In the closing words of his epistle
to the Philippians in chapter 4, Paul has this exhortation. Verse 4, Rejoice in the Lord
always and again I say rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always and
again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known
unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful
for nothing. Bring everything by prayer and
supplication. With thanksgiving let your requests
be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth
all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. Finally, Brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report. If there be any virtue,
and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things
which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in
me do, and the God of peace shall be with you. But I rejoiced in
the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me have
flourished again, wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked
opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of
want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased,
and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things
I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound
and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say, rejoice. Well, what an exhortation this
is. And in many respects, how pitiful
we may feel we are with regard to such exhortations. Believer,
wherever you are, can you say that you rejoice always? or do the trials and the troubles
of life affect you? Does the opposition of men to
the truth and the gospel affect you? Does the constant evil that
you see around you and the rise of evil and the overturning of
God's ways in society and the trampling underfoot of those
things that you feel should be affect you? Do they affect your
mood? Do they cast you down? In spite
of these things, in spite of all that you see in and around
you and in yourself, despite of your own unbelief and your
own doubts and your own fears and your own sin, in spite of
the fact that you feel you let yourself down and you let the
Lord down and you let the people of God down every day because
of your sin, can you still look up and rejoice? Paul exhorts
in this chapter, all of us who know Christ, to rejoice in the
Lord always, and again, I say rejoice. Naturally speaking, it isn't
easy, is it? There are so many things which
come upon us. This week in the middle of summer,
I'm full of cold, as you know. And when illness comes upon you,
it's hard to rise above it. And as we've said, when we see
the sin within and the sin without, it's easy not to be affected.
And it's easy for these things not to influence our mood, as
it were. But this is not an exhortation
to the natural man. This is not an exhortation to
us to do something in our own strength, stoically, above that
which we are able. This is an exhortation from the
apostle, by the Spirit of God, to the new man of grace, to say,
look beyond all that you see around. and look to your Saviour,
because the battle is won, the victory is assured, the Lord
is glorified, you have been delivered and washed of your sins, all
is well, world without end, there is nothing that will come upon
you which will bring you any real lasting ill, There is nothing
which any enemy of the truth can do or say which will have
any lasting damage. The Lord has already conquered
all of His foes and all of your foes. He's wrought a great victory. He's delivered you from your
sins, past, present and future. He's washed you in the blood
of the Lamb. He's saved you with His outstretched
arm. Rejoice! Rejoice in the Lord
always. And again I say rejoice. There's
every reason to rejoice and no true reason not to. All that
you look upon with the outward eye, whether it's externally
outside of yourself or internally in your own deeds and actions
and thoughts and sins and failings, all of that as a believer has
been answered. God has already taken it and
taken it away and blotted it out. The sins which you fall
into this day, they've already been judged. They've been cast
aside. The doubts and the fears have
been brushed aside. The failings that you will have
this coming week have already been answered. The troubles and
battles that you may be facing and you may endure have already
been dealt with. They're temporary, they're in
the flesh, they're of time, they'll be gone in a moment, in a blink
of an eye. The Lord will return and gather
his people together and you will stand with him in glory. And that's the only reality which
lasts. Everything that we see and experience
in this world, in the outworking of time, is
simply an outworking of the providence of God, already decreed, but
He already knows the beginning from the end, and He's already
delivered His people from their sins. There is nothing which
will come upon us, nothing which can touch us, nothing which we
can experience in this world, however heartbreaking, however
difficult, however miserable, however dark and evil, which
is truly lasting or affecting. It's already been answered. If you're Christ, He's already
delivered you from it. You may be about to embark on
some great journey, some great trial. There might be something
about to come upon you in your life that may go on for years.
But He already knows that He will bring you through it. You're
already delivered from it. Nothing can harm you if you're
Christ. You're in His hands. then look
through the Gospel by the Spirit of God, by faith unto Christ
always and rejoice in the Lord always. This epistle to the Philippians
has more usages of the word rejoice than any other epistle. There
are nine uses of this word in this one short four chapter epistle. In other epistles you may find
the word rejoice here and there, once or twice. This epistle is
full of it. Indeed, it's more full of the
word rejoice than virtually any other book in the Bible. Only
Luke's gospel has more uses of the term with 10 references to
the word rejoice in Luke's gospel because Luke's gospel in setting
forth Christ as the saviour is particularly focused on setting
the gaze of sinners, the gaze of God's people towards their
saviour. Then of course Luke's Gospel
amongst all the Gospels would emphasise rejoicing in the Saviour. Rejoice, your salvation is here. Rejoice, the Saviour has come. Rejoice, your deliverer has appeared. But like Luke's Gospel, This
epistle to the Philippians is one which lifts the gaze up high,
lifts the gaze of faith up from this world to see beyond the
things of time and sense a glorified Saviour. What a tremendous view
we have of Him in chapter 2 where we read Look not every man on
his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who
being in the form of God, fought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation. and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also
hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. What a tremendous
exaltation. He came from heaven's glory. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He came and
was crucified and slain. And yet God hath highly exalted
him. God has lifted him up. God has given him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow and every knee will bow. You will bow the knee unto
Jesus Christ, whoever you are and wherever you are, believer
or unbeliever. Whatever your view is of God
and his gospel, one day you will be before him. One day you will
be brought into the presence of Jesus Christ and you with
all will bow the knee. You may spend your entire lifetime
resisting God and resisting the truth of his gospel. You may
shut your ears to this message. You may go away and seek after
all that you can gain in this world. As soon as you can escape
this message, you may use your entire lifetime to enrich yourself
and bring pleasure to yourself and go off and fulfill your own
ambitions and do your own things as though God doesn't exist.
And one day your life will come to a conclusion. One day you'll
draw your last breath and in a moment you'll be in eternity.
And when you are, you with everyone else will bow the knee to Jesus
Christ. At the name of Jesus every knee
should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things
under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We will all confess. O to confess it now. O to be given grace now to know
who He is and to worship Him for who He is and to be washed
of our sins in His blood and delivered from transgression.
O to be one with Him now and to know His love and compassion
and to know that He came into this world for us and to bow
the knee willingly under Him. And to praise His name and confess
that He is Lord willingly. And to want to give all glory
under His name. Oh to have that be true of us
now. Oh for God to give us grace to
bow the knee unto Christ now. But if we don't, one day we will. and if we don't bow the knee
until that day what a solemn day it will be for us and what
solemn words he will have for us but God has sent His Son,
and His Son has delivered His people from their sins. He came
to be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He came
for the cross. He came to die for His people. He came to deliver His people,
to save His people, to be their Saviour. And He accomplished
all for which He came. He purposed to save His people
and He saved them. Nothing stopped him. All the
forces of Satan and his legions and his spirits, all the forces
of evil tried to prevent him and couldn't. All the forces
of man tried to prevent Him and couldn't. They took Christ and
they crucified Him and they thought they were destroying Him but
in doing so they were bringing about His purpose. They were
bringing about salvation. They were bringing about that
great act of Christ which would lead to His glorification. They
were bringing about the purpose of God. No wonder then that Paul rejoices
in Christ his Saviour. What a view he presents of Him.
A mighty Saviour. A powerful Saviour. A glorified
Saviour. One who reigns on high even at
this very moment. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. Paul, as I say, rejoices in many
ways through this book. In chapter 1, in verse 8, he
says, For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all
in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love
may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment.
that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be
sincere and without offence till the day of Christ, being filled
with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto
the glory and praise of God. But I would ye should understand,
Brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen
out rather unto the fervorance of the gospel, so that my bonds
in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. And many of the Brethren in the
Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to
speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even
of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preached
Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to
my bonds. but the other of love, knowing
that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What there notwithstanding,
every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached,
and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice, for I know
that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply
of the Spirit of Christ Jesus. He rejoices that Christ is preached. Paul rejoices in the gospel. And although there were those
who went out and preached Christ out of the wrong motives and
preached Christ to bring him into trouble, he knew that ultimately
God overruled all things and sent his message far and wide
and brought the truth of Christ into the ears of those that should
be saved. He rejoices in the preaching
of the Gospel. What a tremendous thing that
the Gospel is preached. And how we should rejoice that
this world exists today and is still here for one purpose. Because God is sending forth
His Gospel and preaching His Gospel to gather in all those
for whom Christ died. Ever since Christ died and ascended
and went into glory this world has continued. It has not continued
so that men can multiply. It has not continued so that
men can build empires. It has not continued so that
men and women can achieve their ambitions and raise families
and build cities and and make names for themselves. It's not
continued so that we can have our lives and achieve what we
want to in them. This world exists today for one
reason and one reason only. Because God is preaching his
gospel to build his church to gather in everyone for whom Christ
died. Then the only reason this world
is still here is because God is still preaching his gospel. then what a thing to rejoice
in, that the gospel is preached, and sinners are saved, and the
church is built, and Christ is glorified. In chapter two, Paul rejoices
in the day of Christ. Verse 16, he holding forth the
word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I
have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Oh, that we
might hold forth the word of life. Oh, that we might preach
the gospel. Oh, that Christ might be set
forth. What a thing to rejoice in. In
verse 17 of chapter 2, he rejoices in the faith of the Philippian
believers. 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. All the while that Paul is writing
these things and declaring these things worth rejoicing in, he
is in bonds, he is in bondage, he is in jail, he is suffering. You have to see that although
he writes this glorious message, and looks beyond the earthly,
temporal suffering. He rejoices in that which is
eternal. And so often when he speaks of
rejoicing, it's a rejoicing in spite of all of the suffering
that he's experiencing. He'd rather experience suffering
if it leads to a soul being saved and the gospel being preached
and the church being built and Christ being glorified. He'd
rather suffer for that and rejoice in the suffering because of the
end that the suffering brings. Yea, and if I be offered upon
the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice
with you all. If he has to be offered up, if
he has to die for their good, then he rejoices with them. If
the fruit of his suffering is that the gospel is fervored and
sinners are saved and they are blessed, he rejoices. In verse 18, He goes on, for
the same cause also do you joy and rejoice with me. They rejoice
with him. They rejoice because they can
see the good that comes through these things. Though he suffered,
he has preached the gospel unto them, and they can see the fruit
of that gospel. And they, as one, one with Paul,
they and him rejoice in Christ together. Later in the chapter,
he rejoices in God's goodness to Epaphroditus, his fellow servant. In chapter three, he opens with,
finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you,
to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware
of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For
we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. In
spite of there being those all around who he describes as dogs
and evil workers, in spite of there being those who would persecute
the Philippians, and who would try to bring evil into the church
and silence the message of the gospel in spite of those there
being those who would try to bring in error into the church
and bring the believers under bondage and bring them back under
law he can still say rejoice in the Lord look beyond them
because we are the circumcision we are the Lord's chosen we are
his people and this is the truth and he said his grace upon you we have no confidence in the
flesh but every confidence in Christ Jesus all those who reject
this message are those who have strength and confidence in themselves
in the flesh And Paul knew what it was to be confident in the
flesh. He said, though I might also
have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. I was circumcised
the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
and Hebrew of the Hebrews. As touching the law, I was a
Pharisee. As concerning zeal, I persecuted
the church. As touching the righteousness
which is in the law, I was blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I
count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done that I may win Christ. and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. How could Paul rejoice in the
way he rejoices? Because he came to know that
the pathway of suffering and counting all that he was in the
flesh as dung, all his religion, all his religious knowledge,
all his wisdom as a man as being nothing, having it all destroyed
and taken away was the pathway to salvation. Having it all blotted
out and removed was the way to know Christ. Far from these things
bringing Him down and causing Him to despair, all the opposition,
all the persecution, all the suffering and the loss which
He experienced brought Him closer unto God, closer unto Christ. brought him into a closer experience
of the power of Christ's resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings.
It made him conformable unto Christ's death. Through these
things he felt himself to be crucified with Christ, slain
with Christ, he saw his old man, he saw his sins, he saw his guilt
all nailed to the cross in Christ, he saw himself as slain in Christ. And that brought joy because
he also saw himself rising again from the grave with Christ. in
the cross he sees the end of the old man and the beginning
of the new. Yes, chapter three, he rejoices
in the Lord. Verse three, he rejoices in Christ
Jesus. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. chapter 4 verse 4 he says rejoice
in the Lord always and again I say rejoice and in verse 10
but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly I rejoiced in the Lord greatly
throughout this epistle despite the loss of all things Paul rejoices
And in what does he rejoice? What brings his joy? Does he
rejoice because he's granted a bit of respite from suffering? Does he rejoice because he was
in terrible straits and he prayed unto the Lord and the Lord delivered
him and he rejoiced at being rescued? Does he rejoice because
the travail has come to an end? Well yes, he would rejoice at
those points, but he rejoices in the suffering, he rejoices
in the torment, he rejoices in the storm, because he rejoices
in the Lord. Indeed, he can rejoice because
of the torment, because of the storm, because of the suffering. When a trial came his way, he
thanked God for it. When suffering came upon him,
he thanked God for it. He didn't simply praise God for
how God would bring him through it. and how God delivered him
from trial. He thanked God for the trial
because the trial brought him closer unto Christ. The trial
brought him unto God. The trial did away with that
which was of the flesh. The trial delivered him from
time and brought him into eternity. The things which men would see
as evil, as terrible things, as the things to be avoided.
Paul came to experience as those things that threw him onto Christ. And far from being trouble, they
became blessings under him. So he learned from experience
and out of the experience he could write towards the end of
the chapter. that I don't speak in respect
of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith
to be content I know both how to be abased and I know how to
abound Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to
be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me, no matter what the outward circumstance. He was both full and hungry. He was full of Christ and hungry
for Christ. It really mattered not unto him
whether his outward circumstances in temporary things were easy
or hard. Better in many respects that
they were hard because it threw him upon Christ. Christ the Lord
was his cause and his reason for rejoicing. Rejoice in the
Lord always. And again I say rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord. He rejoiced
despite great suffering throughout the book. That's the message.
That's the message of Him and that's the message of those under
whom He writes. He's writing to encourage those
who like Him would know suffering because of their faith. Being
a believer in Jesus Christ, having faith in Christ in that day and
age was a dangerous thing. Believers at Rome were thrown
to the lions. Believers throughout the world
were crucified, were burnt, were killed with the sword, were stoned. If you confess Christ in an evil
world, that world didn't want you and didn't want to know.
It was a dangerous thing to confess Christ. To hear this message
and receive it and believe it was a dangerous thing. And in many parts of the world
today, And increasingly in our own land, to confess Christ and
to speak boldly of Christ and speak the truth as it is in Christ
is a dangerous thing. For too long in some respects,
people have had it easy. And when it gets harder, some
complain. But don't complain. Rejoice in
the Lord. We don't have our blessing and
our mercies in the temporary ease in this world. Our salvation
is in Christ. Often people bewail, bemoan the
state of the churches. Oh, why aren't believers strong
as they appeared to be in the early church? Well, perhaps they
don't suffer like they did in the early church. It was a dangerous
thing to believe in Christ. And if you have to stand for
Him today and experience similar persecution, then you will know
what it is to be strengthened in the Lord. You will know something
of what Paul could say when he said, I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me. He learnt this. He learnt this through suffering.
You can't say that until you're put in the fire, until you pass
through the storms, until the enemy comes upon you and rages
against you. But when you're given strength
of God, when you're given grace, when the Spirit of God lifts
you up and causes you to stand firm in Christ Jesus, to stand
fast in the liberty wherewith He has set you free, when He
helps you and strengthens you, then you learn what it is that
you can do all things through Christ which strengthens you.
And then you know what it is to rejoice in the storm, to rejoice
in the trial, to rejoice in the midst of a fiery furnace, to
rejoice when you're hanging upon a cross as it were, to rejoice
when men stone you, to rejoice when men revile you as they reviled
Christ, to rejoice when men reject you as they rejected Christ.
To rejoice when men say all manner of evil against you falsely,
as they said of Christ. When they make up lies against
you and say this, that and the other to bring you down. You
can look beyond the outward circumstance and look up as Stephen looked
up when he was stoned. And look up to heaven's glory
and see your Saviour and rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say rejoice. In whom did he rejoice? Wherein
is Paul's hope, his joy? In the Lord, in Christ, in the
cross. As we saw in chapter 2 of Philippians,
when he speaks of Christ coming into the world and humbling himself
and becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,
wherefore God also hath highly exalted him. What is it that
Christ did that brought such hope and salvation for Paul?
What is it that brought his salvation? What is it that brought such
joy and hope? What caused Paul to rejoice? The cross. That place, that point
in history which brought the most pain, the greatest loss,
the most agonizing and terrible suffering which any man has ever
experienced. That place in which the innocent
Son of God was nailed and lifted up in the heat of the sun and
caused to suffer in the darkness as God laid upon Him the sins
and iniquity of all His people. That place when the Son of God
was forsaken of all men of all the worlds, and even of God the
Father, that terribly lonely, that terribly frightening, that
terribly agonizing place, the place where the Son of God, where
He who is God, He who is love, He who is eternal life, died. in order to save his people from
their sins. The most terrible point in history,
the most terrible place in the world, Golgotha, where the head
of the church, Christ, was crucified, put to death, where everything
good, as it were, was destroyed. That place, was the place, the
event that brought Paul the greatest joy. Because Christ conquered
sin when he was made sin. Christ blotted out the sins of
his people when he bore their sins. Christ conquered death
and brought in everlasting life when he died. Christ brought
in the light of God for his people everlasting light when he was
made darkness upon the cross. Christ brought in righteousness
of God for his people by faith when the sins and iniquity of
his people were laid upon him. Christ saved his people when
the world and Satan tried to destroy him. It was the worst
thing that could happen. It was the worst death anyone
could die. He experienced eternal wrath. as it were, contracted to a span
of hours. He experienced hell as God poured
down his fiery wrath in fiery indignation and judgment against
all the sins of all his people throughout all time. He experienced
the separation from God the Father. He experienced the loss of all
things. He experienced darkness. It was
the most terrible event and yet he came through it. And he took
away the darkness, he took away the sin, he took away the sins,
he took away the judgment, he took away death and he brought
in its place everlasting righteousness and everlasting life. And he
did it for Paul. And he did it for all the Philippians
who believed. And He did it for every believer,
past, present and future. You included if you know Christ. You included believer. He did
this for you. Then that's your cause of joy. That's Paul's cause of joy. That
which brought the greatest deliverance, the greatest of riches, the greatest
hope, the greatest salvation. The cross of Jesus Christ. Then
rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. Rejoice. Oh may God by His grace cause
us to step aside may he lead us by the spirit and as it were
close our eyes to what is around us close our eyes to what we
see going on in the world around us close our eyes to what we
see going on in our own hearts and our own wicked selves oh
may he cause us to close our eyes to the world and to our
enemies and to look by faith, with the eyes of faith, beyond
time into eternity, through the cross, through the side of Jesus
Christ, through the blood into heaven's glory. May we see him
risen and glorified there, a saviour with four wounds in his hands
and his feet and a fifth wound in his side. May we see him glorified
and lifted up and ascended, having conquered all our enemies, having
conquered sin and death, and may we see them all as defeated. May he give us that faith to
see the battle, the war is over. The battle's been won. The victory
is ours, it's Christ's and his people's. He's done it all, there's
nothing more that can happen, that can come upon us, which
can really cause any trouble. He's defeated our enemies, past,
present and future. He's blotted out our sins, past,
present and future. He's dealt with every trial,
past, present and future. The battle's won. Didn't God
give us faith? Wherever we are, whether we abound
or are abased, in pleasant days or difficult days, in ease or
in trouble, God give us faith in whatever our circumstance,
however dark and evil the day, however trying the trial, to
look up by faith and to see Christ glorified upon his throne. a victorious Saviour, a triumphant
Saviour, a conquering hero, glorified on the right hand of God the
Father. Oh, see Him and rejoice! How can we rejoice, you say,
in such an evil world in which we're surrounded by the enemies
of God and His Gospel? How can we rejoice when we see
God's name treated in scorn and the gospel trampled underfoot? How can we rejoice when we see
God's ways and God's laws undermined in society? How can we rejoice
in such an evil hour? The same way Paul did. The same
way Christ did when he walked in this world. By faith. as we look up unto God and unto
His Saviour, Jesus Christ. In Luke 10, in the midst of that
glorious Gospel, Christ rejoiced. We read that Christ rejoiced
and take in what He rejoiced in. What a statement, the one
point at which we specifically read that Jesus rejoiced in spirit. We read that he said, that it
says, in that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed
good in thy sight. Jesus rejoiced in God's providence,
in God's decision, in God's decree to reveal the truth of this gospel
and the glory of this gospel and the wonder of this salvation
unto babes. He hid it from the wise and the
prudent. He hid it from those who think
they're great and wonderful in this world. Those who think they
know things. He hid it from the religious.
He hid it from the scribes and the Pharisees. and He revealed
it unto simple fishermen, He revealed it unto children, He
revealed it unto babes, He revealed it unto nothings. And you'll
only know what it is to rejoice in Christ like Paul did and to
know what it is to walk with Christ and be delivered of your
sins if you're made a babe, if you're brought to an end of yourself,
if you're made to be nothing. and made to disown all that you
are and all that you were and all that you have like Paul did.
He had everything to have confidence in. He was a Pharisee. He was
of the tribe of Benjamin. He was blameless according to
the law, but he knew that all of that was nothing. God made
him nothing. God stripped it all away. And
Jesus rejoiced that God revealed it. unto babes. Towards the end of Luke's Gospel,
in chapter 19, we read the following as Christ comes to Jerusalem. We read in verse 28, When he
had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem. And
it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bephage and Bethany,
at the mount called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his
disciples, saying, Go ye into the village over against you.
In the which, at your entering, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon
yet never man sat. loose him and bring him hither
and if any man ask you why do you loose him thus shall you
say unto him because the lord have need of him and they that
were sent went their way and found even as he had said unto
them and as they were loosened the cult the owners thereof said
unto them why loose you the cult and they said the lord have need
of him and they brought him to Jesus. And they cast their garments
upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. And as he went, they
spread their clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, even
now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude
of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice
for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed
be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven
and glory in the highest. Oh may God open our eyes and
give us that faith to see this King riding down unto us from
the Mount of Olives and may we with his disciples. Begin to
rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works
which we've seen. Say, and blessed be the King
that cometh in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory
in the highest. Rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say, rejoice. Amen.