Psalms chapter 16. Our text will
be found in the last verse of Psalm 16 verse 11. Psalm chapter 16 and verse 11. The title of our message this
evening is Our Fullness of Joy. Our Fullness of Joy. Psalm 16 and verse 11. Thou wilt show me the path of
life. In Thy presence is fullness of
joy. At Thy right hand there are pleasures
forevermore. In Thy presence is fullness of
joy. What is this fullness of joy? As I've asked myself this question
this week, I have found out rather quickly that I have never experienced
in this mortal frame what it is to be completely joyful. Completely joyful. Fullness of
joy. In thy presence is fullness of
joy. What is this fullness of joy?
Fullness of joy means to be complete. When you are complete, it is
only then will you experience full joy. Full joy. When we are made whole, Then
and only then will we experience the full and complete peace that
Christ Jesus has purchased for us. Fullness of joy. How is it that I know that I've
not experienced this fullness? Well, because in this world,
in this world we shall have tribulation. Tribulation. We shall have trouble. This world is full of trouble.
This flesh is full of sin. Our joy and our peace ebb and
flow like the ocean wave. It moves in by circumstance. It seems that sometimes our joy
seems to be overwhelming and then it just flows back and then
we find ourselves with discontentment and trouble and hurt. and fear. The riches of this
world, they promise joy, don't they? The riches of this world,
they promise joy. But the scriptures are clear
that the riches of this world are deceitful. Deceitful. The pleasures of the flesh, they
promise joy. If I just had this one more thing,
All right, who's free from that? Anybody free from that? No, we're not free from it. We're always looking for that
next best thing. The flesh promises peace, but
the joy of the flesh is fleeting. How then can we find fullness
of joy? How is it that one is made complete? How is it that we will experience
this fullness of joy? How can we who are so full of
weakness, so full of discontent, find joy? Not only joy. And I'm not talking
about moments of joy. I'm talking about fullness of
joy. Complete joy. Absolute and perfect
joy. How is it that we're going to
experience this? How can a person experience this
fullness of joy? Well, first of all, for a person
to experience this fullness of joy, we must forsake... we must forget and forsake the
thought of ever finding it in this world. If you want joy,
you must first give up trying to find it here. There is no
joy that is lasting in this world. None. There is no lasting joy in this
world. We must give up, surrender all
hopes and foolish dreams of finding anything or anyone to give us
lasting joy. There's nothing and no one. Nothing
and no one in this world that will make us complete. I may be the only one here, but
when I saw my wife, I said, that's what I want. And if I got her,
then I would be what? Complete. that was that time
that that movie had come out I guess and you know that man
said you make you complete me and of course I would just say
that you know everything was roses everything was wonderful I've been married for 20 years
and I realize maybe I'm a slow learner but my completeness is
not found in my lovely wife It's not. She's not the fullness of
my joy. She can't be. And I can't be
her fullness of joy. There's nothing and no one in
this world that is going to make us completely and utterly happy. Now I tell you this, we do experience
joy here. That is true. I'm not saying
that God is so unmerciful. God is merciful. God is gracious
to us in that He gives us experiences of joy, glimpses of joy. He gives
us the good things that we experience in this life. In 1 Timothy 6
and 17, Paul is telling Timothy, he said, you charge those who
are rich in the things of this world that they trust not in
uncertain riches. Why? Well, because riches are
uncertain. Is that not so? Are riches not uncertain? They're
here today, and they're gone. In Proverbs 23, 5, Solomon says,
Will thou set thine eyes upon that which is nothing? For riches certainly make themselves
wings. They fly away as eagles toward
heaven. Riches are uncertain. Rather,
Paul says, trust in the living God who giveth us richly all
things to enjoy. These things that we have that
are joyful in our lives, we must recognize they come from God.
If there is any joy that we experience in this life, it is a gift of
God to us. It's a gift of God, and we should
enjoy them. Anybody who says a believer should
be running around with a frown on his face is wrong, because
God gives us these things to enjoy. If God's given you something
that is joyful, and is not against his word, is not against his
commands, or the law that he's put in our hearts, and Christ,
then enjoy these things. But don't trust them. Don't trust
that they will keep you joyful. They cannot keep you joyful. If we find joy in our family,
God gave it. Rejoice in it. If we find pleasant
circumstances, rejoice in those pleasant times, those times of
peace. Give thanks to God for it. If
we have an overabundance of things, and I tell you, we have an overabundance
of things in this life. You and I may be poor in retrospect
to the elite of this country, but I'll tell you what, in the
whole, we are very wealthy. We are very wealthy. We're not
scraping in garbage bins to find food, are we? No. God has richly
blessed us and we can enjoy these things. They're given to us to
enjoy. And we should enjoy them, not
at the expense of rejoicing in God that gave them. Believer, I tell you this is
certain. You can count on this. The joys of this life are fleeting. every joy that you have experienced. Tell me if this is true. Every
joy you've ever experienced in your life, do you experience
the same joy as when you first experienced it? No. And what
happens when we get it over and over? Pretty soon it just becomes
old hat. We really don't care about it
very much. It's not really joyful anymore. The things of this world,
the joys of this life, will not last. They cannot give us joy,
fullness of joy, because they cannot complete us. They cannot make us whole. Solomon
said vanity. Of vanities, all is vanity. Vanity. Empty. I tell you, this truth is rejected
by the natural man. This truth that you've even experienced,
that everyone's experienced. If I asked this of everyone,
if they were just a little bit honest, they would be able to
identify that their joys are fleeting. But this idea is rejected
by the natural man. The natural man rejects it that
he can't find lasting joy in this world. How do I know? He
keeps on trying to find it. He keeps seeking it. He doesn't
believe the word of God to be true, and he says in his heart,
No, God! God says vanity of vanities,
all is vanity. Trust in me. And what does a
foolish man, the natural man, say in his heart? No, God, I'll
have my own way. I'll do my own thing. I'll satisfy
my own self. I'll find my own joy, my own
peace. Natural man hates the things
of God. He set his heart to do his own
pleasure. Look over a page you see in Psalm
10. In verse 3 it says, For the wicked boasteth of his heart's
desire, and blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride
of his own countenance, will not seek after God. God is not
in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous,
and thy judgments are far above out of His sight. As for all
His enemies, He puffeth at them. He hath said in His heart, I
shall not be moved, for I shall never be in adversity. Isn't that the way the wicked
think? Oh, everything's just going to work out. I'm gonna
get my way, I'm going to have my fun and it's all gonna work
out just fine and nothing will touch me. I'll find my joy. I'll find my joy my own way and
God says no you won't. There's nothing in this world
that will give you completeness of joy. Nothing. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. In verse 11 of chapter 10 He hath said in his heart, God
hath forgotten. He hideth his face, he will never
see it. Arise, O Lord, O God, lift up
thine hand, forget not the humble. Wherefore doth the wicked contempt
God, blaspheme God? He hath said in his heart, Thou
will not require it. The wicked man believes that
he can seek his own way, find his own joy, and God won't see
it, God won't require it of him. The wicked man believes God to
be much like himself, only weaker. Isn't that the God of this age?
The God of this age is not a God at all. Because man makes God
to be much like himself, only weaker. Man lusts, they scheme, and they
trust in their own wicked plans to bring them joy, but this is
sure. that God will require it of them. Nothing in this world will satisfy
them, and everything they have will come to nothing. This is
sure. This is sure. God will require
those things of wicked men, and in the end, God will punish all
sin. This is sure. This is sure. The wicked man who seeks the
world's joy and despises the things of God says, when shall
these things be? Isn't that the heart of the natural
man? To say in his heart, well, everything
just continued the way it's been since the beginning. When in
the world is God going to judge these things? You see, because
God is long suffering with the wicked, they count it as slackness.
concerning His promise. God is not slack concerning His
promise. The soul that sinneth, it shall
surely die. That's a promise. And you can
bank on this, God always keeps His promise. He always keeps
His promise. The wicked desire to dismiss,
the wicked dismiss the judgment of God and try to fulfill their
lust to find their joy. God says you won't have joy in
this life and I'll tell you you won't have it in the next. What a sad condition. What a
sad condition to be in to try to find your joy in this world.
Isn't that sad? You who believe, I know that
you ain't found your joy here and you won't try. Seeing then that all these things
will perish. Seeing that all these things
will perish, seeing that nothing here will last and all things
of this life are vanity, where then is the fullness of joy to
be found? Where can a man find the completeness
of his soul? Where can he find peace, joy,
contentment? I tell you it's only found in
one man and his name is Jesus Christ the Lord. He is the Son
of God. Only in Jesus Christ is fullness
of joy found. Why is that? Because only Jesus
can complete you. Only Jesus can make you whole. Can make you whole. Jesus is
the completion of every one of His saints. Go back to your text.
Let's look at our text for a little bit here. Now this psalm, if you were to
go and we're going to go through this psalm, and I want us to
see first of all that this psalm is by the mouth of the prophet
truly the words of Jesus Christ. These are the words of David
as he spoke, but I tell you that these are by prophecy the words
of Jesus Christ the whole of this chapter. And as we see in this entire
chapter, it consists of the words of Christ. I want us to behold
the Son of God. Behold the Son of God who was
made flesh for the complete salvation of His people. Behold Him. First, behold that He is the
complete righteousness of His people. In verse 1, the Lord
Jesus, by words of the prophet, says, Preserve me, O God, for
in Thee do I put my trust. My soul, O my soul, Thou hast
said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord. My goodness extendeth
not to Thee. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He
became a man, and found himself in fashion in the nature of a
man, he humbled himself and said to God, Preserve me, O God. Preserve me. For in Thee do I
put my trust. The Lord Jesus Christ as a man
depended, trusted in God for everything. You remember when
Satan tempted our Lord Jesus and he said, If thou be the Son
of God, make these stones bread. Now do you not suppose that would
have been a simple thing for him to do? He had been starving.
He had been 40 days without food. He was hungry. He felt hunger
to such a degree that no man could be sustained so long without
food. And yet here's the temptation.
Make that stone bread yourself. If He would have made that stone
bread, we would have no hope. He must have trusted God for
everything. including His daily bread. How perfect is that trust? Have
you ever trusted God for just that one thing? I tell you, I eat and sometimes
don't even think about my God. Our Lord Jesus waited for God
to supply His every need. That is trust. That's trust. He trusted in the Lord to preserve
him. Jesus was made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were under the law that
we should receive the adoption of sons. Jesus must have trusted
in God and believed on him. in order to obtain righteousness
for us. You see, you and I don't have
fullness of joy because we don't have perfect righteousness. We've
not fully honored the law of God. He has. He honored the law of
God. And look at this. He said, Thou
art my Lord, and my goodness extendeth not to thee. Have you
ever thought about the righteousness of Christ adding nothing to God?
The righteousness of Christ, when He obeyed God, added nothing
to God. He said, My righteousness is
not for you. My righteousness extended not to you. Look what He says. But, My goodness
extendeth not to thee. It doesn't add anything to you,
God. but to the saints which are in the earth, and to the
excellent, in whom is my delight." His righteousness didn't add
anything to God, but I tell you, it added everything to us. It
added everything to His saints. All of His goodness and righteousness
was toward His saints. Herein is fullness of joy. Herein
is the message of everlasting joy. It was the song of the angels
that said, Fear not, for I bring to you
good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto
you this day in the city of David is born a Savior, Christ the
Lord. This is the fullness of joy.
The fullness of joy is that Jesus Christ has come and accomplished
righteousness by His obedience. This is the joy of the saints. Sinners, I bring you a message
of joy. Jesus has fulfilled all the law
of God on the behalf of His saints. It's accomplished. Righteousness
fulfilled. And when I say saints, I'm not
talking about how these wicked, foolish, religious men, what
they call saints. The saints of God are not saints
because of their own merit. They're saints because they were
chosen by the sovereign grace of God. Saints. Called saints. Chosen of the
Father in eternal election. And those saints were given to
Jesus Christ And He, for them alone, His goodness extended
to the saints and only to them. His goodness, His righteousness
extended only to the elect. And He trusted God and obtained
righteousness for them. Secondly, Jesus is our complete
Savior because He has completed the atonement. Look in verse
4. It says in verse 4, Their sorrows shall be multiplied and
hastened after another God. Their drink offerings of blood
will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. Jesus here by the mouth of the
prophet shows us again that there, that no sacrifices, no sacrifices
in this world can atone for sin except His perfect offering. His perfect offering is the only
thing that can atone for sin. He said, I won't take up those
sacrifices of others. I won't put those in my lips.
Have you noticed that Jesus always and only talked about his own
sacrifice? He talked about his own sacrifice.
He spoke of his own sacrifice. Only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
has forever atoned for the sins of God's elect. Behold the offering
of Jesus Christ upon the cross. It was a substitutionary offering. Jesus Christ offered Himself
to God in the stead of His people, in the place. Those in whom Jesus Christ delighted
in, those that He loved, the Scriptures are so vivid about
this. He gave Himself He gave Himself for us. He willingly died in the place
of His people. His sacrifice was a willing sacrifice. He who knew no sin was made sin for us. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in you. So that your joy, believer, might
be made complete, our Savior atoned for your sins. Our Savior, who loved you, gave
Himself for you. He said, The Shepherd, I am the
Good Shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. Therefore, Jesus was offered
as a Lamb without spot and without blemish, and yet God the Father
imputed the sins of His people to Him. Why? So that you might be made complete.
So that you might experience the fullness of joy. Jesus who was the spotless Lamb
of God, was forsaken of God and suffered the full measure of
God's wrath alone. Is there ever a greater story
than this? That the Lord Jesus Himself,
God manifest in the flesh, would die in the place of sinners. He shall see the travail of his
soul and be satisfied. Look back at your text and the
scripture says in verse 5, The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance
and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The
lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly
heritage. The inheritance, the portion,
the lot of the Lord Jesus Christ was not only to suffer for us,
but also to be raised again in exaltation. It was His lot to
come and to provide our righteousness and to satisfy God's justice,
but it was also His portion to be exalted in glory. He said,
this is my portion. The Lord is my portion. The Lord
is the portion of mine inheritance. He said, I got a goodly heritage. And he who not only suffered
for our sins was exalted to the right hand of God. How do we
know this? In verse 7 he says, I will bless
the Lord who hath given me counsel. My reigns also instructed me
in the night season. I have set the Lord always before
me. Because He is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad,
my glory rejoiceth. My flesh shall also rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell. Neither wilt thou suffer thy
Holy One to see corruption. You see, we know this is the
Lord Jesus Christ. You can go to Acts chapter 2
and read it, what the Apostle Peter says about this very verse.
David was already dead, David was already buried, and yet we
know this speaks of Christ alone. Thou wilt not leave my soul in
the grave, nor will my body see corruption. We know Lord Jesus
Christ was raised after three days. He was in the tomb. And He was raised from the dead.
And His body saw no corruption. Jesus is the Holy One of God. He is the One that trusted God
for righteousness, was crucified for the sins of His people, was
risen from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the
Father. And what is His claim? He says,
I sit at His right hand where there is fullness of joy. How is this fullness of joy for
us? Well, because He is seated at the right hand of God where
there is fullness of joy. We may be assured of this, that
everyone who believes in Him will receive the same fullness
of joy. Everyone. You see, my Lord and
Savior is not in heaven wringing His hands Just hoping men will
come. No. My Savior sits complete. Because He has saved His people
from their sins. He is a successful Savior. A successful Savior. He sits
at the right hand of God where there is fullness of joy. Not
fullness of worry. His people that He died for,
that He secured their righteousness, that He atoned for their sin
and was raised for their justification. We can be sure of this. Every
one of them, every one of them will experience this fullness
of joy. I'll ask you this. Is Jesus the fullness of your
joy? Are you complete in Him? John chapter, in first John chapter
1, John tells us, he said, I write these things that your joy might
be full. What things? Those things I've
just told you. All those things that are mentioned
here in Psalm 16, the Lord Jesus Christ providing our righteousness,
the Lord Jesus Christ providing our atonement, the Lord Jesus
Christ being raised from the dead, He said, I write these
things that your joy might be full. Would you have fullness of joy?
Then I tell you, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold the
offering of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Behold, sinner, the
vanity of this world. Behold, there's no joy to be
found here. Why will you die? There's no joy in this world.
Are you convinced of that? God's people convinced of that.
There's no joy in this world. No lasting joy. No lasting joy
here. Are you convinced of the vanity
of self-righteousness? Are you convinced of the vanity
of false free will, works, religion? Are you convinced that you will
find in yourself no acceptable merit before God? Then I tell
you, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall have fullness
of joy. Why? Because all who believe
on Him are complete in Him. Complete. What are you lacking? You who believe on Christ, what
are you lacking? Is there anything He has not
given you already and provided for you? When you stand before
God, will there be anything lacking in you? No. Why? Because He is complete, and I
am complete in Him. When He found His joy at the
right hand of the Father, I find my joy at the right hand of Christ. He is all my joy. Set your affections. Where are
you setting your affections? I'm sorry, affection. It's singular.
It's not plural. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth. Why? There's no lasting joy here. Where's our joy? He's seated
in heaven at the right hand of the Father. And I know this,
I am on my way to Him. Keep your eye on Him. He is the fullness of joy. May God give you that. May God
keep you there. And I'll tell you, there's contentment,
there's peace at His feet. There's peace if you're in Him. Are the troubles of this life
Really that important? No. He is important. You got him. You got everything
else. May God bless you. Let's stand
and be dismissed in prayer.