Much to be thankful for, I do,
and the Lord knows that I am. But it's said here in Psalm 33,
look what it says here in verse 1, Rejoice in the Lord, O ye
righteous. That's the only people who can
rejoice in the Lord, those who are righteous, those who are
made righteous. For praise is comely for the upright, Praise
him with the harp, sing unto him with the psaltery, and an
instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song, play
skillfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right,
and all his works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness
and judgment. The earth is full of the goodness
of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were
the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of
his mouth. He gathered the waters at the sea together, as in heap
he lit up the depths and storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord.
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For
he spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to naught. He maketh the devices of the
people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed
is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom he
hath chosen for his own inheritance." I'm going to say a few things
about this tonight and bring some things out of it, but it
says there at the beginning, And the saints have so many reasons,
more than we can number, to rejoice in the Lord. And that rejoicing
in the Lord means to shout for joy. Shout for joy in the Lord. And we have much reason to shout
in our hearts and our souls and to praise Him and to sing songs
to His blessed name. Because, see, the source of our
joy is not in this world. The source of our joy. Now, the
joy of the Lord is our strength. And so you see, the source of
our joy is not in this world. It's not in ourselves. But the
source of our joy is in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And this
man's about singing a new song unto Him, there in verse 3. And
we do sing a new song. And you know it's a new song
because we're new creatures. We've been made new. We enjoy
the things of the Lord, rejoice in the Lord, because we have
been made new. We have this new song to sing,
a song we never sung before, a song that we never knew before.
We knew the words to Amazing Grace. We knew the words to Let
Us Worship Him. We knew the words to Accepting
the Beloved. But to understand them, to rejoice
in them, to have an effect upon your heart and soul when you
hear them, that's a different story altogether. whenever you
really know that it's true in your own heart. And so, you see,
we've been made new creatures, so we have many reasons to rejoice
in the Lord. Let me give you several of them.
We rejoice in the Lord, first of all, because of His word.
Look what it says there in verse 4. For the word of the Lord is
right. For the word of the Lord is right.
Now, that's one reason why we rejoice in the Lord, because
His word is right. And you know the only thing that
will make us right in this world is the Word. Nothing else will
make us right. You say, boy, people need to
make things right with the Lord. Well, we can't, but the Word
can certainly make us right. The Word can straighten us out.
The Word can make us right, change our way of thinking, change our
way of acting, change our way of going, change our way of doing,
change our ways dramatically. The Word of the Lord will do
that for us. And that's the only thing that will make us right.
It's to the Word that we look. Now, you keep Psalm 33 and look
with me over Psalm 19 just a moment. You know, I used to be able to
quote a lot of scriptures and can't remember very many anymore
like I used to, but I do know this, that the only thing that'll
make a man right is the Word. Not our opinions, not our feelings,
not our church doctrine, not our church constitution, not
our bylaws, not the Westminster Confession, not the Heidelberg
Confession, not the 1689 London Confession or the Baptist Confession. None of those confessions can
make you right, as much as they're right and as good as they are.
But the only thing that can make you right, the way you think,
the way you act, the way you look, where you go, and what
you do, is the Word of the Lord itself. That's the only thing
it can do. Look what it said here in Psalm
19, in verse 7. It says, The law of the Lord
is perfect. Now, when it talks about the
law of the Lord in the margin, it says the doctrine. The doctrine
of the Lord is right, is perfect. The doctrine of Christ, the doctrine
of God is perfect. The teaching of God is perfect.
And look what it does. It converts the soul. It converts
it. It takes it from one place and
puts it to another. It changes it about. The testimony
of the Lord is sure. It makes the simple person a
wise person. The statutes of the Lord are
right rejoicing the heart. Listen, it's the commandment
of the Lord is pure. And then it lights the eye. It gives the eye. It makes the
eye see things it never saw before. And that's why the scriptures
tells us, you know, I have hid thy word in my heart that I might
not sin against you. James said it this way. We are
born again, begotten again by the word of truth. That's what
does it, this precious word. And that's why we esteem the
word. Job said, I esteem your word more than my necessary food. And I'll take over in Revelation,
he said, he found the little book. And he saw this book, and
he said, I'm going to eat this book. And he said, you know,
the angel said, take that book and eat. He said, I ate that
book. Sweet to my taste, but bitter to thy taste. And I'll
tell you what, beloved, it's sweet to our taste, but I mean,
when it goes in, and I tell you, it starts changing everything
about you. And that's why the word, you know, the scriptures
tells us that we're begotten again. We're begotten again by
the Word. It's the Word, the eternal seed
of God that the Gospel brings and plants in a man's heart.
Just like the seed that's sown in a woman's womb when she deceives
a child, the Gospel comes. And it's a seed sown into the
heart, being born again, not a corruptible seed, but incorruptible
by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And that
Word is that seed. And we preach the gospel. Our
Lord said the word of God is the seed that's sown. And when
that seed falls in a heart, and God plants that seed in a man's
heart, in a man's soul, that seed lays there, and if it's
blessed of God, and it germinates, and it brings forth life, it
brings forth fruit, and deliverance, like it says, you know, when
you put the seed in the ground, that first little blade comes
up. Next thing you know, comes up a whole stalk. Next thing
you know, it's got an ear in the corn. And that's where the
gospel is. That's why the word is so important
in preaching the gospel. God uses that gospel to save
his people, to plant that seed, to generate that seed, to water
that seed, manifest that seed, and bring that seed to life.
He used this blessed word. And then I'll tell you what,
not only that, but this says the Word of God is power. Look what it said here back over
in Psalm 33 and verse 6. Not only is the Word of the Lord
right, it says, by the Word of the Lord
were the heavens made. You look up at the heavens at
night. Little Riley asked us a question. You know, in the
full moon, she can see it. She calls it Riley's moon. She
said, I want to go out and see Riley's moon, my moon. And she
wanted to go out last night and see if she could see the moon.
She goes out and she looks up and she sees that moon. And you
see, beloved, the Word of the Lord put that there. God said,
let there be light. That was the sun. By the word
of the Lord, God said, let there be a moon. The light of night.
There was a moon. God said, let there be these
stars, that stars, and all these stars. Who can? He put all the
stars in heaven, spread them as a man would spread a carpet.
And he calls them all by name. And the scripture says he can
tell them. That means he can count them. Scientists can't
count them. But God calls them all by name.
And you know, He said, I want a star here, I want a star there.
I want that to be the Big Dipper. I want that to be the North Star.
I want that to be the Morning Star. I want that to be the Evening
Star. And He says that Morning Star is going to talk about the
Bright Morning Star. That's going to tell about my sons. You know, He got the Milky Way.
He said, I want that there to let everybody see my glory when
they look up there. All I've done was just spoke.
And there's the Milky Way. You think he ain't got power? And then I want to tell you something,
beloved. Look over Psalm 105. Not only is the Word of the Lord
right, and it's the only thing that will make us right, is it
power by it the heavens were created. But the Word of the
Lord is what's going to try us. I told you that this morning.
You know that when our faith is tried, the greatest test of
our faith And the trial of our faith is the Word itself. Look
what he said here in Psalm 105 and verse 19. Until the time that his Word
came, the Word of the Lord tried him. Who's he talking? They're
talking about Joseph being sent down into Egypt. How he was bound
and sold for a servant. His feet they heard in fetters.
He was laid in and out until the time the Word came. And the
Word of the Lord tried him. All the time he was down there,
God's Word was trying him. Trying him. Putting him in the
fire. And that's what, beloved, God tries us. And then look back
over here at Psalm 33. We rejoice not only in His Word,
but what about, we rejoice in His works. Look what it says
in verse 4. Not only is the Word of the Lord
right, and all His works, all His works are done in truth.
We rejoice in His works. I wonder how many works God's
done in this world. He's done a work for you. He's
done a work for me. He's done a work in you, and He's done
a work in me. And the work He started, He's going to finish
it. Is that not right? Can you think of any work that
God's ever done that there's any imperfection in? Any imperfection
in His creation? Any imperfection in His Word?
Any imperfection in His salvation? Is there any imperfection at
all, any flaw in God's work? Is there any flaw? God said,
He done the work and nothing shall be added unto it or taken
from it that men may fear the Lord. Can anybody say that Christ's
work failed in any way? Is there a flaw in the work that
our Christ, our Lord Jesus did when He came to this earth? When
He was born of a virgin and lived on this earth for thirty-three
and a half years, and He walked on this earth, and He lived on
this earth, and He moved among men, and He preached the Word
of God, was there any flaw, anything that our Savior did that did
not have, wasn't perfect in every way? When He was on that cross,
and there when He bore our sins in His own body on the tree,
was there not any sin left to us to bear? Was there any more
wrath for us to endure? Any more justice for us to satisfy? Anything for us to do to add
to His blessed work? Will there be anybody lost if Christ
didn't die for it? Oh, no. No imperfection. He said, God said this, and I
just didn't want to talk. He said, walk around Zion. Walk
around her. Look at her walls. He's talking
about the church. Look at her walls. Look at them. Look at them. Can anybody tear
them down? Can anybody break through? Look
at her beauty. Look at her glory. Who's going
to do anything to sign? Oh, my. Every wall is perfectly
plumbed in God's work. His work is perfect. You think
about His creation, salvation, all of them is done in truth.
And let me tell you, beloved, if you ever understand the gospel,
you'll know this, and everybody will know this. Our salvation
is as much by the justice of God as it is by the grace of
God. Oh, He's a just God and a Savior.
I can stand before God And you can, too, if you know Christ,
His work is so perfect, so complete, and His works are done in truth,
that whenever you face God, the justice of God, you can say,
God cannot justly come and give me for anything I've said or
done. And I've told you, I said this, if you ever caught me or
any other believer at any given time and see us doing something,
you'd say, there's no way he could be a child of God. But
yet God's justice will not come and condemn me, or you, if Christ
died for you and you believe on Him and trust Him. Does that
mean we're going to go out here and do these things? No. But
we're flesh. We're dust. But I do know this,
that the justice of God will never, ever come and punish any
for whom Christ died. Can't do it. Why? Because He's
a just God. And a just God cannot punish
persons saved for the same crime twice. And if Christ bore my sin, then
I don't have to bear Him. If Christ satisfied God's justice
and the sword of God's justice was plunged in His heart, then
it'll never be replaced in my heart, too, when Christ was plunged
in it. And so I'm as much saved by the
justice of God as the grace of God. And to be saved by grace is not
to be saved at the expense of truth. You know what is said
about our Savior? John 1.17. The law was given
by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now listen
to me. If you've got grace, if grace
comes to you, truth comes with it. And wherever truth comes,
grace comes with it. You can't have one without the
other. Huh? That's why, you know, these
fellows say, well, I'm four-point Calvinist. I believe, you know,
in everything but the total depravity. No such animal. Huh? You've got to believe all
the truth. Grace brings all the truth, and
the truth brings grace. If you've got the truth, you've
got grace. And the reason you got the truth
is because grace brought it. And if you got grace, then you
got truth because grace brought it. You can't have one without
the other. Because that's all right. And
here's what's so wonderful about it, is that when grace comes
and truth comes, it comes through Jesus Christ our Lord. And truth
is so wondrous and so glorious and so full in Him that we always
learn something about Him. And no matter how many times
we hear the same thing, it's just like we just heard it the
first time. For we rejoice in Him. They that know it most love
it the best. Huh? And that's why He says,
And we beheld His glory as the glory of the only begotten, full
of grace and truth. So His works, we rejoice in His
works. Not our works. Not our works. Me and Gary was talking the other
day, Gary Williams. And we was talking about, you
know, that we're saved by works. We are. We're saved by works.
I'm saved by works. But not mine. Saved by Christ's
works. There's a man sitting at God's
right hand who did everything that God required of me. Every
single thing. And he cannot come and ask any
more. Can't ask any more. And you're talking about rest
for your soul, and assurance, and comfort, and peace. To know that God Himself, that
she sung it tonight, God sees His Son, and then He sees me. When He was crucified, I was
crucified in Him. When He was buried, I was buried
with Him. When He rose, I rose with Him. When He sat down, I
sat down with Him. When He lived, I lived. When He wore the curse,
I wore the curse. When He died, I died. And because He lives, I live. His words are done in truth. And then, look over here again,
what's the reason why we rejoice? There in verse 5. He loveth righteousness
and judgment. And watch this. The earth is
full of the goodness of the Lord. We rejoice in His goodness. We
rejoice in His goodness. Where in the world can you look
and not see His goodness? And in the margin it says His
mercy, His goodness, His mercy. The earth is full of the goodness
of the Lord or the mercy of the Lord. Where in the world can you look
on this earth? and not see His goodness, not
see His mercy. Can you look at yourself? Start
with yourself. Do you see the goodness of God,
the mercy of God in you, towards you? Huh? What about your home? What about your home? The goodness
and mercy of God in your home? A home that you've got faith in,
got peace in, got love in, got grace in. Christ in, that your
Bible don't gather dust, that you actually pick it up and read
it? And to see the mercy of God in your marriage, that the Lord
give you a wife or give you a husband that you enjoy? And what about your children? See the goodness and mercy of
God in your children? They may not be converted yet,
but it's the goodness of God that they ain't done perished. Oh, to see the goodness of God
in your children, to see the mercy of God in your children.
And never, ever stop praying for your children. Never do it. And oh, what about the, look
at your brethren, look at your brethren. I see you, and look
at your brethren. When I look at you, I can see the goodness
and the mercy of the Father. I look at you, and oh, James,
what you're going through with your wife that she's going through.
The goodness and mercy of God that you can get up of a day
and be in your right mind. And some of you, the things that
you've went through, and yet you come here and keep on keeping
on and keep on worshiping God, keep on calling on God, keep
on looking to Christ, and do not dare trust yourself in any
way? And look at the goodness of God
in the faith that He gives you. That you actually read something
in the Bible and you say, I believe that. You find out something about
yourself and say, oh, yes, that's me. That's me. And you raise
them both's hands. Oh, but I tell you, if you want
to talk about a place where we see the goodness and mercy of
God and His love and kindness, in the Lord Jesus Christ. There we're fully told out. There
we're fully told out. In the Lord Jesus Christ. That
is where God's goodness and God's mercy is fully told out in His
blessed Son, the Lord Jesus. Oh my. And then look over here
at another thing that we rejoice in. Not only His goodness and
His mercy, but we rejoice in His power. Look in verse 8 and
9. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of Him, and one of these days they're going
to do it. One of the things that modern contemporary religion
says about God all the time, God is awesome. Now, God is awesome. There's
a whole world of difference in standing in awe of Him, and using
that kind of language. And oh, he says, let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. Stand in awe of
Him. You know, I was telling the men
back in the study, I put that article by Don Fortner on Christ
being made sin. And Don went through the things,
you know, Christ and all that He was and He became. And these
things fill us with awe. They fill us with wonder. And
we've never lost the awe and the wonder of the Gospel, of
the Incarnation, of God in Christ, God and man in one person, Christ
being made sin, and how that He is perfect and sinless, and
His death and His sufferings and all the things. These things
just fill us with awe, the grace of God. And a man wrote me when
Mary Mele the Bulletin out on Friday mornings or Thursday,
yeah, Friday morning. He wrote me and said, there's
nothing mysterious and nothing strange about Christ being made
to be sin. He said, it's just my imputation. Everybody knows that. He didn't
see the awe of it. He didn't see the wonder of it. I stand in awe of the incarnation
of Christ. I stand in awe of Christ on the
cross. I stand in awe that I've declared
righteous in Christ. I stand in awe that Christ bore
my sin in His own body on the tree. I stand in awe of God,
who in heaven's eternity, instead of yet considers us who are worms,
and that Christ called Himself a worm and no man. Those things, I stand in awe. I stand in awe of every day that
I'm saved, man. Where would I be? Where would
you be without the grace of God right this moment? If God hadn't
crossed your path one time back there, where would you be now?
Would you be married? Would you be in jail? Would you
be a drug addict? What would you be? Or would you
be a lost Baptist preacher? Would you be a legalist in Armenia
bragging about your works? What would you be? So we stand
in awe. And one of these days, the whole
world's going to stand in awe. And they're going to bow knees
because God said they would. But look what else it says about
him. And here's why we stand. For he spake, and it was done. He commanded. And it ain't going
to move. Let me ask you some questions.
You reckon God's Word can be made void? Huh? Does evolution? Does atheists,
Pharisees, false professors, false interpreters of His words,
do they just nullify the Word of God? No, of course not. People can stand up and say they're
atheists all they want to. Is that going to change God?
Is it going to change our faith? Oh, my, God never speaks in vain. Look in Isaiah 55. Keep Psalm
33. Look in Isaiah 55. And he said he's saved. And it
was done. He commanded, and it's a good
thing. God never speaks in vain. Never. You know, that's why he said,
I've heard once, yea, twice, that all power belongs unto God. And he gives power unto the faint. Look what he said here in Isaiah
55 and verse 10. Talking about the work of God's
faith, and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and
returns not there, But the waters the earth, and makes it bring
forth in blood that it may give seed to the sower, and bread
to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereunto I say." Now, the Word's going
forth tonight, and not one word is being wasted.
Not one word's going to return to Him for it. Every word that
God sends out, it will accomplish what He means. If it means for
judgment, judgment will come. If He means it for salvation,
salvation's going to come. If He means it for teaching,
you're going to be taught. You say, I think the Lord's trying
to teach me something. No, no, no, no, no, no. No, no. If He's teaching you,
you're going to learn your lesson. God's trying? Oh my, if He wills to teach you
something, it's going to happen just like that. Whatever His
Word means, whatever He has intended for you to act, and understand,
that's what's going to happen. Every single word that goes out
from Him is going to accomplish what He means. And that's why
above, He gives power unto the faint. That's why we say, O rich
horse in the Lord. When God passes by and He says,
Live, do you reckon who He says, Live, is going to live? He said,
then both live. He said, that infant cast out
live. He said, the last was live. He said, this up there has come
down. And I tell you, every time he said his word, it done just
exactly what he said it to do. I don't blame him. I feel that way myself sometimes.
And then I look back on what I did. And I'm sure a lot of
other folks feel the same way. Oh, that's why Heaven said, boy,
if you can laugh together, if you can't laugh together, you
can't cry together. Boy, we sure enjoy one another.
Look what it said here in Psalm, and back over here in the 33rd
Psalm. We rejoice in His knowledge, in God's knowledge. Look what
it said there in verse 10. The Lord brings the counsel of
the heathen to naught. He makes the devices of the people
of none effect. He brings the counsel of the
heathen to nothing. And you know how many heathens
are out there, you know, giving their counsel, and they've got
all the answers to everything. You know what God says about
them? He takes the wise in their own craftiness. The Lord knows
the thoughts of the foolish, but they're just vain. Man at
his best state is altogether vanity. They were so wise and so smart,
they said, we're going to get rid of this fellow. He said,
we're all going to bow down to him. And not only us, but my
mother and father's going to bow down to him. And so I said,
we'll get rid of him. We'll sell him. And they made
him a slave out of him, sent him down into Egypt, and he stayed
down there for years and years and years. And they had it all
figured out. And then they got down there,
and then they had to face him. And you know what? And you know
what he said? He said, you meant it for evil.
You had your craftiness, and your wisdom, and your deceit,
and you told your lies, and you think you have everything figured.
You think you're done with me. We'll not have this man to reign
over me. And you know what they found out? He said, you meant
it for evil, but God meant it for good. He just sent me ahead
of you. So save your life. And he just sent Christ. They
got together and said, I'll give you 30 pieces of silver. Go out
there and kiss him and tell us who he is. I'll tell you what
you do. You fellas come in here and you
lie on him and we'll get rid of him. They took him and they
crucified him. And then Peter stood one day
and the priest said, you, by wicked hands, have crucified
and slain. that just sworn, but God hath
raised him from the dead, and saying that he's all right, and
you meant it to be evil. But guess what? God sent him
before you to save you alive. And you know what they said?
Oh, they were pricked in their hearts and said, Men and brothers,
what must we do? He said, Repent. And all men
of it, God makes the wisdom of this world to be nothing. Who's
ever been saved by the wisdom of this world? You know anybody that's ever
been saved by the wisdom of this world? God said it's absolute foolishness. But you know what it did please
Him to do? By the foolishness of preaching. One man talking
to another man. No smarter, no different, in
no way. God chooses one man to talk to
another man, and uses that. to call his people to life and
to teach and instruct them. Now, that's something, isn't
it? Oh, boy. Well, I'll tell you
something. Let's go back over here in a
minute. Look at this. Back over in Psalm 33. So, we
rejoice in his knowledge. God knows. The counsel of the
heathen, they do absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. I was watching
a video yesterday, and this fellow was teaching on God's sovereignty,
absolute sovereignty. I mean, he did not spare nothing.
I mean, he's right down the line. And this other fellow is debating
with you. But this guy was on another video,
and he was talking about particular redemption. And this man made
some of the most absurd statements about the blood and redemption
of Christ. And God brings His wisdom to
nothing, to nothing, nothing. God does not, He knows. I'll tell you what, He knows
the thoughts afar off. And there ain't nothing here
for Him. And I'm thankful for that. Then look over here. We
rejoice in His faithfulness. Look down at verse 11. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever. the thoughts of his heart to
all generations." Oh, we rejoice in his faithfulness. The counsel
of the Lord. Who's his counsel? He's his own counsel. And the
counsel of the Lord, the will of God, the purpose of God, stands
forever. And then look what it says, and
he uses language for us, and the thoughts of His heart to
all generations, or generation after generation after generation.
Now, we know that God don't think, but He puts that in a language
that He lets us know that we have His thoughts and His intent
and His heart and His soul towards us. And all the thoughts of God's
heart, where are we going to see it at? We're going to see
it in His Word. And it will stand forever. Men
are famous for their vain thoughts, but God... He brings the counsel of the
eve into nothing, and yet the counsel of the Lord standeth
forever. You reckon the will of God will ever change? His
counsel ever change? And then let me give you the
last one. I preached the longest morning, and I'll take it easy
tonight. But here's the last one. Look what he says in verse
7, excuse me, verse 12. And blessed is the nation whose
God is the Lord. and the people whom he hath chosen
for his own inheritance." We rejoiced. Blessed is the people
whom he hath what? Chosen. Who'd he chosen for? Chosen for this my inheritance. Me? He says, when I make up my
jewels? We read this morning about we
have an inheritance incorruptible, and then God turns around and
says that we're His, and blessed is the people, the nation whose
God is the Lord, and the people whom He hath chosen for His inheritance. Blasphemy! We're His inheritance?
Well, God said we're heirs with Christ. Ain't that right? Join heirs with Him. We're heirs
of God. Join heirs with Christ. Whatever Christ gets, we get.
And then God says that, you know, that we're His inheritance. Blessed
is the man whom Thou choosest and causes to approach unto Thee,
that he may dwell in Your courts. In the day of His power, listen,
His people are made willing. And the people that He's chosen,
He's chosen for His inheritance. And He calls us jewels, calls
us apples of His eye. Calls us precious? Calls us His delight? Says He
joys in us, rejoices in us, and sings over us? That's language that you can't
get your head around, as they say in this day and age. But
yet, He says that about us. What does He get when He gives
us? I don't know. But I do know He paid a high,
high, high price for us and calls us His inheritance. And grace
wasn't an afterthought with God, it's like Him, it's eternal.
And then it says, according as He hath chosen us in Christ before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. For whom He did predestinate
to be the adoption of children to Himself by Jesus Christ, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved." Oh, what a gospel. That's enough reason to rejoice.
That gave you seven things, and I'm sure you could come up with
a dozen. I just come up with seven. Lots of reasons to rejoice
in the Lord. Lots of reasons.