This morning, turn your attention to Philippians chapter 3, only a very, very small portion of Scripture, the first half of verse 1. And I pray that you will not see this as being tedious as we make our way through this rich letter to the Philippian church. Indeed, Paul says there, finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. And what he has to say to us there, rejoice in the Lord is so rich, has such significance for what he has to say to the Philippians that may it be that we too, as we pause and consider this one phrase and what it means to rejoice in the Lord, that we too would find it rich. In connection with that, I would ask you to turn to Psalm 33 as we read Psalm 33 in connection with that. Just a few comments before we do read that. We know, I trust you remember, that Paul's overall theme or message in this letter to the Philippian church is joy, to rejoice in the Lord. He's talked about that in the first couple of chapters, now here again in a specific way, and he will come back to it again at the very end of this letter, to rejoice in the Lord. But it's interesting, I think it's telling that, especially now, he calls the believers again to rejoice in the Lord. Because in the first two chapters, if you recall, as we have gone through them, he has laid before the Philippian believers a number of things in this life that would seek to rob the believer of this joy in the Lord. Specifically for the Philippian church, he has talked about his imprisonment. And that, of course, was somewhat depressing to the Philippian believers. He's talked about those who preached Christ from false motives. He's talked about persecution. He's talked about jealousy and envy that the church members themselves were having toward one another. He's talked again about his absence from them. He's talked about the illness of their dear friend Epaphroditus. And all of these things you see in some way, shape, or form are troubling to God's people and they would seek to strip, to rob God's people of having joy and rejoicing in the Lord. And now he begins this verse, finally. We need to understand too that that word finally there does not mean now for the conclusion. I'm almost at the end of my letter because he has a more conclusive finally toward the end of chapter 4. But this finally, we must understand, is more in the sense of as for the rest, After all these things I have said, as for the rest, the big thing is to rejoice in the Lord. And now he's going to make a transition as well from all of those situations that would cause inward struggles for the Philippian believers. And he's going to talk more specifically next about the Judaizers. That group of people who still thought that you had to obey certain Mosaic laws It was okay to be a Christian, but you had to do so through the door of Judaism. And they were working on affecting the churches in that way. And in the same way, he warns the Philippian church about the Judaizers. But in the meantime, rejoice in the Lord. That is what is going to help them and to keep them safe in the midst of a life where there are so many things that strive to try to rob the true believer from the joy that we are to have in the Lord. So Psalm 33, Psalm 33. And I trust as we read this psalm together, you'll see the beauty of being called to rejoice in the Lord. Hear now the Word of God. Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous. It is fitting for the upright to praise Him. Praise the Lord with a harp, make music to Him on the ten-stringed lyre, sing to Him a new song, play skillfully and shout for joy. For the word of the Lord is right and true. He is faithful in all He does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of His unfailing love. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made their starry hosts by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars. He puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke and it came to be. He commanded and it stood firm. The Lord foils the plans of the nations. He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever. The purposes of His heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind. From His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth, He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army. No warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance. despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You. Philippians 3, verse 1, Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. Beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ, do you know how to truly rejoice? Do you know what it means to truly rejoice? I suspect most of us would say, well, sure, we rejoice when we go to a birthday party or we rejoice in the birth of a new child or we rejoice if we have a winning season or our team wins the championship game. We rejoice when there's a graduation or maybe a wedding or when we receive a promotion at work. There are all kinds of situations and circumstances for which we rejoice, in which we rejoice. It's a time of happiness and celebration. It's a time of laughter. And the truth is, we often think of joy and rejoicing in terms of those things, don't we? In terms of happiness. When we have the things and the circumstances of life turn out in the way that we like, in the way that we approve of. But you see, beloved, true joy and true rejoicing, as Paul talks about here, is not based on those kinds of favorable circumstances. They're not founded on fun occasions. But true joy and rejoicing, as Paul speaks of it, is, as someone has said, the inner quality of delight in God and springs up in a way, listen to this, totally unrelated to the adversities or the circumstantial blessings of this life. True joy and rejoicing is totally unrelated to the adversities or the circumstantial blessings of this life in the sense that these things do not dictate that true joy. Instead, beloved, true joy determines how one will respond in the face of adversities or the blessings of this life. Paul is calling here for true rejoicing. And I trust that it's clear to each one of us, I hope that it will become clear to each one of us anyway, that this true rejoicing is unrelated to, it is not dependent on earthly happiness or favorable circumstances as we often think. As we said a moment ago, the theme of Paul's letter to the Philippians is rejoicing in the Lord in the midst of a life that seeks to rob us, rob believers of this true joy. And we must see, congregation, that true joy and rejoicing is founded largely, if not completely, on sound doctrine. Because if you don't know and understand the teaching, the truth, the true teaching of the Word of God, you cannot and you will not have true joy. You will never, ever truly rejoice. And therefore, it is good for us to pause with Paul here before moving forward to what he has to say and in the shadow of what he has just said, in the shadow of those joy-robbing things of life, it is good for us to pause briefly here this morning to consider what true rejoicing is all about and why true rejoicing is sufficient for you and me in the midst of sorrow and troubles and persecutions and the things that this life might throw at us. True rejoicing. First of all, noticing its incomprehensible cause. Now, it's incomprehensible because without true faith, without true faith, one will never ever be able to understand how one can face the trials of life with joy and without being completely devastated. Without true faith, that's impossible. And as we consider the incomprehensible cause of true rejoicing, we need to notice that this rejoicing is a commanded activity. Paul says, rejoice in the Lord. It's not a suggestion, it is a command. Just like love, love is not a feeling. Feelings may be included. But love is a commanded activity. We are commanded to love no matter how we might feel. And the same is true with rejoicing. We are commanded to rejoice. And therefore, this rejoicing that Paul talks about is not something that is passive. It's not something that just happens to us. It's not based on feelings like a warm, fuzzy feeling that comes flowing over me because of some outside influence of life that makes me feel like rejoicing. It is an activity. It is something that we as Christians can do. It is an act of the born-again will that flows from faith. So it's not passive for us, but it's also not an activity that is forced. You see, we need to have, We must not have a wrong understanding of the kind of activity that this is, and therefore there are two dangers that we need to consider, we need to remember when it comes to true rejoicing. And that first danger is the danger of producing joy. Manipulating a joyful response by some sort of artificial means, or as someone has said, by a direct attack on the emotions. Doing something to our emotions so that we might rejoice. For example, again, if your favorite team wins the big game, that's going to call for a response from your emotions. It's going to call for you to rejoice somehow. Or when it comes to the life of the church, singing songs with catchy tunes to get the congregation into the mood for worship, to make the congregation happy, because certainly we all know that you can only rejoice in the Lord when your emotions are right. But that's not what Paul is talking about. Indeed, it is good to sing songs of praise as we come into worship, but not in order to get into the mood. But singing our songs of praise is to flow from the rejoicing that is already a part of us. Our rejoicing does not depend on being happy. Because we're not happy in death, are we? We are not happy in death. Yet believers can rejoice even in death. And happiness is often the result of true joy. Beloved, we know that there is much artificial joy in the world that has absolutely nothing to do with true rejoicing and by which many try to escape the troubles and the unhappiness of life. But true rejoicing, as Paul is making clear throughout this letter, does not seek to escape the troubles and the unhappiness of life. That's the first danger. Producing, trying to produce joy by artificial means or producing an artificial joy, we might say. The second danger is posing in an artificial way. Posing as bright and happy and cheerful Christian people. Putting on a happy face, trying to give the outward impression that it is a wonderful thing to be a Christian. Now again, that's nothing but fake happiness. And just as you can tell if someone's smile is genuine or not, you can also tell the difference between one with true joy and one who is putting on a show of Christian happiness. And that is nothing more than mechanical Christianity. Now, on the one hand, beloved, it is a wonderful thing to be a Christian. There is nothing greater because of what we have in Christ Jesus. Because of the great God we serve. As the psalmist in Psalm 33 points out, take time today to meditate on that psalm. Maybe around the dinner table at the close of your meal today. Meditate on that as the psalmist meditates on who God is. On what He has done. On His sovereignty over all things. Nothing can overpower Him. And on the fact that He is to be our hope and our heart's desire because He alone is the one who gives hope and salvation. It is a wonderful thing to be a Christian. But on the other hand, it is not always so wonderful in a particular sense. Paul knew greater joy than most people ever will. I think we can safely say that. Yet he also said in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 4, For while we are in this tent, we groan. We are burdened. The Heidelberg Catechism in the older version calls this life a veil of tears. That's what it is. This life all by itself in the midst of a sinful, a sin-saturated world is a veil of tears and it is miserable. We can read the accounts of many a martyr who rejoiced as they ran to the stake. They sang songs of praise to God as the flames were burning their flesh. And boys and girls, they rejoiced as they ran to the stake, not because burning to death was so much fun. Not because that made them feel good. But because of the relationship of salvation that they knew that they had to Jesus Christ. You see, He and that relationship that He has brought us into with Himself is the incomprehensible cause of true rejoicing. Paul commands us to rejoice not by producing it through our emotions, not by posing, by putting on an outward happy face which is fake, but he commands us to rejoice because of what we already have. Rejoice in the Lord because you are in the Lord. we are in the sphere of the love and the mercy and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in the sphere of His fellowship and His saving love ours is a position of joy in Him Jesus says in John chapter 16 in this world you will have trouble but take heart as if to say rejoice for I have overcome the world the believer's joy is a product it is the result of knowing and understanding my relationship to God through Jesus Christ and it's only for Christians it's only true for Christians the world even with all of its artificial happiness is completely unhappy busy looking for the secret that will bring them true rejoicing but we have it we have it beloved and we are to show in our rejoicing that we have it we are to show that in Christ we too overcome the world. We can face tribulations and persecutions and troubles. The difficulties of the flesh. We can face them with confidence and courage because we know that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing will ever be able to separate us from His love. There is no greater reason to rejoice and therefore Paul commands us to actively do it. And our true rejoicing, beloved, is a shocking task. It's to be a shocking task because as we rejoice, we are to shock the world. We are to convict the world. And we are to pray that if it is God's will, He would lead the world to Christ through us as we show them that in spite of whatever difficulty of life we might face in this veil of tears that we still rejoice. That's beyond the world's comprehension. How can that be that you can rejoice in the face of death? In the face of news of a terminal illness? In the face of losing your job and losing your income for a time? In the face of anything that you and I might face that we don't particularly like? It's a shocking task, but also rejoicing in the Lord is a sure test for ourselves. It is a sure test of our genuine profession of faith. Of my confidence that I am not my own, but I belong, body and soul and life and in death, unto my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who has fully satisfied for all my sins. Not partially. Not just done a little bit of the work, or even most of it, and I've got to do the rest. But He is fully satisfied for all of my sins. True rejoicing is one of the results of being a true Christian. And beloved, this includes rejoicing because we get to worship the One who is the incomprehensible cause. We get to worship this very Jesus Christ. And therefore, here's a partial test for you and me. We must ask ourselves, how do I feel about worship? How do I feel about worship? You see, many are not happy about worship. Boys and girls often, and even young people, even myself when I was a kid. My attitude was more, I have to go to church tomorrow. You might be invited by a friend to do something on Sunday, but you say, I have to go to church tomorrow. No, you get to go to church tomorrow. But even as adults, we feel that way sometimes, don't we? Worship seems to get in the way. We see it more as our duty. And maybe go once, and we're done for the day. But if this is your attitude, beloved, that means either you do not have true faith, Or, you do not understand the privilege that you truly have of being a child of God. Its incomprehensible cause is Jesus Christ and the relationship that He has brought His people into with Himself. Secondly, notice its comprehensive reason. Why should we rejoice in the Lord? Well, first of all, very simply because it's commanded. We've talked about that and we need no other reason, do we? But there are plenty of other reasons. Another reason is we ought to rejoice in the Lord for the Lord's sake. Not because He needs us to, but because He deserves it. He deserves it for His plan of salvation, beloved. His plan of salvation was not an afterthought. It was not a plan B. It was not a last-minute decision on God's part. But it was God's plan from eternity. The psalmist says God thwarts the plans of the wicked of the nations. But His plan comes to pass. Paul says in Ephesians 1 that God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world. And he says that we, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, He always had you and me in mind and our salvation. It's His handiwork for us. What a great reason to rejoice. And therefore, beloved, we need to ask, how is a miserable moping around sad-faced Christian, one who is sad-faced all the time, one who seems hopeless, how is a Christian like that a credit to God? He's not. Or how does one who always apologizes for their faith, not in the sense of defending it, but being, I'm sorry for it. Or one who is always embarrassed of being a Christian, how does one like that demonstrate the wisdom of God in saving his church? He doesn't. He doesn't. But instead, beloved, we are to show forth His praise and glory. That is the great privilege of those whom He has brought out of eternal darkness and brought into the wonderful light of His eternal truth. How are we to show forth His praise and glory? One way, by showing that this Christian life of ours is one that empowers us by the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome this world and to rejoice even in hard times of life, whatever those hard times might be, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. We are to rejoice for the Lord's sake, for God, but also for the sake of others. God and others. Many of us remember that. God and others. Paul calls us earlier to shine like stars in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation. We are to stand out and radiate that new life. Again, not artificially produced or not opposed rejoicing, but a sincere rejoicing. That is what is to radiate from your life and mine for those around us. For those who are living in misery and unhappiness. For those whom we know are going from one disappointment to the next disappointment to the next disappointment. For those whom we know are wondering if it is worth it all. If this life is worth it. May it be, beloved, that they would see us and that they would see the joy that fills our hearts through contentment, through a peace that passes understanding, through whatever situation of life that we may be called upon to face, that they may see that and say, they see our hope in Jesus Christ and say, there is hope for me after all. In this Jesus. We are to rejoice for God, for the sake of God, for the sake of others, but also for our own sake. You see, rejoicing in the Lord was Paul and the psalmist's theme for the Christian life, not just in Psalm 33, but read the psalms throughout the psalm, throughout the psalter. The psalmist calls God's people to rejoice in the Lord. Rejoicing in the Lord, you see, is a safeguard for you and me. Paul calls it a safeguard with regard to what he's about to say concerning the Judaizers, but it's a safeguard for you and me against many of the dangers that we face in this life. It's a safeguard for you and me against the temptation to sin. When you and I come face to face with temptation and sin, we are called to rejoice in the Lord. To remember that relationship that Jesus Christ has brought us into with Himself and what He did to bring us into that relationship. And then to answer that temptation as Joseph did. How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? It's also a safeguard for us in other ways. Psychologically, we know that the life can be a downer. This life can get us down as we see the news reports and all the bad things that are happening out there. Or maybe if we find that we simply don't have enough money for the necessities of life, or if our car breaks down or our health is poor, or if we have wayward family members that just don't seem to get it, or if we simply feel squeezed, the life being squeezed out of us by an ungodly society, we are to remember, as Nehemiah says, the joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength to face all these things. And the truth is that just as we do our work better and easier, when we are happy, we all know that. In the same way, the Christian who really and truly rejoices even in the midst of the sorrows and trials that the world simply can't understand, that Christian will suffer fewer difficulties. It doesn't mean he will face fewer difficulties. But he will suffer fewer difficulties. Because by rejoicing in the Lord, life will not get him down or at least will not keep him down. As he rejoices in the Lord, he will heed the words of Paul to strive to keep from complaining and arguing. We know that when one worries and doubts and is in despair all the time, that often creates more difficulties for that one. And Paul even shows us a bit how this works out when he rejoiced in the Lord and even though some preached Christ falsely as he says in chapter 1. Paul did not take that as a personal attack. He did not worry about his own reputation in that instance. He rejoiced in the Lord because Christ was preached. He knew that he was working for the Lord. He knew that vengeance belongs to the Lord. Rejoicing in the Lord is also a safeguard against selfishness. Again, when one rejoices in the Lord because of what He has done and you understand that by faith, then you will, as Paul says in chapter 2, you will look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. It's a safeguard against putting too much trust in man. Often we put our trust in man and the things of this world. The Philippian believers tended to put too much trust in Paul. Oh, Paul, what are we going to do if you die? What are we going to do if you don't get out of prison? Paul says, don't worry about that. I'm not. Instead, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord who saved you. Rejoice in the Lord who is always with you, even though I may not be. And again, as he will point out, Paul will point out, it's a safeguard against Judaizers and the influence that they might have. Beloved, true rejoicing is only in the Lord because it is also an unfailing joy. Another reason to rejoice. It's an unfailing joy. It can never fail, this joy in God. It is as eternal as God Himself. All other joy fails. Artificial joy. Manufactured joy. Joy that you or I might have in the things of this life. In my own self. In my own success. In my own abilities. In my own intellect. In my own home or my children. It will all fail. One day it will all be taken away. And we can take none of it with us when we leave this life. One day, each of us will stand naked, as it were, face to face with God. And for those who rejoiced in the Lord, that will be our abiding joy in Christ Jesus. Because, as the writer of Hebrews says, He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. People of God, if my joy is secure forever, then nothing can come between me and the love of God for Jesus' sake. Paul could be thrown in prison. He could be persecuted and beaten. He could be robbed of his earthly character, but he could not be stripped of his joy in the Lord. The comprehensive reason for rejoicing is to be for God, for others, for ourselves. Also because it's an unfailing joy. And finally, notice its supreme demonstration. How are we to rejoice in the Lord? We could spend hours, we could spend days talking about this. But how are we to rejoice in the Lord? First of all, by seeing this joy in God as the only foundation of all joy that you and I might find in this life. There are other joys in this life and the joys of this life, maybe that we might receive from our family or from relationships or from work or from recreation, whatever it might be. That joy, it's all a blessing from God for the believer, but it is not to become, We are not to become dependent on these temporary things. These things which only have meaning when we rejoice in the Lord. These things only have meaning when living is Christ, as Paul says. When our life is bound up completely in Christ and we are to demonstrate that joy in the Lord is the foundation of all joy by living dependently on God. but also then we demonstrate how to rejoice in the Lord by meditating on the Lord, thinking on His majesty and greatness, as the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 12, fixing our eyes on Jesus. When is the last time, and I had to confront myself with this in these last couple of days, when is the last time you or I took time to go sit in private with our Bible? Maybe some of you are faithful. I hope you are. But to sit with your Bible and meditate on the greatness and the majesty of God. Just think on who He is. It's incomprehensible to fix our eyes on Jesus. Now that's what the psalmist does here for us. For the Word of the Lord is right and true. He is faithful in all He does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of His unfailing love. When is the last time you or I took the time to meditate on the greatness of our God? But also we are to demonstrate it by considering and meditating on His work. His great and marvelous and glorious, one-of-a-kind work. What He has done. Again, He is the Creator. The psalmist says, His eye is on everything. But also specifically, the cross. The work of Jesus. which we sang about beautifully in Praise the Savior. You know, that the cross has become a jewelry charm. As I read some weeks ago in connection with Philippians, we can be sure that the people of Paul's day did not look at the cross as a symbol of Christianity. Because it was reserved for the worst of the worst. For you and me today, it is indeed a symbol of Christianity, but we must never forget that it is also an emblem of suffering and shame. We must meditate on the cross, the worst kind of suffering and shame that could ever be at the hand of Almighty God. We must meditate on what Jesus Christ did, on the suffering that He endured that led to the cross, on the truth of His complete humiliation. He left His home in glory. He left the purity and the perfectness of heaven. He veiled in flesh His divinity. Now think about that. Moses was told, you cannot see My face and live. Isaiah saw the holiness of God and he came undone. He said, I am undone. We know that one day every knee will bow before Jesus Christ as they see the glory and the majesty of the King. That is the effect that the glory of God has on absolutely everyone, believer or unbeliever. And Jesus Christ veiled it for a time. And what was the result? He was mocked. He was beaten. He was spit on. He was hated. He was crucified. Beloved, He did it all for you and me. We must meditate on what He has done. We must meditate on what He is doing, as Paul says in chapter 2, verse 13, For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. God is not a hands-off God. He is very much working in you and me by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. He is preparing me for heaven and He is preparing heaven for me. That's where Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you. And we must also meditate on what He will do as Jesus also says in John 14, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. We are to demonstrate true rejoicing by showing that the Lord Jesus Christ is supreme over my life. And that rejoicing in Him, beloved, is reflected in finding contentment and peace in this life. In every situation. And you have your own situations. I have my own situations. But finding contentment and peace in God, the understanding that He is in control, finding comfort for life, reflected in being devoted to Him. And it's even to be reflected on our face and in our attitude. Indeed, we are to be happy. Not a giddy, false kind of happy. But even when we are sad, beloved, there is to be a gladness of heart because we have the confidence of who we are in Christ Jesus and that God is in complete control. Is there any greater reason to rejoice in the Lord? He comes into our lives. He changes our circumstances from eternal death to eternal life. He raises our hope and gives us the assurance of His unfailing love and salvation. And He alone, because of Jesus Christ, makes us able to see past the chaos and the confusion and the hopelessness of this life to see to the glorious life of eternal glory with Him. How do we truly rejoice? By living the Christian life in fellowship with God through Christ. Fellowship reflected in all of life. We can rejoice in our earthly successes. We can rejoice in a winning season or in a lead role in a musical or in record profits for our business. We can rejoice in the accomplishments of our children and grandchildren, but these things will disappoint us because they will not last. Only Jesus Christ and His saving grace will last forever. And beloved, what will we be doing forever in His presence? Read the book of Revelation. We will be rejoicing in the Lord without end. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Help us, O Lord, to rejoice in You. And Father, may we understand too that this rejoicing is indeed to be something natural for the child of God that is naturally displayed in our lives through our words and actions. And Father, may it be that we would meditate on Your goodness and Your greatness instead of forgetting to take time with You. May it be that every day we would reflect on Your greatness and Your majesty and on Your work on our behalf and what that means for us. May we not be content to forget about these things but to understand that You have saved us. You have actually saved us for the sake of Christ Jesus. That we are no longer lost, but we have been forever found. That we will live forever in Your presence because of Your love and Your mercy and Your grace. Father, may we rejoice today and every day. And may You receive all the praise and the honor and the glory for Jesus' sake. Amen.