Hans R. Waldvogel emphasizes the biblical command to 'Rejoice evermore,' highlighting that true service to God is rooted in joy and the Holy Spirit. He contrasts the sacrifices of Cain and Abel, illustrating that God desires our joy rather than mere outward acts of piety. Waldvogel asserts that rejoicing in the Lord brings the Kingdom of God into our lives, and that obedience to this command is essential for experiencing the fullness of Christ. He encourages believers to embrace joy as a vital aspect of their faith, reminding them that it is God's will for them to give thanks in all circumstances.

Selected Verses: Romans 14:17-18. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 18For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. I Thessalonians 5:16-18. Rejoice evermore. 17Pray without ceasing. 18In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Opening: I find preachers, and servants of God, and smart people, and spiritual people, and nice-looking people, fat people, and skinny people, and tall people, and short people, and they won’t do God’s will! And yet, the Bible says, “He that herein serveth God is accepted of God and approved of men,” or vice versa. And who in the world ever thought of serving God by rejoicing? And yet, that’s what the Bible says. And the Bible says you cannot please Him any other way but by rejoicing in the Lord. It’s a strange thing how little we care about God’s will. We serve God in our own way, like Cain did. When I was a little boy, before I ever thought of learning Chinese—neither Mandarin nor Cantonese—I had a Sunday school picture of the sacrifice of Cain and Abel, and I was much interested in it. Cain’s sacrifice produced a lot of smoke, but the smoke went down to the ground. And Abel’s sacrifice produced a pillar of smoke, and it went straight up. And now we all want to serve God, and we all want to please— Well, maybe we don’t, maybe we don’t! And why does God make this so strong? Why does He make this demand so definite: “Rejoice evermore”? Underscore that word more. That’s important: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Strange. What an underscoring of the Holy Ghost: “This is the will of God.” … Selected Quotes: When God commands me to “rejoice evermore,” He says, “in the Holy Ghost.” That’s the difference. Oh, my Jesus says, “If you love Me, you’ll keep My commands”—and that’s one command. And then, “I will manifest Myself to you.” And there is the “joy in the Holy Ghost”—not something that we derive from having our own way, our own sanctity, our own overcoming, our own righteousness. But it’s Christ within, Christ rejoicing… “Rejoice evermore: This is the will of God in Christ Jesus.” And that’s how I keep in Christ Jesus, and that’s how Jesus Christ keeps dwelling within me. And that’s how that fountain keeps flowing unceasingly within me. … And when I rejoice in the Lord, the Holy Spirit gets behind it, and that fountain begins springing up within my soul, and something happens to the inner man. I’ll tell you what happens: the Kingdom of God comes, the King comes. The King comes! It’s such a sad thing that today people interpret prophecies of the Bible like the old Pharisees did—exactly like that. They’re trying to build again the wall of the weeping wall there in Jerusalem: it ain’t tall enough, ’tain’t big enough, they have to put some more bricks on it. And they build the temple of Solomon again, and all that sort of business which God says has been done away because He has established something better: a tabernacle “not built with hands, eternal in the heavens.” “The kingdom of God is within you,” or you’ll never be in the kingdom of God. … Beloved, God gives us plenty of reason to enter into “the joy of the Lord.” And we won’t know Jesus until we obey this command. … Illustrations: An illustration of the foolishness of outward penances and mortifications. “You’d be surprised what fools we can be, how we try to make saints out of ourselves. And God says, ‘Rejoice evermore.’ What does He mean by that? Why, let Jesus Christ reign within you. ‘He that herein serveth God is accepted of God, and approved of men.’ And whoever thought of serving God with joy and peace in the Holy Ghost?” (from 2:18) The story of HRW’s awakening to the spiritual realities involving praise. “When I found out it was the reign of the devil, I said, ‘Now, schluss damit; that must end.’ And praise God, it was a fight! It really was. But I found out it was His fight. I found out that Jesus Christ fought for me, and that when I gave myself to keep His commands, the old Adam wouldn’t play—he ‘hung his harp upon a willow.’” (from 4:57) The story of Elder Brooks’ victory over the dumps through praise. “He did it faithfully. And at the end of three months, he said he’d dug a hole through that thing. He came right through into glory.” (from 6:17) The Elder Brooks hopping story. “Now, that would have been very foolish for him to do if God didn’t do it, but God did it… Everybody obeyed him, and the glory of God came down in torrents! Something went out, hallelujah! And God has means and ways of smiting our self-inflicted importance, which is of the devil, and giving us the joy of childhood, praise God! But anyway, we don’t imitate that; we don’t try to produce anything like that. But when God says, ‘rejoice evermore,’ He says, ‘I give you plenty of reason to rejoice, and if you don’t, you make Me a liar.’” (from 7:46) Making fun of “Brooklyn brogue”: “An Italian sister said she was ‘an unwoithy woim of the oith,’ and we all are.” (from 12:16) German at 5:35: “Schluss damit!” a shorter, and therefore more emphatic version of “Damit ist jetzt Schluss!” — “Stop that now!” or “Enough of that!”