There seems to be very little
joy in this world in which we live, sadly even among professing
believers. And though I cannot speak for
you, dear friend, but in considering that I believe myself, hope to
be myself a child of God, trusting in Christ alone as my salvation,
I must admit to you that I do not possess the joy that I should
as a son of the living God. I just don't. And I can assure
you of this, the problem is with me. my God. And this joy that
I speak of is a joy that is full and pure. And we must have a
joy that rejoices when things are going good and a joy that
rejoices when things are not going so good. That's true joy,
not affected by the situation. And as we discussed a little
in Sunday School this morning, no wonder that James encourages
the child of God in the first chapter of his epistle when he
says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers
temptations. counting all joy, knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience
have her perfect work, that you may be perfect." And that word,
as I said, means mature, entire, wanting nothing. Now, what James
is telling us is this. Consider it and count it joy,
dear child of God, whenever you face trials of many kind. Because
God has told us many times in His Word that by the trying and
testing of our faith, perseverance, endurance, that's a good word,
endurance, diligence, dedication, and commitment are developed. This is what causes a child of
God to no longer remain a babe in Christ. This is how we grow
in grace. We're faced with many trials
and we lean on Christ the best that we can and we see Him move
and work for us in a miraculous way and faith develops and we
become more and more confident in Him, not ourselves. And this
is what causes the child of God to no longer lean on his own
understanding. Perseverance and endurance during
the trial must finish its work so that we grow in grace and
in the knowledge of Him. As we read the verse in Psalm
119 in Sunday school, it was good for me. that I've been afflicted,
David said, that I may learn thy ways. It's a good thing. Now, it doesn't seem so good
when we're going through it, but spiritually speaking, it's
a good thing. God is going to wean His people
from their attachment to this world and the things of it. Things
that were once Very important, over time we'll lose their luster
and their shine, but God is going to show the child of God to lay
up for themselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
Knowing that We, the child of God, have these God-given treasures
in heaven. We should always have joy regardless
of the circumstances, if we can keep our eyes on Him, looking
to Him, the author and finisher of our faith. I'm reminded of
the Apostle Peter. He's on the ship, and here comes
Christ walking on the water. And the winds were blowing, and
the waves were flowing, and they were getting wet in the ship.
And Peter said, Lord, bid me to come. And he said, come. And
he stepped out on the water and began to walk. But what's the
first thing you did? The same thing you and I do.
We get our eyes on the winds, and we get our eyes on the waves,
and we take our eyes off Christ, and we begin to sink. Oh God,
help us to keep our eyes on Him. Knowing that we, the child of
God, as I said, have these given treasures, we should rejoice
regardless. of the situation we find ourselves
in. And let me say, I'll be the first
to tell you, I know that's easier said than done. But nevertheless,
it's the truth. And God's Word confirms it. In
1 Thessalonians chapter 5, the Apostle says, Rejoice evermore. Rejoice evermore. Pray without
ceasing. How do we do that? Well, it's
an attitude. When He says pray without ceasing,
that don't mean we walk around all day long. It's an attitude. It's a constant communion with
Christ in your heart. Oh Lord, be with me. You don't have to say a word.
And it's the same with rejoicing. We rejoice evermore knowing that
He who loved us gave Himself for us. What better news is there
than that? What else is there that should
cause us more joy than that? knowing what we deserve and yet
the gift of God that we have in Christ. Peter wrote in 1 Peter
1.8, whom having not seen ye love, and whom though now ye
see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory. That's what I'm talking to you
about this morning. Joy unspeakable. I desire that. I want that. The child of God
rejoices, full of joy, for they've been delivered. Oh, get a hold
of this. They've been delivered from their
deserved and just condemnation, born in sin. Come forth from
the womb, speaking lies. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. There's none righteous, none.
And yet, He was made to be sin for us. He who knew no sin, that
we might be what? Made. made the righteousness
of God in him. And I think once again about
the words of our dear old friend, Scott Richardson, who's now home
with the Lord. He said, I remember hearing him
saying it with my own ears. He said, I haven't heard any
bad news since I heard the good news. Oh, that's profound. Is there really any bad news
now that we've heard the good news, I ask you, dear friend?
Not if we are enabled by God to keep our eyes on Christ, that
we're able to press toward the mark of the high calling that's
in Him and Him alone. Why, when trouble comes our way,
we'll say, I'm more than a conqueror through Christ who loved me. May God help us to do so. No
bad news once you've heard the good news. And by the grace of
God, we learn that we must give thanks in everything, for this
is the will of God in Christ concerning you and me. But what
about if I lose my home? Give thanks. What about if I
lose a loved one? Give thanks. Why? For God doeth all things well.
And He causes all things to work together for your good. We're
not going to understand everything. But we can bow and submit to
the will of God in all things. God help us to do so. It is God's
will that each and every one of us should give thanks in everything.
Now, here in 1 Chronicles 16, look at verse 10. Give ye in His holy name, glory
ye, I'm sorry, in His holy name, let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. Deuteronomy, you don't have to
turn there, but chapter 429 says, But if thou shalt seek the Lord
thy God, thou shalt find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy
heart and with all thy soul. If you seek the Lord, you'll
find Him. If you're serious about seeking Him, if you're seeking
Him in your desperate condition, knowing what you are and what
you deserve, when God shows a man what he is, I'll tell you, you
won't have to beg Him to seek the Lord. If a man is drowning,
You won't have to beg him to throw him a life raft. He's sitting
there drowning. He's swallowing the water. He's about to go under. And you're
sitting there going, listen, this is what preachers do today
from the pulpit. They say, do you want this life
raft? Do you want this life saver? Well, now, are you sure? Have
you made a decision you want it? No. He'll say, throw me that
thing. throw me that thing if you seek
him with all your heart and with all your soul. Friends, we rejoice
in God for Christ is the fountain of our joy just as he's the fountain
of all things to the believer. Our hearts rejoice because God
has by sovereign mercy caused us to seek him. Have you seen
that? You wouldn't have sought him
on your own. No, he caused you to seek him for life eternal.
And all that truly seek Him with all their heart and soul shall
truly find Him." What trial or tribulation? Let me ask you now,
seriously. What trial or tribulation can
cast shadow on the free gift of eternal life? Do we really
believe that in Christ we have life eternal? I'm telling you,
if we really believe it like we should, we'd have joy unspeakable,
full of glory. regardless of where we're at
or what's going on around us. What could possibly happen to
us that could rob us of our joy in comparison to that? Even death. Even the grave have no victory
over the child of God. But to seek the Lord is not a
one-time thing. We don't just seek the Lord and
He saves us and then we just go on and live like we want to.
Look at verse 11. Seek the Lord in His strength.
Seek His face continually. It is seeking the Lord in His
strength continually that gives us full and pure joy. If God be for us, who can be
against us? That brings me great joy to know
that if God's for me, who can be against me? I don't fear man
when God is for me. I don't fear death when God is
for me. What's the source of the believer's
joy and happiness? Well, when we seek the Lord and
His Word, we're again reminded of His marvelous work and wonders. Look at verse 12. Remember! Remember his marvelous works
that he hath done, his wonders and the judgments of his mouth."
Child of God, do you remember the marvelous works that he hath
done? Oh, let's call them to remembrance. Oh, remember what
he hath done, the wonders, the marvelous works, and the judgments
of his mouth. All the just judgments of God
are against those who are not in Christ. David said, against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
When we sin, it's against God and God only. Now, we may hurt
someone else in the process, but the sin itself is against
Him and Him alone. But if you belong to Christ,
Christ is your one mediator between God and man. Let me tell you
something. There's no judgment against you.
No condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. In the eyes of God,
I'm as perfect and holy as Christ Himself. Now let me ask you,
should that not give you joy unspeakable? Should it not? There's
no judgment against those who are in Christ Jesus. Look at
verse 13. O ye seed of Israel, His servant,
ye children of Jacob, His chosen ones. There's no eternal judgment
against the seed, against the children of Jacob, His chosen
ones. All that the Father gave to Christ
before the foundation of the world shall be saved. Christ said, I will lose not
a one. If you're His chosen, His seed,
His servant, then let me ask you, why do we fret and worry? Why? We should have joy unspeakable. Joy beyond description. Lord,
why don't I have joy unspeakable? Why, we should have so because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. God chose you. John 15,
19, if you were of the world, the world would love His own,
but because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you
out of the world. Oh, that should be a neat joy
unspeakable. My pastor Maurice Montgomery
used to always say, he'd preach a little while and then he'd
go, everything's going to be all right. Friends, everything's
going to be all right. If you're in Christ, if you look
to him for everything. Everything's going to be alright.
If you're one of God's chosen, everything's going to be alright.
Verse 14, He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all
the earth. Now wherever you go, and whatever
you do without Christ, judgments are found all around you. We're
all born condemned. He that believeth not is condemned
already, the Scripture says. Somehow or another, man has gotten
the idea that all men are born good and then as we grow older
we do something bad and then we become a sinner. That's what
makes us a sinner. We're born condemned. As I said,
we come forth from the womb speaking lies. We were conceived in sin
in our mother's womb. and His judgment is upon us.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The wages of sin is death. Romans 6.23. But look at verse
15. But be ye mindful always of His
covenant, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations. Now let me finish quoting you
the verse in Romans 6.23. The wages of sin is death. That
wasn't all of that verse. the rest of the verses, but the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, have
you lost your joy, dear friends? If you have, then again, be mindful
of the covenant that He has given you in Christ. There's a covenant
made between God and His people. God has promised to do us good.
often read the sixth chapter of Genesis, it's concerning the
destruction of the world in Noah's time. It says, God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth. It wasn't just that
men were a little bad, that men did a a few bad things. No, it
meant that just what it said, the wickedness of man was great
in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually. Man didn't have a good thought.
Only evil continually. And it repented the Lord. Man
was so wicked that it repented the Lord that He'd even made
man on the earth. And it grieved Him at His heart.
And the Lord said, I'll destroy man whom I've created. from the
face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing,
and the fowls of the air. For it repents me that I have
made them." And then we have that blessed word, B-U-T. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. It was God's grace that found
Noah. And because Noah found grace,
God told him in verse 18 of Genesis 6, He said, With thee will I
establish My covenant, and thou shalt come into the ark, thou
and thy sons and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. Now
listen to me, this is important. The covenant of salvation that
God established with Noah was coming into the ark. You see
where I'm going, don't you, child of God? I know you do. That ark
pictures the Lord Jesus Christ. God's wrath and judgment fell
in the way of rain. It came up out of the ground.
It fell from the skies. And Noah, for 120 years, hammered
out on that wood, pronouncing God's judgment. And people wouldn't
repent. But those who got into that ark,
the rain fell down, but they were saved. That's Christ. That's Christ. Can you imagine
the joy that Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives
had? Can you imagine? Here the world is being destroyed
all around them, but they're safe in the ark. Why? because Noah found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. Friends, if you and I are to
be delivered from the wrath and judgment, eternal condemnation
of God Almighty, we're going to have to get in that ark. We're
going to have to get in that ark, and that ark is Christ.
We live in a wicked world. And when the wrath of God's judgment
comes for you, let me ask you, will you be found safe in God's
ark? The Lord Jesus Christ? If He's
made a covenant with you, He will. If He's made a covenant
with you. Luke 6.23 says, Rejoice ye in
that day, and leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great
in heaven. What is our reward? Christ. Let me tell you something, Christ
is our crown. And we're His. Rejoice ye in
that day and leap for joy. Do you have joy unspeakable?
If you have Christ, you should. Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. Salvation is believing in a person. the Lord Jesus Christ, and this
is where all joy and peace is found. And to know the love of
Christ which passeth knowledge, Ephesians 3, 19, that ye might
be filled with all the fullness of God. Now, just for a few minutes
longer, turn with me to John 15. John 15, and we'll pick up in
verse 10 where we left off in our Reading John 15 10 our Lord
here is speaking. He said if you keep my commandments
You shall abide in my love even as I have kept my father's commandments
and abiding his love Now our subject this morning has been
joy unspeakable The joy that a believer has in Christ is most
definitely unspeakable and full of glory. And our Lord says here
in verse 10 that if we keep His commandments that we will abide
in His love. How we keep God's commandments
is found in the second part of that verse. Which says, even
as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. being
wicked and wretched and depraved. We can't keep God's law. We can't
do it. The law of God was given to show
us our inability and helplessness to keep it. Scripture is very
plain about that. It was given to bring us by grace
to Christ. So if you're trying this morning
to keep God's law to merit and earn and somehow deserve salvation,
stop. Give it up. You'll never succeed. That's why Paul said, wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that
we might be justified by faith. What does a schoolmaster do?
He teaches. He instructs and He guides. The
law of God teaches us, dear friends, that we're guilty by nature,
birth, and practice. And our schoolmaster says, there's
only one way. There's only one way to be redeemed. Let me bring you to Christ. It's
in Christ Jesus. Believing in Christ and trusting
Him is our one mediator between God and man. The one that did
everything for us that God required is to be justified by faith.
Faith is not just blind. Faith has an object. And that
object is Christ. That's who our faith is in. This
is not hard, friends. But it takes the divine intervention
of God to humble a man's heart to believe it. We think way too
highly of ourselves. We want to have something to
do with it. Believing in Christ and trusting Him as our one mediator
is what it is to be justified by faith. It makes me just. It makes me justified. When God
looks at me now, this wretched, depraved sinner that I am, can't
do anything good. Everything I do is mixed with
sin. Yet when God looks at me, He
sees His blessed Son. I'm being conformed to the image
of Christ. And one day I shall be conformed.
But when I see Him, I shall be like Him. Oh, does that not give
you joy? Does that not give you joy? Oh,
it should. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law,
because it's in Christ. We have those things in Christ.
Verse 11, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain
in you, and that your joy might be full. It's the assurance of
Christ's Word that gives us His joy. He said, My joy. It's Christ's joy. My joy is
fickle. My joy is up and down. It's here
and it's gone. But the Lord says that My joy
might remain in you. If it's His joy that we have,
our joy will be full. Friends, salvation is in Christ.
I must have His righteousness. I must have His holiness. And if I'm ever to have true
joy, joy unspeakable, it must be His joy. Oh, may God help
us to see that blessed truth. But preacher, don't I have to
do something? How many people came to the Lord
Jesus Christ and the first thing out of their mouth was, what
must I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? Believe. And you can't do that unless
God enables you to do so. Okay, if you want something to
do, here it is, verse 12. This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you. The same John that
wrote this glorious gospel account tells us in his epistle that
we know that we've passed from death to life because we love
the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. 1 John 3 verse 13. Greater love hath no man than
this. You want to hear something about
the greatest love of all? Here it is. That a man lay down
his life for his friends. Oh friends, here's the gospel.
Our love for one another is encouraged by Christ's love for us. There's
no greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends. Christ laid down His life, and
here's the remarkable thing, for His friends. A friend of
God? I'm a friend of God? Oh, doesn't
that give you joy unspeakable? Who can describe this joy that
is found in Christ's love and laying down His life for? I can't
describe it. It's joy unspeakable. The believing
sinner was once an enemy. That's what the Bible calls him.
But now, a friend. Oh, what a blessed thought. James
4, for you adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. That's what I was. I
was a friend of the world. and an enemy of God. And in John
10, 15, As the Father knoweth me, even so now I the Father,
and laid down my life for the sheep, and other sheep I have
which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice,
and there shall be one fold and one shout. Oh my, if you're still
in John 15, look at verse 14. You are my friends, if you do
whatsoever I command you. You remember the day the one
expert in the law stood up to test Christ, and he asked him
this question. He said, Teacher, which is the
greatest commandment in the law? And our Lord replied, Love the
Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your mind. This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second one is like unto
it. Love your neighbor as yourself.
All the law, all the prophets hang on these two commandments.
Christ said, if you want to do something, do these. Love God
with all your heart, mind, soul, and spirit. Love your neighbors,
yourself, and friends. We can't do that unless God gives
us the grace to do so. I can't love God with all my
heart, soul, mind, and spirit unless He enables me. I can't
love you like I love myself. unless God enable me. In obedience
to the Word of God and by divine intervention, we love Him and
one another, and we're now the friends of God. In verse 15,
henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what
his Lord doeth. But I have called you friends,
for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known
unto you. And let me say this, the master
is not obligated to share anything with his servants. Our Lord said
in Luke 17, He says, so likewise when you've done all those things
which are commanded of you as a servant, you say we're unprofitable. We've done that which was our
duty to do. Now here's the key, friends.
In Christ's substitute for sinners, we're conformed unto His image
and called His friends. And all that He has heard of
the Father, the unsearchable spiritual riches that He's received
from the Father, He's made known to us. That's the difference.
I don't call you servants any longer. He's not obligated to
make us His friends, but He chose to do so. Salvation is of the
Lord. Can you see the message? What
joy is found in that blessed truth. Verse 16, You have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you
should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He
may give it you. Now here's the blessed truth
of God's sovereign grace in Christ. Now some of you may not be familiar
with that term sovereign. What do you mean sovereign grace? I'm talking about grace from
a sovereign God. Well, what's a sovereign God?
He's a God that does what He wants to, when He wants to, how
He wants to, to who He wants to. That is God. Anything less
is no God at all. This sovereign God is the one
that said, I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and I'll
have compassion on whom I'll have compassion. That sounds
like somebody in control to me. Not somebody trying and wanting
and wishing and hoping. Why do men and women think they
made the decision and exercised their free will to let Jesus
save them? I don't know. Why did I? Because
I was blind. I was blind and dead in trespasses
and sin. That's why. It's one of two reasons,
friends. We're either ignorant of the
Scriptures or we're in total rebellion to the Word of God.
One of the two. Either God hadn't revealed it
to us or He's shown us and we turn our back on it and say,
I had no part of that God. It's one of the two things. Now
listen once again to the words of the Savior. I'll read them
slow and deliberate and I'll finish this up. That means appointed. I appointed
you. We also see from this verse that
the child of God will bring forth fruit. Not by works of righteousness
that they've done, but according to God's mercy who saved them.
And the servant, now who's made a friend of God, will always,
now this is important, be obedient to his master. The Lord has dealt
with me so much on this lately. It seems like we who believe
sovereign grace, we know we're not saved by works. We can't
be saved by works. We can't do any good works. But
when God saves us by His grace, we become obedient unto Him,
out of love for what He's done for us. We're not saved by works,
but after we're saved by the sovereign grace and mercy of
God, we will be obedient. For our faith without works is
dead being alone," James said. James said, you show me your
faith without your works, and I'll show you my faith by my
works. And works, obedience. That's
what that means. Obedient to God. Now listen,
we're never going to be perfect. We're never ever going to be
able to be perfectly obedient unto God. But a child of God
is going to try. He's going to strive and he's
going to do everything he can not to disappoint his God and
his Savior. Christ is God's beloved Son in
whom He is well pleased. And whatsoever we ask of the
Father in His name according to the will and purpose of God,
He will give it to you, He said. People ask for things, but they
ask wrongly. James says you ask amiss so that
you consume it upon your lust. But let me ask you in closing,
friends, is anyone asking for faith? Is anyone asking for joy? Is anyone asking God for patience
and more love for the brethren? Is anyone asking for God to help
them forgive as they've been forgiven? Oh God, help me to
ask for those things. Cause me to want those things.
Give me grace. Give me faith. Allow me to forgive
as you've forgiven me. Give me patience to love my brethren
more. And give them patience to love
me more. You ask and you receive not because you're not asking
right. You're asking that you can consume things upon your
lust. In verse 17, these things I command
you. Okay, we're back to that obedience. That you love one another. That you love one another. God
help us to love Him and one another as we are. We find the joy of
Christ in loving one another and in loving Him. Oh may God
give us this unspeakable joy that is found only, and I repeat
only, in the Lord Jesus Christ.