Rejoice in the Lord

August 9, 1995, marked the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan. What you may not realize is that Nagasaki was the center of Japanese Christianity. A substantial Christian community had survived three centuries of persecution. They worshiped underground and endured martyrdom. They were only allowed to live their faith in public at the turn of the century. Then, in 60 seconds, they were wiped out.

Under these circumstances, how can a Christian rejoice like the Bible tells us over and over again?

John Newton credited his wife with being the inspiration that enabled him to leave the slave trading in Africa and find salvation in Jesus Christ. They were married for forty years. When she died Newton preached on this text from Habakkuk 3:17: "Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines ... yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."

Under these circumstances, how can a Christian rejoice like the Bible tells us over and over again?

Lets open our Bibles to Leviticus 23:40 and begin our time together this morning by reading this very first passage that has the phrase, Rejoice in the Lord.
Leviticus 23:40 (NKJV) 'And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.
This describes the feast of tabernacles. A Holy day instituted by God for the purpose of rejoicing in the Lord. This was a week long celebration of their rescue from the slavery in Egypt. God wanted them to Remember in a joyous way His deliverance of the nation from bondage. Kinda like our Independence Day, a celebration of freedom. In Nehemiah 8:9-12 we have a story of the return of the people of Judah to the land and an occasion of the reading of the law and the aftermath. This was read on the first day of the seventh month and the people stood and heard the LAW. They all began to weep because of what they heard and their response was to mourn their own disobedience to God's Law. But, since it was the seventh month, the people were instructed to celebrate the feast of tabernacles.
Nehemiah 8:9-12 (NKJV) And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep." For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.
{10} Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
{11} So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved."
{12} And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them.
God's intention was for them to rejoice in His salvation. And the people did as they were instructed.

Let's turn to the book of the Psalms. First Psalm 33, back in August of last year I brought a message on this subject of rejoicing in the Lord and I began that message with this passage.

The why of rejoicing in the Lord
Psalms 33:1 (NKJV) Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.
Well, first there are 9 passages in Scripture that say "Rejoice in the Lord." The word rejoice appears 199 times in the New King James Bible. Now I admit that not every one means that we should rejoice, but the vast majority of them do. As we look at this subject, the very first reason to rejoice is because God desires us to rejoice. The people of Israel were to rejoice in the freedom they enjoyed because God led them out of the slavery in Egypt. And we have a freedom that we too can celebrate. Freedom from the bondage to sin.

These are Paul's word from Romans 6:17 - 18.
Romans 6:17-18 (NKJV) But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
{18} And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
The Israelite of the feast of tabernacles was also a celebration of having arrived in the promised land. Now if we read 2 Corinthians 5:8 we can see that we are not in our promised land as of yet, but it is guaranteed.
2 Corinthians 5:8 (NKJV) We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
Is this freedom something to rejoice in? The verse in Psalm 33, says Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Is that us? Paul writes in Romans 4:5 - 8
Romans 4:5-8 (NKJV) But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, {6} just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
{7} "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;
{8} Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."
Because Christ bore our sins on the cross of Calvary, we are forgiven. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven. Is this a good enough reason to rejoice? We are commanded to rejoice and we have good reason to obey that command. The prophet Isaiah speaks of rejoicing in the Lord in Isaiah 61:10
Isaiah 61:10 (NKJV) I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Look at the reasoning of the prophet. I will rejoice in the Lord because He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. Then the prophet illustrates this as a bride and groom. A beautiful picture of the union of a man and woman, a man and His God.

Here in Joel 2:23 - 24, we have another reason to rejoice.

Joel 2:23-24 (NKJV) Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you; The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month.
{24} The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
Joel spells out a reason to rejoice, God has given you many bountiful harvests. We are continually faced with a great deal of evidence that this is true for America as well. How many years have we seen the yards of the grain elevators piled high with more grain than can fit in the elevators? America still grows more than it can eat. We are most blessed as a nation. I would say we need to remind America of the bounty God has blessed us with. And we need to be reminded of the same. Now, these are just a couple of reasons we have to rejoice.

But, I started out with a very tragic story about the Christians in Nagasaki, Japan, how do I rejoice when I am in the throws of some terrible situation? Please turn to Philippians 4:8, here is the principle of rejoicing in the face of any circumstances.
Philippians 4:8 (NKJV) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things.
Aw, Gee, that's easy to say, but how can you do that when you are overwhelmed? Let me give you a couple of illustrations to help you. First, I don't mean to beat up on the ladies, these just happen to be true accounts out of the many books on relationships I have been studying and are prime examples of the principle I want to point out.

A woman went to a marriage councilor because she said she could no longer live with her husband. As the interview began she unloaded all the things about her husband that was driving her to counseling and maybe divorce. After a long and tiresome tirade, the counselor began to ask some questions. The counselor discovered that the woman had a circle of girl friends that met every Wednesday for lunch and during the lunch, their favorite pastime was to complain about their husbands or boyfriends. The counselor gave her two assignments. First, was to stop the husband bashing every Wednesday. That might mean telling the group you will not put up with it and even divorcing herself from the group if they continue the practice of man bashing. The second thing was to make a list of five things she admired about her husband. Like his broad shoulders. The fact that he works many hours a week to support her and the family. The way he might listen to her. Five things. Then she was to concentrate on one of those things each day. Not only concentrate on those things but to express her appreciation for that thing to her husband during the day. She might stand and watch him shave and comment on those broad shoulders. When he comes home from work to put her arms around his neck, give him a big ten second kiss and express her appreciation for all the hours he puts in to support the family. Then the counselor told her to begin to expand the list and do the same thing with each item. At the end of a month, she reported that she had never been happier.

Another woman was in the office of a divorce lawyer demanding he begin divorce proceedings. She expressed her anger and hatred for her husband. The lawyer, then asked, "So, then you really hate this guy?"
"Oh, Yes I do."
"And you really want to get back at him?"
"Oh, Yes, I want to make him pay for the unhappiness he has caused me."
Then the lawyer lowered his voice and almost whispered, "Do you really want to hurt this guy?"
She said an emphatic, "YES!"
So, the lawyer said, "then this is what you do. Go home, treat this guy like the king of the world, you have to convince him you love him like no woman ever loved a man. Be thoughtful and attentive, be respectful and sweet. Then when he is completely convinced of your love, we slam him with the divorce papers and take everything he's got. I guarantee he will be crushed."
The woman thought that this was the greatest plan she had ever heard, she wanted to crush this guy. After a couple of months, the lawyer called the woman and asked when she wanted to slam her husband with the divorce papers and she replied, "Why would I want to do that, I've never been happier, my husband is the most wonderful man on this earth."

Do you see what has happened in these two illustrations? As people concentrate on negative things they get caught up in the negative. The negative becomes supersized. The negative becomes overwhelming. The negative becomes the whole world. We begin to concentrate on only the negative to the exclusion of anything positive. When we switch gears and begin to center our thoughts on the positive, our outlook changes.
Philippians 4:8 (NKJV) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things.
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true"
In the case of the first lady, her friends' husband bashing exacerbated the negative things she felt. These probably were not false, but exaggerations of the truth. The mole hill of truth became the mountain in her mind and began to cast its shadow on the positive. When she began to think of the good and positive attributes of her husband it changed her attitude. Now, on the part of the husbands, unless the man is not all there, he cannot help but to react to the attitude of the people around him. The wife's negative attitudes most likely caused the guy to become remote, thus aggravating the situation. But as soon as one individual began to approach the other with a positive attitude things changed. In the case of the second lady, the exercise of doing and saying positive things made a change in her attitude and so a change in her husband.

There are so many things that can put us in a tail spin. Financial reversals... Bad decisions on the part of a loved one... A son who goes to jail... A daughter who gets pregnant out of wedlock... A spouse who cheats... The loss of someone you love... A spouse, A parent, A friend, A brother or sister... A disease... And it would be so easy to allow ourselves to wallow in self-pity and all the negative emotions. Why did God allow me to have to go through surgery on my neck? Why did I have to wear that hard collar so long? Why? And yet, the other day a person who had been in an automobile accident came to me because they had to have the same operation and I was able to set their mind at ease and to reassure them that everything would come out at the end. It was not a pleasant experience. I would sit up at night and cry, I would throw that collar across the room. But, the little bit of assurance I could give one person made it a worth while experience.
Philippians 4:8 (NKJV) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things.
Going back to the opening story - Nagasaki was the center of Japanese Christianity. A substantial Christian community had survived three centuries of persecution. They worshiped underground and endured martyrdom. They were only allowed to live their faith in public at the turn of the century. Then, in 60 seconds, they were wiped out. But the survivors' response wasn't anger. Takashi Nagai, who lost his wife in the blast and who later died from the effects of radiation, said, "Let us give thanks that through this sacrifice, peace was given to the world and freedom of religion to Japan."

Over and over again we are told in Scripture to rejoice in the Lord. We have many reasons to rejoice. But, the means is found in Philippians 4:8, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things. Find the good and meditate and act upon that good.

Philippians 4:4 says
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Amen!

----------------------------
Lee Vary Jr.
February 25, 2006