The Joy Set Before Him

[0:00] The joy set before him.

[0:21] The joy set before him. Hebrews 12, it says this.! As our Lord endured the cross, there was a joy that was set before him.

[0:34] It says, Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every way, and the sin which does so easily beset us.

[0:46] And let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

[1:06] Our desire, as every time we meet, is to look unto him. To look unto Jesus, isn't it? To look unto him. That's who we want to have the spotlight on here. Our desire is to look unto him today.

[1:19] And despite the cross, the Lord had that joy set before him. It says, what was that joy? What was that joy that was lying ahead for our Lord?

[1:30] As we come to the Lord's table, we remember the cross, and we recall that great transaction of God's mercy and forgiveness that was enacted at the cross.

[1:46] So let's consider this truth that the Lord Jesus, even in that agony that was the cross, he had a joy that lay ahead of him.

[1:57] And that's why we're here, isn't it? The joy that he gave. We see the agony of the cross, and then we see later the great joy of the resurrection.

[2:10] Because this one of whom we speak is alive, he's risen. This is a table not of mourning, but of rejoicing, of joy. And we see the great joy of the resurrection, as we read in Matthew 28, verse 8, of the women who found this joy as they came to that empty tomb.

[2:29] He's not here, he's risen. And Matthew 28, verse 8, it says, And they departed quickly from the sepulcher, from that tomb, they departed from it, it says, with great fear, with fear and great joy.

[2:41] There was great joy there, and they did run to bring his disciples' word. So the agony of the cross preceded the great joy of the resurrection. And then we see this term great joy again in Luke 24, where it reads of how it came to pass, verse 51, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and he was carried up into heaven.

[3:05] And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. So there was great joy in the resurrection, there was great joy in the ascension. And Peter writes of a joy too, a joy in rejoicing that we can personally know, in the context it tells of the trials of testing, of the gold quality faith, Peter writes, and he talks about a joy, a joy that's unspeakable.

[3:31] You can't even put it into language. A joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. And we rejoice in that, that great joy.

[3:44] We rejoice in the wonderful salvation, because that's what our Lord saw at the cross. As he looked, he could see the joy. As we know, David talks about the joy of his salvation, doesn't he?

[3:56] We see the joy of salvation. As the Lord Jesus endured the cross, he saw the joy that was set before him. And it tells of that in Acts 8, verse 8, where Peter, Philip rather, preached the word, and as Philip preached the word, people got saved and delivered.

[4:12] And it says again, there was great joy in that city. You know, it's a good thing, isn't it? When you see someone trust the Lord, as we've seen in times, that there is great joy in the city, this city.

[4:27] When Jesus saves souls, when someone trusts Christ and trusts his finished work, there's joy, joy in this city. And furthermore, there's joy in heaven. It says Luke 15, angels rejoicing over that joy in the presence of God when someone gets saved, when a sinner repents.

[4:48] It's also the joy of the Lord as ultimately when we're welcomed home. He will, as he puts the parable picture of the Lord and the servant coming and of the faithfulness of the servant and of the reception of the Lord.

[5:08] And he says there's a joy, the joy of the Lord. So friends, as he endured the cross, he saw the joy that was set before him. He saw the joy, I'll put to you, of the resurrection.

[5:20] He was going to be risen. He will conquer death, hell, and sin as the living saviour. There was great joy when he ascended. There was great joy in the city when Philip preached, when souls were saved.

[5:32] There's joy in heaven as the angels of God rejoice. And there'll be a reception. When you come before the Lord as one who is saved, he will say, well done.

[5:46] Enter into my joy. He will say to you. And so there's great joy. There's joy in believing, it says. Joy and peace in believing, it reads in Romans 15, the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.

[6:05] Joy and peace. Friends, it tells of exceeding joy. Peter tells of, even in a time of suffering, that you shall have exceeding joy. Rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ's suffering, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

[6:24] One day it says, his glory will be revealed. As he was on the cross, he saw the joy. One day there'll be that exceeding joy. And he's coming again.

[6:35] And our receiving unto him, one day his glory will be revealed. And the Lord had that joy that was set before him, I put to you. And as we remember his death on our part, as we remember his death in our stead, paying for our penalty, he saw the joy, the joy and peace that you will have in believing.

[6:55] He saw the joy that at his coming there will be exceeding joy. And truly I believe he saw you. You that believe. He saw you. That was his joy. You are his joy.

[7:07] You are his joy. It's been said, when he was on the cross, you were on his mind. You know, that's just a quaint saying, but it's true I think. Is it not that when he was on the cross, he was there for you, he was there for me, he was paying the penalty that we warranted, he paid it for you.

[7:28] He paid your penalty. And when he was on the cross, you were on his mind. That was what the cross was all about. And as he was enjoying the cross, he saw the joy that was set before him.

[7:38] The Bible tells of the ultimate exceeding joy that will be at his coming. At his coming. You will be presented before him. And you will be presented forgiven. You will be presented before him, pardoned.

[7:51] You will be presented to him, cleansed, completely redeemed, released, and liberated from your sin. And they will surely be, brother, sister, exceeding joy.

[8:04] It tells of that time now unto him that he's able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.

[8:15] That's going to happen one day. Exceeding joy, it says. As we saw, Peter said, when he shall be revealed, you may be glad and also with exceeding joy. Here's Paul saying the same to Jude.

[8:30] That there will be exceeding joy. Sorry, I'm getting that wrong, isn't it? Jude is the author of Jude. So, yeah, that was Jude saying that. There was exceeding joy at his coming.

[8:41] So this exceeding joy speaks of a literal jumping for joy. That's the kind of sense of this word. There's a jumping for joy. This is ecstatic. This is exceeding joy. This is greater than your team winning.

[8:53] This is greater than anything you can imagine. This is greater than the most wonderful thing that could happen to you. Because it is the most wonderful thing that can happen to you.

[9:03] The exceeding joy to know him, to know the saviour. And one day he'll present you faultless. He saw that when he endured the cross. Despising the shame. He saw that the joy that was set before him, I'll put to you, is the joy of your salvation.

[9:19] Surely the joy, the Lord had joy set before him. The joy of the ascension. Death could not hold him. He would break the bars and roll the stone and he would be made alive again forever.

[9:36] Our risen saviour. He would see the joy of soul saying, the joy and peace that you would have in believing, the exceeding joy when his glory shall be revealed and the exceeding joy when he presents you as that finished work of art that you are, that he is making, that he is shaping, that masterpiece that you are, when he will present you before the presence of his glory, there'll be exceeding joy there.

[10:01] When he endured the cross, he saw the joy set before him. Friends, you're that joy. You're the joy of his heart and I trust you'll take that joyful heart and remember him this morning.

[10:15] As you remember the cross, you can be praising him for that joy of your salvation. I'm going to call the ushers now to help as I've appointed to come and press circulate the bread and the cup and if you're a believer this morning then you're invited.

[10:38] If you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour then you are invited to feast. He says I've desired this with great desire to eat this Passover with you.

[10:51] So yeah, thanks ma'am for that. Let's just be prayerful as we join. Feel free to come take a seat Joshua.

[11:03] God bless you this morning as we just prayerfully note the race that we're running. Run it with patience. Persevere. Press on in that race.

[11:16] Looking unto Jesus. That's what we want to do this morning all the time. Looking unto him. He's the author of it and he's the finisher of it. Our faith. And he enjoyed the cross.

[11:28] Why? For the joy that was set before him. Praise him. He enjoyed the cross despising the shame, the curse, the shame, the weight, the guilt of our sin in the sinless one.

[11:42] Our sin. How can we conceive of that? Every sin that you've ever done, the sin that is our nature, he nailed it to the cross.

[11:59] He nailed it there with all the sentence of death that was against us, our guilt.

[12:14] And he transferred his righteousness to us. How can we fathom that? How undeserving as we could receive his perfect righteousness?

[12:27] Surely there's great joy. There's great joy as the women found great joy. That tomb's empty. He's no longer there. He's risen. There's great joy as they worshipped him.

[12:40] As he blessed them and as he ascended, there was great joy. As we see Philip's preaching, there was great joy in the city. There's great joy in Elizabeth today.

[12:51] There's great joy here in human hearts, in this town of Adelaide. There's great joy, this joy in the presence of the angels of heaven over one sinner that repents as you trust him.

[13:04] One day you'll say, well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord. heaven's just around the corner. It's just moments away.

[13:17] Really, isn't it? And yet there's joy, the joy of thy Lord. And you can have the truth that the Bible says that the God of hope could fill you with all joy and peace in believing.

[13:33] Wow. It's as simple as that. Believe. Trust him. Joy and peace is yours. All joy. He'll fill you with it. That you may abound in hope. Joy and peace in believing.

[13:44] Wow. And one day when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. And ask Brother Peter to come as we reflect on the body of our Lord.

[13:58] It was there that he endured the cross, despising the shame for the joy that was set before him. That's great. And thank you we can come and remember, Lord, the suffering that you had on the cross, Lord.

[14:12] On the cross, the cross that was the clash between God's love and grace and the enmity or the world against him. You did not balk at the suffering that you would have.

[14:25] as we heard today from Pastor Lord, it fills our heart with joy that he knew the joy that he would have after the resurrection, Lord.

[14:38] So we just ask you to bless this time in your name. Amen. Praise the Lord. Let us eat together. praise God.

[14:54] I'm asking Brother Jesse to come to think about the precious blood of our Savior. Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, we do thank you that you sent your Son to earth to die for us.

[15:08] And Lord, we know how precious this blood is that Jesus shed, and we remember that now, Lord, that it is a covering for our sin, Lord, we can stand in the presence of your almighty power and know that we are justified through Christ, and we do thank you for that.

[15:26] It does bring great joy that the blood of Christ was shed, and we humbly say that, Lord, not taking glory that our sin took Christ to the cross, but glorying that you loved us so much that you shed that blood.

[15:41] In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Let us drink, praise the Lord. There's joy and peace in believing.

[15:53] Joy and peace. desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde desde