It Is A Duty To Be Joyful Always

You will note that Paul does not write that believers are to be joyful often or frequently. He says it plainly that we are to be joyful always. This means we are to be perpetually joyful, and anything we are to be ever doing becomes a duty. There is to be no time in our lives where we have the liberty to stop being joyful. To do this we are forsaking our duty. Rain or shine, shower or sun, we are to never forsake our rejoicing.

This is the clear conviction of those who have studied joy in the Bible. Arthur Pink put it like this: “The Lord has not left it to our option whether we should be glad or sad, but has made happiness an obligation. Not to rejoice is a sin of omission”. “There is no virtue in the Christian life which is not made radiant with joy; there is no circumstance and no occasion which is not illumined with joy,” opined William Barclay in his commentary on Philippians. “A joyless life is not a Christian life, for joy is the one constant in the recipe for Christian living.” R.C. Sproul said, "I would go so far as to say that it is the Christian's duty, his moral obligation, to be joyful. That means that the failure of a Christian to be joyful is a sin, that unhappiness and a lack of joy are, in a certain way, manifestations of the flesh." The great Spurgeon wrote, " I want you to notice, dear friends, that this rejoicing is commanded. It is not a matter that is left to your option; it is not set before you as a desirable thing which you can do without, but it is a positive precept of the Holy Spirit to all who are in the Lord: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” We ought to obey this precept because joy in the Lord makes us like God. He is the happy God; ineffable bliss is the atmosphere in which he lives, and he would have his people to be happy. Let the devotees of Baal cut themselves with knives and lancets, and make hideous outcries if they will; but the servants of Jehovah must not even mar the corners of their beard. Even if they fast, they shall anoint their head, and wash their face, that they appear not unto men to fast, for a joyous God desires a joyous people."

Now if we add the next two verses to our text we see this, "16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." Here we have a trinity of duties. We are to rejoice always, to pray continually, and to give thanks in all circumstances. The Christian person is to be characterized by joy, prayer and thankfulness. Then note that Paul says that these three things are the will of God for believers. It is the will of God that each of us be full of joy, prayer and thankfulness. In this message we are going to focus on our duty to be people of joy.

God wants His people to be happy. He takes this matter so seriously that He punishes them when they fail. We read this in the Old Testament- “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart … therefore you shall serve your enemies” (Deuteronomy 28:47–48). They were judged for failure to be a joyous people, and that is because a joyless people do not represent a joyous God. The point of the teachings of Jesus is clear-"These things have I spoken unto you, that My Joy might remain in you, and that your Joy might be full"(John 15:11).Like His Father, Jesus wants His followers to be a joyful people. Katie Stewart in her book Mandatory Traits of a True Christian, wrote, “The second "Fruit of the Spirit is Joy" (Galatians 5:22). True Christians are happy people! We may not have thought being happy important enough to qualify as a mandatory trait of Christianity-- but, the LORD did! It's the Highest Good He can Will for us. "These things have I spoken unto you, that My Joy might remain in you, and that your Joy might be full" (John 15:11). It is God that makes us happy, for He is the Source of our Joy. "Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD" (Psalm 144:15). If we have His Spirit, then we will have Joy. It is the LORD's Purpose in us, that we be full of Joy. "These things write we unto you, that your Joy may be full" (1John 1:4). When we have need, we are to turn to Him. "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name: ask [an Imperative, a Command], and ye shall receive, that your Joy may be full" (John 16:24)