Christ, then we will love Christ’s bride. Here’s another way of stating it. If we rejoice in Christ, and Christ is in the people of God (Col 1:27), then we will rejoice in Christ in them.

We rejoice in the Lord’s people because they belong to Christ. But we also rejoice because we are able to see glimpses of Christ in each other. In Christians’ love we see the love of Christ. In Christians’ kindness we see the kindness of Christ. In Christians’ righteousness we see the righteousness of Christ. In Christians’ humility we see the humility of Christ. In Christians’ selfless sacrifice we see the selfless sacrifice of Christ. In Christians’ meekness we see the meekness of Christ. How could we not rejoice in them? How can we not delight in one another? Of course all this of Christ is seen only in shadows and with flaws. Still, we see it.

There are several “in spite of” factors to recognize in his rejoicing in the people of God. Fellow believers are our joy, not because they are perfect. We do well to remind ourselves of this, given that something of an ecclesiological crisis is happening right now in the evangelical Christian world. Trend setter George Barna has published a book entitled Revolution, in which he is calling for Christians to walk away from the “institutional church.” It’s failed, he says. Abandon it in favor of informal gatherings of Christians in homes and coffee shops. It has been widely reported that many high-profile Christians rarely attend church – athletes, Hollywood stars, CEO’s. Julia Duin has published a book entitled Quitting Church, in which she chronicles a broader problem of earnest Christians giving up on the church for various reasons.2 None of this can be justified, though when one considers how silly many church services have become, it is understandable. But since the church is a community in covenant with Christ, and consequently with one another, united in baptism and confirmed in the new covenant meal which binds us together, forsaking the church is not an option. Neither is redefining the church so as eliminate its structure, organization, officers, doctrines, system of discipline. Yes, the church is flawed. But its weakness should be seen as a call to perfect, not abandon, it. We rejoice in the people of God gathered in assembly, in spite of its flaws.

i.) He rejoices in the Lord’s people though they may be weak. He finds it necessary to exhort them to “stand firm.” They were tempted, like we all are to one degree or another, to compromise. So he tells them, keep on going, don’t give up, don’t give in. Don’t give in to the legalists who want you to try and earn your salvation by keeping the law (and thereby escape Jewish persecution). Don’t give in to the antinomians who think grace is so free that they can live like hell. No: stand firm, be faithful, remain obedient, follow my example, don’t fall into sin. “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold” (Rom 12:2; J.B. Phillips).

ii.) He rejoices though the church has conflicts. Don’t impose utopian expectations on the church. One can love the people of God even though they feud with each other.

I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. (Phil 4:2)

Unity has been a major theme of this letter (1:27–2:18). Yet the Apostle Paul feels compelled to again take up the issue and deal with these two women, Euodia and Syntyche. He urges them to “live in harmony” (auto phrovein, lit. “agree together,” or “think the same”). They must take responsibility to come to an agreement – to work at it. Notice, they are not to just walk away from the fellowship. They aren’t to resign and join another church. There are times when one should walk away, for instance, when a church is tolerating heresy or immorality. But one should not do so merely for interpersonal conflicts.

Sometimes the disagreements are so sharp that others have to get involved.

Indeed, true comrade, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. (Phil 4:3)

The Apostle Paul also asks his “true comrade” (or it could be a proper name, meaning “loyal Suzygus”) to help these two women who had previously “shared” Paul’s “struggle” in the cause of “the gospel.” He gives them high praise, identifies them as “fellow workers.” He has no doubt about their conversion, identifies them as those “whose names are in the book of life.” Still, he assigns the responsibility of those not directly involved in the feuding to work toward reconciling the estranged parties. Disunity is such a major problem in the life of the church that Paul wants it dealt with quickly and decisively.

I have served the same church for over 20 years. During that time there have been a number of people with whom I have had serious conflicts. I have been deeply troubled by personal clashes over and over again, and I don’t think I’m a very combative person. But when a couple of hundred sinners unite under a single roof, problems result. Because we’re committed to one another, we’ve had to accept each other, agree to disagree, continue to love each other, and overcome our differences. By and large we have. Twenty years gives one perspective. We work through problems. We don’t abandon the church. We don’t leave. We don’t give up.

Do not be discouraged by disunity in the church. Don’t recoil and stand aloof. The “pure” church is a myth; it is an impossibility. Charles H. Spurgeon, a great English preacher in London in the nineteenth century, said that if you find the perfect church don’t join – because you’ll ruin it! Every church has its faults; every denomination has its faults. People think, “Oh, but if we were only like the early church.” Really? Which early church? Corinth? What a disaster that place was! People were involved in incest and drunkenness at the Lord’s table. They were dragging each other off to court, and some were even denying the resurrection of the body. They had terrible and divisive pride in their worldly wisdom and spiritual gifts. Yet Paul calls it the “church of God at Corinth” and calls them “saints by calling” (1 Cor 1:2). The pure church never was and never will be!

iii.) He rejoices though forbearance is necessary. He continues,

Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. (Phil 4:5)

The Greek word for “forbearance” (epieikes) can mean everything from: “gentleness” (NIV), “reasonableness” (ESV), patience, softness, big-heartedness, mildness, moderation, generosity, charity, mercy. Because its Greek meaning is so broad, it is a hard word to really pin down in English. It is, said one commentator, “the attitude of a man who is charitable towards man’s faults and merciful in his judgments of their failings. . .”

The reason Christians can be so mild and charitable in their relations to others is there in verse 5, “The Lord is near.” This doesn’t mean “near” in the sense of geography, i.e. close by – but “near” in the sense of time. He’s about to return in judgment. We Christians can be so kind to even our enemies and persecutors, he tells the Philippians, because the Lord will soon return in judgment and He will set everything right. So we can put up with things for now. We don’t need to judge and condemn others. We don’t need to right every wrong or settle every score. The Lord will do that soon enough.

We need the church, we need the people of God. Our personal “quiet times” and family devotions are not enough. Neither are “house churches” so called, typically made up of affinity groups of people like me, and people I like. That is not the church. The people of God gathered consist of young and old, rich and poor, professional and laborer, blue collar and white collar, black, white, yellow and brown. The church marketers end up with congregations consisting of “Saddleback Sam” and, presumably, Samantha, young, professional, and hip. No, the church is a diversity of people, joined in a common worship and ministry learning to love one another and rejoice in each other.

These things do not change. We were made to know God, and in knowing Him we have eternal life and abundant life (Jn 17:3; 10:10). The fallen, flawed, failing world cannot be our refuge and strength (Ps 46:1). It is too unstable, too variable, too unreliable, too limited, too flawed. It’s too superficial and too temporary. The “form of this world is passing away, and also its lusts” (1 Jn 2:17). But because our joy is in our unchanging Lord, we rejoice “always.” We can rejoice in affliction, trial, trouble, hardship, opposition, persecution, and even martyrdom, because our joy is in the Lord who is ever kind, ever good, ever patient, ever in control, and ever ordering all things for our sakes, all things for our good (2 Tim 2:10; Rom 8:28). We can rejoice in His gospel and in His people. “There is enough in God,” says Matthew Henry, “to furnish us with matter of joy in the worst circumstances on earth.”