"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." (Isaiah 61:10)
JOYFUL IN THE LORD "And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in His salvation" (Psalm 35:9). The very soul of the child of God rejoices in Christ Jesus. We rejoice in Him because He is the Christ, the sent One, the Messiah, the Son of God, the eternal Surety of His people. We rejoice in Him because He is Jesus our Brother Who stands in near relation to us. He is Emmanuel, God with us, our Mediator by Whom we have access to the Father. He is our Savior Who came to"save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21) by His substitutionary death upon the cross. We rejoice in Him for He is "able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for us" (Hebrews 7:25). We rejoice in Him for He has redeemed all of His people to God by His blood. He will preserve us to the end and then present us "faultless before the presence of His glory with joy" (Jude 1:24). His Person is all-glorious, His blood is precious, His righteousness is impeccable, His sacrifice was effectual to the redemption and justification of His people, His power to call us to faith in Himself is irresistible, His salvation is everlasting and His grace to eternally preserve us shall never fail. In Him we were blessed with "all spiritual blessings" (Ephesians 1:3) and like Mary of old every believer says, "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior" (Luke 1:47). The church speaks with one voice through the prophet and says, "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels" (Isaiah 61:10). –Pastor Jim Byrd
JUSTICE AND MERCY The sacrifice of Christ unites all the attributes of God together for a believer’s interest. The flames of justice focus on Christ so that the streams of mercy might flow down to us. Rivers of mercy do not quench the flames of justice nor the flames of justice suck up the rivers of mercy. As the sacrificing of Christ is a vengeance against sin, it is an act of justice; as it is the means of remission of sins, it is an act of mercy. Both justice and mercy join hands to lift the fallen creature up. God is just in being merciful and merciful in being just so we well may cry aloud with the Psalmist, "Gracious is the LORD, and righteous" (Psalm 116:5). Justice struck Christ, the sacrifice, that the streams of mercy might be fully released to sinners. Compassion helped justice to a satisfaction more honorable than could have been had from creatures for it was fully satisfied in punishing Christ for our sins; and justice helped mercy to a fuller and more illustrious exercise of itself than ever it could have had without it. From being an adversary against the sinner, justice has now become an advocate for the sinner. God must be unjust if He be not merciful to every sinner in whose stead Christ tasted death. Since our High Priest has been faithful to God, God will not be unfaithful to Him nor to those for whom He offered up Himself. Happy must he be that has both mercy supplicating for him and justice pleading for him. –Stephen Charnock (edited)
The Christian preacher is to be neither a speculator who invents new doctrines which please him, nor an editor who excises old doctrines which displease him, but a steward, God’s steward, dispensing faithfully to God’s household the truths committed to him in the Scriptures, nothing more, nothing less and nothing else. –copied
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