Is 61: 10-11 Rejoice in the Lord CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

We rejoice in the Lord because he is our God, he saved us, he gave us his righteousness, he has espoused us to him, and he’s coming back for us.  We so often look for joy in things and in events rather than in the Lord.  It’s not bad to have joy in the birth of a child, or in a vacation, or in the victory of your team.  But you don’t need those joys to be joyous when you have the Lord.  There is so much in him that gives us joy.

We rejoice in the Lord’s salvation – we were lost and without hope in the world [Eph 2:12].  We were headed to hell.  We were in the way of transgressors.  The Lord saved us and made us his children [Jn 1:12-13].

We rejoice in the Lord – he is the true God; he is “my God.”  He is the creator.  It is joyous to see, know and enjoy his creation.  It is altogether greater joy to know the Lord who made it and to have fellowship with him.  We are not limited to enjoying “nature” when we can enjoy the creator.  We talk to him in prayer and he listens.  He talks to us in the Bible and we should listen.

We rejoice in his righteousness – our righteousness is as filthy rags compared to his righteousness [Is 64:6].  When you receive Jesus, you are given his righteousness. God sees you as perfectly sinless and holy in Christ’s righteousness.  For example, when you enter a clothing store in your best clothes and you see yourself dressed in something new, under all those lights, you don’t want to be seen wearing the clothes you wore into the store.  Paul said he counted his righteousness as dung [Phil 3:6-9].  He wanted Christ’s righteousness; not his own.

We rejoice in his love – the Lord has espoused us to him as a bride [2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:25-27, 32].  He laid down his life for us [Jn 15:13].  Our old man is dead so that we can be married to him [Rom 7:1-4].  We will live together happily ever after.  He’s prepared mansions in a beautiful city for us.  And soon he’s coming to get his bride [1 Thes 4:13].

We rejoice in his return – Is 61:11 – he’s coming back to this earth and he is going to make everything more beautiful than you have ever seen and more beautiful than you could ever imagine.  He is going to rule and put down all enemies.  And we are going to get to reign with him on the earth [Rev 5:10].  We are going to live with him forever.

Conclusion: you keep thinking about these things instead of the things you normally think about and you will have more joy than you have ever had in your entire life.  Rejoice in the Lord.