Most everybody dreads to grow old. But age is not without its blessings. If God is pleased to dwell with
us and the Holy Spirit is pleased to teach us, age, old age, can be the best
time of our lives for this reason, and chiefly for this reason.
We begin to learn the meaning of some scriptures. We've had
these scriptures in doctrine. We've had these scriptures in
some sort of mental understanding, like Paul said to Timothy, from
a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures that are able to make
thee wise unto salvation. And as we grow older, I say the
Holy Spirit is our teacher, and God is pleased to bless us and
dwell with us. It's something that is happening
for me, and I believe for many of you. We begin to Experience
our doctrine. And this is something that youth
cannot give. It's something that youth cannot
produce. It's something that goes with
age and wisdom. Trial, tribulation, experience. We begin to experience our doctrines
and they cease to be a creed which we defend, Ronnie, and
they become a life that we experience. You know what I'm talking about?
A life we experience. They cease to be something that we argue
about. We differ with a person and we
hold to this creed and we argue with him about it and as we get
older and we encounter someone who wants to do battle, over
a certain creed, we smile at him, and we say, after a few
more days, God will teach you this by experience, and it will
cease to become a battleground. It will cease to become a doctrine.
It will cease to become a creed that you are ready to defend,
roll up your sleeves, as Ross said, and spit on your hands
and do battle over. It's something that's just so.
It's just so. Now, for example, a scripture
like this, over in 1 Corinthians 15, and I read it in the Amplified,
so don't turn to it, you know it anyway. Paul said, if we have
hope in Christ, only in this life, and that's all, then we
are of all people most miserable and to be pitied. And that really
doesn't mean anything to a very young person. He's having a pretty
good time. He's having a pretty good time.
He's got, like they said, he's got the world by the tail on
a downhill pull on the shady side of life. And it's not really
miserable. He doesn't know anything about
misery. But as you get a little older,
you know it's so. You know it's so. because God
said it. You know it so because Paul taught
it. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable and to be
pitied, and you know that so. But there comes a time in life
when you not only know it so, but you've experienced it. And
if this is all, if this is all, we are already miserable. and
we're all ready to be pitied. Now, there are joys in life.
There are pleasures in this world. I'd be a fool not to recognize
them. There are joys in this life. There's a joy of youth,
and there's a joy of attainment, and there's the joy of marriage,
and there's the joy of the first child, and then the second one,
you know. And then there's the joy of watching
them grow up. There's a joy of them learning
to walk. There's a joy of accomplishment in your jobs. There's a joy of
sporting events. There's the joy of grandchildren
coming. There are a lot of joys and pleasures
in this life. Now hold on. Only for a season. Only for a season. It will all,
I promise you, everything in this life in which you take delight
will someday turn to grief. Everything. You young people
who are awaiting marriage, there's joy ahead of you, and
I rejoice with you, but I hope you never lose sight of the fact
that this joy will someday turn to tears. And you who are holding
these new babies, and they're in the nursery there, and you're
delighting in them, everything's so beautiful, they're so pretty,
they're so delightful, they're such a delight to hold, They'll
break your heart someday. They'll break your heart. You'll
sit in the dark and close the door, and you'll wish that baby
had never been born. That's right, to some degree. This is what I'm saying. I'm
saying there are joys in this world, there are delights in
this world, there are pleasures, but only for a season. And when
people get in trouble is when their Their delight and pleasure
and joy is only in these things. There is a joy that will never
turn to grief, but it's not in this world, and it's not a product
of this world, and it's not a fleshly enjoyment, and it's not a natural
relationship, and it's not a human relationship. I see men lifting weights and
building their bodies and jogging around the park, eating health
foods and doing all this to maintain strength and health, somebody
will have to lead you by the hand someday, old boy. That health
is going to be gone. You will find yourself walking
with a cane, and that straight back of yours is going to be
stooped, and that smooth skin is going to be wrinkled, and
those strong legs are going to be wobbly. I promise you, it
is as certain as God's Son came up this morning. If you take
your delight and your joy in this strength and health, you're
headed for extreme sorrow. The same thing has to do with
our parents. We love our parents, but they'll
be gone. Our children, they'll be gone. We take pride in riches
and wisdom. I see men who are proud of their
diplomas and their education and their certificates and their
degrees and their accomplishments and their trophies and all these
things. But they're just so much waste paper, that's all. There's
nothing there. All of this will one day pass
away. Let me read you a Scripture over in Ecclesiastes. And every
one of us, turn to Ecclesiastes. We ought to get real familiar
with this Scripture. Ecclesiastes chapter 1. Will
you turn over there with me? And I want to read several verses.
Ecclesiastes chapter 1. Solomon wrote this beginning
with verse 14. Now what I'm saying is this,
there are joys in this world. I'm not, I wouldn't have you
to be morbid, skeptical, agnostic, filled with despair and depression
and go around unhappy and pessimistic. Not at all, not at all. But put
these things where they belong, in the right place. Don't put your hopes in these
things and your confidence and your trust in these things. Don't
feel secure in these things. Don't hold too tightly to these
things because they're going to be taken away. If you're God's
child, God's a jealous God, and if they're between you and Him,
He'll take them a lot sooner sometimes than you think He should. In Ecclesiastes 1.14, Solomon
said, I have seen all the works that are done of the Son, and
behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Look at verse 17,
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. But I said in my heart, go to
now, I will prove thee with merit. Therefore enjoy pleasure. Behold,
this also is vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad,
and of mirth, what doeth it? I sought in my heart to give
myself to wine, yet acquainting my 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 under the heaven all the days
of their life. I made me great works, I planted
me built me houses, I planted me vineyards, I made me gardens
and orchards, I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit.
Verse 9, I was great and increased more than all that were before
me in Jerusalem. My wisdom remained with me, and
whatsoever my 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 my portion of all my labor. Then I looked
on all the works of my hands, 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." When our joy and rejoicing is
in earthly things, then that joy and rejoicing will cease
when they are taken away. If all I have is my family, when
they're gone, I have nothing. If all I have is my health, when
that's gone, I have nothing. If all that I have is pleasure,
this is what Solomon is saying, and education, and that's gone,
I have nothing. And all that I have is the things
of this world, possessions, and those things are gone, recession,
depression, or whatever hits, I have nothing. But if my joy is in God, If God
is my supreme joy, if God is my rejoicing and delight, if
God is my foundation and my refuge, then I can rejoice even in trial. Turn to James chapter 1. I'm
talking about a man who's rejoicing and joy is in the things of the
world. When those things are gone, he has no joy. But when
our joy is in God, when everything's gone, we still have joy. Because
we can joy in tribulation, in trial. Look at James 1 verse
2. Brethren, count it joy. Count it joy when you fall into
divers temptations or trials. Count it joy. We had a man here
this morning, a member of our congregation, John Halsom. A
lot of people wouldn't understand the conversation that John and
Bob and I had down here at the front of the church after everybody
was gone. Here's a man who has multiple
cirrhosis. Started in 1961, got worse in
69, finally in 73 paralyzed him. He's in a wheelchair. He can't
walk. His speech is affected. He says
his arms, he can tell now that one is severely affected, and
the other one is losing its strength. But how happy, how he rejoices,
and he said this morning, in words to this effect, Bob, he
says, I'm glad I have this disease because it brought me to know
God. If I didn't have this disease,
I would have never sought the Lord. I would have never been
sitting at home and listening to the message, the gospel on
television. I'd have never turned. I thank
God for this trial. I rejoice. I have another man
in prison, a friend who's heard the gospel and God saved him.
We've been friends five or six years. He wrote me not long ago.
He's in for life. He said, I'm glad. I thank God
that I'm in prison. If I had not been sent to prison,
I would have never come to know Christ. You see, when we join
God, when our life is God, when our hope is Christ, and when
our thoughts are of Christ, and He is the very center of our
affection, then we can rejoice in anything that He, by His providence,
sends into our lives to help us to know Him better. Look at
another verse in 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12. Paul said, I rejoice in affliction. In affliction. In 2 Corinthians
12, verse 9. Now, you can only do this if
your joy is in God. If your joy is in health, you
can't rejoice in affliction. If your joy is in prosperity
and possessions, you can't rejoice in poverty. If your joy is in
your family and your friends and these things, you can't rejoice
in loneliness. Paul said, I've learned in whatsoever
state I am to be content. I know how to be abased and I
know how to abound and rejoice in it all. In 2 Corinthians 12
verse 9, and he said to 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 might
rest upon me. If this is God's way to bring
me to know Christ, then I thank God for it. If this is God's
way to slow me down so that I'll start listening to the voice
of God, then I thank God for it. Therefore I take pleasure
in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecution,
in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I'm weak, I'm strong. And then we can even rejoice
in death. Acts 20. Acts chapter 20. We can even rejoice in death. Because God is our joy. And death
for the believer is not a penalty, it's a promotion. Death for the
believer is not a loss, it's a gain. For me to die is gain. To go to be with Christ, which
is far better. And if God is my joy, then death
is the delight. In Acts 20, verse 24. 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.
Neither count I my life dear unto myself." Our Lord said something in John
16, 20 that I want you to see. Turn over there to John 16, verse
20. As I say, I wouldn't have you to be a morbid person. I
don't believe a Christian is. I think a Christian is a person
filled with joy. But his joy is not in things,
it's in God. I wouldn't have you to be skeptical
and pessimistic. We're happy and thankful for
all that God's given us, and God's given us so much, hasn't
He? But it's temporary. It's connected with this world,
and this world's going to pass away. God's blessed us in life. But
our real joy and rejoicing is not in things, but in God. Now our Lord says in John 16,
20. Now look at this and see if you see what I believe God
has taught me here. John 16, 20. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, you shall weep and lament. Talking to believers. Talking to His disciples. The
world shall rejoice. You shall be sorrowful. But your
sorrow will be turned into joy. The world's joy is going to be
turned into sorrow. Your sorrow is going to be turned
into joy. You weep and lament, but the
world is rejoicing. That's what David talked about
over there in the book of Psalms, in Psalm 73. He said the children
of God are oppressed, the children of God are persecuted, The children
of God have difficulty and yet the men of this world, their
eyes stand out in fatness, they have all that their hearts could
desire, their tongues blaspheme heaven and yet they prosper in
riches and all these things. Have I cleansed my hands in vain?
Have I cleansed my heart in vain? God took him to the house of
God and showed him their end. And David said, I was a fool. My
sorrow will be turned to joy. Their joy will be turned to sorrow. Everything that is joyful connected
with this life, this world, shall be turned to grief and sorrow
and sadness someday. But everything in the life of
a believer, all things work together for our good, for our joy and
for our delight, whatever it is. Now this joy is, turn back to
Romans 5 if you will, this joy is not just a feeling. It's not
just a feeling. It's not just an emotion. It's
not just a religious claim. This is what I'm saying. This
is the reason I started my message about age has its blessing. This has to be learned. It has
to be learned. It has to be experienced. I don't
really expect very, very young believers to be able to lay hold,
as some of you older believers can upon this truth, but we must
lay the foundation that someday God will use the seed that is
sown and the message that is preached and the things that
are taught to bring them into a full realization and experience
of what I'm saying. I'm not saying salvation is progressive. Sanctification is. in one aspect. In one sense of the word, we
are sanctified. We're set apart. God has chosen
us and set us apart and made us his own. We're God's children.
But there's another sense in which we are being sanctified. We are being made like our Lord. We are growing in grace and in
the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. There is a sense in
which we are saved, finally and completely, securely, justified,
saved by the grace of God, nearer, so nearer to God, nearer I cannot
be, for in the person of His Son I am near as He, but I am
being saved, and my salvation is nearer than when I believe.
So here in Romans 5, Paul takes some steps, he takes four of
them to be exact, before he arrives at this this joy in God, this
rest and peace. Now some of you have been around
long enough and claim to have been saved long enough to have
entered into this rest and to cease from things and
to cease from things of no value. and to cease to lay aside childish
things. When I was a child, I speak as
a child. I understood as a child. I thought
as a child. When I became a man, I put away
childish things. And it's time some of you were
putting away sand castles that the tide will
sweep away while you sleep. Or soap bubbles and watch them
go into the air and how beautiful and colorful and purple yellow
and red and they're gone. And you sit down and cry. It's
time you quit playing games. You expect a child to do those
things and to put some significance in them, but you don't expect
a fellow that's been around as long as some of us have been
around to stay in that condition. And watch Paul as he takes these
steps. First, he talks about in verse 1 and 2 of Romans 5.
Now watch it. He talks about being justified.
He talks about the hope that we have in believing, the hope
that we have in forgiveness. He says, I'm justified by faith.
I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I have
that peace. And in verse 2, by whom also
we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and
we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Now, every believer can
enter into this joy right here. Every believer. We know that
God was angry with us. Will you listen to me a minute?
This is the joy shared by every believer, young and old. The
man has been converted five minutes or the man has been converted
fifty years. We know that God was angry with
us. The Holy Spirit revealed that to us. God is angry with
the wicked. The wrath of God abideth upon
the unbeliever. God hateth the workers of iniquity. Those are Scriptures. We knew
that God was angry. God's judgment and wrath and
the penalty of God's holy law was upon our heads. Our sins
separated us from God. And we knew the Holy Spirit revealed
not only that God was angry with us, but we in our hearts were
angry with God. Have you ever experienced that?
I have. I found out one day that the
natural mind is enmity against God. No, the natural mind doesn't
hate our idols. It doesn't hate our conception
of God. It doesn't hate the God of our
imagination. Our natural minds hate the God
of the Bible, the God of sovereignty, the God of holiness, the God
of righteousness, the God of truth, the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it says in Romans
5. It's not this true. We were enemies. When we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God. We were enemies. Whose enemy?
God's enemy. The Holy Spirit revealed that
God was angry, and the Holy Spirit revealed that in my heart I was
angry with God. I didn't love God. I loved my
God, the God of my imagination. I loved the Baptist God. But
I didn't love the God of the Bible. See, I was raised a Baptist,
so naturally I'd love the Baptist God, the Baptist conception of
God. But the God of the Bible I didn't
love. And then the Holy Spirit revealed that a work toward God
was done, that Jesus Christ came down here into the world. God
sent His Son, His only begotten well-beloved Son, into this world.
He sent Him down here to reconcile us to God, to reconcile God to
us. That's what Christ did. Christ
did a work toward God. He put away the enmity. He put
away the reason for enmity, our sins. The just died for the unjust,
and He put away the enmity. He reconciled. God was in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself, and the enmity on the part of
God is gone. The angel announced this at the
birth of Christ, peace and goodwill toward men. From where? From
heaven. You see, heaven was at war with
men. Before Christ came, heaven's
wrath was upon men. Talk about God's love being upon
us, God's wrath was upon us. And Christ came and brought God's
love and God's peace and reconciled us to God. The Holy Spirit then
did a work in here and brought me to be reconciled to God and
brought me to love God. The love of God was shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brought me the
peace of God, peace with God, and peace toward God. Here in His love, not that I
love God, but He loved me. But here in His love, I love
Him because He first loved me. So all of this being done, see
in verse 1 and 2, I rejoice in the hope of justification, I
rejoice in the hope of glory, the glory of God. I rejoice in
the hope of salvation. I rejoice in the hope of sins
forgiven. I rejoice. And then he starts
verse 3 and says, And not only so, but one day by God's grace
I took another step, I grew. I aged another year spiritually. I matured spiritually. And I began not only to rejoice
in the forgiveness of sins and the pardon of iniquity and the
mercy of God in Christ Jesus, but I began to see that even
my tribulations and trials and sorrows were something for which
I was to praise God and in which I could rejoice. Look at verse
3, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations, knowing that
tribulation worketh patience. Now, this is not an easy lesson
to learn. It's a hard lesson. But if it's learned, once it's
learned, it's the most profitable of all our spiritual experiences,
for one thing is certain, we're going to be tried. One thing
is certain. Christ said in the world, you
shall have tribulation. All who would live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution. Hebrews 12, Paul says, if you're
a son of God, you're going to be chastised. So one of the best
lessons I can learn is that this chastisement and these tribulations
and these trials are for my good and God's glory and I can rejoice
in them. I can rejoice." And that's what
he learned here. He found out that God had saved him and his
rejoicing was in hope of the glory of God. And then he found
out that everything that God did in his life, every trial,
every affliction, every infirmity, every disappointment, every failure,
was for his good. And he began to thank God for
them. He began to look forward to them.
He began to sit down in the day of affliction and wonder what
God was going to accomplish by this, what God was going to teach
him, what wonderful lessons he was going to learn. You know,
Paul teaches us a lesson here. He said that he was taken up
to the third heaven, and he saw things that wasn't lawful for
a man to utter. And then he said, after this
experience, there was given to him by God a thorn in the flesh,
a messenger of Satan to buffet him. And he prayed about it.
Whatever it was, I don't know, you don't know, nobody else doesn't
know, nobody else knows, they've ventured several guesses, but
Paul began to pray that God would remove this trowel, this thorn,
this whatever it was. And he prayed three times about
it. And finally the Lord said to him, Paul, my grace is sufficient
for you. And this trial is for your good. You see, Paul, you need to remember
that you are still a man. In spite of all the revelations
you've had, in spite of all the success you've enjoyed, in spite
of all the blessings you've had, you need to be taught, you need
to remember for your good and my glory that you're still a
man. I'm leaving this with you. People come and they say, pray
for me that God will remove this affliction, or pray for me that
God will solve this problem, or pray for me that God will
do this. I believe sometimes we're not to pray that God will
remove these things right now. Why don't we pray this way? Remove
it, Lord, in your good time when it's accomplished what you sent
it to accomplish. When this trial has done for
me what you designed for it to do, then you remove it. but not
until when this trouble through which I'm going, when this trouble
has mellowed me sufficiently, weaned me from the world sufficiently,
brought me to depend upon you sufficiently, brought me to sympathize
with and understand the trials of others, made me a compassionate,
affectionate person, broken my pride and arrogant spirit and
haughty spirit, Then you take it away. But until it gets the
job done, how about leaving it there, Lord? Boy, we wouldn't
have many parishioners if we prayed that way. They'd go down
with that fellow that'll pray that they'd be healed right now,
you know, or the problem would be solved right now, you know,
or the difficulty would be removed right now. No, sir. James tells
us that. Let patience have its perfect
work. Let God get through with me and
then take it away. The Christian, like his Lord
of old, must face foe and trial here, yet the weakest one can
rejoice, for Christ the Lord is near. The lion's roar need
not alarm, O Lord, the feeblest of thy sheep. The trial of faith
can only this sinner bless, because my soul the Lord has engaged
to keep. That's the second step. Number
one, I rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. That's salvation,
justification, my sins are pardoned. Not only so, but God's taught
me to thank Him for my afflictions, and for my trials, and for my
infirmities, and to rejoice in them. It takes another step,
verse nine, much more than Much more then, being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. This
is the joy of assurance. We have the joy of salvation,
the joy of affliction, and now the joy of assurance. Let me
read you that in the Amplified. I think this expresses it more
effectively. Therefore, since we are now justified,
acquitted, made righteous and brought into a right relationship
with God by Christ's blood, how much more certain it is that
we shall be saved by him from the indignation and wrath of
God. This is assurance. This is a joy of assurance, entering
into the joy of assurance. And this assurance is not based
on what I've done, or am doing, or ever shall do, but this assurance
is based upon the love of God and the work of Christ. Now you'll
notice this in four verses. First, verse 6, When we were
yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
In verse 8, God committed His love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Verse 9, much more than
being now justified by His blood. Verse 10, if when we were enemies
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more
being reconciled we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
What is the joy of assurance? It's to cease from my labors
and enter into His rest. That's what it is. It's to cease
to strive It's to cease to try by my works and my deeds and
my piety to please a holy God and just cease from my labors
and enter into the rest of Christ. Christ is our Sabbath. I don't
know a whole lot about this. I wish somebody would make a
study of it from an unbiased standpoint. That is the Sabbath
day. The Sabbath day goes back before
the law was given. The Sabbath day was already established,
incorporated into the law. God created everything in six
days and rested on the seventh. And sanctified it. And set it
apart. But the Sabbath day is Saturday. And we don't keep Saturday. The
Lord lay in the tomb on the seventh day. And if a person's going
to have a Christian Sabbath, he's going to have to have the
seventh day. That's the Sabbath. Sunday is not the Sabbath. It
is not. It never has been. It never will be. But there is
a Sabbath. There is a Christian Sabbath.
There is a Sabbath. There is a rest, typified by
God resting on the seventh day, typified by the Jewish seventh
day. There is a rest for the Christian. There is a rest into which we
enter and cease from our labors and rest. And I can't help but
believe it's Christ. I can't help but believe that
this is Christ Jesus the Lord. That I have ceased from any strivings
or efforts on my part to appease God or to attract God's attention
or to make myself acceptable with God or to make myself appear
righteous before God or to win God's favor or approval or love
or heaven or anything else. The work's been done and I've
entered into a rest. It's over. It is done. The great
transaction's done. I am my Lord's and He's mine.
And I've entered into the Sabbath. I've entered into the Christian
Sabbath. I've entered into rest. I've ceased from my labors and
I've entered into... It's just one continuous Lord's
Day. You check on that. All the rest of the things have
been fulfilled and it's ceased. There's the day of Pentecost,
there's the sacrifices, there's the tabernacle, there's the veil,
there's all these things, and yet we take this one thing, this
day. All the holy days are gone, all
the celebrations, all the ceremonies, all the rituals, all the circumcision,
it's all fulfilled. Christ is our circumcision, Christ
is our tabernacle, and yet we pick up this day. Here's this
day still dangling, still left. What are we going to do with
this day? It's on everybody's hand, and nobody knows what we're going
to do with it. I believe it's fulfilled too. And Christ is
that day. And I'm not trying to get to
heaven. I'm in heaven. I'm seated with Him in the heavenlies.
I'm seated with Him. And that's the joy of assurance.
And you quit being all concerned with these religious rituals. Here's a fellow that's been with
the Lord, walking with God till he's 52 years old, worrying about
whether or not he ought to play ball on Sunday afternoon. Worried about whether or not
you ought to do this on Sunday, you know, whether you ought to
do this on, whether you ought to keep a separate day or a first
day or something like that. That's not the rest of assurance.
It's not the joy of assurance. We are justified by His blood. I am His and He is mine. And
this thing, there's nothing for me to do. I don't do anything
in order to gain God's favor. I have God's favor. I don't do
anything or keep anything or give anything or do any work
or deed or service to get God's favor. I have God's favor in
Christ. I'm a son of God. And I've entered into assurance
and rest. I think he's saying that in verse
9 there. We shall be saved. It's certain.
How much more certain we shall be saved by his life. And then
there's that fourth step. And you see the three, I don't
know whether I'm getting this. I got it over here. I know what
I'm saying. You know, that's one of the tough
things about preaching. You know what you say and nobody else
does. Paul is taking these steps, and
he keeps saying, and not only so, and not only so, and not
only so, he says that three times. He starts back here with the
hope of salvation, forgiveness, and then he goes to the joy and
tribulation and troubles and trials and sorrows, and then
he goes to the joy of assurance, just resting in the Lord, walking
with God. And then he moves into this fourth
thing, verse 11, and not only so, but we also just joy in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the reconciliation. We joy in God. God is my joy. God is my joy. Why? Because He's
a God reconciled. He's a God reconciled. No man
can joy in God who is not reconciled to God. No man can joy in God
if God's justice and righteousness is staring him in the face. But
I can joy in God because I have received the reconciliation.
The way into the holiest has been opened by the blood of Christ.
I can joy in a reconciled God. God smiles upon me in Christ
and accepts me in the beloved. Like Enoch, I can walk with God
because we're in agreement. And then I joy in God, not only
who is reconciled, but I joy in God who is my Father. When
our Lord taught the disciples to pray, He said, when you pray,
say, Our Father which art in heaven. There's something special
about this Father-Son relationship. Of course, we love all the people
of God. We're supposed to love even our
enemies. But there is something about the one who is the product
of your own self. And you love him. And there's
something special. Anything I have is his. And that's
the way God's my father. Paul wouldn't hesitate to come
to me tonight and ask me for anything I've got because he
knows it's his. Anything I've got. I'd lay down
my life for that boy. because he's my son. And God
did. He laid down his life for me.
I'm his son. You see that? I can joy in God. He's my father. I cry, Abba,
father, father, father, father, Hebrew and Greek. Father. I don't have to fear with a slavish
fear of my father. He wishes and wills me good.
I don't have to fear with a slavish fear. My Father, I respect Him,
love Him, but we're on good terms. And then the joy, a joy in God
who's reconciled, a joy in God who's my Father, and a joy in
God who alone is worthy of rejoicing. I can't rejoice in myself. Now,
there's no way that I can find any cause to rejoice in myself. Can you? I cannot find any reason
to rejoice in myself. Joe says we feel we're the chief
of centers, and I do too. The whole tribe is made up, God's
Indian tribe is made up of all chiefs. They're all chief of
centers. And I don't find, and I'd like to be able to rejoice
in you, not for long, but I know one
person in whom I can joy, who will never fail me, and that's
my God. I can joy in God. The God who
rules on high and works His will to please, that rides upon the
stormy sky and manages even the seas, this sovereign God is ours,
our Father and our love, and He hath sent His beloved Son
just to carry me above. I joined God. Now this is what
I'm saying. Look at the chapter again. Ask
God the Holy Spirit to be your teacher. And don't despair over
experience and having made most of the journey because the sweetest