If you will, take your Bibles
and turn with me to Luke chapter 10. It's always my aim, whether I'm
doing a verse-by-verse study or preaching from a text, to
show you that what I'm preaching is written and taught in the
Word of God. It's of little importance if
it's just someone's opinion. It doesn't matter very much if
it's just my conception of something. But I want you to see that this
is God's testimony concerning his son. There's nothing else
to preach. I'm not preaching something of
my, Paul said we don't preach ourselves. We preach Christ and
ourselves your servants for his sake. I have nothing to preach
except what God has said. In opinions, someone says like
noses, everybody has one, but truth, gospel truth, spiritual
revelation is not so. It comes from God. And throughout
time, God has always and in every age spoken to his people through
men of his choosing. He spoke to our fathers, he said
in Hebrews 1, through the prophets. Well, couldn't God just speak
to them out of the air? He could, but it didn't please him to do
it that way. He spoke to our fathers through the prophets,
and in these last days, he's spoken unto us through his son. And only a handful by comparison
to the religion of this world. Traveling on that narrow way,
The scripture said there are a few, a few, not a lot, not
a multitude, but a few. And if they be few that are traveling
on that way, how much fewer those who preach to them. So you're just talking about
a handful by comparison. And these men, unlike false prophets,
labor to show you gospel truth, that is in harmony with the word
of God. So with this in mind, let's read
these verses together here in Luke chapter 10, beginning with
verse 21. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth. that thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me
of my Father, and no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father,
and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will
reveal it. And he turned him unto his disciples
and he said privately, blessed are the eyes which see the things
that you see. For I tell you that many prophets
and kings have desired to see those things which you see and
have not seen them. And to hear those things which
you hear and have not heard. And these verses that we're looking
at this morning is a lesson in joy. A lesson in joy. It's an obvious fact that disciples
saw themselves a privileged lot, a privileged few. Don't you feel
privileged that God has revealed his son in you? that God has
separated you from the world, and you can't rejoice in what
they rejoice in, and they can't rejoice in what you rejoice in.
It's like black and white, night and day. The Lord, their Savior, they
followed him, and he suffered great losses in this world, and
yet he rejoiced. They believed things others did
not and received a special kindness and long-suffering from Christ
that he did not extend to others. But they were ignorant as to
how and what to rejoice in. They were ignorant in how to
rejoice. We read those words and I think
we put them on the back rack a lot of times because we just
don't understand what he's talking about. Rejoice, he said. Rejoice. What did they rejoice in? Well,
they came back, God had separated them, called them into the ministry,
sent them out to preach, and told them that all principalities
were subject to them. And they went out and they preached
and they found that to be true. They cast out demons, they healed
the sick, They had special gifts he'd given them, and they come
back rejoicing, and they said, Lord, even the demons were subject
to us. You know what he told them? Don't
rejoice in that. He said, I saw, you think you
saw something? I saw Satan fall from heaven
like lightning. He not only saw it, he's the
one who booted him out. But you never heard him talk
about it. Never heard him talk about it. Not one time. Because that's
not the thing to rejoice in. We're not rejoicing because the
demons are subject to us. The demons are subject to those
who preach the gospel. If they weren't, no one would
believe. A strong man arm has to come
in and take over what another possesses. Isn't that true? Isn't
that what the Lord said? Nobody's gonna be saved until
one stronger than that one who controls you and rules over you
comes in and takes him down. Takes away from him all the armor
wherein he trusteth. We're talking about demons being
subject to those that God sends. And they are. We just don't see
it. We don't see it. Rejoice not that the spirits
are subject unto you, but rather, now listen, rejoice because your
names are written in heaven. You want to rejoice about something,
rejoice in that. In that hour, as they begin to
contemplate what he just told them, in that hour, as their
minds begin to think about the privileges our Lord had just
pointed out, in that hour, As he looked upon them and saw their
rejoicing, in that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes. Now here's a lesson in joy. Everything
else takes a back seat to this. There's only one place where
the Lord is said to rejoice, and I just read it to you. He suffered the loss of all things. He was born the Son of God. God
condescended, robed Himself in human flesh, become one with
man and body. But He never said to rejoice,
but He rejoiced here. This is the only place in all
Scripture we find he rejoiced. He rejoiced. And there was only one thing
he ever mentioned that brought joy to our God and Savior, and
that is the salvation of his elect. He's not rejoicing that
the things were hid from the wise and prudent, he's just simply
justifying God in that. He's rejoicing that God had purposed
to reveal this thing to some. And the Son was standing right
in front of him. And he was seeing God's redemptive
work come to pass. And he rejoiced. He rejoiced. He looked on this rebellious
multitude, on this nest of subtle serpents, and he said he was
thankful that God had not cut off mankind in general. That's
what he's talking about. We deserve cut off. All of us. But he hadn't cut off mankind
in general, but he'd chosen some and called them by his grace.
And there's five things that I see here plainly revealed in
these verses to teach us what it is to rejoice in the example
of our Savior. First of all, by his own example.
In that hour he rejoiced. Now I can tell you something,
if the Lord of heaven and earth can look on a poor sinner that
he'd saved and rejoice, you and I'll be able to rejoice in it,
don't you think? The angels rejoice. They rejoice
when they see the conversion of sinners, they rejoice. Surely
we can, the Lord did. What you talking about he rejoiced
in spirit? Well, it's talking about he rejoiced
in his inmost being. A real rejoicing. And remember that Luke's gospel
is showing us the humanity of Christ. John shows us the divinity
of Christ. Luke shows us the humanity of
Christ. Mark shows him as the servant,
Jehovah's servant. And Matthew, as our king. But
in real time and by real affection, we see a smile on the face of
the son of God as he rejoices in the salvation of his elect. Well, how did he rejoice? How
does one rejoice? Does he just sit there and feel
happy? I mean, how do you rejoice? Well, our Lord rejoiced in prayer. When he saw what was going on,
he began to rejoice. And what'd he do? He prayed.
I thank thee, O Father. Huh? Is that what we see? We see a man who knows nothing,
and he wanders in here, and he sits down, and he leaves, and
he's got this blank expression on his face, and he's about half
mad. But next week, he comes back.
And then the next week, he comes back. And pretty soon, he's not
leaving with a blank expression on his face. He's sitting in
a pew with tears rolling down his face, thanking God for saving
his soul. What should I do when I see that?
Oh, first thing I want to do is thank God. Thank God. And that's what our Lord did.
He saw this thing in real time coming to pass, salvation in
its reality. And here they were, and they
began to rejoice. And he rejoiced. He rejoiced,
and he said, oh, I thank the old father. I thank the old father. He rejoiced in spirit, secondly. That is, with his whole heart.
He didn't put on an outward show, but he rejoiced in his inmost
being. And I can't emphasize this too
much. Salvation is a real thing. It's
a real thing. It's not to be looked on as some
mystical dream of inspiration, some gold way out there that
you just keep trying to reach. It's a real thing. Not some idea that it's fires,
but can never come to a reality. Salvation that began in eternity
is an ever-present reality. And it's being manifested continually
until our Lord tells us that time shall be no more. It was
being manifested way back yonder in creation. It was manifested
at the altar of Cain and Abel. It manifested in the flood. It
manifested all down through time. It was manifested, read the book
of Acts, how this thing was manifested in the people that he called.
And it's being manifested every day that you and I live in this
world. We're just ignorant to it. We're ignorant to it. We live in a, I don't know, in
some kind of earthly sphere. It just sucks out all of our
interest and affections and all of these things. Salvation's
a reality, it's going on right now. It's going on right now. Our salvation and calling is
according to his own purpose and grace, given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. But our Lord said it's now made
manifest by the appearing of our Savior, and it's being made
manifest as the gospel goes out in power. And Paul said he brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel. And he said, whereunto
I'm appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the
Gentiles. God doing a great work all around
us and even in us. We which have believed need to
have a constant awareness and sense of what's going on in our
lives. He rejoiced in spirit. He rejoiced
in prayer. And he rejoiced as he beheld
a real and present work. Our Lord rejoiced. He rejoiced. All right, the second thing I
want us to see in these verses is the sovereignty of God in
the salvation of sinners. Never imagine any sense of the
word that our God is anything less than absolutely sovereign. He's sovereign. And I fear even
a natural understanding of sovereignty is lost in our country, where
it's not even seen and practiced in our government. It's lost. People don't know
what sovereignty is. We don't live under a sovereign
government. God is sovereign. What's that
mean? That means none can stay his
hand. If he's gonna reach out and grab
you, there ain't nothin' you can do to stop him. If he wants
to withhold his hand, there ain't nothin' you can do to pull his
hand out. He's absolutely sovereign. Scripture said none can stay
his hand or question his actions. He ruleth, the scripture says,
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
The heart of the king Solomon said, as in the hand of the Lord,
like the rivers of waters, he turneth them withersoever he
will. And the preparations of the heart
in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. No man
liveth to himself, no man dieth to himself. Whether we live,
we live under the Lord. Whether we die, we die unto the
Lord. Whether we live or die, we are
the Lord. He's Lord. And it's not just the concept
of sovereignty that gives the sinner hope, but the exercise
of it in the salvation of his soul. Those of you who've been
saved, you thank God for his sovereignty. Nothing less than
his sovereignty could have saved your soul. Nothing less than
his sovereignty keep your soul. and nothing less than his sovereignty
is gonna raise you from the dead and let you come and be with
him. We rejoice in God's sovereignty.
But be careful how you present this sovereignty to others. The
sovereignty of God as it's set forth in the scriptures rejoiced
in as it concerns the salvation of our souls. Our Lord's not
saying here that he rejoiced in the fact that salvation was
hidden from the wise and prudent. He merely justifying God in that. But in the revelation of salvation
to chosen sinners. Listen to this. This is Ezekiel
chapter 33 and verse 11. As I live, saith the Lord God,
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The wicked die. They're not expecting to. They
think they're six foot tall and bulletproof. They're not expecting
to die. Many a person who's got behind
the wheel of a car and took off expecting to live for another
50 years, and then all of a sudden his name's in the obituary. As I live, saith the Lord God,
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked
turn from his way. He has pleasure in that. And certainly Christ justified
God and so do we in his condemnation of unbelieving rebels, but he
don't rejoice in it. Listen to how God's sovereignty
is set forth by Paul. He said, predestinated according
to the good pleasure of his will. What are we predestinated to?
To the adoption of children. To be conformed to the image
of his son. That is that his son, as he testified
of God, be in your mind. Let this mind be in his mind,
the mind of Christ. made known unto us the mystery
of his will according to the good pleasure which he purposed
in himself. He didn't rejoice in the fact
that multitudes were perishing, but that God had purposed to
save some and was at that very minute exercising his sovereignty. All right, thirdly, he rejoiced
in the grace and mercy displayed in that hour. Grace and mercy
is active at all times, but on certain occasions, it's put on
display. It's put on, ain't you glad it
is? Paul said, by grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God. Not of worse, lest any man should
boast. Why are some converted while
others are left alone. Why does God send preachers forth
in this place and not the other? Why does he call some men and
leave some men to themselves? Why do some believe while others
despise what they hear? There's only one answer, even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Everything
God does is right. It's right. You read Romans chapter
three, verses 24 through 25. He's gonna show you his righteousness
in your faith. Gonna show his righteousness.
He's right. Salvation's of the Lord. He said,
I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. Now you go learn what that means.
That mankind's totally depraved, none that understandeth, none
that seeketh after God. The natural man, he receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. And if God doesn't intervene,
they're all gonna perish, but God has purpose to save some. See, this world thinks God's
purpose is save everybody. But he can't, he's limited, he
can't. They won't let him. My soul, what kind of God you
got? God has purpose to save some. They were all condemned
and adamant. They're all totally depraved.
They all want hell. They come forth from the womb
speaking lies. They live a lie. I heard this thing here recently. There was two women. This one woman took in her friend, and she wasn't
mentally up to snuff. But she took her in, and they
were living there. And she let her do little chores
and things to make her feel like she was being helpful and a part
of it and so on. She went down to the mailbox,
and she got a letter. And boy, she sat down on the
front porch, and she read that letter. Oh, my soul. She's just smiling from ear to
ear and happy as she could be and come dancing into the house.
And she told her friends, said, Her friend said, well, what are
you so happy about? Oh, I got this letter. I got this letter.
And this fellow, he loves me. He tells me in this letter how
much he loves me. And he chose me among all the
women. He chose me. He chose me. He saw me, and he starts describing
me, how beautiful I am, and how pretty I am, and all of these
things. And he wants to come and take
me, And I'm going to live with him forever. And her friend said,
what's his name? Well, she said, I don't know.
And she said, well, do you have the envelope? And she said, yep. And the lady looked at the envelope
and said, honey, this letter's from my husband. It's written
to me. You've been reading somebody
else's mail. People in this world rejoice
because they're reading somebody else's mail. These blessings
that God has pronounced are for his elect. Read Ephesians chapter
one. I think I can quote it to you.
He said, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. There are
no heavenly blessings, no spiritual blessings, except upon us, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
now listen, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. These things are written by our
husband. We're the bride of Christ. Is
that right? Oh, I tell you, once you understand
that, you'll rejoice in the means of salvation. This book will
come alive. This is a letter from my husband.
This is a letter from the one who loves us and gave himself
for us. And it's blessing after blessing
after blessing after blessing. But they're all according as
he had chosen us in him. Oh, he turned to his disciples
and he said privately, blessed are the eyes which see the things
you see. The Lord arranges for your hearing
and he sends you a preacher and he gives him the words you need
to hear. And as you listen, the spirit
of the living God begins to work in you and reveal Christ in you.
and you start laying aside all them things that you thought
you rejoiced in and all those things that you thought you got
a little assurance from, you begin to lay them aside and the
only thing that's left is Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Oh, blessed are your eyes who
see what you saw. What'd they see? They saw Him. They saw Him. And this whole chapter has been
showing us about the preaching of the gospel and the sending
of these men to chosen sinners. And as their work has taken place,
then comes the rejoicing of what God has accomplished through
them. And then lastly, I want you to
see the privileges given that brought joy to the heart of our
Savior. He said, for I tell you, Now
listen, if he's talking to them, he's talking to you if you're
a believer. Talking to me. I tell you that many prophets,
what? You mean Isaiah? Daniel? Jeremiah and Ezekiel? I tell
you that many prophets and kings What kings? Solomon, David, huh? Many prophets and kings have
desired to see those things which you see and have not seen them. And to hear those things which
you hear and have not heard them. People say, well, them people
over there think they're the only ones who know God. Well,
I don't feel that way, but I know by man's obstinate rejection
of the testimony of God that we're in a minority. We're in a minority. And by God's
own testimony, he said broad is the way that leads to destruction.
There's a multitude on that. But just a little narrow way.
And the narrow way is the only one that leads into everlasting
life, that narrow way, there's few on it. Few. There's a world of blinded, deceived
men and women, but a remnant according to the election of
His grace. Can you and I this morning in
the light of these verses rejoice in what we see and know, rejoice
as our Lord did in spirit? If we can, we're seeing and hearing
these things that only a privileged few can see and hear. And those
privileges are the gift of God in Christ. Oh, my soul. That's the lesson in joy. That's
the lesson in joy. How does it begin? It begins
with hearing. How does it express itself? In
prayer. Oh, I thank God. I thank God. All right, thank you.