“Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.“(Luke 6:23)
“And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” (Acts 5:41)
“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;” (Romans 5:3)
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
“Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:” (Colossians 1:24)
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;” (James 1:2)
“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
“Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.” (Philippians 2:17-18)
“Let us be glad and rejoice … the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his Bride hath MADE HERSELF READY” (Revelation 19:7).
The spirit of the epistle to the Philippians is joy, contentment, fraternal affection, and holiness. Its background is loneliness, imprisonment, and the hovering shadow of condemnation and a cruel death, but its keynote is peach and rejoicing. “I do rejoice, and WILL rejoice!” the apostle triumphantly exclaims (Philippians 1:18); and to them he writes – “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, REJOICE!” (Philippians 4:4)
— Be Ye Transformed vol 4 pg 354
“The king shall joy, in Thy strength; and in Thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice.” This joy in God is what is commanded: “Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous.” It is what Paul enjoins: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.” To the man of the world this is unintelligible; to enlightened experience it is one of the sweetest facts of existence. There are various kinds of joy. Most people’s joys are of creature origin. A friend comes to see them from a distance, or they get a better situation, or they are invited to some great man’s house, or they succeed in making a good profit, or they get well married, or they get children, or they come to some estate, or they acquire some fame; some such matter is the fuel by which the flame of their gladness is fed. God is unknown in their experience, and joy in Him a thing impossible. It is the mission of Christ, through the gospel, to teach men to rejoice in God.
— Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian: Volume 11. 2001, c1874.
Hear Now These Words 