Samuel Rutherford was a pastor in Anwoth, Scotland in the 1600’s, when the English government changed, and demanded that all ministers use the government prescribed prayer book, and submit to the rites and ordinances of the Anglican church, instead of following the scriptures as many of them had been doing. Rutherford and 2000 other ministers refused to submit to the government order, and they were thrown out of their churches by the government. (By the way — we may not be far from this same kind of thing happening here in the US; we need to learn from the courage and conviction of men like Rutherford.) Samuel Rutherford was banished to prison in Aberdeen. But even in exile, separated from his home, his church, and his friends, Rutherford had joy in the Lord. He wrote of his time in prison: “My Lord Jesus has fully recompensed my sadness with His joys; my losses with His own presence.”
One of the greatest signs of the genuine Christian life, is the ability to rejoice, even in difficult circumstances. This kind of Christian joy is what the prisoners in the Philippian prison saw in Paul & Silas, when they were singing in the prison at midnight. Paul knew about joy. And this Book of Philippians is all about joy. Throughout the book the words “joy” or “rejoice” are repeatedly used. The Greek Bible word for “joy” has a basic meaning of “cheerfulness” or “gladness” — but it is MORE than just “mere surface happiness.” It is something deeper. In our Wednesday night Psalm studies, we saw that David said in Psalm 4, “You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and new wine abound” — in other words, there is a kind of happiness that God gives us that is more than what worldly people experience when they have a lot of food and drink. It is deeper than that. Jesus said in John that the joy He gives, no one can take away. Joy is something we all want in our lives: we all want the kind of gladness that you can have even in times of difficulty. But how can you have it? Paul, who KNEW that joy while he was AGAIN in prison as he was writing this letter to the Philippians, reveals to us in our verses for today several things that will build joy in your life:
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.”
These verses teach us several things about how we can build a life of joy: Continue reading →
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