Rejoice in the Lord Always

Matthew 5:11-12

11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Good afternoon and welcome to the Panhandle, glad you are here. Today we are looking at the Christ Jesus' general command or His words of wisdom concerning persecution. So come on in sit down and let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.

This is the longest beatitude and the hardest to embrace. It is also the only beatitude with a command, “Rejoice and be glad!” Rejoice and be glad, this phrase is a command and basically means to “jump for joy.”

There is a popular praise chorus titled “Again I Say Rejoice.” The first two refrains are:

Rejoice in the Lord always
And again I say, and again I say
Rejoice in the Lord always
And again I say, and again I say
Rejoice

Show Father, look, jump, shout to rejoice Him!

come bless the Lord, come bless the Lord

Draw near to worship Christ, the Lord
And bless His name, His holy name
Declaring He is good (come bless the Lord)

Rejoice what do it mean? According to the dictionary -

re·joice – verb: rejoice; 1. feel or show great joy or delight.

In the Greek the word used for rejoice is NT:5463 chairo (khah'-ee-ro); a primary verb; to be "cheerful"

Vine's Concise Dictionary of the Bible: Fare, Farewell, Glad (be; make), Gladly, Greet, Greeting, Hail (Verb), Joy, Joyfulness, Joyfully, Joyous, Rejoice

So here in Matthew 5:12 a better translation would not be "joy" as in happiness, but "joy" as in appreciation, thanksgiving, and rejoicing (or more accurately, a combination of those words). "Rejoicefullness", if that were such a word, would be the best translation. The original Greek word used here does not always mean that we will be happy. Rather, it means that we will find appreciation and rejoicing in all our circumstances.

This very clearly shows that while we may not be happy, we can still rejoice. The "joy" that God will give us is not entirely based on happiness, but it is based on rejoicing. James, the half brother of Christ Jesus, actually begins his book in the Bible with these words: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” (James 1:2-3).

As hard as it may seem, it is not enough to be patient and content under these sufferings as under common afflictions, and not to curse or gripe about our circumstances. Instead we must rejoice, because the honor and dignity, the pleasure and advantage, of suffering for Christ Jesus. To rejoice even in affliction is more tolerable than the pain or shame of the affliction. Not that we must take a pride in our sufferings, but we must take a pleasure in knowing that Christ Jesus has gone before us ~ Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. (1 Peter 4:12-13).

So: Rejoice in the Lord always
And again I say, and again I say
Rejoice in the Lord always
And again I say, and again I say
Rejoice

Until next time may our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus bless you and yours mightily.

Biblesurfer