Title: Rejoice in the Lord! (Philippians 2:1)
Contents
Paul concludes all his counsel so far by giving a concluding admonition.
'To the end' is Paul's habit of using this word in the sense of speaking comprehensively and in the sense that what is said from now on is important.
Paul says, 'Rejoice in the Lord.'
This story is not the first time. 'Using the same word', he says, makes important recommendations by using repetitive words.
The best way to teach is through repetition.
It's nagging, but it's important to keep repeating the religious lessons that are good for children too. Then the children are bothered, but it gets stuck in their head, and then they remember it and live like that.
Ex) TV commercials are just repeated and effective advertising.
Religious education is also repetitive education. It is to repeatedly instill important religious attitudes such as 'Pray, evangelize, and don't be absent'.
The important teaching that Paul is repeating and important now is to 'rejoice'.
Paul was talking about 'joy' from the first chapter. It seems that his interest was in how to create Christian joy.
The fact that he is now in prison and that he is facing a crisis of not knowing what the outcome of his trial will be is how shocking his demand for 'joy' is.
The Philippians acknowledged that believing in Jesus was suffering. At that time, believing in Jesus is the beginning of suffering and trials.
But Paul is telling us to rejoice in such conditions of life.
-There are too many elements in our lives that take away joy rather than increase it.
When joy disappears from our lives, the Christian's beautiful life fades away.
What are the things that take away joy in our lives? Paul has been discussing this from the previous chapter.
1. It is a person.
Our relationships with people all too often take away our joy.
Relationships with people should bring us joy, but real life takes away our joy.
That's why we need to keep our relationship with Saro cautious.
The most important thing to watch out for is 'words'.
Example) "The reason people like dogs is because they don't talk and wag their tails."
Let's say nice things to each other. Let's make other people's stories good. Do only what you think is good for other people's stories.
Then our relationship will be a good meeting that promotes joy and will be of great help and grace.
2. Environment.
Bad environment takes away our joy.
Man is an animal of the environment. It is governed by the environment.
However, a good environment does not necessarily make a good person. Adam and Eve sinned under the best of circumstances. Conversely, Paul completes his wonderful epistles, shouting joy in the worst circumstances.
Christians are not to be dominated by circumstances, but to overcome them and overcome them. Given circumstances that would take it away, we must learn to create it.
3. It is a sin.
When you sin, your joy disappears in an instant.
That is why we must always fight for the right life.
4. This is Satan.
Satan instills care and anxieties into our hearts, creates hurtful things and brings temptations, which rob us of the overflowing joy in our hearts.
-What we need to know here is that 'joy' has both relative and absolute.
We often think of joy as relative joy.
* There is joy that comes when needs are fulfilled. This is a joy to taste when things are going well.
I am happy when I have something to eat when I am hungry, I am happy when I wear warm clothes when it is cold, and I am happy when something is done according to my thoughts.
Ex) I experienced great joy in the last match of World Cup soccer. I also watched the game and prayed because it was frustrating. I asked Iraq to score only one goal, but I thought the game was over after the prayer ended, but I scored one goal. I was full of joy.
Hearing that Japanese people cried and cried, I feel sorry for them.
This joy is one-dimensional joy.
These joys come from the little things.
(When the traffic lights are connected well, the joy of using a towel for the first time, the freshness of putting on underwear for the first time, when the bus you get on without waiting arrives, when the road that used to be blocked is not blocked)
If you look more closely, when you move into a new house, when you buy new clothes, when you buy new things, etc.
But these primary joys are short-lived. Relative joy disappears when the relative joy element disappears.
*Slightly better joy is 'intellectual joy' This is the joy that comes from enlightenment.
It is the joy of creation, the joy of learning.
*Better than this is the joy that comes from good deeds.
This is a moral joy. It is the joy of loving, helping, doing good, and doing good.
*However, the highest level of joy above all these is 'absolute joy'.
It is 'spiritual joy'.
The joy that comes from faith. Mystical joy. It rejoices in grace and rejoices in hope. This joy is a joy that no one who has not experienced can understand.
That is why He emphasizes, 'Rejoice in the Lord.'
It is strictly different from the joys of the world. Our joy is to 'rejoice in the Lord'.
In other words, live your life while always enjoying the joy that comes from the Lord.
Here's something we need to take seriously.
*When there is a condition for joy, it is not that we rejoice according to it, but that we create it.
You have to live a life that makes you happy.
You can make your home a happy and happy home, or, conversely, make it a frustrating and dark home.
A couple can live happily, or they can live without fashion.
A church can be created as a happy and beautiful church, and on the contrary, it can only create tests and problems.
I need to know what it is to fill my life with joy.
Joy is being created. Or, more simply, discovering the joy God has given you and enjoying it and living it.
Rejoicing is a privilege that God has only given to humans.
Have you ever seen an animal laugh? What if my dog at home suddenly saw me and smiled? It is rather frightening for animals to laugh. But humans can laugh. It's nice to smile and comfortable to smile.
Ex) The most unfriendly people in the world are Paris, France, and Korea is the second.
Paris is the pride of his city. But what about Seoul? I can't make you laugh. No humor. So I think I'm all mad when I go home It looks like a face that everyone fought outside. It's a scary face.
People should laugh. Create joy and sustain it. You must create a life where you can share that joy.
* Also, joy is not that there are conditions to be happy, but that we must rejoice unconditionally.
Paul's words are commands. It is a command that must be obeyed unconditionally. 'Rejoice in the Lord' This means that you will be happy if you rejoice unconditionally first rather than rejoice because of conditions.
Ex) Let's say you are angry. At that time, if you get angry and worry right away, you will be caught there.
However, if you take a little time to laugh and think that there must be a reason for that, you must have experienced that strangely, your mind is relaxed and the tension is released a little.
No matter how frustrating or painful things happen, let's be happy first.
Ex) Do you know who the very bad couple are? When a couple fights, they both get angry. It's nonsense. Then, usually, a man or woman on the other side tries to release it. It's funny and sometimes they buy you something. Then, if you just smile and accept it, the war will end and peace will come. But he doesn't laugh, he insists to the end and continues the Cold War. These people are bad people. You're only hurting yourself.
It's just one smile. It's just accepting it with ease. Then the couple's fight will become a quarrelsome fight.
I think that's what being human is. Anguish and sadness keep getting stuck in it in a strange way. When you think you're upset, you get upset over and over again, and it expands and upsets you, and later it becomes like a really big deal.
However, even if you feel a little upset, you just brush it off, get up and understand, and if you quickly find the element of joy and rejoice, you will forget it.
This is the wisdom of life. 'Rejoice in the Lord' A life of rejoicing unconditionally even if there is no joy in anything. Please believe that this is the true life of a Christian living in this world.
A person who rejoices while looking forward to eternal life even in the face of death.
A person who rejoices while relying on God who gives victory in the face of problems.
A person who firmly believes in and rejoices in God, who works through hardships for good
A person who rejoices while looking forward to a better tomorrow even after a test.
Such people are those who 'rejoice in the Lord'.
Those who believe that all the works of the Lord are good and beautiful are those who do not lose their joy despite suffering and frustration.
Our faith must be matured into a powerful faith that produces joy in the midst of everything.
To put it mildly, the Christian trademark is joy. There should be joy in your face.
Lincoln said that a person should be responsible for his or her face at the age of 40, but Christians should be responsible for their face.
Example) A lawyer who was traveling in St. Louis, USA asked a traffic cop to introduce the church on a Sunday morning. However, while I was visiting the introduced church, there were a few more churches. On the way home from the service, there are many churches close to the traffic cop. When I asked why he had to introduce the church, he said, "I don't know which church is the true church because I haven't been to it. The faces of the members who came out of the church seemed to be the brightest and most happy, so I introduced the church.??it would be
Dear all!
In such a harsh and frustrating world. We live in a world where suffering, hardship, irritability and fatigue overlap, but we have been given a command from heaven.
It means "Rejoice in the Lord always!" is.
Let's live happily. Let's create joy in the Lord. We hope that all members of Anyang Western Church will witness the kingdom of God with bright and beautiful faces of joy in the field of life.
Amen.