turn with me, if you will, to Isaiah 61 and verse 10. Isaiah 61 and verse 10. Resolutions usually carry very, very little weight. Most people make resolutions without thought, rashly, and they forget them as quickly and as thoughtlessly and as rashly as they made But in our text this evening, we see the prophet of God making a determined resolution, and he does so with good reason. Isaiah 61 and verse 10.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God. And here's the reason. For he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

My message this evening I have entitled, A Resolution with a Reason. I pray that before we leave Oh, I pray that before we leave here, every one of you will, from your hearts, be able to make this resolution enforced with these reasons before our God. I have just two points to the message. I'm going to talk to you about the resolution, and then I'll talk to you about the reasons, so you can follow along very easily.

Grace experienced in the soul inspires joy in the Lord our God. That's what this text shows us. experienced in the soul, inspires joy in the Lord our God. First, let me talk to you about the resolution. The prophet says, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. Now notice his wording.

He says, I will, my soul shall, and so he speaks with definite determined confidence of that which he was purposed in his heart that he must do. For the glory of God, he must rejoice in the Lord, he must greatly joy in his God, the God of our salvation.

Now, I know that we all experience sadness, sorrow, disappointment, despondency, and even despair from time to time. There's no question about that. mentioned in his prayer a minute ago, Alberta has for the last year now, it's been a year, she's started having difficulty. For years she's been sick. Now that causes some frustration, that causes disappointment, that causes resentment, anger, all those things that come, just emotions that come up in our souls.

And that's to be expected among fallen sinful creatures like we are. We do experience those things in this world. Man that is born of woman, Job said, is a few days and full of trouble. And as long as we live in this world, we're going to have trouble. And having trouble, we're going to experience sorrow. We're going to experience disappointment, frustration, despondency, and despair.

But having said that, having said that, I am convinced that it is altogether inconsistent with, and totally contrary to, our professed faith in God for believers to be despairing, melancholy, downcast people. It's totally inconsistent with what we profess. It's totally inconsistent with faith in our God. It is totally inconsistent with those who believe God to be, in a manner of life, downcast and melancholy and despondent.

Now, understand what I'm saying. Believers do experience those things, but that's not the way we live, and we ought not give in to those feelings and those emotions that cause us ever to see the one tiny little black cloud in the sky as though the whole sky were covered with black clouds. I have friends, I've met many folks over the years and around the country, who can somehow, if they were looking out on a a beautiful, beautiful sunny plain and they just saw, you could see nothing out there but sunshine and beautiful flowers and hear the birds singing. All you could see is those things. They could spot a black cloud a hundred miles away and say hooray.

I mean, they just They see the dark, dark, black, black, sorrowful, mournful side of everything, and they live in constant despair, in constant spirit of melancholy and despondency. That ought not be. That ought not be. It's totally inconsistent with, totally contrary to faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. Let me show you a couple of scriptures. Turn to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians the fifth chapter.

When men and women are born of God, God puts in them a principle of grace that gives us joy. The apostle says here, the fruit of the Spirit, verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. Do you see that? Love, joy, peace. Now, if it is proper that we understand, and it is proper. that all who are born of God have love for God, and peace with God. It is also proper for us to understand that all who are born of God, joy in God. What it says right here, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. Grace creates joy. Grace brings joy into a life that's flooded with sorrow. Grace brings joy into a life of misery. Grace produces joy. Not something we work up, something grace produces is joy.

All right, turn over to Philippians chapter four. Philippians the fourth chapter. The apostle Paul is in prison, and this man who's in prison writes to encourage his brethren in the joy of the Lord. In Philippians 4, verse 1, he says, I therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, and long for it, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

Verse 4, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. This is what I mean by stand fast in the Lord. They're saying rejoice in the Lord, not in things, but in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice, and let your moderation be known to all men. I've told you many times, but lest you forget that word moderation, it means your ease and quietness of spirit, your unruffled disposition, your peace of heart and mind, your contentment. Let your moderation be known to all men. That's what joy produces, moderation. So the joy that I'm talking about is not light-hearted frivolity, but rather I'm talking about something that arises from the renewed heart by the Spirit of God. That which God gives and that which God commands of us is joy in Him.

How can we be sorrowful? How can we live in sadness? How can we be of a morose disposition and downcast whose sins have been forgiven? Whose God and Father rules the universe? Whose advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, reigns in heaven? And whose eternal entrance into and possession of everlasting glory is a matter of absolute certainty? How on earth can we be morose? How can we be downcast?

It was in the light of these things, this grace experienced in the soul, that Isaiah says, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. Now, this is a thoughtful, deliberate resolution. The rejoicing that Isaiah is talking about, I've already hinted at, is not a superficial, pretentious, put-on, giddy show of joy. That's not it. I think you know me better than that. I'm not interested in pretense. I'm not interested in acting things.

But the joy that is spoken of here is a laughter of the heart. You see, laughter may or may not reflect joy, but joy in the soul, this gift of grace arises from a confident faith in the Lord God. As a matter of fact, in Philippians 1.25, it is called the joy of faith. If I believe God, having confidence in God, I have reason to rejoice in him. Not to be constantly laughing, but to be of good humor, of good disposition, of good understanding, so that I walk before God with confidence. And confidence eludes joy. Confidence and faith in his being.

I walk before him with joy, because my Father, the God of heaven, loves me with everlasting love." Now you think of that. You think, why should I not rejoice? I'm loved of God. Pop, aren't you? You're loved of God. Loved of God as fully and perfectly and completely loved of God as if there were no one else in the world for God to love. Loved of God. Well, I've got such a sad, sad situation. Loved of God. loved of him. And that being the case, whatever it is that I experience in this world, I experience in delight of, and because of, God's love for me.

That makes it not only bearable, but with proper understanding, a pleasant experience of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has redeemed me with his blood and put away my sin. He has, by his sin atonement, satisfied divine justice so that now God in heaven, looking on me in Jesus Christ, has no cause to quarrel with me. He has no reason to be angry with me. I'm redeemed.

God the Holy Spirit has been especially given to give comfort to my soul. The Lord Jesus said, I'll pray the Father. And he will send another comforter unto you. And the Holy Spirit's particular office is to minister comfort. Comfort. Preachers these days do everything possible to try to take the place of God the Holy Spirit. They try to tell men what God's will is for them to do. And then they try to minister comfort to folks.

If you have any trouble, be sure you call me. Now, please understand. Please understand me. Larry, my friend, you and your family have any trouble, I want to bear your trouble with you. I'm going to bear your trouble with you, God helping me. But I can't comfort you. I can't do it. I can't.

I preach the word of comfort to you. And if you will hear the word, understand that God the Holy Spirit ministers comfort to you, take your burden to him. Don't take your burden to a picture as though he were a priest and could somehow say some magical word or say a little prayer. All of a sudden now you find comfort through a religious exercise. Oh no! But take your burden to Christ and find comfort in him by the power of his spirit. We rejoice and have confident faith in our God, not only in his being, but in his goodness.

David said, I had fainted. so many times, I admit, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I've seen his goodness, have you? I have observed in these 45 years of my pilgrimage in this world, I have observed the goodness of God, and I believe his goodness reigns, don't you?

I see that God Almighty is wise, infinitely wise, and far better for me that I should trust his wisdom than trust mine or yours. I see that God my Father is all-powerful, omnipotent, the Almighty God. He has the power to do for me everything necessary for my soul. And I see that his providence is good. His providence is good. Sometimes his providence breaks my heart and in the midst of the broken heart still rejoices.

Do you understand what I'm saying? I'm not suggesting that we don't experience pain. I'm not suggesting that we we pretend pain doesn't exist. Oh no. But I'm telling you that the joy of our souls is not in these things here. The joy of our souls is in our God. His providence is God. We know that all things are of God. This joy arises not only from constant faith in him, but it arises from a gratitude for grace and mercy experienced in the soul. Oh, what grace and mercy I've experienced in Christ. How about you?

Listen to this over in 2 Corinthians, or 1 Corinthians, chapter 6. 1 Corinthians, chapter 6. Again, Rex mentioned in his prayer this very thing. The apostle says in verse 9, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves of mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you. But, O wondrous intervention of grace, but ye are washed But ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Oh, I will rejoice. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord my God. He's washed me. He's sanctified me. He's justified me. He chose me. He redeemed me. He called me. He keeps me. I rejoice in Him.

The source and cause of this joy is God himself, not circumstances, not experiences. Now, you young folks and old folks alike, listen to me. I know what I'm talking about now. I know from experience, I know according to this word, and I'm telling you, I'm telling you what you're likely to forget.

Joy in material things is a delusion. It's a delusion. We, we're so much like children. We get a new toy and boy we just tickle to death with it. Just tickle to death with it. You remember you get, you get those kids something when they're little and I go, boy can't you, he'll, he'll pick up that new truck, man he'll play with that thing, play with that thing, play with that thing. In an hour or two we want something else.

Because that little truck can just produce so much contentment for just so long. You've got to have constant replenishing of these things to have constant joy. That's the reason folks pull in their hair, trying to get more. That's the reason folks beat themselves to death, got to get a little more, got to have more.

Or if I can just get, I don't care what you get, with all you're getting, you can't get joy. Read your newspapers, read what goes on with folks who've got everything heart could desire as far as material things are concerned. I'm telling you, material possessions do not produce joy, and the idea that they do is an utter vain delusion.

Don't fool yourself into thinking so. And so I say to you young people, don't set your heart, listen to me now, don't set your on getting things in this world. Don't do it. If you do, you set your heart on misery. I'm telling you, mama and daddy, I'm telling you the same thing. As you get older, somebody says, well, as you get older, you find that these things don't matter much to you anymore. You're fooling yourself. You're fooling yourself. As you get older, don't set your heart on these things. Don't do it. Don't do it. All that you can get in this world only increases care. It never increases joy.

Anybody here ever experienced otherwise? Have you ever gotten anything? Have you ever spent your thoughts and your heart, your ambitions on getting anything? I don't care how insignificant or how great. Have you ever gotten anything that gave you joy? Anybody? just a little happiness for a little bit like that kid playing with that truck. And yet we fight, scrape, and kill ourselves to get it.

Joy in other people at best is limited and will sooner or later cause you pain. That's fact. My wife loves me, she joys in me. But the very fact that she has so much joy in me, when I disappoint her, causes her a lot of pain she would never otherwise. And when she puts me in the ground, she's going to have pain with it. There's just something about joy in dying things that causes you pain. It's got to be limited. So again, don't set your heart, don't set your heart on people and relationships sets your heart on the Son of God. Joy in myself is both a delusion, a fiction, and folly. Man rejoices in himself, he's sure nothing got anything joy in. Myself? What is there in me to give me any joy?

Or what about the experience of grace and God's work in me? Even that joy must be fluctuating because there are times when it's not evident to me that God's going to work in me. There are times when it's not evident to you that God's going to work in you. And to pretend that there's joy in what we experience or what we feel of grace is an absolute lie.

There's no joy in that. That joy is fluctuating. The only joy that's real, the only joy that's lasting, the only joy that's genuine is the joy in God. Oh, now there's some joy. There's some joy. I'm telling you, God is immutable. He never changes. And that means, Mark, if you rejoice in him, you never have a reason not to rejoice. Do you get that? What?

Rejoice in that baby. James Lee and Norma, they didn't even move a shoulder, sat there and they brought that grandbaby by. She's so pretty. So pretty. Such a delight. But you raise two boys, they're going to cause you some pain. That's just reality. That's just reality. Whether they intend to or not, they just cause you pain. But if you join God, oh, If you joy in God, he never changes. He never changes. Never. He'll never disappear. He will never cease to be all that he is. So joy in him.

Isaiah said, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. Now in the light of those days, I say to my soul, be gone all fears. Jehovah is my God. Be gone all earthly care, for he careth for me. Be gone all thoughts of my sin, for God has cast my sin in the depth of the sea, behind his back, into the sea of divine forgetfulness. Be gone all fear with regard to the future. Oh, how we fret, worry, fret, worry, fret, worry about the future. My times are in thy hands. Father, I wish thee well. Be gone all concern for my family.

My family belongs to God. It's not mine, it's Edith's. Now, that's fact. That's fact. My daughter, I Deliberately, purposefully, devoting her and gave her to God before I ever saw her face. And I've been doing so every day ever since. I've done so today. I'm doing so right now. And I intend to continue that way. My wife, she's not mine. She's his. He can do with us as he will.

Let me commit everything to him and I will find joy in him. Be gone. all murmuring thoughts, and all complaining words, and cry out, my God, thy will be done. That's the secret of joy. I'm telling you, Isaiah said, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, at all times, in all circumstances, with my whole being. That's the resolution of our text.

Now look at the reasons he gives. for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." Now, the reasons Isaiah gives for his resolution of joy are all drawn from God's free grace. They're all drawn from that which God has done. Now, notice how he speaks. We'll look at this line at a time. He hath clothed me. I didn't clothe myself, and I didn't assist in the clothing of myself. My soul was naked before the all-seeing eye of God Almighty in the conscious awareness of my guilt and sin.

Or like Aaron my father, I tried to patch up a few late pig leaves and stitch them together and hide. I tried hiding in resolutions. I tried hiding in praying. And I tried hiding in reading the Bible. I tried hiding in going to church. I tried hiding in religious experiences. I tried everything.

I'm tall for God. I tried everything under the sun just to try to cover my sin and avoid the burning eye of God's omniscient But there I stood, naked before him. I had nothing with which to cover myself, not even a shred of a rag of righteousness. And when I was utterly naked, he clothed me. He clothed me. Now, that's when I learned what this text is talking about.

Have you ever been naked before God? I mean naked before him. who sees everything, naked before him, whose penetrating eye pierces the deep recesses of your soul and makes you aware of your sin so that you stand before God and you can no longer hide your sin, you can no longer hide your corruption, you can no longer hide what you are, and then suddenly God speaks the word of grace and he clothes you. Clothes you with what? The garments of salvation. We don't have to search a great deal to find out what those are. I won't turn there and read it for you, but you can jot it down and read it later. Ephesians chapter 6 verses 14 through 17 describe them.

If you're a child of God tonight, if you have been born of God's spirit, if God has given you faith in Jesus Christ, his dear son, you now stand before the eye of God Almighty, clothed from head to foot in the royal garments of his salvation. God has come and put on you, by the teaching of his spirit, the girdle of truth to strengthen you. What sustains you in the midst of conflict? What sustains you? What is it that binds up your loins in the midst of sorrow and experiences that are contrary to every idea of what you think good is? What is it that gives you strength? and fortitude to face the day.

Truth. Truth. Truth. God has taught me the truth of who he is. He's taught me the truth of his sovereign goodness. He's taught me the truth of his divine providence. He's taught me the truth of free forgiveness. He's taught me the truth of Christ my substitute sitting on his throne and walking in the strength of that truth I face the day. How about you?

He's given us not only the girdle of truth to uphold us, but the breastplate of righteousness to protect us, so that as we go through the day, we find both confidence of our acceptance with God, and we find strength to face the adversaries before us with the breastplate of righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ imbued unto us. He's given us the gospel of peace as shoes for our feet, so that as we walk through this the stings of the scorpion have no effect on us. As we go through this world, walking in the confident, blessed knowledge of Jesus Christ crucified, of sin forgiven, of blood atonement, we walk through this world with peace before our God, for the gospel of peace are the shoes of our feet. He's given us the shield of faith, faith, faith, to quench the fiery darts of the devil, All Satan hurls his fiery darts at us. You experience something that's utterly devastating and the devil hurls his dart at you.

Now tell me how that's going to be good. I don't know. I don't know but I believe God. it shall be even as he said. You're reading the scriptures and seeking to study the word. Maybe you mean you're preparing your lesson for Sunday. Suddenly your mind is flooded with blasphemous thoughts. And every imaginable evil runs through your heart and Satan throws one of his darts at you just last. Now you call yourself a Christian. You're a teacher of righteousness and you pretend to tell others the way of truth when all this corruption is within you. And I have the shield of faith. I believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God.

And He is my righteousness. He is my atonement. He is my acceptance with God. And in the teeth of my sin, I have faith in Him. He's given us not only the shield of faith, but also the helmet of salvation. the helmet of salvation, not just to protect your head from the assaults of the wicked one, but to hold your head erect as you walk before God, recognizing that being loathed in Christ's righteousness, you have a right with loving kindness and tender mercy. Oh, he puts on your head the crown of his loving kindness, the crown of his tender mercy, to ennoble you as kings before God. And look at the next line. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. Underscore that little article, T-H-E, thee.

There's only one. There's only one robe of righteousness. I remember some years ago when preaching through the book of Revelation, I came across the saints who'd washed their garments white and made them white in the blood of the lamb, and they had on them the garments of righteousness, the robes of righteousness, and someone said that's talking about their works. Oh no, there's only one robe of righteousness.

It's the righteousness of Jesus Christ the Lord. It is His imputed righteousness freely bestowed upon us which has become ours. His name is Jehovah Zekiah. the Lord our righteousness, and his righteousness is as really and truly ours before God Almighty as our sin was his.

God took the sins of his people and imputed them to his son, so that Jesus Christ was made to be saved. And when he was made to be sin, because he was made to be sin, God gave him the wages of sin, which is death. When he was made to be sin, now listen to me, when he was made to be sin, Merle, he deserved to die, because he was made sin. And in exactly the same way, He's made you to be the righteousness of God in you. And being made the righteousness of God, having Christ's righteousness imputed to you, for Christ's sake, you deserve everlasting life.

Oh yeah. He is the robe of righteousness It is a robe of righteousness that is an outer covering. It drapes the whole man. It drapes the whole body. Oh, what a glorious covering Christ's righteousness is. I like the fact that Isaiah uses the word covered here. The word has the idea of atonement.

Do you remember in the Old Testament when the high priest went in on the day of atonement and he took the blood of that lamb and he sprinkled it on the mercy seat? That mercy seat covered the sins of the children of Israel. It covered God's broken law. And the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat, ceremonially in type and picture, covered the sins of the people, so that God looks down from heaven on the blood and sees no sin, but only the blood of his sacrifice, his lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now then, in exactly the same way, the blood of Christ applied to us by free grace. The righteousness of Christ imputed to us by the grace of God is a covering for our souls. A covering for our souls so that God in heaven looks down on us and sees nothing but his son. Did you get that? He looks on him and sees me. He sees me only in his Son, and with his thoughtless garments on, I am as holy as God's own Son. Do you understand that?

That's imputed righteousness. He has covered me, completely covered me, head to foot, with the robe of righteousness, Jesus Christ the Lord. He's covered me, the text says, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments. Now, if you have a marginal translation in your Bible, notice that may be translated, properly translated, he hath covered me with, as a bridegroom, decketh a priest with ornaments. Do you see that? Decketh a priest with ornaments. What does that mean?

God had made us in Christ to be a holy priesthood, a royal priesthood. Now, I despise the idea of priestliness, officially, as Rome or as the Mormon Church, whatever, has it so that men dare to stand before other men as an intercessor and a mediator between God and men. Oh, no, no, no. Not priest in that sense.

But priests were the full-time servants of God. Priests lived in the tabernacle or in the temple. Priests did business every day in the temple. Priests came and offered sacrifice to God. Priests wore the holy linen garments. Priests wore the miter they said holiness to the Lord so that they went in to make atonement for their holy things and they were accepted of God continually. Priests did business in the holy place.

Now in that sense, you and I, every one of us who are believers, are priests. We serve God continually, day and night. We serve God in his house, all the time. We offer God's sacrifice, Jesus Christ the Lord. We do business in the holy place, and we're perpetually accepted of God.

He's debt to me, at one debt I'm a priest. with the holy living garments and the matter of perfect righteousness and holiness to the Lord. But let's not neglect the rendering that's given in our authorized version. He hath covered me as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Turn back to Ezekiel 16. I'll show it to you. Ezekiel 16. The Lord God describing for us the experience of grace.

We were naked, cast out as an aborted child, thrown out to waste away in our own polluted blood. And in verse 6 he says, I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood. I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, live.

I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments. Thy breast are fashioned, thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. When I passed by thee and looked upon thee, Behold, thy time was the time of love, and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. Then I washed thee with water. Yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and anointed thee with oil.

I came to you with the word of grace, and I gave you my spirit, and I clothed thee also. with brooded work, and shod thee with badger skins, and girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck, and I put a jewel in thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk and brooded work. Thou didst eat fine flour and honey and oil, and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect through my comeliness which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God."

Now hang on to your seats. In Jesus Christ, you and I have been made so perfectly righteous and pure and acceptable to God himself that God looks on us. God in his holiness. God who is light in whom is no darkness at all. God who cannot and will not tolerate seeing God, who charges his angels with folly, and before whose eyes the heavens are not clean, God looks on us in his sight with pleasure, delight, satisfaction, because of what he's done for us.

Oh my soul, I believe in the light of that. My God, I say it to you publicly, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, no matter what. My soul shall be joyful in my God. Will you set yourself now for the glory of God to join him? Now understand me, you who are without Christ, you cannot make yourself fit for heaven. You cannot make yourself accepted before God. You cannot put on these garments of righteousness and salvation. You must come before the living God, stripped, naked, utterly helpless, with all your sin exposed, with free confession of sin. And God Almighty, by his free grace, puts on the guilty sinner these garments of salvation, this robe of righteousness, these ornaments of and it looks on the sinner in Christ, as the bride adorned for her husband, and his eyes, the eyes of God himself, are ravished with you. Ravished with you. And he speaks to you as his love, his dove, his undefiled, ravished Oh, I will rejoice in You.