Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2146
“But let all those that put their trust in You rejoice: let them always shout for joy, because You defend them: let those also that love Your name be joyful in You.” Psalm 5:11.
“THE Lord does put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.” There is an ancient difference which He has made in His eternal purpose and this is seen in every item of the Covenant of Grace. “The Lord has set apart him that is godly for Himself.” But it is also written, “The foolish shall not stand in Your sight: You hate all workers of iniquity.” You that have believed are of the house of Israel and heirs according to promise, for they that are of faith are the true seed of faithful Abraham. See that you make manifest this difference by the holiness of your lives. “Come out from among them and be you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.”
Display this difference always by the joyfulness of your spirits. Let not noisome cares invade you, for we read, “I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there.” Fear not that the wrathful judgment of God will fall indiscriminately, for we read, “Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.” The servants of the Lord should wear the royal garments—those garments are made of the fine cloth of holiness, trimmed with the lace of joy! Take care that you exhibit both holiness of character and joyfulness of spirit, for where these two things are in us, and abound, they prove that we are not barren nor unfruitful.
To us there should be joy to strikingly contrast with the unrest of the unbeliever. Over all the land of Egypt there was darkness which might be felt, even thick darkness, for three days—“They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days—but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” If it is so with you, that the Lord has given you the light of joy, let your faces shine with it! If you walk in the light as God is in the light, go forth and let men see the brightness of your countenances and take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus and have learned of Him His gracious calm as well as His holiness. “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Your Lord desires that your joy may be full. He gives you a joy which no man takes from you—it is His legacy. “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you.”
The subject for this morning is joy, the joy of faith, the joy which is the fruit of the Spirit from the root of trust in God. May we not only talk about it at this hour, but enjoy it now and always! It is pleasant to read and hear and think about joy—but to be filled with joy and peace through believing is a far more satisfying thing! I want you to see not only the sparkling fountain of joy, but to drink deep drafts of it—yes, and drink all week and all month, and all the year— and all the rest of your lives, both in time and in eternity! “Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.”
I. First, let us speak a little upon THE KIND OF JOY WHICH IS ALLOTTED TO BELIEVERS—“Let all those that put their trust in You rejoice: let them always shout for joy, because You defend them: let those also that love Your name be joyful in You.” Note, first, concerning this joy, that it is to be universal to all who trust— “Let all those that put their trust in You rejoice.” This is not only for the healthy, but for the sick—not only for the successful, but for the disappointed. It is not only for those who have the bird in the hand, but for those who only see it in the bush. Let all rejoice!
If you have but a little faith, yet if you are trusting in the Lord, you have a right to joy. It may be your joy will not rise so high as it might do if your faith were greater but still, where faith is true, it gives sure ground for joy. O you babes in Divine Grace! You little children! You that have been newly converted and sadly feel your feebleness—rejoice, for the Lord will bless them that fear Him—“both small and great”! “Fear not, you worm, Jacob.” “Fear not, little flock.”
There is a joy which is as milk to nourish babes—a joy which is not as meat with bones in it—for the Lord adds no sorrow to it. The little ones of the flock need not vex themselves concerning the deep things of God, for there is joy in
those shallows of simple Truth where lambs may safely wade! The joy of the Lord is softened down to feeble constitutions lest it overpower them. The same great sea which floods the vast bays also flows into the tiny creeks. “Let all those that put their trust in You rejoice.” You, Miss Much-Afraid over yonder, you are to rejoice! You, Mr. Despondency, hardly daring to look up—you must yet learn to sing. As for Mr. Ready-to-Halt, he must dance on his crutches and Feeble-Mind must play the music for him. It is the mind of the Holy Spirit that those who trust in the Lord should rejoice before