Philippians 4:4

‘Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, Rejoice.’

The first exhortation is a call to ‘rejoice in the Lord’. It is addressed to the whole church, being repeated from Philippians 3:1. It is not a call just to sing a few hymns, but one that calls on them to face the hardships of the future with confident joy (compare Acts 13:52). Note especially the dual emphasis. Paul did not want to be seen as giving simply an idle exhortation, but desired rather to emphasise the perseverance in rejoicing that would be required. For he was well aware that the Philippians were facing trials and persecution. On the other hand he knew that they were facing these precisely because of the value that they put on knowing the Lord. Thus he turns their eyes from their troubles to the One in Whose Name they will be suffering. The point he is making is that Christ Jesus and what He has done for them is worth it. Let them then consider all that Paul has written to them concerning Him, and all that they have learned from his fellow-workers, and rejoice continually in Him, as they press on towards the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14). Let their eyes be fixed firmly on the LORD.

And as their eyes are fixed on the Lord they are especially to be fixed on His own triumphant progress of faith in the face of suffering (Philippians 2:5-11), a progress into which they are to enter by setting their minds in line with His, and receiving His mind, taking the way of humility and the way of the cross so that finally they might receive the crown (Philippians 2:5-11; Philippians 3:10-21). Having their minds set on Him involves entering in to all that He entered into, just as having the mind of the Spirit involves full participation in the Spirit (Romans 8:1-16).