I.             Introduction

A.          I want to speak to you this morning on the subject of joy and gladness.  I want to remind you who is the source of our rejoicing and gladness.  This world cannot provide lasting joy and if we allow the world to be our primary source of input we cannot help but be discouraged.  Through Nehemiah we can learn that “the joy of the LORD is our strength.” The Hebrew language has more words for joy and rejoicing than any other.  In the Old Testament thirteen Hebrew roots, found in twenty-seven different words, are used for some aspect of joy or joyful participation in worship.  The believer finds joy and delight in God and in His Word.

1.            Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. (NKJV)

B.          The words glad and rejoice appear in the same verse 34 times in Scripture. Today we are going to look in the Word at four reasons for us to be glad and rejoice.

II.           Application

A.          Be Glad and Rejoice in the God who has done great things

1.            Psalm 9:1-2 I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. 2 I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. (NKJV)

a)            The Psalmist praises God without reservation. It is with his whole heart, completely. If we would praise God acceptably, we must praise him in sincerity, with our hearts, and not only with our lips, and be lively and fervent in the duty, with our whole heart.  The Hebrew word for glad means to have joy or merriment, but the word for rejoice means exultation.  The believer in God sees the wonders that He has done and gives the glory to God. 

2.            Another example is found in Psalm 92.

3.            Psalm 92:4-8 For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. 5 O LORD, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. 6 A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this. 7 When the wicked spring up like grass, And when all the workers of iniquity flourish, It is that they may be destroyed forever. 8 But You, LORD, are on high forevermore. (NKJV)

!!!! a)            Do the works of God make you glad. When you see creation or the goodness of God demonstrated does it cause you to be glad in Him. It is very important that God is given the glory for His Works In Romans Paul speaks of those who exchange the glory of the creator for that of the creation. If God has given us the joy of his works, there is all the reason in the world why we should give him the honor for them. Has he made our hearts glad? Let us then make his praises glorious.

B.          Be Glad and Rejoice in the God of our salvation

1.            Isaiah 25:8-9 He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken.    9 And it will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." (NKJV)

a)            Not only has He done great works, but He is our Savior. That grief shall be banished, and there shall be perfect and endless joy: The Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces. Those that mourn for sin shall be comforted and have their consciences cleansed. In the covenant of grace there shall be that provided which is sufficient to offset all the sorrows of this present time, to wipe away our tears, and to refresh us.

2.            Romans 5:1-2     Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (NKJV)

a)            One characteristic that distinguishes Christianity from all other regions of the world is the teaching of salvation by grace, through faith, apart from human works.  For this reason, I was especially interested in the following headline:  "Conversation to Hindu Faith Is Torturous."  The article stated, "A West German businessman has completed his conversion to the Hindu faith by piercing himself through the cheeks with a 1/4-inch thick, 4-foot-long steel rod, and pulling a chariot for 2 miles by ropes attached to his back and chest by steel hooks... Others walk through 20-foot-long pits of fire, don shoes with soles made of nails, or hang in the air spread-eagle from hooks embedded in their backs."    What a contrast to Christianity.  Aren't you glad that conversion to belief in Jesus Christ is not accomplished by this kind of self-inflicted torture?

3.            Luke 10:18-20 And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 "Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." (NKJV)

a)            Do not rejoice in this merely as it is your honor, and a confirmation of your mission, and as it sets you a degree above other good people; do not rejoice in this only, or in this mainly, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven, because you are chosen of God to eternal life, and are the children of God through faith.

C.          Be Glad and Rejoice in times of trouble or testing

1.            Matthew 5:11-12 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (NKJV)

a)            It is not enough to be patient and content under these sufferings as under common afflictions, but we must rejoice, because the honor and dignity, the pleasure and advantage, of suffering for Christ, are much more considerable than the pain or shame of it. Not that we must take a pride in our sufferings, (that spoils all), but we must take a pleasure in them, as Paul (2 Co. 12:10);[1]

2.            I Peter 1:3-9     Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith -- the salvation of your souls. (NKJV)

a)           Alexander MacLaren, in a sermon entitled "Faith Tested and Crowned," distinguished between being tempted and being tested or tried.  He said that, "the former word conveys the idea of appealing to the worst part of man, with the wish that he may yield and do the wrong.  The latter means an appeal to the better part of man, with the desire that he should stand.  Temptation says, `Do this pleasant thing; do not be hindered by the fact that it is wrong.'  Trial or proving says, `Do this right and noble thing; do not be hindered by the fact that it is painful.'  The one is a sweet, beguiling melody, breathing soft indulgence and relaxation over the soul; the other is an appealing trumpet-call to high achievements."   Satan tempts us to bring out the worst in us; God tests us to bring out the best in us.

D.          Be Glad and Rejoice because soon we shall see Him

1.            Revelation 19:5-7 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!" 6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." (NKJV)

a)            In Scripture, marriage is often used to describe the relationship of saints to God. In the Old Testament Israel is pictured, as in Hosea, as the unfaithful wife of Yahweh who is destined to be restored in the future kingdom. In the New Testament, marriage is also used to describe the relationship between Christ and the church, but the illustration contrasts with the Old Testament, for the church is regarded as a virgin bride waiting the coming of her heavenly bridegroom (2 Cor. 11:2)

2.            I John 3:2-3 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (NKJV)

III.          Conclusion

A.          Ray Stedman, in the book "Talking to My Father" tells this story.  An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years and were returning to New York to retire.  They had no pension; their health was broken; they were defeated, discouraged, and afraid.  They discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning  from one of his big-game hunting expeditions.   No one paid any attention to them.  They watched the fanfare that accompanied the President's entourage, with passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the great man.
            As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, "Something is wrong.  Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us?  Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us."   "Dear, you shouldn't feel that way," his wife said.   "I can't help it; it doesn't seem right."   When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President.  The mayor and other dignitaries were there.  The papers were full of the President's arrival, but no one noticed this missionary couple. 
          They slipped off the ship and found a cheap flat on the East Side, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living in the city.   That night the man's spirit broke.  He said to his wife, "I can't take this; God is not treating us fairly."   His wife replied, "Why don't you go in the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?"   A short time later he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was completely different.  His wife asked, "Dear, what happened?"   "The Lord settled it with me," he said.  "I told him how bitter I was that the President should receive this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us as we returned home.  And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and simply said, `But you're not home yet!'"   Yes, there are rewards for faithfulness, but not necessarily down here.

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