Untrammeled Joy means unrestricted, unhampered, uninhibited — free flowing joy. Nothing should impede, restrict, diminish and stifle it for believers.
Believers tie their joy to something eternal and permanent. It is not tied to our economy, our political party, the health of our nation, our circumstances, our health, our pocketbook, our "teams", our status, etc. The Christian's joy is built on and dependent upon what Jesus did for us.
I. We are commanded to rejoice.
II. Our joy must be continuous.
A. "Rejoice in the Lord always". Notice, not when things go well, not when you feel good in the morning, not when everyone likes you, not when your political party won, not when all your bills are paid, not when you can put your fit up and relax, etc. He said "ALWAYS."
B. Is Paul realistic?
C. Again, because the underlying reality of our relationship with Christ has not changed we must rejoice.
D. If our joy is spasmodic, occasional, short lived, then you have once again focused on something else.
III. Our joy is in the Lord.
A. The command is a specific joy, rooted in Jesus Christ.
B. Not because of bad things.
C. We are not told simply to be happy, to be joyful — be positive, chipper, don't worry, be happy! If we are brutally honest, without the Lord, there is no real reason to be joyful but every reason to be depressed.
D. You can only rejoice in Him if you know Him.
IV. We must make sure we are joyful.
A. Notice it is repeated: "again I will say, rejoice."
B. He doubles down on this because it is something we can so easily set aside by saying "yeah, yeah, I know" and quickly forget or diminish its importance.
C. How well does it go for people who are not joyful? |
