The Joy of Salvation

WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.429 --> 00:00:22.539 Hebrews Chapter Twelve. Just a word about standing to hear the word read. 2 00:00:25.179 --> 00:00:29.219 I often attend during the week, in the middle of the week, services 3 00:00:29.539 --> 00:00:33.780 at a Lutheran Church and Bisarre sin of Lutheran Church Church where the Gospel is 4 00:00:33.859 --> 00:00:38.049 is clearly taught. Don't agree with everything they do, but one of the 5 00:00:38.170 --> 00:00:43.250 things they do is they have people stand for the reading of the Gospel. 6 00:00:45.409 --> 00:00:48.770 They don't require that for other portions of scripture. I don't agree with them 7 00:00:48.810 --> 00:00:55.320 on that, but there is something about standing for God's word and and helping 8 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:59.520 you to see very clearly that that. I am going to be delivering a 9 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:06.469 message this evening, but I don't claim infallibility for my interpretation or for my 10 00:01:06.590 --> 00:01:11.670 message. But this word of God is what you're going to be held accountable 11 00:01:11.709 --> 00:01:25.060 for, the truth that is here in God's word. So we begin our 12 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:32.500 reading with Hebrews Chapter Twelve and verse one one. Therefore, since we are 13 00:01:32.540 --> 00:01:38.689 surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every 14 00:01:38.769 --> 00:01:42.810 weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the 15 00:01:42.849 --> 00:01:49.359 race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector 16 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:53.599 of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured 17 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:59.719 the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of 18 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:07.069 the throne of God. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, 19 00:02:08.469 --> 00:02:14.669 so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted in your struggle against sin. 20 00:02:14.830 --> 00:02:19.979 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood, and 21 00:02:20.139 --> 00:02:25.500 have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do 22 00:02:25.699 --> 00:02:30.770 not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by 23 00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:38.610 him, for the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom 24 00:02:38.650 --> 00:02:45.120 he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is 25 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:49.039 treating you as sons, for what son is there whom his father does not 26 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:54.159 discipline? If you are left without discipline and which all have participated, then 27 00:02:54.240 --> 00:03:00.509 you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly 28 00:03:00.629 --> 00:03:05.629 fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Shall we not much more 29 00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:09.509 be subject to the father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for 30 00:03:09.550 --> 00:03:15.379 a short time, as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us 31 00:03:15.460 --> 00:03:20.979 for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment, 32 00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:29.210 all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit 33 00:03:29.289 --> 00:03:35.810 of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, lift up 34 00:03:35.930 --> 00:03:40.210 your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees and make straight paths for your feet, 35 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:44.800 so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather 36 00:03:44.919 --> 00:03:51.639 be healed. Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no 37 00:03:51.919 --> 00:04:23.060 one will see the Lord. Please be seated. I titled My sermon the 38 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:36.410 Joy of salvation, and what prompted me to consider the subject was something that 39 00:04:36.490 --> 00:04:45.240 I caught myself doing, misquoting the Bible. Ever caught yourself doing that? 40 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:49.839 I'm one of these people who sits in the Pew and listens very carefully to 41 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:56.629 every word that the preacher says, and my pastor back home will tell you 42 00:04:56.750 --> 00:05:00.589 that on several occasions I've gone up to him afterwards and pointed out that he 43 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:12.660 misspoke. I've heard preachers on the radio misspeak this particular verse. It's found 44 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:21.329 in the sum that we sang earlier, Psalm fifty one, and it's in 45 00:05:21.449 --> 00:05:30.930 the King James It's restore to me the joy of THY salvation, and I'm 46 00:05:30.930 --> 00:05:36.439 going to blame the King James version for the misquotes, because what people do 47 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:49.149 is they say restore to me the joy of my salvation. I've said that, 48 00:05:51.110 --> 00:05:57.069 I've heard other preachers say it. That's not what the verse says, 49 00:05:59.629 --> 00:06:08.220 and it's significant because if we see salvation as something that is our property, 50 00:06:09.819 --> 00:06:18.810 that we have earned, that we have gained, I'm not sure where ever 51 00:06:19.050 --> 00:06:30.370 truly know the joy of it. The joy of salvation is to be found 52 00:06:30.730 --> 00:06:43.360 in the Lord. We call upon God, when we have come, confessing 53 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:59.389 our sins and recognizing our guilt before him, to restore us to his joy, 54 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:12.259 to the joy of salvation. And in our passage this evening here in 55 00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:17.689 Hebrews, Chapter Twelve, verse two, tells us that we're to be looking 56 00:07:17.810 --> 00:07:26.009 to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who, for the 57 00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:35.360 joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and 58 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:46.189 is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. If you were 59 00:07:46.230 --> 00:07:50.029 to think to yourself right now, what what do you really find joy in 60 00:07:57.509 --> 00:08:01.300 now, I hope that all of you would say that you find joy in 61 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:09.180 God, that thinking about God brings joy to your mind. But I want 62 00:08:09.180 --> 00:08:13.170 to talk about more on an earthly level, thinking about the sources of our 63 00:08:13.209 --> 00:08:30.920 joy. Do you find joy in your parents, joy in your children? 64 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:46.029 If you're married, do you find joy in your partner? Do you find 65 00:08:46.149 --> 00:09:03.740 joy in your children? Do you find joy in your grandchildren? And maybe 66 00:09:03.899 --> 00:09:07.299 there's someone here this evening who has great grandchildren. I don't know that, 67 00:09:07.659 --> 00:09:13.929 but great grandchildren. I know. One of the things about grandchildren. I 68 00:09:13.970 --> 00:09:18.370 have none, three children. If you don't have children, you're not likely 69 00:09:18.450 --> 00:09:24.399 to have grandchildren, and even if you have children, you don't necessarily end 70 00:09:24.440 --> 00:09:28.080 up with grandchildren. And if you don't have grandchildren, you're very, very 71 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:41.190 unlikely to ever grab great grandchildren. But grandchildren can bring great joy into a 72 00:09:41.309 --> 00:09:46.710 person's life. I've observed it in others and I guess one of the things 73 00:09:46.789 --> 00:09:54.059 about grandchildren as opposed to children is that you can send grandchildren home, can't 74 00:09:54.059 --> 00:10:01.460 you a little different? But we look at those things and we say that's 75 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:18.009 that's joy. I find joy in that. Jesus found joy when he was 76 00:10:18.090 --> 00:10:24.480 facing the cross. Now that it should seem very strange to all of us, 77 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.149 the joy that he saw was not in the cross itself, for we 78 00:10:35.269 --> 00:10:41.269 know that they're in the garden. He pleaded with the father, not my 79 00:10:41.590 --> 00:10:50.899 will, but THY will be done. Jesus, when he was here on 80 00:10:52.019 --> 00:10:56.379 this earth and as he exists he will exist now throughout eternity, is both 81 00:10:56.500 --> 00:11:01.179 God and man. Fully man, he had a will. Did you realize 82 00:11:01.259 --> 00:11:05.289 that he had a human will? And that's what he's speaking of there when 83 00:11:05.330 --> 00:11:15.169 he says not my will, but THY will be done. Jesus did not 84 00:11:16.769 --> 00:11:33.830 get pleasure from death, but what that death would accomplish. That Jesus went 85 00:11:33.950 --> 00:11:48.899 to the Cross for the joy that would be his in us. Now, 86 00:11:48.019 --> 00:12:00.820 I noticed in my study Bible here that there are two possibilities of interpreting this 87 00:12:01.850 --> 00:12:07.769 phrase. For the joy that was set before him. They have a second 88 00:12:07.809 --> 00:12:13.370 one here that they say is less possible, less probable but possible, and 89 00:12:13.570 --> 00:12:16.159 they said it's in place of the joy set before him. And what that 90 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:22.840 reading suggest is that that Jesus was willing to give up heaven to come and 91 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:31.870 suffer. But I like that they said it was less probable. I personally 92 00:12:31.870 --> 00:12:43.779 believe it's impossible, because what it suggests is that he suffered. He chose 93 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:48.620 to suffer instead of the joy that would have been his if he had refused 94 00:12:48.700 --> 00:12:54.899 to die. Well, I'm here to tell you this afternoon that if Jesus 95 00:12:56.100 --> 00:13:01.250 had refused to die, he would have been disobedient to the father, and 96 00:13:01.289 --> 00:13:07.450 that's an impossibility. There's no way that I can interpret this passage that way. 97 00:13:11.809 --> 00:13:20.519 It has to be that his joy in us was so great that he 98 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:24.799 was willing to face that cross. And I cannot explain the cross to you 99 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:33.909 here, when Jesus, quoting the Psalm from the cross, says my God, 100 00:13:33.509 --> 00:13:39.750 my God, why have you forsaken me? I cannot explain that. 101 00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:48.179 I kind of have a basic, kind of grasp of the perimeters of the 102 00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:54.419 Trinity, that we must always believe that there is one God, but that 103 00:13:54.500 --> 00:14:00.250 we must also believe that the father is God, that the son is God, 104 00:14:01.649 --> 00:14:11.320 that the Holy Spirit is God. But what Jesus went through on that 105 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:26.870 cross was so that we might know the forgiveness of sins. And so the 106 00:14:26.990 --> 00:14:33.350 writer to the Hebrews goes on to say, consider him who endeared, endured 107 00:14:33.509 --> 00:14:39.259 from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or 108 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:46.779 fainthearted. He points out to his readers here that they have not resisted to 109 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:56.889 the point of blood shedding. Block that God brings disciplines into our lives, 110 00:14:58.049 --> 00:15:09.039 difficult things, but the things that God calls us to endure, could they 111 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:18.679 ever compare to what Jesus had to endure when bad things happened to us, 112 00:15:20.509 --> 00:15:24.269 and someone wrote a book about that, when bad things happened to good people? 113 00:15:24.950 --> 00:15:28.789 Well, speaking as a calvinist, I think there's a problem with the 114 00:15:28.870 --> 00:15:37.059 categories there. There are no good people in themselves and the bad things that 115 00:15:37.179 --> 00:15:46.899 happened to us here are nothing compared to what we deserve. But we are 116 00:15:46.059 --> 00:15:52.090 called upon to endure very difficult trials in this life. Look at job, 117 00:15:54.690 --> 00:16:07.120 look what he went through, the loss of his property, those things could 118 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:18.549 be replaced. The loss of his children. I've not had to experience that. 119 00:16:18.669 --> 00:16:25.830 I know people who have, who've lost a child. I cannot imagine 120 00:16:25.909 --> 00:16:30.470 what that would be like. My youngest daughter wants me to live as old 121 00:16:30.549 --> 00:16:33.539 as my uncle did, but an uncle lived to be a hundred and four 122 00:16:33.940 --> 00:16:37.460 and she said she wants me to live that long and I told her, 123 00:16:37.500 --> 00:16:41.700 I said, Alicia, I'm not sure I want to live on that Earth, 124 00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:45.019 this earth, that long. And she said why, Daddy, and 125 00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:48.850 I said well, for one thing, I'm not sure all three of my 126 00:16:48.929 --> 00:16:56.610 children will still be living and you don't want to outlive your children, but 127 00:16:56.730 --> 00:17:06.240 it happens. You don't want to go through some of the very painful experiences 128 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:21.430 of life, but they do occur and some of those things come into our 129 00:17:21.549 --> 00:17:36.579 lives to discipline us. I never seek to place myself in a position of 130 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:42.059 judging the trials that come into the lives of others. There people. It's 131 00:17:42.220 --> 00:17:47.250 interesting. I paint houses for a living and when people think of me, 132 00:17:47.450 --> 00:17:49.730 how this painter, they talk to me one way. When they find out 133 00:17:49.769 --> 00:17:56.130 I'm a preacher, they'll talk to me entirely different and people will ask me 134 00:17:56.170 --> 00:18:00.240 questions about but why did why this? Why that? And some of the 135 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:10.440 questions sometimes even have about their personal lives. Why did this happen? And 136 00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:15.630 I don't have those answers. But I do know that for a believer, 137 00:18:17.509 --> 00:18:26.750 nothing comes into your life except that which God has planned and the things that 138 00:18:26.869 --> 00:18:30.539 we suffer in this life are temporal. Take Job for an example, something 139 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:34.900 I realized that the teenager was fascinating. Someone pointing this out to me that 140 00:18:36.059 --> 00:18:38.859 when job is restored at the end of the book, and I'm giving away 141 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:41.529 the end of the book. If you haven't read it, do read it 142 00:18:41.609 --> 00:18:45.930 if you get a chance. Job, at the end of the book is 143 00:18:47.569 --> 00:19:00.400 all of his property is restored, the camels, the donkeys, everything twofold. 144 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:07.400 He ended up with trice as much stuff as he's very rich man to 145 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:08.880 start with. He end up with twice as much stuff in the end. 146 00:19:10.549 --> 00:19:18.589 The Lord blessed him except for one thing, well, two things. He 147 00:19:18.750 --> 00:19:26.180 still only had one wife, but children. He got the same number of 148 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:36.460 children until someone pointed out to me that was telling job that your children are 149 00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:45.250 alive, they're in heaven there with the Lord and the number of your children 150 00:19:45.369 --> 00:19:51.529 is doubled. What a beautiful assurance. If you do go through such a 151 00:19:51.650 --> 00:19:56.880 tragic event as to lose some one, well you don't really lose them. 152 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:04.039 There's a man back in sterling someone after his wife died. They approached him 153 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:07.910 in the restaurant. He was there in the local restaurant and came over to 154 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:11.630 him and said I was really sorry to hear that you lost your wife, 155 00:20:11.710 --> 00:20:15.710 and he looked Guy Straight and then I says I didn't lose my wife. 156 00:20:15.710 --> 00:20:26.900 I know exactly where she is. But when we look for a source of 157 00:20:27.220 --> 00:20:38.049 joy, where are we going to find it? Turn with me to first 158 00:20:38.089 --> 00:21:00.880 Peter Chapter Four. First Peter Chapter Four and and verses twelve through fourteen. 159 00:21:03.829 --> 00:21:11.309 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you, 160 00:21:11.509 --> 00:21:17.509 to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice, 161 00:21:18.430 --> 00:21:22.339 in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice 162 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:30.099 and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the 163 00:21:30.140 --> 00:21:34.410 name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God 164 00:21:36.890 --> 00:21:48.759 rests upon you, suffering for Christ's sake. Again, I don't know how 165 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:55.920 much that's happened to you. Peter goes on to talk about people who suffer 166 00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:02.349 because of their own crimes, as an evildoer, and that's that's not got 167 00:22:02.390 --> 00:22:07.549 a reward attached to it, but suffering for Christ. And I can't help 168 00:22:07.670 --> 00:22:12.670 but believe, because of the patterns that I have seen in our culture here 169 00:22:12.710 --> 00:22:19.740 in America and worldwide, that the time is very near when more and more 170 00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:25.380 believers are going to be called upon to suffer for the sake of Christ. 171 00:22:25.420 --> 00:22:36.170 Might not be thrown in jail or physically abused, but you might lose a 172 00:22:36.250 --> 00:22:48.279 job, you might lose friends over it, you might find yourself isolated. 173 00:22:52.160 --> 00:23:03.750 But if it's for the name of Christ, you're blessed, because God's spirit 174 00:23:04.190 --> 00:23:12.259 of glory rests upon you. Turn with me to Peter Chapter One. Now 175 00:23:12.539 --> 00:23:30.410 for s Peter Chapter One and verses three through nine. Blessed be the God 176 00:23:30.650 --> 00:23:34.450 and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, 177 00:23:34.569 --> 00:23:40.730 he has caused us to be born againto a living hope, through the resurrection 178 00:23:40.849 --> 00:23:45.680 of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled 179 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:51.599 and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who, by God's power, 180 00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:57.910 are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last 181 00:23:57.910 --> 00:24:04.190 time. In this you rejoice, though now, for a little while if 182 00:24:04.349 --> 00:24:11.859 necessary. You have been greed by various trials so that the tested genuineness of 183 00:24:11.980 --> 00:24:18.700 your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, 184 00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:25.890 may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation 185 00:24:26.250 --> 00:24:33.009 of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him, 186 00:24:33.170 --> 00:24:38.920 though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with 187 00:24:40.200 --> 00:24:48.559 joy that is inexpressible and build with glory obtaining the outcome of your faith, 188 00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:56.829 the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about 189 00:24:56.829 --> 00:25:03.029 the grace that was to to be yours searched and inquired, carefully, inquiring 190 00:25:03.150 --> 00:25:07.700 what persons are. TIMES, the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when 191 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:14.299 he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to 192 00:25:14.380 --> 00:25:18.619 them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have 193 00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:25.210 now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by 194 00:25:25.250 --> 00:25:32.490 the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which the angels long to look. 195 00:25:37.559 --> 00:25:45.119 I've never seen Jesus. I don't know if any of you would claim 196 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:52.549 that you had ever physically seen Jesus with your own eyes, but you believe 197 00:25:52.670 --> 00:26:02.109 in him, you believe in the one whom you have not seen, and 198 00:26:02.390 --> 00:26:22.089 you rejoice. There is joy, a joy that is inexpressible, a joy 199 00:26:22.289 --> 00:27:08.019 that is wonderful. Now, finally, John Chapter Sixteen, beginning with birth. 200 00:27:08.140 --> 00:27:14.539 Sixteen. John Sixteen, beginning with birth, sixteen, Jesus speaking to 201 00:27:14.660 --> 00:27:25.690 his disciples there the night before before he dies, a little while and you 202 00:27:25.730 --> 00:27:29.890 will see me no longer, and again a little while and you will see 203 00:27:29.930 --> 00:27:34.880 me. So some of his disciples said to one another, what is this 204 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:37.920 that he says to us? A little while and you will not see me, 205 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:41.680 and again a little while and you will see me, and because I 206 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:47.029 am going to the father. So they were saying, what does he mean 207 00:27:47.269 --> 00:27:52.470 by a little while? We do not know what he's talking about. Jesus 208 00:27:52.589 --> 00:27:57.349 knew that they wanted to ask him. So he said to them. Is 209 00:27:57.579 --> 00:28:03.220 this what you are asking yourselves what I mean by saying a little while and 210 00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:07.019 you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see 211 00:28:07.059 --> 00:28:12.329 me truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, 212 00:28:14.529 --> 00:28:18.970 but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow 213 00:28:19.009 --> 00:28:26.369 will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow 214 00:28:26.569 --> 00:28:30.359 because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she 215 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:37.039 no longer remembers the anguish for the joy that a human being has borne born 216 00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:42.069 into the world. So also, you have sorrow for now, but I 217 00:28:42.230 --> 00:28:48.670 will see you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your 218 00:28:48.710 --> 00:28:53.349 joy from you. In that day, you will ask nothing of me, 219 00:28:55.190 --> 00:28:57.619 truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the father 220 00:28:57.819 --> 00:29:02.339 in my name, he will give it to you. Till now you have 221 00:29:02.460 --> 00:29:10.009 asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive that your joy maybe 222 00:29:10.170 --> 00:29:22.289 full. When Jesus there speaks about the birth of a child, I take 223 00:29:22.369 --> 00:29:26.519 that quite personally. Now I'm not claiming I have ever given birth to a 224 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:30.039 child. Don't get me wrong, I'm not confused about that, but I 225 00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:37.799 was actually present. I have five sisters and my father was not in the 226 00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:41.430 delivery room for one of his birth I was in the delivery room for all 227 00:29:41.589 --> 00:29:52.019 three of my children's births and the difficulty that is involved in giving birth, 228 00:29:52.059 --> 00:30:04.579 the sorrow that he talks about, is real. But once that baby is 229 00:30:04.779 --> 00:30:12.049 delivered, I got to stand there and see the look on my wife's face 230 00:30:12.170 --> 00:30:25.240 when she was handed that little baby and the delight. and Jesus is telling 231 00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:33.559 his disciples you're going to go through some very difficult things and for them there 232 00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:38.029 was going to come a time when the world would be rejoicing those who had 233 00:30:38.589 --> 00:30:49.660 persecuted Jesus and wanted to see him dead. And the disciples who ran. 234 00:30:52.859 --> 00:31:00.660 Only one of them, John was present to actually witness the crucifixion of Jesus, 235 00:31:00.700 --> 00:31:12.410 standing there with Jesus Mother Mary. The joy that was theirs, though, 236 00:31:14.450 --> 00:31:19.519 when they saw the risen Lord, and the joy that is going to 237 00:31:19.559 --> 00:31:26.720 be yours and mind when we stand in the presence of our risen Lord, 238 00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:36.470 when he raises US bodily from the dead, or if we're doubly blest and 239 00:31:36.589 --> 00:31:40.230 we happened to be living at the time of his return, were changed in 240 00:31:40.309 --> 00:31:49.779 a moment. Do not have to experience death. That joy, that joy 241 00:31:51.019 --> 00:32:12.329 makes it all worthwhile, just as the joy that Christ has in every sinner 242 00:32:12.490 --> 00:32:22.839 that repents and comes in faith to him. Jesus said there's more joy in 243 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:34.990 heaven among the angels over one sinner that repents. And yet we're told here, 244 00:32:36.750 --> 00:32:40.190 the told in our passage, that the angels seek to look into those 245 00:32:40.230 --> 00:32:52.059 things and they can't comprehend them. And the reason they can't comprehend them is 246 00:32:52.099 --> 00:32:57.740 that they have never been sinners. Holy Angels Have Never Been Sinners, they've 247 00:32:57.819 --> 00:33:08.170 never been guilty, they've never been lost, and they look at a mate 248 00:33:08.250 --> 00:33:22.839 in amazement as God takes sinners such as us and makes us saints and ultimately 249 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:37.549 will perfect us. If you can't find joy in your current circumstances, can 250 00:33:37.630 --> 00:34:00.170 you not find joy in your ultimate destination? Let's look to God in prayer. 251 -->