#006 To Rejoice Is Safe (Philippians 3:1)
The first sermon I ever preached was from Philippians ch4 v4-7, which begins with that gloriously rousing call “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”
A poignant exhortation given the circumstances Paul found himself in when writing to the church in Philippi.
In Philippians ch4, Paul is, of course, building on what he said at the beginning of ch3 “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.”
Isn’t that a curious thing to say? To rejoice is… safe!
Christian do you see?
Paul thinks of joy as a metric for assurance.
Paul knows that salvation, the free gift of eternal life - or we could say eternal safety - is so precious to those who genuinely receive it, that they will inevitably rejoice.
Paul wants to hear of the Philippian Christians rejoicing in their salvation so that he can be less anxious about them. If they can’t rejoice in their salvation, it begs the question: have they actually received it?
Christian, our emotions and our affections for Christ are a little unreliable at times. David in Psalm 51 asked God to return to him the joy of salvation, which tells us that his joy was taken away even when his salvation wasn't. It’s true that assurance is not the same as faith.
But Christian, it is also true to say that the rejoicing heart is the safe heart.
A poignant exhortation given the circumstances Paul found himself in when writing to the church in Philippi.
In Philippians ch4, Paul is, of course, building on what he said at the beginning of ch3 “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.”
Isn’t that a curious thing to say? To rejoice is… safe!
Christian do you see?
Paul thinks of joy as a metric for assurance.
Paul knows that salvation, the free gift of eternal life - or we could say eternal safety - is so precious to those who genuinely receive it, that they will inevitably rejoice.
Paul wants to hear of the Philippian Christians rejoicing in their salvation so that he can be less anxious about them. If they can’t rejoice in their salvation, it begs the question: have they actually received it?
Christian, our emotions and our affections for Christ are a little unreliable at times. David in Psalm 51 asked God to return to him the joy of salvation, which tells us that his joy was taken away even when his salvation wasn't. It’s true that assurance is not the same as faith.
But Christian, it is also true to say that the rejoicing heart is the safe heart.
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