Go with me if you would now to
Psalm 105. Psalm 105, Sister in the Lord. sent a note to me last week and
listed a scripture in it. And I read it and I thought,
what a precious scripture. The word of God is so precious,
isn't it? It is so precious. The words
that our Lord has given to us, they are so precious. He could
have said anything to us. And his words to us are so precious. I read this particular verse
and I thought, what an enjoyable thought. What an amazing thing to just
think on. And then when I heard the report
of our brother D. Parks, this scripture came back
to my mind again and I thought, what an amazing thing to hope
in. Last week, I was thinking, what an amazing thing to think
on. And then at the beginning of this week, I was thinking,
what an amazing thing to hope in. Psalm 105, verse 43 says, and he, all through this Psalm,
it says, he, he, he. Speaking of our precious Lord.
Verse 43 says, and he, brought forth his people with
joy and his chosen with gladness. He brought forth his people with
joy and his chosen with gladness. How precious. How precious. This whole psalm is a declaration
of what our Lord has done. The whole psalm. Let me just
point out a few verses here and there to show you that. Verse
one says, Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the people. And that's what we do.
That's what the preaching of the gospel is. It is the making
known of the deeds of the Lord. That's what we do. We stand up
and we tell people, this is what the Lord has done. This is what
the Lord has done. Look at verse five. It says,
remember his marvelous works that he hath done his wonders
and the judgments of his mouth. And the rest of this psalm is
a recalling of what He did for His people. Remember what He's
done. And that's what this whole psalm
is. It's a remembrance, a recalling of what He did for His people.
Verse 6 says, O ye seed of Abraham, His servant, ye children of Jacob,
His chosen. The Lord has a chosen people,
a particular people. Verse 7, He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the
earth. He hath remembered His covenant
forever. You want to talk about something
that the Lord has done? Just think about this. He hath
remembered His covenant forever. He will never forget His covenant. Never. Verse 8, He hath remembered
His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand
generations. that covenant from the beginning. He has remember it. He will remember
it forever. Verse nine, which covenant he
made with Abraham and his oath unto Isaac. and confirmed the
same unto Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting
covenant, saying unto thee, will I give the land of Canaan the
lot of your inheritance. He made a covenant to bring his
chosen people all the way to the promised land of rest. There is a rest that remains
for the people of God. He made a covenant for that.
That physical land of Canaan represents our eternal inheritance
of rest with Him in glory. Verse 13 says, When they went from one nation
to another, from one kingdom to another people, he's about
to show how the Lord moved his people from one place to another
and he led them and he guided them all the way. Look at verse 16. Moreover, he
called for a famine upon the land. He break the whole staff
of bread. He sent a man before them, even
Joseph, who was sold for a servant. He sent Joseph into Egypt to
be their deliverer. Joseph represents Christ. Look at verse 23. Israel, that's
Jacob. Israel also came into Egypt and
Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. That's how all the children
of Israel got there. And then Egypt put them all in
hard bondage and labor. Sold into bondage and labor.
Look at verse 26. He sent Moses, his servant and
Aaron, whom he had chosen. He sent Moses to deliver his
people. And from verse 27 down to verse
36, it tells all the plagues that God sent until Egypt was
finally willing to let God's people go. And not just willing,
but happy for them to go. Egypt was happy for them to go.
They gave them gifts. They gave them gold and jewelry
as they went out. Verse 37 says, He brought them
forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble
person among their tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed,
for the fear of them fell upon them." All of those gifts represent
Christ. The gift of Christ. And then verse 39 says, He protected
them with a pillar of a cloud and a pillar of fire, He spread
a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night. That
protection represents Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Verses
40 and 41 say, He provided for them with quails and manna and
water from the rock. That provision represents Christ. That bread was Christ. That water was Christ. That rock
was Christ. Verse 42 says, For He remembered
His holy promise, and Abraham His servant. And He brought forth
His people with joy, and His chosen with gladness, and gave
them the lands of the heathen, And they inherited the labor
of the people, that they might observe His statutes and keep
His laws. And that's what we're going to
do in glory. We are going to observe His statutes and we are
going to keep His laws. We're going to live without sin.
We're going to live without sin. The end of the whole Psalm says,
Praise ye the Lord. Now here's what I want us to
get a hold of tonight. From eternity to eternity, from the beginning
of the covenant to the fulfillment of the covenant. God's word will
hold true. God's word will hold true everything
that he said he would do for us. He has done. He is doing and
He will do everything, everything. We're going to have moments in
life when we're going to need to hold on to that promise. When our turn comes, we're going
to need to hold on to that promise. Everything that He said He would
do for us, He'll do it. He has done it. He is doing it. He will do it. And here's what
touched my heart about the whole thing. All of it. All of his
purposes concerning us. All of it was conceived. It was executed and it will be
brought to pass. With joy. All of it. With joy. all of it with joy. It was all done in joy and gladness,
start to finish. Verse 43 says, He brought forth
His people with joy. and His chosen with gladness. Everything that God did, everything
He is doing, and everything He will do for His people, He has
done it all for them in joy and gladness. It's all ordered, sure,
set in stone. Known to God are all His works
from the beginning, and all of them are in joy and
gladness. As I thought on this, these three
things came to my mind. And this will be our outline
for the next few minutes. Number one, our Lord brought
forth his people in creation. He brought forth his people in
salvation. And he is going to bring forth
every single one of those people in glorification. And in all
three of those moments, He did that and He will do that for
His people with joy and gladness in His heart. Joy and gladness in His heart.
That word gladness right there at the end of verse 43, that
word means singing. Obviously, it is our joy and
it's our singing that He did that for us. It's our joy. It's
our gladness. It's our singing. But it was
and it is His joy and His singing that He did that for us. That
is just precious. Now, let's just consider this
and enjoy this for a minute. Turn with me, if you would, to
Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31. Verse three, it says, The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
have I drawn thee. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. God has loved his people since
before the foundation of this world. God has loved his people
since before this world was ever created, before any of his people
were ever even created. He said, I love you. I loved you. In Jeremiah 1, he
said, before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. Before
I ever formed you in the belly. What does that word knew mean?
When it says God knew, it means loved. I loved you. When God created man along with
everything else, he said, behold, it's very good. Very good. That was the first
state of man. And that's going to be the last
state of all of the redeemed in Christ. Very good. Very good. I've thought so many times. Why did God even do all of this? Why did God even do all this? Why did he create all of this? Why did he create man? Why did
he create man? We brought so much misery on
ourselves. We have ruined ourselves. Why
did he create man? Well, the scripture says all
things were created by him. And for him. Why did God create man? God created
man for his own glory. God created everything, namely
his own people, for his own glory and for his own pleasure. Because
that's what it pleased him to do, that was the joy of his heart,
that's what it pleased him to do. Turn with me over to 1 Samuel
chapter 12. First Samuel 12, look with me
at verse 22. It says, for the Lord will not
forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it hath
pleased the Lord to make you his people. That'll transition
us from creation to salvation, but we can't have salvation without
creation. Why did the Lord create us? It
pleased Him to do so. It pleased the Lord to do so. Our Lord brought us forth in
creation with joy and gladness. And in spite of our rebellion
and our sin against Him, He brought us forth again. Born, born again. He brought us forth again in
salvation with joy and gladness in His heart. Verse 22 says,
For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's
sake, because it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people. It pleased the Lord to do that
for you. It pleased the Lord to do everything
that had to be done to make you to be His people. Isaiah 53 says,
it pleased the Lord to bruise Christ. Why did God the father
lay all of the iniquity of his people on his only begotten son
and then bruise his son for it? Why would the father do that? It pleased him to do it. That's
what it pleased him to do. It pleased the Lord. to bruise
Christ. It pleased the Lord to do that.
Hebrews 12 verse 2 says that our Lord Jesus Christ willingly
set his face like a flint to the cross where his own father
would lay all of that sin on him knowing that he would be
despised for it and shamed for it and killed for it. Why did
God the Son do that for us? Hebrews 12 says, he did it for
the joy set before him. It's what it pleased him to do.
He brought us forth in salvation with joy and gladness. He said, it is my joy and gladness
to do this for them. Turn with me over to Luke chapter
15. Luke 15 verse 3 says, And he
spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having
an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the
ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost
until he find it? And when he hath found it, he
layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth
together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with
me, for I have found my sheep, which was lost. That's what he
said on the cross of Calvary, and that's how he said it. Rejoice
with me. Not exactly in word, but indeed. When he cried, It is finished,
what he was telling all of heaven and earth is, Rejoice with me. I have brought forth my people
with joy, with rejoicing, with gladness. Our Lord brought forth
his people in creation. He brought forth his people in
salvation. And one day real soon for each
one of us, all who have been given to Christ. He is going
to bring us forth in glory, glorification, creation, salvation, glorification. And when that moment comes, it's
going to be joy and gladness, not only for us, but for him too. I want you to
hold your place right here in Luke 15. Just hold this spot
and turn with me over to Jude. There's one chapter in Jude.
Look at verse 24. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Every time I read
that verse, I just can't imagine that moment. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling. What a glorious start to the
verse that is. Now unto Him that's able to keep
you from falling and able to present you faultless before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy. The moment that our Lord presents
his bride to his father in all of her spotlessness, all of her
holy perfection, as he is doing that, according to the word of
God Almighty, there is going to be exceeding joy in his heart. And if there is exceeding joy
in Christ's heart, There is going to be exceeding joy in the Father's
heart. And let me tell everybody something.
I hear that. I don't know what that is, but I hear it, and it has
everybody's attention. I don't know what it is. It's
okay. It'll be all right. When Christ presents His bride,
there's going to be exceeding joy in His heart. And if there
is exceeding joy in Christ's heart, there is going to be exceeding
joy in the Father's heart. Because they too are one. And if there is exceeding joy
in Christ's heart and the Father's heart, there is going to be exceeding
joy in the Spirit's heart. Because these three are one. And if there is exceeding joy
in Christ's heart and the Father's heart and the Spirit's heart,
there is going to be exceeding joy in our heart. Because in
that moment, we will be one with them, even as they are one. And if God and his people are
consumed with exceeding joy, then all of heaven will be consumed
with exceeding joy. Turn with me back to Luke 15. Luke 15, verse six, it says,
and when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors,
saying unto them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep
which was lost. I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than
over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. If
joy erupts in heaven every time a child of God is converted to
believe on Christ, If joy erupts in heaven every
single time a soul is converted to believe on Christ, can you
imagine the joy that erupts every time a child of God physically
walks in? Can you imagine that? Turn over to Psalm 24 with me. Now Psalm 22 is called the psalm
of the cross. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Psalm 23 is our comfort because
of the cross, the psalm of comfort. Psalm 24 is the psalm of the
crown, the cross, the comfort, the crown. It's Christ crowning
glory in his ascension back to his father after accomplishing
the cross, okay? In his accomplishment, verse
one says, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the
world and they that dwell therein. For he had founded it upon the
seas and established it upon the floods. Verse three says,
who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord or who shall stand
in his holy place? Here it is. He that hath clean
hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully. Who shall ascend? The one who
has absolutely put away sin, all of the sin that he bore for
his people. Verse five says, he shall receive
the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of
his salvation. This is the generation of them
that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Now we read of
his ascension in the book of Acts. You know that passage where
all the disciples were standing there and he ascended up and
they're looking up into heaven and the angels came and said,
why are you standing here gazing into heaven? We read of that
ascension from the disciples' point of view. They were all
standing here on earth, watching Him rise up until a cloud received
Him out of their sight. This is His ascension from heaven's
point of view. As soon as heaven realized that
that cloud had received Him out of earth's sight, all of heaven
started shouting, verse 7, Lift up your heads, O ye gates, And
be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory
shall come in." Who's going to ascend up? The One that has clean
hands. Who can ascend directly from
earth to heaven? The Righteous One. Verse 8, Who
is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. The
One who got the victory. The One who finished the war.
Verse nine, heaven cries, lift up your heads, O ye gates, even
lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. That's the reception he received.
That's the reception all of his people will receive, because
as he is, so are they. In joy and gladness, He has made
that to be so. When that moment comes, when that moment comes, Isaiah
55 says that as God's people are leaving this earth, it says
every one of them are going to go out with joy. That's what
it says. You know, you think about we
all. We're all talking about these loved ones and these brethren
and. And it's sorrow fills our hearts, sorrow for ourselves
and sorrow for our loved ones and. But for God's people, for
the child of God who goes through this moment. Isaiah 55 says every
single one of them is going to go out with joy. And they are
going to be led forth with peace. And in that moment, it says the
mountains and the hills are going to break forth into singing.
And all the trees of the field are going to clap their hands.
When our Lord comes back and gathers all of his people to
himself and they rise up to meet him in the air, that's what all
of God's people are going to experience as they leave this
earth. This great rejoicing is going
to take place. This great applause is going
to take place. And then the moment they cross
over into the next world, they're going to hear all of heaven crying,
open the gates. All of earth is going to cry
to the Savior. Well done. Well done. And then they're going
to cross over and all of heaven who is. You know, a numeral,
innumerable company of angels and All of heaven is going to
be crying, open the gates. There's not going to be any standing
there, you know, knocking on the door. There's not going to
be any of that. Nobody's going to ask. You know,
I give that little illustration sometimes. If somebody says,
what right do you have to come in? There's not going to be any
of that. All of heaven From the inside, as the Lord is carrying
His people up, they're all going to be crying, open the gates,
open the everlasting doors, because the King of glory is coming in
and He has brought forth His people with Him in joy and gladness. Now does the thought of that
bring joy to your heart? Come we that love the Lord and
let our joys be known. His joy is our joy. His joy is our hope. His joy is our hope. What a thing to hope in. What
a thing to hope in. The joy and the gladness of God
for His people. Amen. All right, let's all stand
together.