Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice."
There is much repetition throughout God's Word. If something is mentioned only
once, it still remains to be truth. But when it is repeated, we should stop and
take notice. Especially when it is repeated in such a short measure of words in
a sentence. "Verily, verily, I say unto you." "Truly, truly I
say unto you." Jesus often used this method for us to pay close attention
to what is being said. Paul uses the approach of saying, Rejoice, and
again I say, Rejoice. Should we stop and pay attention to these words? I think,
yes.
The word rejoice carries the meaning of being full of cheer and gladness. The
phrase, "Be of good cheer," is used seven times and each of them are
in the New Testament. Jesus made the statement five times and Paul made it
twice in the book of Acts. Bear with me as I put these statements together to
form a better understanding of "rejoice."
Jesus spoke those words in the following manner: "Be of good cheer; thy
sins be forgiven thee. Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. Be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world." Then when he appeared to Paul while in
prison, Jesus said, "Be of good cheer Paul: for as thou hast testified of
me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome." The next
two times those words come from the mouth of Paul as the ship upon which he is
traveling is in the middle of a terrible storm of hurricane force. Listen to
Paul's words of assurance to all the other men on that ship: "And now I
exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life
among you, but of the ship. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I
believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me."
What can we gather from these instances of the words being spoken as we think
on the words, "Rejoice alway: and again I say, Rejoice"? How is it
that you and I can rejoice in all times and situations? Jesus still says to us
today, "They sins be forgiven thee. It is I; be not afraid. I have overome
the world. You will bear witness." Be of good cheer: for I believe God.
To sum up this verse, let us not take the word "rejoice" by itself
and think we have to muster up some kind of fake or false happiness from within
ourselves. Paul was not telling the people to rejoice just for happiness' sake.
"Rejoice IN the Lord." By God's grace we are in Christ Jesus.
We could not place ourselves there, but God has called us unto Himself and
placed us in that place where our sins are forgiven. We can have fellowship
with the great I AM. He has overcome the world and IN Him, we are more than
conquerors. We can be of good cheer because of God's unconditional amazing
love. If we truly believe that, then we have the ability to "rejoice
in the Lord alway."