REJOICE IN THE LORD!
by Lay Pastor Budy Avianto
Lemah Putro, Sunday, October 27, 2019
Greetings of peace,
We definitely want our hearts to be filled with joy at all times. But how and where could we obtain true joy? And did you know that the joy from Heaven is far different from the joy we got from this world?
What about the heart of the author of the epistle to the Philippians, Apostle Paul, who was imprisoned at that time? Paul wrote the epistle to the Philippians for four chapters and he always expressed joy in every chapter till it is said that reading the Philippians is like reading a letter of joy. For example: Philippians 3:1a wrote, “Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.”
The epistle to the Philippians refers to the Gold Lampstand in the Tabernacle pattern, made of one talent (± 57 kilograms) of solid gold. Pure gold is easier to be molded when beaten. This solid (pure) gold was beaten to be a beautiful shape of one stem and three branches on the left and right side and there were seven lamps lit on it (Exodus 25:31-37). This Gold Lampstand is not only beautiful but it is the only object that enlighten the Holy Place and other objects in it.
Jesus is as the Gold Lampstand beaten hard to shine this dark world. How far was Jesus beaten? The Word is the Person of God descended from heaven, from the highest place to earth, to be human (Jesus) and dwelt in our midst (John 1:1, 14). There is life and light for man in Him (vv. 4-5). It is obvious that He is filled with glory and light; and He loves us who had previously died living in a life filled with the darkness of sin.
Jesus came down from such a beautiful place in heaven to a dark sinful world to suffer. Was He accepted joyfully? Not everyone was willing to accept Him (John 1:11).
What was the reason that Jesus was willing to come down to earth? For God so loved the sinners so that they will not perish, but whoever believes in His Only Son will receive eternal life (John 3:16).
Jesus didn’t stop only at the work of salvation but He has the purpose that the believers will become His bride (John 3:29). John the Baptist was not the Messiah (v. 28) but was sent ahead of Him and as the friend of the Bridegroom who joyfully confirmed that Jesus had to become greater while he became less (v. 30). This means that the Word of God must be magnified/lifted up, but the preacher/pastor must not be greater than the Word of God. A pastor is sent by the Lord to preach His Word and anointed by the Holy Spirit to help him/her.
To prepare ouselves as the Bride of the Lamb, we must be willing to be beaten to reach glory – the righteous acts of God’s holy people – (Revelation 19:6-8) as He was beaten to suffer until He died on the cross, but was risen, ascended to heaven and will come again to take His bride. Therefore, we must not keep the burden of sin, but surrender everything to Him who died bearing our mistakes, risen to justify us and ascended to heaven to sanctify our lives continuously until we have our robes washed to make them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14). We also must have the same mindset as Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). Remember that salvation must be personal and individual, we can’t only follow others (husband/wife, children/parents, etc.) although they might have diligently prayed for us.
Jesus gave an example and He Himself experienced a beating process that He didn’t keep His equality with God, but made Himself nothing by taking a very nature of a servant (Philippians 2:6-7).
Jesus is God, but in His position as God, He cannot suffer for God is Spirit. That’s why He – the Creator – made Himself nothing and came down to earth as an innocent man. We are created gloriously at the beginning as He is, because we are created according to the image of God the Trinity. However, sin made us fall short of the glory of God and separated from Him. But He continues to love us. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled Himself by becoming obedient even to death on a cross.
The book of Isaiah 53:2-8 explained in details of the beatings Jesus had experienced. He was despised, rejected by mankind, whom people hide their faces, and we (who had been saved) held Him in low esteem while he took up our illness and suffering. He was crushed for our iniquities and rebellions, so that we obtain salvation and by His wounds we are healed. He was silent being led like a lamb to the slaughter.
Although Jesus had been beaten entirely for our sake, let’s not have a wrong perception that we don’t need to bear any suffering anymore. Weren’t the branches of the Gold Lampstand beaten to have a beautiful shape?
What was the result of the beating Jesus experienced? (Philippians 2:9-11). God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).
Isaiah 53:10-12 further wrote that if Jesus surrendered Himself as an oferring of sin, He will see His offspring, see the light of life and be satisfied. It is obvious that one person willingly gave Himself to be beaten to death so that many will experience joy.
Is there any joy other than in the Lord, and who ever experienced that? Those who rejected the Lord were rejoicing for their own flesh. Unfortunately, not all of the 12 disciples were willing to be beaten, for example: Judas Iscariot preferred pleasure for the flesh that for only 30 shekels he sold his Teacher – Jesus, the holy Son of God – whose blood is precious as the blood of the blameless lamb. Did he feel joyful after that? Judas Iscariot committed suicide to end his life (Acts 1:18). When Jesus was arrested, the major disciples who had followed Jesus for ± 3½ years left Him because they were afraid (Matthew 26:58). They chose the pleasure of the flesh rather than being ‘beaten‘ with suffering together with their Teacher. When Jesus was before the religious Court, the senior disciple namely Peter even denied Jesus by saying not knowing Him for three times (vv. 69-75). The disciples were afraid after Jesus died and they were hiding in a locked room. Later the risen Jesus was looking for them and gave peace to them (John 20:19).
What about the first men? Adam and Eve didn’t obey the command of God and chose the pleasure for the flesh that caused them to be cast out from the Garden of Eden. They just realized that there was no joy without the Lord; and Adam even had to work hard for food. The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5) that He punished them with the great flood in Noah’s time.
What about Paul? He was joyful at the beginning for the pleasure of the flesh. He was a Pharisee that strongly stood on the Law and was a chaser, torturer and murderer of Jesus’ followers (Galatians 1:5-6). To make it worse, Paul’s actions were supported by the high priest and religious court. He did all these because of his unbelieving that Jesus is the Messiah. But the grace of the Lord was given unto him that the tortured Jesus came looking for Paul and he finally repented, baptized, infilled by the Holy Spirit and became the preacher of the cross of Christ.
When the disciples of Jesus and Paul were infilled by the Holy Spirit, they preached the Gospel boldly and joyfully, even willing ‘to be beaten’ to die as martyrs. They had the mind and thought of Jesus that they were willing to be beaten without any complaints, yet being joyful of it.
Paul, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, crossed to Macedonia, and visited Philippi as the first city (Acts 16:7-12). He was also beaten here, but having the same mindset as Jesus, he went through it joyfully, knowing that the final destination is to be His Bride. He continued to be joyful even in prison and became the light of the repentance of the jailer together with his whole family (vv. 25-34).
Application: we should be the light in our marriage, household, family and the society, although it hurts for our flesh, for our final destination is the eternal joy with Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom.
What happened when Paul was imprisoned in Philippi? The Philippians in Macedonia sent Epaphroditus to bring offerings for him (Philippians 4:8) while they were in a poor condition but they rejoiced being rich in generosity that they could give beyond their ability (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). This congregation was willing to be beaten because they had the same mindset as Christ.
Who was Epaphroditus sent to Paul? The meaning of the name Epaphroditus is beautiful, charming. Epaphroditus went for ± 1200 kilometers (from Macedonia to Philippi) to meet Apostle Paul in prison. The average distance of a person journey a day is ± 30-40 kilometers. We could imagine the long journey under the hot sun, also the condition of the road that was not as good as it is now! Epaphroditus did it with responsibility and joy, even though he was ill and almost died (Philippians 2:27-30). He was beaten until His flesh was almost crushed.
Actually Apostle Paul was really helped by the presence of Epaphroditus who helped during his hard times being imprisoned (Philippians 2:25). But Paul was also willing to be beaten and sent Epaphroditus back to the Philippians and asked them to welcome him well and honor him. Paul was willing to suffer that the Philippians be joyful.
Application: when we are in difficult situations, the Holy Spirit will comfort and strengthen us that we shall not be hopeless. We don’t need to seek for honor (because we are rich, we have high position, etc.), if others see us experiencing life transformation to be better, they will honor and respect us.
What we should pay careful attention is that to rejoice in the Lord is not only to be justified, but continuously beaten with ‘torture fire’ as a test (1 Peter 4:12) that we will have a beautiful shape of the Gold Lampstand. The beating of the Lord is not to destroy us but is a test for us to graduate or going up to the next level. If we have the same mindset as Jesus, we will experience suffering for the flesh joyfully being able to share the suffering of Christ to be glorified by Him (v. 13). We will be blessed being despised because of the name of Christ for the Holy Spirit is with us (v. 14). The judgment of the world will start from the temple of God and we shall not be embarrassed to suffer as Christians (vv. 16-17). It is better to be judged now by the Word of God for our sake then to be judged with the wicked and sinners on the judgment day (vv. 18-19).
What is our choice? To be joyful in the Lord or outside Him? If we want to rejoice in the Lord, surrender all of our burdens to Him and be willing to be ‘beaten’ through tests. Having the same mindset as Christ’s, we will be enabled to be humble, that we can bear the beating of the Word of God to reproof our mistakes and continuously sanctify our lives until we become blameless before Him and ready to be His bride to experience eternal joy with Him. Amen.
Video ibadah ini dapat disimak di Ibadah Umum - "Bersukacitalah dalam Tuhan" - Pdm. Budy Avianto.