Nehemiah chapter 8, our text
we found in the end of verse 10, we're going to be looking
at 9 through verse 10, actually 8 through 10, but our text will
be found in verse 10 in the latter part. For the joy of the Lord
is your strength. If I had a title for the message,
it would just be simply joy. joy, the joy of the Lord. This morning, I want us to direct
our thoughts toward this matter of joy. If we were to ask the
reason, ask everyone the reason why it is that they labor so
hard in this world We would ask men why they work so hard or
why men work so little. There's a lot of people who work
hard and there's a lot of people who don't work at all. And we
ask them, what's your reason? They would both give the same.
Happiness. Joy. They're either joyful because
they don't work at all or they're wanting to be joyful by what
they get from when they work. They desire to be happy either
if they work or they don't. This is their desire to be happy.
Whether they care for their children or their wives, or men leave
their children or their wives. For what? Why would you do that? Why would you stay with your
family? Because they make me happy. Why would you leave your
family? They say, well, because I think
that someone else would make me happy. It's always trying
to be happy. Men are always trying to find
joy. But this is this matter of joy. This matter of happiness is elusive, isn't it? It's elusive. Men strive to obtain it, and
for a brief moment, they feel they have it. And then it slips
out as a vapor through their hands, only to appear in the
distance. They feel they go and work and
labor and they try to find joy, and then when they think they've
got it, it's out there somewhere. And so now then they got to work
hard again to get to it. And when they get to it, they
find it, they grab it, and it only disappears, and it's out
ahead of them again. And so they got to work to get
that. It's always in the distance. It appears for a little while
and it's gone. This is why the founders of our
country, when they wrote the Declaration of Independence,
they put this clause in there that all men have a right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The pursuit of
happiness. Why would they say that? Why
wouldn't they just say happiness? Because happiness is always a
pursuit. It's always something that you're
trying to obtain that you never get to. You never get to. Well, this is what Solomon said
many thousands of years before. Solomon said, by the Holy Spirit
of wisdom, he said, all things under the sun. Vanity of vanity. All is vanity. Empty. Empty, all is empty. Joy cannot be obtained by the
natural man, even because he has fallen. Because man is sinful,
because man is depraved, man only seeks carnal things to make
him happy. This is why he'll never be happy.
Man was created to rejoice in his God. Man was created to serve
his God. But when man is depraved, he
cannot and will not serve his God, but rather he follows after
the serpent. What was the curse of the serpent?
He said, upon thy belly shalt thou crawl, and the dust of the
earth shalt thou eat. Why isn't that man as happy?
Because he's always searching in the dust for joy. He's always
following the slime trail of the serpent, trying to find joy,
and you'll never get it. You'll never get it. All you'll
get is a mouthful of dust. that will never satisfy. Consider
this, if you were in the middle of the desert and you were thirsty,
you were dying of thirst, which one of us would ever say, if
I just had more sand, Lord, if you just give me more sand, then
I'll satisfy my thirst. What an absurd thing. And yet,
this is what men do. They constantly say, if I have
more of this world, then I'll be satisfied. Just put more dirt
in my mouth, and then my thirst will be satisfied. No, it won't. You're a fool. You're a fool. This is absurd and foolish. Even
when men try to satisfy their thirst of their soul by the fleeting
things of this world, you cannot satisfy your spirit by carnal
things. Therefore, cries Isaiah, why
do you spend money for that which is not bread? Why do you work
so hard for that which doesn't satisfy your soul? Why? Are you seeking joy? Do you desire
to be content? Then let us behold what the Word
of God says about joy. Do you not think the Creator
of man has the answer for joy? Did He not make joy? Is He not
the source of joy? Then should we not go to His
Word to find out what He says about joy? And stop considering
what you think joy is? Surely we have found no lasting
joy in this life. The older I get, I tell you,
Solomon said, seek the Lord in your youth before the evil days
come. The older you get, I tell you,
the days grow more evil, don't they? They grow more evil. And I tell you, it is easier
for a man to seek the Lord while it's something, while everything
seems to be joyful. Because I'll tell you, it just
gets worse. Doesn't get better, does it? You that are older,
is that not so? Has it gotten better for you? Is this the golden years, Joanne?
Is this the golden years? Somebody wanted to make money
off that statement, I tell you. Somebody trying to fool you. Our Creator says about joy, we
should find out what He says and how to obtain it and how
it is found and how it is kept. First of all, look at our text.
The joy of the Lord. The first thing I want you to
see is the source of joy. Where does joy come from? Joy
is of the Lord. In other words, joy belongs to
God. Joy belongs to God. Do you realize that when God
was by Himself, He was completely joyful? He was happy. And I tell you, God is always
joyful. He's never discouraged. His plans are never thwarted.
His will is never overthrown. God is infinitely joyful. He's infinitely joyful. And therefore,
the joy of the Lord, it belongs to Him. It is His joy. God is the fountainhead of joy. If you ever desire joy, then
you should seek it from the fountainhead. You should find its source. Where's
the source of joy? It is God Himself. That's the source. If you're
ever to find joy, you must know Him. You must know Him. Joy cannot be found in the things
we possess, in the relationships of the flesh, nor in the fulfilling
of fleshly lust, but joy must be brought to you. This is very important. You can
seek joy all you want to, but you won't find it. It's gotta
be brought to you. You see, joy belongs to God,
and if you're ever to have joy, He's got to give it to you. You
can't earn it. You can't merit it. It must be
a gift of God. As the fountainhead, the water
flows from the fountainhead down to you, even so must grace and
joy and peace and faith and every grace must be brought to you
by the Spirit of God. Otherwise, you'll never have
it. You'll never have it. Joy cannot be found in the things
of the world, it must be brought to us by the grace of God. Now
these to whom, now in our text, these to whom Ezra was preaching,
he was speaking to these people. And he preached to them and they
heard of their sin against God. He read the law, look at that
in verse 8, and so they read the book of the law of God distinctly. and gave the sense, and caused
them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah the governor, Ezra
the priest, the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people
said unto all the people, this day is holy unto the Lord your
God. Mourn not nor weep, for the people wept when they heard
the words of the law." Let me tell you this, you'll never know
anything about joy unless you know about weeping. You'll never be glad until God
first makes you sad. Is this not what we do when we
preach the gospel? I desire nothing more than to
preach the gospel distinctly and give the sense of my text.
I want you this morning to behold the great God. Cast all other thoughts out of
your mind and behold the great God. Behold the judge of all
men, who must judge and will judge every one of us. He is
holy. He is just. He is righteous. And you, my friend, are a sinner. You are guilty. You are guilty. I am guilty. And we all must
stand before God. I'll tell you, you won't stand
before God You won't stand before God and
find somebody to help you out. You'll stand before God, and
you'll be judged. Your mom and your dad won't be
there to help you out. Your brothers, your sisters,
don't look to them, don't look to me. The law of God is clear. Love
the Lord your God with all your heart. with all your soul, with
all your strength, with all your might. A man was told one time, he said
he had a horse and he told this man, he said, I'll give you this
horse if you'll continually for one day think on God. If you'll say the Lord's Prayer,
if you'll say the Lord's Prayer over and over continually, and
seek God, then I'll give you this for free. And he said, Our
Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy... He said, wait a second,
do I get the bridle with it? And he said, ah, now you don't
get the horse. You've done taken your mind off of God. How many
of us have prayed only to let our minds wander on something
else? We do not think of God continually. We have disobeyed
God's law. And love your neighbor as yourself.
I'll tell you, there's nobody I love more than myself. That's
just a shame, but that's just so. We are sinful people. We have broken God's law. And
what is the requirement? What is the penalty? Eternal
death is the penalty. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. I'll tell you this, I pray that
that's been, is that distinct to you? Is that clear enough?
Did anyone misunderstand me? I tell you, only the Holy Spirit
can really give you a heart to believe that. You can hear me,
you can understand my words, but I tell you this, only the
Spirit of God can make you weep over your sins. Only the Spirit
of God can show you your depravity, can show you your helpless, hopeless
condition to save yourself or reconcile yourself to God by
your works or will. Determine all you want to, to
serve God. Determine to obey the law of
God and you will fail. I know that by experience. I'm
not telling you something I don't know. I know that by experience. It's true of me. It was true
of my father and his father and your father and you. It's true. We cannot obey the law of God. It's here by the cutting edge
of the letter of the law that the heart is exposed and laid
open before God. These people wept because their
hearts were exposed. They were exposed and they couldn't
find any place to hide. I tell you, you can hide your
sins from me, you can hide your sins from someone else, but you
can't hide them from God. You can't. He sees it. Everything is open to Him. Naked
and open. The most depraved thoughts that
you would never tell anyone. God knows them already. You're exposed and naked before
Him. Only when we're made to lament
of the wounds of our sins will we need the medicine of the gospel. You'll never need this gospel
I'm going to preach to you unless you've been exposed. Again, there's
no joy, there's no gladness without weeping. You must be sad before
you get glad. And notice, it was a time of
great mourning and repentance for sin. They were weeping and
they were mourning. And then, and only then was this
gospel preached to them in verse 10. Go your way, eat the fat
and drink the sweet. Sin portions unto them for whom
nothing is prepared. Before any sinner can know joy,
the joy of the Lord, he must first be grieved of his sin. Behold the weeping sinner, you
unhappy soul whose mouth is full of unhappy earth. Come now. and bow your hearts down before
your God. Bend the knee and weep for your
sins. Come and confess your sins, and
I will tell you, weeping sinner, of true joy, the joy of the gospel
that sets the captive free. The law says death to you, but
I have a message of life. The law says you should weep,
but I tell you the gospel says you should rejoice. You should
have joy, unspeakable and full of glory. I will tell you of
the gospel of Jesus Christ, and by God and His grace, He will
bring you joy as it springs from Him. Let us see then that the
source of all joy is God, and the only way to know God is through
Jesus Christ. Jesus said, no man, listen, no
man knoweth the Father, save the Son. Neither knoweth any
man the Son, excuse me, I got that backwards. No man knoweth
the Son, save the Father, and neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son. and to whomsoever the Son will
reveal Him." You see, you can't know God and you can't know joy
except through Jesus Christ. He's the only median. He's the
only way that you can know the Father and experience the joy
of salvation. All who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ is not our joy found in the attributes of God. And you
might find great joy and comfort in the attributes of God. Is
not His almighty power your protection? Is not His all and infinite wisdom
your guidance? Is it God's faithfulness, our
foundation, and whose grace is all our salvation? He is our God. And God knows God knows we are His people because
He has chosen us. And we rejoice in Him. And second of all, we find joy
in God's Word. How are we to know God? Only
through Jesus Christ. How are we to know of Christ
except through the Word of God? The Word of God is what's given
to us so that we might believe and trust and know Him. And so
then joy comes by the Word of God. The psalmist said in Psalm
119, he said, I rejoice in Thy Word. In Thy Word. This is where we find the attributes
of God. This is how we know the attributes
of God as He has revealed them in His Word. Believer, consider
the promises of God. that they are faithful and true.
Does that not bring you joy? That God's Word is yea and amen. Not maybe. Not dependent on any
action of man. It is yes and amen. God's Word is eternal. God's
Word doesn't change. It's always like Him. And all
of you who are in Christ by faith, You know this, you are loved
with an everlasting love. You are loved with a love that
is immutable as God's character. God's holy character is unchangeable. He said, I am God, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. I am the same yesterday, today,
and forever. And consider then, His love is
as everlasting and eternal as God Himself. In this you should
find great joy. Behold, you who weep over sin
in the night, joy comes in the morning. Joy
comes in the morning. Consider what an infinite God
that has manifest to us His great salvation. Rejoice in God's Word
that speaks of His eternal election. I rejoice in that Word. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him, in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,
according to the praise of the glory of His grace. That speaks
joy to my heart that God has chosen us. Behold how the Lord has loved
you. Behold how the Lord has loved
you so much that He gave you to His Son. in a covenant of
grace that involved no work of your own, no merit of your own. He gave you to His Son that He
should be your surety. And this should overwhelm us
with joy because Jesus cannot fail. He gave us to Christ who
cannot fail. Isn't this the word of our Savior
that said, of all that the Father giveth me shall come to me? And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that of all he hath given me I should lose nothing,
not one. Behold and rejoice in the love
of Jesus Christ, who subjected Himself to be made flesh. That He took a body prepared
of the Holy Ghost, that He loved His own, His own sheep, His own
brethren, His own friends, and He loved us to the end, even
unto death. Even unto the death of the cross. over in Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
2. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. Listen, who for the joy set before
Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down on
the right hand of the throne of God. Our Lord Jesus endured
the cross, despising the shame. For what reason? For the joy
set before Him. What was that joy? To be the
author and finisher of your faith. It was His joy to save you. I know this is impossible for
natural man to understand. You ask us to do something for
somebody else and we have to first sigh. You ask us to do something, the
flesh immediately is grieved, isn't it? But the Lord did this for joy. The joy of the Lord was to die
in your stead, to endure the suffering for your sins, and
the salvation and reconciliation of your souls to God. He died
to satisfy the holy justice of God in our stead. Does this cause
you to rejoice? Does this cause you to rejoice? And now rejoice in his word that
tells us that God raised him from the dead. That all power
and authority is given to Jesus Christ. Jesus is even now sending
his Holy Spirit into the world to save his people. He will not fail. No matter how things appear,
He does not fail. Every soul the Father gave Him,
every soul He redeemed on that cross, the Holy Spirit will come
in power through the preaching of the gospel and it will save
that soul. It will rip Him apart and expose
Him and then it will send the joy of the Holy Spirit, to be
partakers of His joy. Do you realize this is His purpose?
That you should be partakers of His joy. He who is joy desires
you, who are His, to be partakers of that joy. Go over to John. John chapter 15. The Lord with
His disciples. Judas had already been gone.
And He tells His people this. John chapter 15 and verse 11. Jesus says to his disciples,
These things I have spoken unto you, that my joy should remain
in you, and that your joy should be full. My joy should remain in you. I've spoken these words. What
word? This word. This is the word. And I tell you, when I read this,
I find joy. Not just any joy. Not just that
joy that evaporates in my hand. The joy of the Lord is what I
find. I find the joy of the Lord. The
Lord Jesus Christ is my joy. He is my happiness. He is my
peace. He is my contentment. He's my
all and everything. Flip over a page or two for John
17. Look at verse 13. Jesus in his high priestly prayer
speaks, and now I come to thee. And these things I speak in the
world. That's his word. that they might
have my joy fulfilled in themselves. This is the work of the Holy
Spirit. The joy of the Lord is to give you life. The joy of
the Lord is to give you spiritual life, faith, peace, meekness,
temperance, and joy. Those are the fruits of the Spirit,
aren't they? Love, joy. Just as much as He's given you
faith to believe He's given you joy in His Holy Spirit. His joy is in you. This is the
prayer of Jesus for those He died for, that they should have
His joy in themselves, not by themselves. I like that. It's
not by you. Your joy is not going to be by
you. It's going to be in you. In you. The joy that He puts
in you. The only joy of the sinner is
to hear the voice of the Savior. I rejoice to hear Him say, It
is finished. What does that mean? It means
finished is finished. Done is done. That's what it
means. My salvation is done. It's not
something I've got to do. It's something that's done. This
is my joy. All is ready. All is ready. Come, you that weep because of
your sins, come and eat the fat. Well, that's against our society,
isn't it? Well, you've got to stay away
from the fat. Don't eat too much fat. Well, man, that's where
all the taste is. You take away the fat, you take
away the taste. Give me the fat. I want the fat. That's where the taste is. And
that's what he's saying. This is the fat. This is it. This is my fat. The gospel of
Jesus Christ. That's what I love to feast on.
It's what my soul desires. It is a sweet drink. And I send portions of this to
those who have nothing prepared. Isn't that what our text says?
Go back, look at that. This is amazing. He says this. He says, you eat
the fat. You drink the sweet, which is
the gospel. And then you send portions to those who have nothing
prepared. What am I doing? I have enjoyed
the fat this week. I've enjoyed the study. I've
drank the sweet. And what am I doing? I'm giving
you portions for you who have nothing prepared. You have nothing
prepared. You've got nothing to offer God.
You've got nothing which to bribe God for His joy. And what am
I doing? I'm giving you the fat. I'm giving
you the sweet to drink even when you have nothing prepared. Spit
out the dust of the world and drink and eat. It's what God
is telling you by His Word. The world can't bring you joy.
Spit it out. and drink the gospel of which
Jesus is the author and object, source, and spring of all righteousness
and forgiveness of sin. Man, do you need forgiveness? Drink the sweet. Eat the fat. Christ is our forgiveness. Christ
is our acceptance. Christ is our all. And the Holy Spirit that teaches
us this and keeps our souls and our bodies gives us the joy of
the Lord. The joy of the Lord is only found
in Jesus Christ, that He is our complete salvation. I like this
scripture in Colossians 2. It says in verse 10, you are
complete in Him. You are complete in Him. Believer
rejoice, for God is not to us an angry judge in pursuit of
a felon, but he is rather a loving father to whom sons come and
bring their cares." I know you've got cares. I know
you've got troubles. Our Father is not pursuing us
to kill us. He is drawing us. with arms of
love and mercy. And he says, sons, bring your
cares to me and I'll care for you. Bring your cares and lay
them at my feet and you just eat and drink of my word. Consider God's love. How great
is his love toward us? I can't even comprehend his love.
I can't. And He who has loved us has also
made us to be His sons. He has adopted us in the eternal
covenant of grace, and has bought us by the blood of His Son, and
by the Holy Spirit has sealed us. And no man can take us from
Him. Did you hear what the Lord Jesus
Christ said? He said, you that are His sheep. He said, I give
unto you eternal life, and no man shall pluck you out of My
hand. No man shall pluck you out of my hand. Does this not
give you some joy? Does that not give you peace
and contentment in your trouble? Your trouble is not going to
pluck you out of his hand. Nothing will. If God is my Father
and Christ is my brother and Savior, and the Holy Ghost has
sealed me and keeps me, then why should I lack any joy? Believer in Christ, if you lack
any joy in this world, it's your own fault. If you lack any joy, it's your
own fault. We, like Mephibosheth, have been
commanded to sit at the table of the King. The feast has been prepared And the only reason you would
ever hunger is your refusal to eat. That's it. If you lack any joy,
it's your own fault, because you refuse the superabundant
feast that's set before you. And not only do we rejoice in
God's character, we rejoice in God's election from eternity
past, we rejoice in this present state in Christ, But I'll tell
you this, believer, you may also rejoice in your future state. The joy of the Lord springs not
only from the past of God's love towards us, not only from the
present realization of the gospel and salvation, but the joy of
the Lord also issues forth that all future things that God holds
for us is for your good. All future things. Spurgeon had this to say. He
said, "'However happy I may be today, if I'm in doubt concerning
tomorrow, there's a worm at the root of my peace. Although my
past may now be sweet in retrospect, and the present be firm in enjoyment,
yet if the future be grim with fear, my joy is but shallow.'"
Isn't that so? If you have any doubt of future
joy, doesn't that cause you to grief? Doesn't it cause you to
sorrow? Takes away our joy, doesn't it?
But you may know this, you are in Christ, all the future is
bright. All your future is bright. Believer, let us see that our
salvation is no halfway redemption. It's no halfway redemption. It's
fully complete, although I haven't seen it yet. Although your future will surely
be filled with troubles and trials, yet none of them can move you
from the sure foundation of Jesus Christ. Though your way to glory
is through the midst of the sea, the walls of trouble and the
thoughts of judgment stand tall and overshadow you, yet not one
drop of the spray shall touch you as you pass through this
journey of life. Not one judgment of God shall
fall on you. When those children of Israel
traveled through the midst of that sea, do you not suppose
that they were troubled? Had a wall of sea surrounding
them. But as they look ahead, they
see the others have already made it. Look ahead. Where is Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob? Have they not already made it?
Have they not landed safe on Canaan's shore? Is that not give
you such joy concerning your future, that you too shall make
it? You will make it. How do I know? Because Christ has made it. He's
over on the other side, and he's beckoning us. Follow. Follow. Oh, to see him there with his
hand outstretched, ready to receive us. Is that not your joy? To know
that your future is secure. Your past is secure, your present
is secure, and your future is secure. The joy of the Lord is
your strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
It was Enoch's joy to walk with God. It was Mary's joy to sit
at His feet and hear His Word. It was John's joy to lean on
His breast. Is it not our joy now to commune
with Him? Commune with our Savior. Believer, let us avail ourselves
to every opportunity to commune with Him. If you neglect communing with
your Savior in prayer and study and worship, you are refusing
to eat of the joy set before you. And what are you doing? You're
taking the dust and putting the dust back in your mouth. And
then you wonder why it is you have no joy. Isn't that our way? Isn't that
our way? We neglect the joy of the gospel
and we take the sand and we say, well, God, why am I so sad? Why
am I so upset? Well, you put dirt in your mouth,
son. Of course, you're not going to be satisfied. Eat the fat,
drink the sweet, come and eat and have joy. If it is the Father's joy to
be in your midst, why is it not our joy to be in His? Didn't He say that's His joy?
In Zephaniah chapter 3 it says, The Lord in the midst of thee
is mighty shall save. Listen, He will rejoice over
thee with joy. He will rest in His love. He
will joy over thee with singing. You know joy is mentioned twice
in that verse. One verse, God's joying over
you and God's joying with you. Why is it not our pleasure to
joy with Him? To spend time with our Savior? Believers, we know and confess
that we are weak and feeble creatures. I know we do. The storms of this
life are continually raging against us, and the world despises us
and our gospel. Yet, even now, in the midst of
it all, you may rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Eat the fat. Drink the sweet. Send portions unto those that
have none. For the joy of the Lord is your
strength. Don't be sorry. Don't weep. Rejoice. That is your Father's will. That His joy should remain in
you. And I like this. Our Lord Jesus
said, My joy no man can take from you. Just like faith, no man could
take your faith from you. No man could take your peace
with God from you. And no man could take your joy.
For the joy is of the Lord. And that's my strength. Is that your strength? I pray
it is. May God the Holy Spirit bless
it. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed in prayer.