The subject then, as we announced,
is the joy which never turns to grief. Most everybody, I think,
dreads to grow old. I think that the people of God
feel probably about this, at least most of us do, like the
people of the world. We dread that time when it will
be said of us, you are a senior citizen. But age is not altogether
without its blessing. It's not without its blessing. If God is pleased to dwell with
us, and the Holy Spirit is pleased to teach us, I think that age,
old age, can be possibly the best time of our lives. And for this reason, and chiefly
for this reason, because I think then, that is in our old age,
I think then, that is after we have walked with God for a number
of years in this world, Then, I think, after we have experienced
many, many things in this life, after we have come face to face
with many of the trials and the adversities and the discouragements
of life, I think then that we begin to learn the meaning of
some scriptures. Now, we've had these scriptures
in doctrine, in some sort of mental understanding maybe for
many years. We've had an understanding, we've
had scriptures, you know, that we've hid away in our hearts
and our minds. We actually never really experienced
those scriptures, but at least we knew of them, and we were
knowledgeable of them. But Paul told Timothy, He said
in 2 Timothy 3 and 15, he said, from a child thou hast known
the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. So Timothy had known the
holy scriptures even from a child. As we grow older, as God dwells
with us and by the Holy Spirit he teaches us, we begin to experience
our doctrine. We begin to actually experience
what we've had in our heads for a long time, and it comes down,
as it were, it slips down into our hearts. And we begin to experience
the things of God. It is something, now listen,
it's something that you can't produce. It just goes with age
and wisdom. It goes with walking with God. It goes with following hard after
the Lord, and seeking His face, and living out your life in submission
to God. This coming to experience your
doctrine. You have trials and tribulation,
and this results in many experiences And these experiences, we often
say, are not for sale. We would not sell them for anything
because it is through these experiences that we have learned, really
learned, our doctrine. Now, our doctrine is no longer
just a creed that we defend, but it's a life that we experience. When we get older and we run
into people, and I'm at that place now, who don't agree, with
our doctrine, we sometimes smile inwardly and sometimes smile
outwardly, and we say to these people, just you wait a while. You just wait a while, and God
will teach you this truth by experience. All spiritual truth,
you listen to me now, is learned experientially. You really don't
know anything, you have an experience. You can say, well, God's with
His people in every hour of trial. You can say the grace of God
is sufficient. Whatever be the need in my life,
the grace of God will be sufficient. But you don't really know that
until you get into some of the trials of life and until you
get into some of those deep valleys that you think probably you'll
never get out of. And then you begin to experience
something, you begin to experience what you've heard. And the grace
of God is sufficient for you ever need. And the Lord is with
His people regardless of how deep the valley of sorrow and
trial is. God really is with His people.
But you see, you don't know that until you've experienced your
doctrine. Now a man is the sum total then
of his experience. He's a man, after he's matured,
what you see and what you hear and what he feels inwardly and
what he expresses outwardly is the total of his experience of
having walked with God in an evil and trying world. For an
example of this, in 2 Corinthians, or in 1 Corinthians it is, chapter
15 and verse 19, Paul says this, He says, if in this life only
we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Now this
doesn't mean very much, at least I think it doesn't mean much
to a very young person in the faith. to somebody that just
recently come to know the Lord. That is a very young person.
They're having a pretty good time in this world. And like
they say, they've got the world by the tail with a downhill pull
on the shady side of life. I mean everything is well for
this young person in the faith. And they begin to read verses
of Scripture like this and say they just pass over it because
they don't understand what in the world that Paul could possibly
be talking about. Now listen, misery, these people
know very little about misery, young people in the faith, but
when you get a little older, You know what Paul's talking
about, and you know it, number one, because Paul taught it,
and number two, because you've experienced it. You know something
about misery, and you've come along a road where it's been
a rocky road, and a testing road, and a trying road, and you've
had such difficulty in your life, and you've been so at times so
plagued, as it were, by the pressures that have come upon you that
you know something about misery. And so when Paul says, if we
just got hope in Christ in this life, we have all been most miserable,
you know what he's talking about. If all there is is on this side,
if all there is is right here in this world, if all there is
is what we experience right here in this life, then certainly
we are a miserable lot of people while we're already miserable,
if that's all there is. But we know there's more to it
than that. We know there's more to it than that. Now there are
joys in this life. There are pleasures in this world.
And I want you to know that. There's a joy of youth. and there's
a joy of beauty, there's the joy of attainment, and the joy
of success, there's the joy of marriage, there's the joy of
the first child, and then the second child, and to seeing these
children begin to walk, and to see them grow up in this world,
and then as they go on, then you have grandchildren, and there's
the joy of grandchildren, and there's a lot of joy in this
life. But you need to wait just a minute.
I want you to know that God's mightily blessed us all, that
God's given us many, many things that we do enjoy that are pleasurable
to us, and there's joy in them in this world, but these joys
are only Temporary. They're only for a season, my
friend. They're just temporary to us. Now let me say this, and I want
you to hear me carefully. Let me say it plainly. Everything
in this life that has the potential of giving joy and satisfaction
has the same potential of bringing grief. into your life. Have you
lived long enough to know what I'm talking about? Do you know
what I'm saying to you? If you're a child of God and
you make anything in this world a basis for your joy, I promise
you that that very thing will turn to grief. I promise you
that that sand castle will crumble in your life. I promise you that
those soap bubbles will burst. And if you make anything the
basis of your joy that is earthbound, you're bound to run into trouble
sooner or later. Your marriage, your husband,
your wife. Oh, you say, that woman, oh what
a princess she is. And you look forward to so much
joy with that woman. You must have that woman as your
bride. And you look forward with great
anticipation to many, many years living with that woman. But something
can happen, you see, and it does. Nowadays, in about 50% of all
marriages, something happens and the marriage turns to grief.
Woman looks at that man she's about to marry, and, oh, he's
a god to me. This man is, oh, look at that
man, and she must have that man. And she prays for that man, and
she anticipates a long life with that man. But in a little while,
that marriage can turn to grief and bitterness. And there's such
strife among those two people. You wouldn't believe that they
were the same two people a few years before that had such anticipation
of joy in their lives. So these things can turn to grief. And then your children. Oh, there's
such a delight. But they can break your heart,
you know. They can. And there's people I know that
have went into a dark room and sat down and said to themselves,
I wish that boy, I wish that girl would have never been born.
I wish they would have never seen the light of day. Children
can bring grief to your soul. They can. And you must never
base your joy on your marriage or on your children. And make
that the very basis of all of your hope and all of your joy.
Because things can happen. And when people get into trouble
is when they're delight. when their pleasure, their joy,
and their satisfaction is only in these things. That's when you get into trouble.
These things, as we said, are like soap bubbles. They're like
the fireworks. They're pretty, but they just
won't last, and they will crumble at last. Now, there is a joy
in them for a season, but don't forget it. They're connected
to this world, and they soon will be gone. These joys will
soon just pass away and you can't bring them back. There is a joy
that will never turn to grief. But it is not in this world. It is not a product. of this
world. It is not a natural joy. It is not found in human relationships. It is not a fleshly enjoyment. Now, listen to me now. It is
not in fleshly enjoyments. Now, men go to great lengths
in this life to maintain a life wherein they find pleasure, wherein
they find the satisfactions of the world. And men try to keep
themselves healthy to live a long, extended life so they're able
to participate in the joys of this world. They are those that,
well, that spend a great deal of time in lifting weights and
jogging and they eat healthy food. They eat health food and
they take their vitamins and it's all with the idea that they
can feel better, live longer, and enjoy the pleasures of this
life longer. But my friend, let me tell you
something this morning. There's coming a day when regardless
of how well you've preserved and took care of your health,
there's coming a day when somebody's going to have to take you by
the arm and help you down the steps. There's going to have
to be somebody bring you your cane before you can get up off
of the couch and move about. There's going to have to be somebody
that's going to have to take you and assist you. Now you say,
well, preacher, I don't want to even think about that. But
you see, if you take pleasure and you base your joy on your
health and your strength, you see, that's going to all fade
away one day because the straight back sometime will be stooped,
the smooth skin will be wrinkled, and the strong legs will grow
wobbly. and you'll come to the place
where you'll look in the mirror and you'll say of your hair,
if you still have any, you'll say, that ought to have been
hair, Carl. That ought to have been hair. That ought to have
been on a dog. You'll say that about your own hair because the
day is coming when all these things in which we find a measure
of joy and satisfaction in, all these things are going to be
gone. They're going to be gone. And I'm here this morning to
talk to you about a joy that will never turn to grief. All
of these joys that we've mentioned will turn to grief. Listen, if
you take delight and joy in this body, your health, beauty, and
strength, you're headed for extreme grief. The day's coming when
you're going to grieve. Now, I don't know whether you've
been to a nursing home lately, to a rest home, and somebody
told my mother that it was a rest home that she was in. And she
said, a rest home? She said, my soul, she said,
you can't get any rest in this place. Have you been in a rest
home lately? Have you seen the old folks?
Have you been there to see the end of all flesh? Have you been
there to look upon what happens over a period of time? 70, 80,
90 years, what happens to a body of flesh? Have you been there?
I'll tell you. My friend, if a man bases his
joy upon the strength, the beauty of the flesh, he'll come to extreme
sorrow and grief. The same thing is true, I think,
of men who take pride in their education. Men who take pride
in their certificates, their degrees, and their diplomas,
and their accomplishments, we're not against these things at all.
And men's trophies. But they're just so much waste
paper, brother, sister, when it boils down to things that
you can really base your joy and hope upon. These things will
not endure. Every one of these will someday
just pass away. This is a vain and this is an
empty world that you and I live in. I want you to turn over in
your Bibles, it may take some of you a little while to find
it, to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 1. And as you're turning
over there, I want to read a few verses there in a minute, but
I want to just try, if I can, to tell you what I'm saying.
What I'm saying here this morning is just this, that there are
joys in this world. And I would not have you to be
morbid. I would not have you to be depressed and filled with
despair, going around unhappy, pessimistic and all of that.
I wouldn't have you to do that. Not at all. That's not the end
of this message. That's not the purpose of this
message. But we must put these things
in their right place. We must put them in their right
place. Don't put your hope. Don't put
confidence and your trust. your trust and confidence, joy
in these things. Don't make them your security.
Don't hold too tightly to these things. That's what I'm trying
to say because they won't last. They're going to be taken away. God is a jealous God and if these
things are between us and God, these things will be taken away.
Sometimes a whole lot Sooner or quicker than we think they
should be They'll just suddenly come up and they'll be gone All
gone now in the book of Ecclesiastes. I want to begin in chapter 1
with verse 14. I Have seen all the works of
these words were written by the wise preacher Solomon a man of
experience I have seen all the works that are done under the
sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Notice verse 17 and 18. I gave
my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I
perceive that this also is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom
is much grief, and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. I said, in mine heart, go to
now. I will prove thee with mirth.
Therefore, enjoy pleasure. And behold, this also is vanity. I said, of laughter it is mad,
and of mirth, what doeth it? I sought in mine heart to give
myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom, and to
lay hold on folly till I might see what was that good for the
sons of men which they should do unto the heaven all the days
of their life. I made me great works, I builded
me houses, I planted me vineyards, I made me gardens and orchards,
and planted trees in them of all kind of fruits. I made me
pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth
trees. And so verse 8, I gathered unto
thee also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings
and of the provinces, I got me men singers and women singers
and the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments
and that of all sorts. So I was great and increased
more than all them that were before me in Jerusalem. Also
my wisdom remained with me. and whatsoever mine eyes desired,
I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from
any joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was
the portion of my labor. Then I looked on all the works
that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored
to do, and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there
was no profit under the sun." Now then, what would you say
to those verses of scripture? What would you say to that? I
tell you, this was no novice speaking. This man, he had the
means, he had the time, he had the wherewithal, whatever it
took he had to accumulate, to get, to see, to do anything that
a man in a body of flesh would want to do. And he said, it's
all vanity and vexation of spirit. Now if this world is all I have,
I do not have anything. That's what Solomon would be
telling you. I don't have anything. Beloved brother or sister, it'll
be a bright day in our lives when we come to the place to
see that the only thing we really have is our inheritance on the
other side. And when we come to see that,
we'll surely be blessed in our hearts. But if my joy is in God,
If God is my supreme joy, if He is my delight, if He is my
rejoicing, if God is my foundation and my refuge, then I can truly
be joyful. I can truly have joy. I've got the foundation for it. I've got that one in whom I can
rejoice that is not changing all the time. He is immutable,
he's unchanging, and he'll remain the same. Whatever be my circumstances
in this world, whatever I have or do not have, Whatever I lose
or what I'm able to keep, whatever be my circumstances, I can joy
in the God of my salvation and know that that joy will never
turn to grief. In James chapter 1, in verse
2, James says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into
diverse temptations, different troubles he's talking about.
And oh, listen, he said you count it all joy. Now, how could he
say that? Well, if a man is joyful in God,
if he's trusting God, if he's relying upon God, if God is his
security, if God is his foundation, if he has a personal experience,
relationship, and love with the God of the Bible, then oh, the
joy of anticipating what God is going to do for us and in
us by our troubles. You see, God is a good God. And He promised us that all things
would work together for our good and for His glory in this world. Our God is good. The Lord is
good to all those that look to Him and trust Him. And all the
joy of anticipating what God is going to bring to pass through
the troubles that He brings into my life. And you know, other
than praying, like we sometimes do, you know, we pray, Lord,
remove this thing. Just as soon as it lands upon
our shoulders, Lord, take it away! Lord, remove it! Get it
out of my life! But you know what we should pray
is, Lord, you take it away in your good time. Lord, when it's
brought me to the place where you want me to be in my thinking,
when you bring me to the place where you want me to be in faith,
where you bring, when you bring me to the place where my attitude
is right toward you and toward others around me. Lord, when
this thing, when you know that it's worked, that result in me
that you wanted, then Lord, not till then, take it away at that
time. Now beloved, we've got to grow
up a little bit. We must grow up and face these
things that God said we could rejoice and we ought to count
it all joy when we fall into diverse, different troubles because
God is about to do something in our lives. If he wasn't interested
in us, he'd leave us alone. He wouldn't allow anything to
come. No afflictions, no trouble, no
problems to come. Now, I heard Brother Mahan one
time down at the Bible conference. He was telling about a fellow
that came to their church. And this fellow was in a wheelchair
and he had been greatly afflicted. But he was telling Brother Mahan
about how blessed a thing his affliction was because it had
opened his eyes and that he had started listening to Brother
Mahan on his television broadcast. And he was converted through
listening to Brother Mahan's message of the gospel on television. And he was telling Brother Mahan
how thankful he was for his affliction because he said, if it hadn't
have been for this affliction, I never would have. Listen to
any gospel preacher. The Lord would have never got
my attention and brought me to himself if it had not been for
this affliction. And then I heard another story
about a man who was in prison for life. And he heard the gospel
and he was converted. God saved him. And he thanked
God that he was in prison. Because he said, if I hadn't
have been there, and if I hadn't have been in that prison cell,
I never would have heard the gospel. I never would have been
converted. I would have died and went to
hell with no hope. And he said, I would rather be
in prison in this life and then go to heaven when I die, then
to be free in this life, and then die and go to that hell
for all eternity. Because God got my attention
in this life. He shut me up. He hemmed me up. He fixed it so I must hear the
gospel. And He was thankful for that.
And I'll tell you what, beloved, God's speaking to His people.
The Lord's got something to say. And this, we don't believe it.
I know we don't. And the younger you are, the
less you believe it. But this, this is a vain world. And this is an empty world. And
we need to understand it. We need to come to where we appreciate
it. what the Lord is doing in our
lives and for His people in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. If you have your
Bible, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, I want you to listen to these
two verses, verse 9 and verse 10. Listen to what the Apostle
says, and he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee,
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore,
Will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me? Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. Now, beloved, God puts His strength
into weak vessels. God in Him is to be weak in yourself. And Paul said, I take. Therefore,
he says, I glory in my infirmities. I glory in it that the power
of Christ may rest upon me. Now listen to me. If this morning
God was making strong right here in this service, men and women,
But it would be necessary for him to afflict you like he did
Jacob and make him limp on one leg. As Jacob was wrestling with
God, he would not let him go. He wanted a blessing, but God
fixed it so he would limp the rest of his life. Would you be
willing to limp the rest of your life that the power of God might
be given to you, that the power of Christ might rest upon you?
Would you be willing? Oh, my friend, we need to examine
ourselves. A sense of weakness is necessary
in order that we would experience the power of God. If this is
God's way, if it's God's way by afflicting me, bringing me
down, showing me how the joys of this world are so fleeting,
if it's God's way of slowing me down so he can speak to my
heart, Then, so be it. I'll thank God for it. I'll praise
Him for it. If I can just hear His voice
in my soul. Well, and then I think also,
you see we can do that if our joy is in God. If our joy is
in Him. And then we can even rejoice
in death. Because death for the believer.
And you, I know you, it's like I said before, you may have trouble
believing this. But death for the believer is
not a penalty, it's a promotion. That's what it is. It's a promotion. And the scripture says it's not
a loss. It's a gain. Paul says it is
gain. It is far better, he said, for
me to depart this life and to be with Christ than it is for
me to remain in this world. Now then, I want you to turn
to Acts 20 and look at verse 24. Acts chapter 20 and verse
24, where Paul says, but none of these things move me. Neither
count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course
with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus,
to testify the gospel of the grace of God." Now, beloved,
we come to the place where we don't count our own life dear.
The purpose is that we have joy in the Lord and that we might
continue in doing that which God has set us here to do, purpose
that we do. We joy in God and our joy is
in Him basically and emphatically. Now we turn to John chapter 16
and I want you to look at verse 20. here and I want to read just
two, three verses here and I think that you'll see the thing that
I'm talking about here in these verses. I think you'll agree
with me that we can even die and rejoice and joy in God as
we're doing it. if our joy is really in the Lord. In verse 20 here of John 16,
Verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto you, that ye shall
weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice. And ye shall be
sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in travail,
hath sorrow, because her hour is come. But as soon as she is
delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish for joy that
a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow,
but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, And
your joy no man taketh from you. Now what do I get from this?
I get just this. Our sorrow, whatever it be in
this life, whatever it is this morning, whatever it will be
tomorrow, whatever our sorrow will be in this life, it will
be turned into joy. It will be turned, but now listen,
the world's joy, The joy that the world, and the world's rejoicing
today. Many, many people in this world
rejoicing today in the things that we've talked about earlier
today. Strength of the flesh and the things of this world. Human relationships and all the
various things that we mentioned earlier. Many, many people in
this world are rejoicing in those things, but their joy is going
to be turned to sorrow. Their joy is going to be turned
to sorrow. Our sorrow is going to be turned to joy. And so we
can rejoice in tribulation and death, even death, the death
of this body. In Psalm 73 and 26, David said,
my flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my
heart and he's my portion forever. I ain't never going to change.
That's never going to change. Now then, the believer is to
understand these things. And the older you get, the better
you'll understand them. The more mature you come in the
faith, the better you'll be able to enter into these things. Now
then, I want us to turn back for the rest of our time, which
we'll try not to keep any longer than we have to, but I want to
talk a little bit about this joy of the Lord. And in Romans
5, this joy, while it is a feeling, It is not just a feeling. And while this joy is an emotion,
it is not just an emotion. And while it is a religious claim,
it is indeed a religious claim, I make it this morning, but it's
not just. a religious claim. Paul discusses
here in these verses in Romans chapter 5, I think he takes steps
to arrive at the conclusion that we find him coming to there in
verse 11 when he talks about us joying. He says, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received
the atonement. And I asked myself, I said, what
is this joy? When we talk about joy in the
Lord and talk about joy in God, when Paul talks about joy in
God here through our Lord Jesus Christ, what's he talking about?
Well, this is a topic certainly that far exceeds my ability.
to explain, and I can do no more certainly than just scratch the
surface, but I must do that. If you'll bear with me, I'd like
just to scratch the surface here a little bit of this subject
of joy in God. What is it? Well, I know, first
of all, that there is to the believer a joy in the very fact
that there is a God. And that's where we got to begin.
That's where we begin, the very fact that there is a God. He that cometh to me must believe
that I am, and that I'm a rewarder of them that diligently seek
me. Now I know that to the ungodly,
to the unbeliever, that they would be greatly pleased if somebody
could prove to them that there was no God. They'd be greatly
pleased because they're troubled very much at the thought of God.
Because you see that the alien sinner, the ungodly sinner, that
one who's walking after the spirit of this age, that one who is
outside, without God and without Christ, They know that if there
is a God, then sin must be, surely will be, according to his righteous
and just character, that sin must be paid for, it must be
condemned, and judgment must come upon them for sin. And the
only way this wicked and perverted world today can stand and have
any measure of contentment and any measure of worldly joy is
to believe that God surely is not and that God will never,
surely, surely, the God that these preachers talk about and
the God of the Bible, surely He doesn't exist. And so, men,
they go on, the Bible says, and sin with both hands. They go
on in their rebellion and flaunt their sin before the world, becoming
bolder and bolder of it every day that we live. And today,
in Washington, D.C., there's a great display of the utter
contempt for God Almighty. There is this utter rebellion
against God's Pure Word. And the Bible says that God's
going to turn the wicked into hell. And He said along with
all the nations that forget Him, I'm going to turn them into hell.
That's what I'm going to do. Now the wicked, they'd be glad
if there's no God. Because see, if there's no God,
we'll never have to face our sin at the judgment. We don't
have to stare this God in the eye. We don't have to look for
a rock to find to crawl under in the day of judgment if there
is no God. But you see, the wonderful joy
of the believer is that there is a God. There is a God. And we know that the child of
God, the regenerate man, who feels within himself the very
nature of God and kinship to this God, listen, we know that
he is. And we could not bear the idea. We would not tolerate, we would
not listen to the idea that there is no God. No sirree. Atheism is a black Egyptian knight
to a soul that has ever known God. Never, never, never would
we listen to one suggestion. We know better. We know better. Our experience has taught us
better that God is And if we ever come to have joy in Him,
if men ever come to the place where they can joy in God, the
sovereign God that we delight to know, this God that is everywhere,
this sovereign ruler of the universe, if men ever come to where they
can joy in Him, anything which robs Him of His glory makes us
grieve. And if one could prove that there
is no God, it'd make me an orphan. And it would prove to me my everlasting
poverty and wretchedness, and I'll not hear it. If you ever
find out there's no God, don't tell me. Don't come to my house. I won't let you in. If you tell
me why you're coming, I won't let you in. I believe in the
sovereign God of the Bible. So then we have joy as believers
in the very fact that there is a God. God is our joy. He is. He's the great I Am, and
we rejoice in Him. Now the second thing I want to
say about this, is about this joy in God, is this, that we
have joy in God because He is a God, Paul tells us here in
this chapter, that is a reconciled God. He is a reconciled God. Now we're told here in this chapter
In verse 6, that Christ died for the ungodly. And then we're
told here in verse 8, that God commendeth his love toward us,
and that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. And then
in verse 10, it says that if when we were enemies, We were
reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled. You see, God Himself is the great
reconciler. We read in 2 Corinthians 5 and
18, and all things are of God who hath reconciled us to Himself
by Jesus Christ. Now I want you to notice in verse
11 here, And not only so, but we also join God through our
Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the reconciliation. That's the word here. Now if
you take that word atonement, right here, this word, break
it down, it's at-one-ment. At-one-ment. Now this is what's
happened. We've received the at-one-ment.
You see, you don't... Have I said this? You don't reconcile
friends, you reconcile enemies. I don't think I said that. Listen
to me. Listen to me. God is a reconciled
God. He has reconciled, as that verse
said there in 2 Corinthians 5, 18, all things are of God. Everything that's got to do with
this reconciliation, it's of God. We receive it, but we didn't
participate in the providing of the reconciliation. But God
has provided, it's all of God, and He's reconciled us to Himself. You see, God was the offended
party. And so He sent Jesus into this world to do something, to
do a work toward Him, whereby He would be able to be reconciled
unto all the elect in the Lord Jesus Christ. God is a reconciled
God. Now that means that whatever
I read in the Bible about wrath, Whatever I read in the Bible
about judgment, whatever I read in the Bible about God separating
men forever and ever, and about His wrath being poured out upon
men for all eternity, whatever I read about the smoke of His
torment, men's torment ascending up forever and ever, how there's
no rest for men neither day or night, don't apply to me, because
God has been reconciled. How did He do that? Well, by
whom we have now received the reconciliation. We've received
the reconciliation through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's through
His work. We're justified by faith in Him. We have a standing in grace wherein
now we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Verse 2. There
we got a great hope. And that hope we're not ashamed
of. And we'll never be ashamed. of that hope and we'll never
be made ashamed because God has poured out in our hearts a dose
of His love and we know that God's for us and with us and
we know that there isn't anything between us and God. We know that
He's reconciled to us and it's all on the basis of this work
that Christ did. It's a work toward God. Christ
did something, he did something for God. And he fixed it so God
could be just and yet be a justifier of all who believe in Jesus. That's what Jesus did. He fixed
it up that way. And so we're reconciled unto
God. God is reconciled. Anything now
between me and God. I don't know the justice of God
one cent. God's been reconciled to me.
And so there's joy in that. I don't have to worry about the
judgment. I don't have to worry about going
to hell when I die. I trust Christ. I've received the at-one-ment.
God and I are at one through what the Lord Jesus Christ has
done. It's not because I just happen to be pious. It's not because I haven't sinned
in 30 years. It's not because I've been doing
everything right. It's not because I've been keeping
straight. That's not it. It's that we have
received the atonement. through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so Paul said, I've said all these other things, and now he
says, and not only so, I want to add something else. He says,
I want to add something else, but we also joy in God. And we do it because of this
reconciliation. This reconciliation. Now you
can't rejoice in an unreconciled God. If you're still in your
sins, you can't rejoice in God. You can't, because God's going
to bring you into judgment. God's going to bring you and
you're going to stand before him and he's going to say, depart
from me, I never knew you. You cannot rejoice in an unreconciled
God. But how, oh my soul, how we can
rejoice in a God that is reconciled. A God that's reconciled. And
that's his joke. I told you it was a topic too
big for me, and I'd just scratch the surface, but there it is.
There it is. Now the next thing is this, that
we join God because he's our Father. He's our Father. Now this, there's something special
about what I'm talking about right now. Very special about
this relationship that we have. Now this is not the relationship
of the fatherhood of God by creation. Mike and Bonnie and I heard a
man say last night that we were a relative of the horse. That
we're kin to the horse. Now you see, I get no special
benefit. I don't have any joy knowing
that I was created necessarily by the same God that created
the chicken, and the hawk, and the owl, and all that. That's
all right now. I mean, I find no fault with
that. But what I'm talking about is this, that those who are born
again, those who have been begotten of God, begotten by His Word
and by His Spirit. Those that are alive in the Lord,
those that are spiritually alive, they can look up as Jesus taught
His disciples and say, Our Father which art in Heaven, You're my
spiritual Father. You have begotten me by Thy Spirit
and by Your Word. I am Your child. Now you see there's, I can say
Abba Father, I can say it, I can't say it in a Greek, I maybe can't
say it in a Hebrew like some people can, but I can say it. God my Father, He's my Father. And I know that He is. Now listen
to me. You know what this God that's
my Father, you know what He did for me? He spared not His own
Son, but He delivered Him up for me. And you know what He
told me? He said through him, I will freely give you all things. That's what he said. That's exactly
what he said. I'll freely give you all things. Can you joy in a God like that?
How can you ever be poor? my friend, and wade in water
like that. How can you ever drown when you've
got such a God as that, however deep the water gets? How can
you ever come up as the loser when your God said, I'll freely
give you all things? You see, what's required, what
we're called upon to do, is to believe this God, to trust this
God. And that brings me, I want to
say this, that there's no slavish fear in that. We look upon God
as our Father, and we don't fear Him like a slave fears his master. We look upon Him as our Father.
And that's the relationship. And there's some joy in that.
Oh, there is. Now then, the last thing is this.
He's the believer's joy, and I thought I had it in the right
place, because He's worthy. He is worthy to be rejoiced in. He's worthy. Now, I cannot rejoice
in myself. I just can't do that. I don't
know whether you can or not. But I kind of believe if you
can rejoice in yourself, you probably got a problem. You probably
just never, you know, you just don't know yourself. You just
don't know yourself. I cannot find any cause of rejoicing
in myself. I'm the chief of sinners. In
God's tribe, all of the members of that tribe are all chiefs.
They're all chief of sinners. Can't trust ourselves. We can't
rejoice in ourselves. God's fixed it up. When he convicted
me of my sin, when he took by his Holy Spirit and his Ten Commandments
and plowed my soul and laid it open to his righteousness and
truth, never could be the same again. Cannot trust myself. Cannot rejoice in myself. I'm
a poor sinner and nothing at all. I cannot rejoice. Now, I'd
like to rejoice in you. But if I were to do it, it probably
wouldn't last long. And you'd probably be the first
one to tell me, Preacher, don't rejoice in me. Because if you
are to do so, you're going to be disappointed right around
the corner. Don't rejoice in me. Well, the old song says,
the arm of flesh will fail you. And you dare not trust your own.
That's true. But, thanks be unto God, I can
rejoice in Him. He's worthy. He never failed
one time. He has never disappointed anybody
that trusted Him. Anybody that relied upon Him.
Anyone that hoped in Him. Oh, you say, Preacher, I'm hoping
in Him today and things don't look like they're going to turn
out. Hang on, sister. Hang on, brother. Keep on. This
God's not going to fail you. He's not going to fail you. This
God you can trust. Whatever happens, you trust Him. You know what Job said? Job said,
though He slay me, He said, I'll trust Him. Let Him do whatever
He will. He's all wise. He's holy. He's too holy to do wrong. And
you just trust Him. Even if He slays me, Job said,
I'll go down trusting Him. Believe in Him. I'm going to
trust Him. Whatever happens. Now God's worthy. You join God. You joy in Him. Oh, it's wonderful
just to expect and hope. Somebody mentioned that to me
the other day. What a wonderful thought that is. Expectation. Joyous expectation of what God
may do. What He just might do. And He's
worthy of our trust. He's all the poor sinner needs.
You'd agree with that, wouldn't you? He's the one that made the
at-one-ment. He's the one that died for us
when we were yet sinners and was without strength. He's all
a poor sinner needs. And I'd like to say this about
him too, that he's all God demands. He's everything God demands.
What do you think God's demanding of you, dear one? Well, Jesus
is all God demands of you. Trust Him. I mean trust Him and
depend upon Him. Well, let me close with this.
Nothing is of any importance, nothing is of any consequence
or value in comparison with Christ. No words, and I'm here to tell
you this this morning and I feel this, no words can express the
sorrow and the concern and the fear that I feel for those of
you this morning that are without Jesus Christ, that are without
Him. Without Christ, you're without
life. You're without spiritual life. You're without God. You're
without hope. And if only you could see these
things that we've talked about this morning as they really are.
Without Christ, you have nothing. you are nothing, and you most
surely will come to nothing without him. Because as we said, while
life, we know that life has many pleasures, but yet for many,
we will make haste to say that for us it's not necessarily been
a pleasant drift down the river. But I will tell you this, that
without Christ, You most surely are going to come to absolutely,
totally, you're going to be completely poverty stricken at death and
throughout eternity. I don't care if you can rub two
nickels together today, when eternity comes, you're going
to be broke. You're going to be without anything.
May God bring you to look to Christ. Well now listen.