+I. Some observations.+--1. _It is a great thing to have a name in
the New Testament._--Think of the roll-call in Rom. xvi. and Heb. xi.
2. _It is a great thing now to have a name in the family Bible,_ for
that generally signifies Christian training and parental prayers.
3. _It is a great thing to have a name upon the pages of a church
register._--How affecting are these old manuals, with their lists of
pious men and women, many of whom have passed into the skies.
4. _It is the greatest thing of all to have a name in the Lamb's Book
of Life._--Beyond all fame (Matt. xi. 11). Beyond all power (Luke
x. 20).
+II. Some questions.+--1. _In how many books is your name written
now?_ 2. _How can a human name be written securely in the Lamb's Book
of Life?_ 3. _To backsliders: are you going to return to your name,
or do you want it to come back to you?_ 4. _To Christian workers: how
many names have you helped to write in the Book of Life?_ 5. _Is
there any cheer in thinking how our names will sound when the books
are opened in the white light of the throne?--Homiletic Monthly._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verse_ 4.
_Christian Joy_--
+I. Is in the Lord.+--"Rejoice in the Lord." The joy of the Christian
is not in his own achievements, still less is it in himself or in his
own experiences. A glance at ourselves and the imperfections of our
work for God fills us with shame and sadness. Pure, lasting joy is
found nowhere but "in the Lord." When Möhler, the eminent Roman
Catholic symbolist, asserted that "in the neighbourhood of a man who,
without any restriction, declared himself sure of his salvation, he
should be in a high degree uneasy, and that he could not repel the
thought that there was something diabolical beneath this," he only
afforded a deep glance into the comfortlessness of a heart which
seeks the ultimate ground of its hope in self-righteousness, and in
making assurance of salvation to depend on attainment in holiness
instead of in simple faith in Christ. The friends of Haller
congratulated him on the honour of having received a visit in his
last hours from the emperor Joseph II.; but the dying man simply
answered, "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." The more
we realise Christ, not as a dim abstraction or a mere historic
personage, but as a living and loving personal reality, the more
truly can we rejoice in Him.
+II. Is constant.+--"Always." Christian joy is not a capricious
sentiment, a fitful rapture, but a steady, uniform, and continued
emotion. The direction of the apostle to rejoice always sounds like a
paradox. How can we continually rejoice when we are continually in
the midst of sin, suffering, and sorrow? Still, when we think of the
change Divine grace has wrought in us, when we think of the ample
provisions of the Gospel every moment available to us, when we
contemplate the bright prospects before us which even present
distresses cannot dim, and when we remember the infinite ability of
our Lord to accomplish all He had promised us, our joy may well be
perennial. Airay, the earliest English expositor of this epistle, has
well said: "When Satan, that old dragon, casts out many flouds of
persecutions against us; when wicked men cruelly, disdainfully, and
despitefully speake against us; when lying, slandering, and deceitful
mouthes are opened upon us; when we are mocked and jested at and had
in derision of all them that are about us; when we are afflicted,
tormented, and made the world's wonder; when the sorrowes of death
compasse us and the flouds of wickednesse make us afraid, and the
paines of hell come even unto our soule; what is it that holds up our
heads that we sinke not, how is it that we stand either not shaken,
or, if shaken, yet not cast downe? Is it not by our rejoycing which
we have in Christ Jesus?"
+III. Is recommended by experience.+--"And again I say rejoice." Paul
recommended what he himself enjoyed. If he, in the midst of
disappointment, imprisonment, and suffering, would rejoice and did
rejoice, so may others. It might be that, as he wrote these words, a
temporary depression crept over him, as he thought of himself as a
prisoner in the immediate prospect of a cruel death. It was but a
passing feeling. In a moment Divine grace triumphed, and with
heightened elation and emphasis he repeated, "And again I _will_ say,
rejoice." We have already remarked that joy is the predominating
feature of this epistle, and to the last the apostle maintains the
exalted strain.
+Lessons.+--1. _Great joy is found in working for God._ 2. _Joy is
found not so much in the work as in the Lord._ 3. _It is the
Christian's privilege to rejoice always._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSE._