"Rejoice evermore." — I Thess. 5:16
The implication of the charge, "Rejoice evermore," seems to me to be that the believer, ideally, should be perennially joyful, whatever his or her circumstances in life. That is the spiritual posture few of us successfully maintain, and many would deem a practical impossibility. Nevertheless, when God delivers an order for us, He ordinarily furnishes examples and/or instructions for its execution.
Scripture defines two conflicting and competing realms in which life is experienced. The terms are familiar to every believer, but the ramifications are too often overlooked. The first order (from our perspective) is called "the flesh." The second is referred to as "the spirit." The first is essentially self-centered and "worldly." The latter is essentially God-centered and focused on "the world to come."
The true believer, when coming to faith in Christ is, in principle, translated from "this present evil world" to "the kingdom of [God's] dear Son." By God's grace we are "made… meet (fit) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light… [and have been] delivered… from the power of darkness, and… translated into the kingdom of His dear Son: in Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins (See Col. 1:12-14)." It is the divine intention that this result in shifting our whole emphasis to a new center; from earth to glory, from "flesh" to "Spirit."
Writing to the Philippians, Paul put it this way: "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh [Phil. 3:3, italics mine)." This is the ideal; the whole person enjoying an entirely new center of reference, which is the person of our gracious, omniscient, incredible God.
Here is the fountainhead of perennial joy: faith in Christ Jesus and the hope of eternal life. "The flesh profiteth nothing [John 6:63];" its successes are of no enduring worth, its troubles, trials and failures, of whatever sort, are of relatively short duration and should not distract us from "rejoicing in Christ Jesus." If we will "rejoice evermore," it is imperative that we adopt this perspective and hold it firm, not just as a theological tenet, but as a fundamental fact of life. The Psalmist said, long before the gospel was fleshed out in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, "… my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation [Psalm 39:5]." It is here that the heart must be centered if joy is to continue uninterrupted in the changing circumstances of life in this present world.
Many years ago, when the phrase "keep looking up" was popular in evangelical circles, a good preacher friend surprised our congregation by exhorting, "keep looking down." His reasoning was, in fact, based upon Ephesians 2:4-6, where we are taught that God has made us alive (spiritually) together with Christ, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." The passage is further reinforced by the exhortation, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory [Col. 3:1-4]. "
Our verse for today has a parallel in Phil. 4:4— "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." Clearly this is God's intention for the believer. To realize it, we must shift our emphasis from earth to glory, from flesh to spirit, from here to eternity. Then we may be able to say, in the face of life's most trying circumstances, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," and rejoice— in the Lord!.
For HIS praise,
"Pastor" Frasier
The prevailing approach to "Nuggets" has been to develop thoughts from a verse or short passage from successive chapters in a given book of the Bible week by week. From time to time, however, we have felt led to break the routine, and this is one of those occasions. The passage we addressed in overview last week (I Thess. 5:16-18) is so challenging (to me personally, at least) that I am inclined to meditate a bit further on each of the short, but striking, verses.
The implication of the charge, "Rejoice evermore," seems to me to be that the believer, ideally, should be perennially joyful, whatever his or her circumstances in life. That is the spiritual posture few of us successfully maintain, and many would deem a practical impossibility. Nevertheless, when God delivers an order for us, He ordinarily furnishes examples and/or instructions for its execution.
Scripture defines two conflicting and competing realms in which life is experienced. The terms are familiar to every believer, but the ramifications are too often overlooked. The first order (from our perspective) is called "the flesh." The second is referred to as "the spirit." The first is essentially self-centered and "worldly." The latter is essentially God-centered and focused on "the world to come."
The true believer, when coming to faith in Christ is, in principle, translated from "this present evil world" to "the kingdom of [God's] dear Son." By God's grace we are "made… meet (fit) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light… [and have been] delivered… from the power of darkness, and… translated into the kingdom of His dear Son: in Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins (See Col. 1:12-14)." It is the divine intention that this result in shifting our whole emphasis to a new center; from earth to glory, from "flesh" to "Spirit."
Writing to the Philippians, Paul put it this way: "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh [Phil. 3:3, italics mine)." This is the ideal; the whole person enjoying an entirely new center of reference, which is the person of our gracious, omniscient, incredible God.
Here is the fountainhead of perennial joy: faith in Christ Jesus and the hope of eternal life. "The flesh profiteth nothing [John 6:63];" its successes are of no enduring worth, its troubles, trials and failures, of whatever sort, are of relatively short duration and should not distract us from "rejoicing in Christ Jesus." If we will "rejoice evermore," it is imperative that we adopt this perspective and hold it firm, not just as a theological tenet, but as a fundamental fact of life. The Psalmist said, long before the gospel was fleshed out in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, "… my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation [Psalm 39:5]." It is here that the heart must be centered if joy is to continue uninterrupted in the changing circumstances of life in this present world.
Many years ago, when the phrase "keep looking up" was popular in evangelical circles, a good preacher friend surprised our congregation by exhorting, "keep looking down." His reasoning was, in fact, based upon Ephesians 2:4-6, where we are taught that God has made us alive (spiritually) together with Christ, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." The passage is further reinforced by the exhortation, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory [Col. 3:1-4]. "
Our verse for today has a parallel in Phil. 4:4— "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." Clearly this is God's intention for the believer. To realize it, we must shift our emphasis from earth to glory, from flesh to spirit, from here to eternity. Then we may be able to say, in the face of life's most trying circumstances, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," and rejoice— in the Lord!.
For HIS praise,
"Pastor" Frasier
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