Hello! I’m Mack Lyon. Friend, it is a real joy I have to welcome you to our Bible study program In Search of the Lord's Way. Thank you for joining us. Christianity is not a funeral announcement. Perhaps you have noticed that some people seem always to be saying, “Come cry with me.” Really now, they have the wrong message. They should be saying, “Come rejoice with me,” especially if they are Christians. That is our study today.
When we are talking about faith and love and hope and salvation in Christ Jesus, the conversation shouldn't turn the corners of our mouths downward, but upward. However, I must warn you of a mistaken idea of "joy" and "rejoicing." They are not synonymous with "happy" and "happiness." Maybe you hadn't noticed the word "happiness" is not found in the King James Version of the Bible at all. No, the word "happy" appears only nine times in the New Testament and in most instances, even then it would have been better translated "blessed." For example, in John 13, verse 17 Jesus said, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." And the New King James has it, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." Yes, there is a blessing awaiting the person who knows the will of God and does it. And another verse that makes it even clearer is Acts chapter 26, verse 2 in which the apostle Paul is beginning his speech before King Agrippa and he says, "I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews." Paul felt blessed to be able to defend himself before such a person as Agrippa who was so familiar with the customs of the Jews and perhaps more honest than Governor Felix, who was also present at the time.
I think I mentioned this once before in a message on this subject. I think I may have told you of the lady who called me and said the Holy Spirit was leading her to divorce her husband and marry another man. When I asked her what made her think that the Holy Spirit was leading her that way, she said (1) the Lord wants Christians to be happy. (2) She isn't happy with her husband; (3) she would be happy married to the other man. Therefore, the Lord is leading her to divorce her husband and marry him. Well, it doesn't take someone as wise as Solomon to see that while her logic was good perhaps, her premise was faulty. In fact, it's simply not true; therefore, the Holy Spirit was not leading her. And that's too often the case in such blessings, in such boastings of blessings, I should say. The Lord promises "gladness" and "joy" but not "happiness." Well, that is our study today.
And we are sponsored on this station by some of your friends-- and ours-- in churches of Christ in the area that is served by this station. If you would like a free printed copy, or a free CD or an audio cassette tape of this message today titled, “Rejoice In The Lord Always,” our address is In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. By e-mail, our address is searchtv@searchtv.org. Or you may use our toll-free telephone number and talk with one of us. Our number is 1-800-321-8633. That means we will pay for the call; there is no charge to you. And you never fear that we will add your name to a list and send you a series of letters asking you for financial help. We just don’t do that. Now, Ken Helterbrand is going to lead us as we sing and then I'll be back for Bible reading and prayer.
Our scripture reading today is found in the book of Philippians chapter 4. And we will begin reading at verse 4. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” We read through verse 7. Now we will go to God in prayer. Our Father who art in heaven, we are so thankful that we can call You our Father and realize that You grant unto us from day to day the blessings as we need them. And that in You that we can rejoice and be glad for many reasons, but mainly for salvation and the hope that we have of eternal life with You. We are thankful, too, that You are with us in all of our trials and in all of our difficulties; and we pray that You will bless us even in this study today of those things that pertain to our welfare. In the lovely name of Jesus we ask it. Amen!
Happiness depends largely on physical circumstances-- a new car, a new house, a graduation-- or perhaps the celebration of some other achievement. But joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22 says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace”....and so on. Well, these are the conditions of the heart. With the right kind of heart or attitude a person can find joy in the most difficult of outward circumstances. The best example of that that I can think of is found in the book of Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. Now after parading before the reader the faithful greats of the Old Testament period in the eleventh chapter, the writer in the twelfth chapter begins by calling our attention to something else. "Therefore,” he says, “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the throne of God.” Well, we can’t honestly say that we believe our Lord was happy about the surrounding circumstances, by the shame and the agony of His crucifixion. But, oh the joy He found in dying as He did, because it was the will of the Father for the redemption of the world, and because of his absolute anticipation and expectation of soon sitting at His Father's own right hand.
Even when the world may seem to be tumbling in on him or her, the Christian can still rejoice in the Lord and is glad for his salvation-- and then some other things as well as we will see in our study. In the eighth chapter of the New Testament book of Acts there is the story of the conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch-- probably so called a eunuch because of his noble service in the government of the queen. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God, obviously according to the custom of the Jews. That would mean that he was either Jewish or he was a proselyte to their religion. Well, he was returning home, riding in his chariot and reading the Old Testament book of Isaiah, when a stranger, a man of God, appeared on the roadside and enquired whether he understood what he was reading. No, as a matter of fact, he was not understanding what he was reading; so he invited the man of God to join him in the chariot to study with him. The man's name was Philip, and he began at the same Scripture and preached unto him Christ Jesus. "Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water, what hinders me from being baptized? Then Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and said I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, so that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing.” Now that’s the story as it is related by the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 8, verses 26 to 40. And, what a great story it is! From the preaching of the word, the man came to believe in Jesus Christ. He was told on the strength of that faith that he could be baptized, and he was baptized. Jesus had promised in Mark 16:16, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” So, he was saved, wasn’t he? It’s no wonder he rejoiced; and you will too, friend, when you are saved! Really saved-- the Lord’s way-- as this man was.
Well, Christians not only have cause to rejoice because they are saved, but when others are saved, too. In Acts chapter 11, verses 19 to 26, there's the story of the salvation of some Gentile people in Antioch who heard the gospel preached, who believed and turned to the Lord. And the Scripture says there was a great number of them, as a matter of fact. Well, when the news reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas off to Antioch. And when he had come and witnessed the grace of God among these people, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord; and he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. You may remember it, but it was here in Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians.” Oh yes! There was rejoicing and gladness because people were being saved-- a considerable number of them-- and they were Gentiles, too!
As a matter of fact there is something wrong when Christians don’t rejoice-- or are not glad when other people turn to the Lord. You may remember that after King David had been brought to the realization of the magnitude of his sin with Bathsheba that he prayed for forgiveness. One of those prayers, and I'm sure there were many, but one of them is recorded for us in the 51st Psalm in which, among other things, he prayed to God: "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation; and uphold me by Your generous spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Your ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee." It's too bad when supposed Christians become so calloused by their lukewarmness that they can no longer thrill at the salvation of other people. Truly, if a person is the Christian that he may be, maybe professing to be, still filled with the joy of salvation in Christ, he will be teaching transgressors the way of Christ, and sinners will be brought to God through his life. It just follows as the night the day.
Well, the child of God not only lives a joyful life because of his salvation in Christ, and that he shares that blessing with other people, but also for the hope that he has in Christ. Christians do not sorrow on the death of another Christian "as those who have no hope, sorrow on the death of a loved one" (1 Thessalonians 4:13). And, Romans chapter 12, verses 10 to 13 we are taught to "Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence; fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, and given to hospitality....” (Romans 12, verses 10 to 13). Well, it's the hope that we have in Him for "the world to come" that brings Christians “joy” even in the hour of death of a loved one. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable" (1 Corinthians 15, verse 19).
By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Peter wrote about that hope, too. And he said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, or rejoice greatly, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Peter chapter 1, verses 3 through 6). What a powerful statement of faith and hope. Oh, how I would like to have the time to speak to that passage fully; and we will do that some of these times; but it's a great message. Now we must move on.
The Christian can rejoice in sufferings, too. It is a mistake to assume that becoming a Christian immunizes a person from suffering. Such teaching only sets people up for disappointment and discouragement. People who have been taught that and believed that for awhile have been known to abandon all faith and hope in Jesus Christ when they have to suffer. But, Romans 5:1 to 5 says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into the grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but also glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given unto us.”
And in James chapter 1, verses 2 and 3 it’s written, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials...” What? Lord, what do you mean-- rejoice in trials? Don’t you know, Lord, that trials take the joy out of life? Oh, I see. The rest of the verse says, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” Finally, Jesus did not only choose the twelve apostles, with whom the Bible students are familiar, who were to become the ambassadors of His new kingdom, He also chose seventy others to go before Him, perhaps like those who precede the President of the United States or some other dignitary into a place where he is to appear. Among other things Jesus told those seventy: "Go your ways; behold, I send you as lambs in the midst of wolves..." He gave them miraculous powers to heal the sick and to cast out demons and to tread on serpents and scorpions. And, oh they were impressed with that! Luke chapter 10, verse 17 says, "And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord even the demons are subject to us in Your name." Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! (Can't you hear that?) And Jesus said to them, "Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven" (Luke chapter 10, verses 1 to 20). Oh say that is the reason to rejoice-- that your name is written in heaven! Yes! That's it, friend. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. My friend, is your name written in heaven? If not, the Lord will write it in His "book of life" when you are washed in His blood in baptism (Acts chapter 22, verse 16; Revelation 1 and 5). Let’s pray. Holy Father, we are so thankful that we can be happy and we can rejoice in the Lord about our salvation and our anticipation of the coming of the Lord in our salvation’s completeness. In His name we pray, Amen!
The book of Philippians from which we studied is the New Testament book of joy. The word "joy" itself appears six times in that short four chapter book of fewer than 100 verses. "Rejoice" is there 10 times. The amazing thing about it is it was written by a man who was in a prison cell-- Roman prison cell.
In this fast-paced life we're confronted almost daily with what I call "down-drafts," these would be-- events or-- situations or-- conditions in the home with the family-- or on the job or in the business-- or at school-- wherever that tend to pull us downward emotionally and spiritually-- and perhaps even physically. But, it is attitude that determines whether we are defeated by them or, well, rise above them. We can take the "poor me" way to defeat or we can rejoice in the Lord and the power of His strength working in us and live victoriously. Ah, that's what we'll do; we will say with Isaiah, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God: For He has clothed me with garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61, verse 10). Say, I love that! No, we don't have to be happy with everything that goes on around us-- or in the world-- but we can learn to be glad under the circumstances because of our faith and our trust in the Lord. Try it; it will change your life.
We are genuinely glad you were with us today. And we pray sincerely that you were blessed in some way by the program. This program is produced in Edmond, Oklahoma Church of Christ and is made possible here by local churches of Christ. We don't ask you to send us money, but we would like to have you worship with us in a nearby congregation, right soon if possible. Don't keep putting it off; do it your next opportunity, will you?
Today's message titled “Rejoice In The Lord Always” is available to you on audio cassette or CD or in printed form absolutely free. Consider it as a gift from members of churches of Christ who make it possible. You may send your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Or by e-mail it is searchtv@searchtv.org. If you prefer to use our telephone, you may use our toll-free number, and that's 1-800-321-8633. You might want to visit our website at searchtv.org. Today's program is there in printed form or by audio or by video. There's a lot more there, too. Well, let's close with the thought from Psalms 118, verse 24: "This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." We'll be back next week, if the Lord wills, and we hope you will too. God bless and keep you now. We love you.
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