Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore

I had worked in a company for the last twelve years. Although the entire team was in Delhi, I was the only one in Bangalore. My boss liked my work, and since I would finish any task neatly and on time, I earned his trust. He gave me full freedom, allowing me to work flexible hours and from home for twelve years. This benefit helped me to focus on my church ministry, as I could plan my work and ministry at my convenience. A few times they forced me to come to Delhi because I was the only person in Bangalore, with the rest of the team in Delhi. They then offered me the opportunity to move to Dubai or Malaysia, but I clearly stated that I could not leave Bangalore. Last month, the company faced major losses after acquiring another large company, and our stock prices went down. My boss announced that the whole company would be laying off staff. For now, we had to remove two people from our team, most likely the ones working remotely. He said I either had to move to Delhi or Dubai, or they would have to remove me from work. I don’t know if you understand how unsettling and shaking this situation was for me after being settled for twelve years. I could not move from Bangalore, but I would be without a job. What would I do? What about my commitments? For some time, my world seemed upside down. I didn’t sleep properly for a single day. With all this going on, today I have to preach to you a verse that says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

For a while, I wondered if I could preach. But when we are close to His word, the Lord does not leave us in sadness for long. When I started meditating on this entire passage, Philippians 4:4-7, I received miraculous strength, courage, and comfort. I felt that this was the right time to preach this passage. With my personal experience, I can tell you this is an amazing passage of scripture that holds so much rich truth. I am convinced that if we face any difficulty in life, we can come to this passage for strength, comfort, and courage.

Remember the context. As the apostle begins to end the epistle, he wants to bring his great concern for the Philippian church into sharp focus. You know his overarching concern for the church, which he stated in 1:27: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear of your state, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one soul, striving for the faith of the gospel and in nothing frightened by the adversaries.”

This is his great concern. He expresses that concern differently in 2:14: “Do all things without murmurings and questionings, in order that you may be blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you are seen as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may have whereof to glory in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain, neither labor in vain.” So you see this tremendous pastoral passion of the apostle. He longs for them to live as a witness in the midst of a dark and unbelieving world. Otherwise, he says, “All I have labored for will have been in vain.”

Well then, as he comes to a close in chapter 4, the same pastoral passion comes out again. He gives three divine commands, a trilogy of gospel duties. If we somehow grasp the depth and glory of these commands and start following them, we will live powerful lives as a witness to the gospel for the remaining years we have. Our lives will be a means to attract many to the gospel. So, as we have come to the end of the epistle, what should we do to live a life worthy of the gospel? Here are the three commands:

• Verse 4: “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
• Verse 5: “Let your gentleness be known to all men.”
• Verse 6: “Be anxious for nothing.”

This is a summary of all gospel commands. This should be our lifestyle to live worthy of all the things God has done through the gospel. Though they are individual commands, they are very closely interconnected. I want to look at each one in detail separately for the coming three weeks.

Let us look at the first command, Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

Let us unpack this verse in three headings, the 3 Cs: Content, Context, and Cause.

Content

There are three things we see in this verse: the command, the focus of that command, and the timing for the command.

First, this is a commandment. Notice Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” When Paul wrote this, he was not giving a suggestion or an exhortation. It is not a matter left to your option as a desirable thing you can try if you like. No, God Almighty, with all His sovereign authority, is commanding His people by inspiring the Apostle Paul through the Holy Spirit. This is a command of God. The whole authority of God stands behind this command. The sad, cursed state of Christianity today is because believers don’t take God’s commands seriously. But this is an imperative, an authoritative command.

But, Pastor, this command seems blunt. God can command me to be holy, pure, or to do this or that, but how can He command me to rejoice? How can I command my emotions? We are on a different wavelength. For us, joy has to happen automatically; it’s all emotional. We think we cannot control it, and we also think happiness depends on circumstances: good things happen, we feel happy; bad things happen, we feel sad. We become like balls that are rolled by our circumstances, victimized by situations. We have our highs and our lows; we fluctuate and vacillate, all dependent on how things are going on the outside.

Paul says this is wrong. If that is the only happiness you know, you don’t know what gospel joy is. Someone said happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy.

Here, God commands that we must deliberately choose to be happy irrespective of our circumstances. When we first choose to be happy, it will change and impact our mental focus and perspective. That is the secret to happiness. When we go through trials, when we are treated unfairly, when we are disappointed by people or circumstances, we are faced with a decision: Will we obey this command to rejoice in the Lord, or will we allow ourselves to be swept along by our feelings and circumstances?

The choice to rejoice often must go deliberately against how we feel. A life controlled by feelings is the most useless and stupid life. Think of what would happen in a society where everyone lived according to their feelings. There would be no restraint in society. Would we be prepared to accept that a rapist or a murderer should be allowed to say in court, “I just felt like doing it”? So it is quite clear that our feelings can’t be allowed to govern our lives.

Notice this command does not come once; it is a double command. It’s as though Paul expects some objections like, “Oh, we cannot live like this!” To emphasize that it is possible to live like this, he repeats it: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!”

It is as if Paul is saying, “I told you to rejoice in the Lord always. You opened your eyes and looked with astonishment at me, but ‘Again I say, rejoice.’ It is possible; it is a practicable command. It’s not just a poetic phrase to sing about. I have not spoken unwisely. I have not told you to do what you never can do, but with deliberation, I write it down: ‘Again I say, rejoice.'”

So, under “Content,” we find a command. Next, we see the focus for that command. How can I rejoice always? Am I supposed to go around with a perpetual smile on my face? Am I supposed to be a perpetually incurable optimist, or what? Just reading the verse might get some people depressed because they despair of ever being able to do it! What a sadness it would be if some of you become sad after hearing my sermon about how to rejoice in the Lord. We don’t have to be, because we must notice the focus of the command.

Paul is not calling us to rejoice in our circumstances or the way things are going in the world. The secret of constant rejoicing is in that marvelous, rich, little phrase: “in the Lord.” That is the focus of our rejoicing. Our choice to be happy will impact our mental focus. What should be our focus to be happy? Our focus is not on changeable things, but on the unchangeable realities of what we have in Christ, who we are in Christ, and what we will become in Christ. We are to rejoice in those things we have in our union with Jesus Christ.

Hundreds of times, the New Testament uses the phrases “in Christ” and “in the Lord,” talking about our union. It is inside that “ring” where we find all the infinite grace to always live joyfully. You cannot find any joy if you search outside that ring. We are to rejoice in our relationship with the Father, who is in heaven, our loving, compassionate, unchangeable, sovereign God. We are to rejoice in the Son, our Redeemer, our Brother, Prophet, Priest, and King, who became a man, died for our sins, rose for our justification, ascended for our glorification, and is sitting at the right hand of God, interceding for us even now, reigning over all worlds on our behalf, and will soon come to take us up into His glory so that we may be with Him forever. Rejoice in the Lord Jesus. Rejoice in the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and illuminator, who dwells in us.

Remember that this is what he has been teaching throughout the whole epistle. Remember, the one writing us this command is not relaxing in an air-conditioned room in a palace. He has lost everything for the gospel. He is now in the most terrible condition, in a dirty Roman prison, chained to a Roman soldier twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. His trial at a Roman court is ongoing; at any moment, soldiers may come, drag him away, and cut off his head. Adding fuel to the fire, the Roman church there is spoiling his name, discrediting his ministry by saying God was angry with him, which is why he is in jail. They are preaching the gospel in envy, seeking to add affliction to his bonds. Who would want to trade places with Paul? Can a man be joyful in such circumstances?

If you read this epistle not just once or twice, you will see the word “joy” or “rejoicing” appears sixteen times in this small book. It weaves its way through everything in this letter like a thread of gold and brings us this verse as the great climax. You see, it is joy, joy, joy. Paul seems to climb a ladder of joy from Nero’s dungeon into heaven itself by way of his continual joy.

You read from chapter 1, “I am thanking God, even though in jail. I am rejoicing in the Lord, as the gospel is spreading because of my chains; Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.” In chapter 2, he rejoices though Christ was humbled and became a servant. “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

In chapter 3, he shows that we don’t need these legalistic rules and self-righteousness to be accepted by God. We have a surpassing knowledge of knowing Christ through faith. We have righteousness that comes from faith, through which we stand as forgiven, accepted, well-beloved, and adopted children of God anytime we go to God. We don’t need to live as antinomians like beasts whose god is their belly, setting their minds on worldly things, because our citizenship is in heaven. From there, we await a Savior who will transform our lowly body so that it may be conformed to His glorious body.

Remember, at the beginning of forming the church, he taught this church how to rejoice in the Lord, no matter the circumstance. He and Silas were jailed and beaten with rods on their heads, hands, and legs and put in stocks, with their bodies bleeding from wounds. In Acts 16, what were they doing? Singing “Hallelujah.” It was not because Paul was a stoic, stone-hearted man without any emotion who did not feel the pain.

He knew that no matter what happened, even when his neck, hands, or feet were in Roman stocks and there were lashes on his back, even though he was now sitting in jail and might die at any moment, none of these circumstances could change one iota of all that he has in Jesus Christ. He was accepted in the Beloved, imputed with perfect righteousness, had the privilege of adoption, and had the guarantee of glorification with Christ, an eternal inheritance—all that he was, all that he had, and all that he would one day become in Christ. None of these things would change. As a child of God, not a hair of his head would fall without his Lord’s will and good purpose. He learned this lesson, and this is his mental focus. He lives by this truth that always keeps him joyful, and he teaches his beloved Philippians that there is always an unalterable basis for rejoicing because what we are in Jesus Christ is unchangeable if our mental focus is on the Lord.

So, as he is drawing the epistle to a close, he says, as an important gospel duty, “I command you to constant joyfulness.” Paul says the focus of our joy should be in the Lord. If you want this joy, the primary focus of our mind should not be on outward, changing circumstances, nor even inside us, on what we are. The problem for many people is that they are always looking inside for joy, as if one day we will have a deep, abiding spring of happiness inside ourselves. No, faith does not look around outside or look inside, but looks up. True joy is found in looking away from ourselves and looking up to Christ and what we have and what we are in Christ.

If the Lord is your joy, your joy will never dry up. Because the Lord does not change. His love, covenant, redemption, and election never change. There is no limit to His love. We can plunge ourselves into the deep, vast, infinite ocean of His love, and it will never dry up.

Under “Content,” we see a command and the focus of the command, but there’s also the timing.

What’s the timing? When to rejoice? Always. We see this and think, “I just wish that Paul had been more realistic and had said, ‘Rejoice most of the time’ or ‘often!'” We would all agree. But the sting in Paul’s words is “always.” How?

As if he almost anticipates our objections, he asks, “What always, in all circumstances, at all times, Paul? Don’t you know that’s not possible?” He first commands, then he considers all the objections and reasons we can raise. After people are out of breath, giving all of their rationalizations as to why they simply cannot rejoice in the Lord always, Paul comes back after all of our objections and excuses. “Again I will say, be continually joyful, be continually rejoicing.” He uses a future tense and says, “Again I will say, be continually rejoicing all your days in life.”

By repeating the command, he says, “Stop all excuses. It is possible, so don’t shrug off what I am saying.” Abiding joy in the Lord should be the aim of every Christian.

Think of the word itself. It is not just “joy,” “rejoice,” it is “joy over again.” We use the prefix “re” to keep repeating. We are to joy, and then we are to re-joy, again and again and again, until we are filled and overflowing with joy. We are to take this command and chew the cud of delight—we are to roll the dainty morsel under our tongue until we get the very essence out of it.

So, what is the timing? When should we rejoice? “Now,” he says. It begins at once. So let us now begin to rejoice in the Lord. Throw away all your sorrow and sad faces, and start to obey God’s voice now to rejoice in the Lord always.

No excuses. “Pastor, what about my situation?” I am not asking you to rejoice in your situation. “What about my feelings?” Happiness is a choice. You determine right now, and it will change your mental focus to see what you have in the Lord. You are going to be rejoicing in the Lord. “Pastor, you don’t know what sin I have committed. How it haunts me! I am feeling guilty. How can I rejoice?” Paul, the same person who said this, also said in chapter 3, concerning his zeal, “I was a persecutor of the church.” Imagine having that haunting your conscience, taking fathers from children, husbands from wives, and killing believers. But the grace of God has covered and forgiven all my sins and guilt, so that in Christ Jesus, I am a righteous, adopted child of God. So I can rejoice in what I am in Jesus Christ in spite of all my sins.

We have to understand this “always” properly. This does not mean that there may not be temporary sadness, burdens, or shock. Whatever sadness we face in life, we are not told to deny sorrow or put on a plastic smile, even in a hospital or at a funeral. No. We saw in the same epistle that Paul was sometimes sad when he said, “I tell you with tears, they are enemies of Christ.” It means that whatever natural, temporary sadness or shock we face, we overcome it in the Lord, and our dominant characteristic as believers should be rejoicing in the Lord. We see an example of that in the Psalms. The psalmist is often filled with sadness, and he readily acknowledges his feelings to God. But in the process of crying out to God for help and refocusing his thoughts on the Lord and His great mercies, by the end of the psalm, his mood has changed, even though his circumstances are no different. By the end of the psalm, he often experiences a flood of God’s joy, even in the midst of tremendous pain. That is how we rejoice. He will teach us how to deal with anxiety and sorrow in the next verses. But the dominant trait as a believer should be rejoicing in the Lord. Romans 14:17 says, “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Galatians 5:22 says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.”

Paul says rejoicing always is God’s will for believers, and that it is possible. By God’s grace we can attain that. Do you know this is a wealth, a legacy Christ has purchased, and he has left for us in this world? John 15:11: “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

So, oh believer, when you have such a glorious purchase by your Lord, why are you living a sad life? You can be happy always. God the Holy Spirit can lift you above the down-draggings of the flesh, and of the world, and of the devil, and you may be enabled to live upon the mount of God beneath the shining of His face. “‘Again I say, Rejoice.'” It’s profoundly a duty. It’s an obligation of every believer to deliberately choose to obey this gospel command.

See what a good God we have. He wants us to be so happy that he makes it a command. You may think, “Whether I am happy or not on this earth, I will go to heaven.” He says, “I want you to come happily to heaven and live happily on earth as well.” In fact, it is this joy that will bring you to heaven. The joy of the Lord is your strength.

So we see three things under “contents”: command, focus, and timing. We have seen the contents of the verse; next is the context.

Overall, as I said, Paul’s burden is that the church should live a life worthy of the gospel. But there are two things that will hinder a church from living worthy of the gospel: no unity within the church because of conflicts within the church and within the families of the church, and a church filled with worldly worries. A church suffering from disunity and worldly worry is a sick church and will never do anything for the gospel. Are we like that? The Philippian church was becoming like that. What is the medicine for that?

Paul is using verse 4 as medicine. Notice the preceding context. We saw there is the sickness of conflict. Infighting is going on there between Euodia and Syntyche. There’s a fight, a tiff, a quarrel, a conflict, a falling out between two sisters. Are there conflicts within our church? Are there conflicts within our families? Tiffs, petty quarrels, small things, tiffs between husband and wife, children and parents, a fight every time that starts with a small murmur, dispute, or argument and becomes a fight, every day. What a dishonor for the gospel! But Paul presents for this fever of tiffs of all kinds the panacea, which means a cure-all, and that is joy.

See the connection. Right after dealing with the fighting sisters in verse 3, he immediately says, “Rejoice.” Why? People who are joyful in the Lord are not apt to give offense or take offense. Those who are joyful have their minds so sweetly occupied with higher things that they’re not easily distracted by the little troubles that naturally arise among sinful creatures. When we are rejoicing in the Lord and in his love, we will not be offended by the lovelessness of petty, selfish humans. Instead of looking at him, we are joyless, and we’re looking at one another. Joy in the Lord is the cure for all discord. Joy in the Lord, then, drives away the discords of earth. Just rejoice in the Lord, and you will see so much peace at home and at church. So, the preceding context shows joy cures fighting fever, and then, secondly, the succeeding context shows joy cures fretting fever.

The problem in Philippi wasn’t just fighting; it was also an anxious church. In verse 6, he goes on to say, “Be anxious for nothing.” Who among us can say we are not struggling with anxiety about what we will eat or drink? The first stone should be thrown at me; I was last week. Paul says the medicine here for you and me is to be joyful. One person says the cure for care is joy in the Lord. Because when your heart’s cup is full of Christ’s word and joy, there’s no room left in the cup for anxiety or worry because we’re rejoicing.

One says, “When I think about what I have in Christ now, what eternal treasures I have in heaven, and that my father’s ruling providence is all for my good, what is there that’s really worth five minutes of fretting on earth?” So, you see this context here, the rejoicing context of fighting fever and fretting fever.

More Causes for Rejoicing

I could go on with a thousand reasons for rejoicing in the Lord, but I’m just going to quickly show five in this passage. First, because as believers, our names are written in the book of life. In verse 3, as soon as Paul says, “your names are written in the book of life,” he says in verse 4, “rejoice.” Here you may be fighting, anxious about 101 things, and have all kinds of difficulties.

But if you understand what the Lord has done by writing your names in the book of life, what a glorious privilege and blessing it is, you will leave this place dancing in joy because of this. Your name is written in the book of life. That is why our Lord said in Luke 10:20 when the apostles came and said, “Lord, we can do miracles, and even evil spirits obey us,” that all that power is nothing. “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the book of life.” There is no greater honor or blessing than that. You should rejoice because you are an elect. God loved you from eternity, sent his son to definitely bear all your sins and atone for all your sins, so you don’t face a single punishment for all your sins. He has purchased justification, sanctification, and glorification for you. Whatever happens in your life is all written in that book. David says, “all my days are written in your book,” and all events are written because all of those are God-ordained means to bring you to glory. Rejoice because your names are written in the book of life.

I know a believer who is not educated at all, does daily labor, has a small income, and never married because he cannot manage a family. He lives alone. His life, humanly speaking, is very bleak and dark. But he goes to church regularly with a happy face, opens the Scriptures, and finds by the promises of the Word of God that his name is written in the book of life. He believes that with tears. The world tells him all kinds of shameful, different things about himself. But he lives rejoicing, knowing that the world may not value him, that he may have no value here, and that many don’t even know his name. But he knows that the King of Heaven knows him by name. Before the foundation of the world, he took his name, spoke his name, and wrote his name down in the book of life, and that is enough. He looks at his pitiable little house on earth and is happy because he knows it is temporary and that he has a golden palace getting ready. You see him always smiling and living joyfully. Do you need a better reason to rejoice than that? Rejoice always because the Lord wrote your name in the book of life.

Second cause: Rejoice, because the Lord is near, verse 5. We will see that next week. I want to feel the full effect. Whatever your situation, the Lord is coming near, and he is also near in all your situations in life. The Lord is very, very near to you and knows everything. In Psalm 139, we saw how God knows you’re sitting down and rising up. He knows the words you speak before you speak them. He knows the way you’re going to walk, and he holds every part of your life in absolute and total control. So rejoice.

Third, because the Lord directs everything in your life. In verse 6, “Be anxious for nothing.” The command is based on truth, for God causes all things. No one can steal my joy when I realize that God is in charge of everything. The single greatest truth I know that removes worries and brings joy in any situation is God’s sovereignty. Nothing happens outside of his control. He controls it all, absolutely all of it. What comfort is in that! Furthermore, he controls it all, and get this one, for my good. God causes everything to work for good. Don’t be anxious about it. Just be joyful regardless of what is going on because God is directing everything.

Fourth reason: “But Pastor, how will I manage a difficult situation?” Verse 13 says, “because the Lord strengthens you for every task/situation.” “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Don’t worry, when you come to a difficult situation, you will feel God infusing strength into you for every need.

Fifth reason: Rejoice because the Lord knows and provides for your every need. That’s just in verse 19. “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” “Pastor, I don’t know what will happen next day.” But even the next day will bring forth the Lord as your Provider. Rejoice!

So there are five reasons, just superficially, to rejoice in the Lord.

A businessman suffered a big loss. He helplessly threw himself down on the sofa in his house and said, “Well, everything’s gone.” He kept crying like a child. “My business is gone, even this house, everything in the house will go now. I don’t have anything now.” His little child came and sat on his father’s lap, wiping his tears, and said, “Papa, everything is not gone; you have me.” His wife came over and tenderly embraced him and said, “Well, dear, you have me left.” His old grandmother with glasses on her eyes and a Bible in her hand said, “More than anything, my son, you have the promises of God left. Don’t worry. You can still rejoice in the Lord, and all you have in the Lord.”

Do we know of this joy? Even Old Testament believers experienced this. When destruction and ruin came upon Israel, when his nation and even his own house were all ashes, the prophet Habakkuk got upon the ashes of his house, stood tall in faith as a giant, and touched heaven with his towering faith by saying in Habakkuk 3:17-18: “Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

So there are three C’s: content, context, and causes for rejoicing. What about the application?

Two applications.

1. This is a command, given twice, pushing aside all excuses. No situation can ever justify the child of God not rejoicing in the Lord. I didn’t write this as a command. It doesn’t matter what your circumstances are. Almighty God, who knows every one of your circumstances, who in his infinite foreknowledge and by his own sovereign purpose has decreed all of the events and circumstances of all of his, gives this command by his authority.

By God’s grace, we can obey this command. If this is a command, then all continual sadness and depression is a sin against God. If, as a believer, gloominess is the dominant characteristic of your life, you’re living in sin. You are sinning and grieving the Holy Spirit. It is as much a sin as if you went out and stole something, lusted, or did any other sin. Because the same God who told us not to steal also commands us to always rejoice.

“Oh, Pastor, are you serious?” What is sin? It is disobeying God’s command, right? If this is a command coming from God’s authority as God’s will for you, and if you are not rejoicing in the Lord always, you are living in sin. “Oh, I didn’t know.” Remember, as we are studying in Leviticus, ignorance is not an excuse. Even sins of ignorance defile us and make us guilty. We need to confess, and remember the five reactions of saving faith: Trust—we trust and accept this as God’s command, we trust this is possible, we need to trust God can give us grace to obey this; Change—we change ourselves according to this passage; Obey—we obey the command; Tremble—we tremble at the warning, for we have disobeyed for so many years; and Embrace—we embrace the promise of God.

The root cause for many Christians not being able to do this is unbelief—a wicked, constant unbelief. You refuse to believe what God says about what you are in Christ in spite of your stumblings, your besetting sins, your failures, and your vacillations. God says, “You are a forgiven, justified, adopted child of God. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” And you just won’t believe that. You believe it only when you are walking in victory and praying properly. When you go wrong, instead of coming to God as a child, you come as a criminal. You think you don’t deserve to be God’s child, as if you earned that by your life. No wonder you have no joy. That’s a dishonoring of the work of Christ. Deal with the sin of unbelief.

2. This is the first gospel duty. If we have to live worthy of the gospel, the first thing we should do is rejoice in the Lord always. It is not just a hidden joy; it should be a demonstrative duty. You cannot say, “My face may be frowning, but inside my heart I am always rejoicing.” No, the next verse says it should be evident to all people.

You are commanded to rejoice, brothers and sisters, because this is for your profit. Holy joy will oil the wheels of your life’s machinery. Holy joy will strengthen you for your daily labor. Holy joy will beautify you as no makeup cream can, and it will give you an influence over the lives of others.

When joy comes into a person, it shines out of his eyes and it sparkles in his countenance. Medicine says the benefits of just smiling are that your mood improves, stress is reduced, immunity grows, and your heart condition improves. It helps the whole body; blood circulation improves. It is a healthy thing in all respects. A person may be poor, but poverty is covered by a cheerful spirit! Joy in the Lord is influential for good. Notice how little children are affected by the presence of a happy person. If you have so much richness but no smiling face, what’s the use? If you are so educated but have no smile, what’s the use of all that? Oh, no, there is a charm about holy joy! I wish we had more of it!

It is contagious. It is a universal language. You can speak with any person in the world with a smile. Have you noticed that when we are always smiling, people smile at us? When we are always constipated and have sad faces, people see us like that.

What a wonderful language to share the gospel! If you cannot speak the Gospel, live the Gospel by your cheerfulness, for what is the Gospel? Glad news, glad tidings of great joy. And you who believe it must show by its effect upon you that it is glad tidings of great joy to you. Especially when we are under trial and difficulty, patiently submitting to God’s will and still rejoicing in God, we become real preachers of the Gospel, preaching with an eloquence that is mightier than words and which will find its secret and silent way into the hearts of those who might have resisted other arguments. There are many more sinners brought to Christ by happy Christians than by doleful Christians.

We live in a sad world. We know everyone in the world is seeking how to be happy. Sadly, they are searching for it in the wrong places, doing 101 things for it. Many assume laughter and comedy are enough. Yes, there is enough laughter in the world, but they are not satisfied. I recently heard that a great comedian committed suicide. Why? Because laughter is not joy. The happiness of the world is finally always skin-deep. Laughter is just like a drug, a way of forgetting our sorrows and pain inside, a mask we put on to cover the sadness of our hearts. We should not call such a temporary feeling by the sacred name of joy. After laughing, we can again feel sorrow.

So, Paul says the first gospel duty to the world is to rejoice in the Lord. We can rejoice by his grace. We can learn to rejoice in who he is, what he has done for us, and what he is doing in our lives. Even if the road is hard, remember that he has planned your path, Psalm 37:23. He has promised to make all things work for good, Romans 8:28. He has promised to go with you through everything in life, Hebrews 13:5. He has promised you abiding victory, 1 Corinthians 15:57, and Romans 8:37. He has promised us that the destination will be worth every mile of the trip, Romans 8:18, and 2 Corinthians 4:17. Therefore, even when you can’t be happy about your life, learn to be happy in the Lord!