In this sermon, the speaker reflects on the chapter of Isaiah and describes it as a tree full of blossoms and fruit. The chapter is seen as a psalm of thanksgiving, filled with ecstasy and a gradual crescendo of praise and adoration to the Lord. The speaker emphasizes the power of one person with the mind of God and shares the story of Moses and the Israelites singing a song of jubilation after crossing the Red Sea. The sermon also touches on the idea that even in times of misery and suffering, the path of the just shines brighter and reveals the riches of God's grace.

Lord, we remember the song that says, I stand all amazed in the presence of Jesus in Nazarene, and wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean. This is the mystery of mysteries to us, that you loved us not when we were lovable, but when we were unlovely. That you gave the spotless Son of God for us, who are by nature the children of wrath, and we were condemned, and he took our sins, and he took our condemnation, and he took our shame. We thank you for his death, we thank you for his glorious resurrection. As we come again to your word, we thank you for it. We would read your testimonies today. Your servant the psalmist said more than once that he delighted in your testimonies, he delighted in your word. We thank you for this lamp, for our feet, and this light for our path. We thank you again for the preservation of this word down the centuries, down the millenniums even. It has escaped fire, it has escaped the threat of those who would assassinate those who are translating it. It has escaped the ships on which very often it was transported from one country to another, and sometimes in one case it was a sole survivor in a total shipwreck. We thank you for it, it has come to us so easily, forbid that we should read it easily, forbid that we should read it without illumination, forbid that we should read it without any reaction in our spirits of quickenings of joy, or of condemnation, or of vision, or whatever else your spirit would use to take this blessed indestructible word of God, this word which is fathomless, as fathomless as God himself, as eternal as God himself, as indestructible as God himself. Because you have told us in your word that thy word, O God, is forever and ever, and thy throne is forever and ever, and a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. We think of all this work the word has done, it has been a, the word says that the word is like a hammer that breaketh the rock, but not only has it broken the rock, it has broken the fetters from the arms of slaves. It has broken the fetters from the minds of men and women, because wherever this word has gone, liberty has come, and education has come, and light has come, and knowledge has come. We do remember as we think and boast almost of our standing in thee. We think of those millions who are still in darkness and in the shadow of death, your word says. We think of those in misery, in concentration camps in Russia and China, deprived of freedom, perhaps with malignancies in their bodies and filth. As we sang the song today, the longer I serve him, the sweeter he grows, is not really true in the visible sense. Every day gets brighter, to many of them every day gets darker, materially, physically, visibly, and yet we're sure to many of them again, your word says that the path of the just is as a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. And since they've so much time to wallow in what seems misery to others, maybe they're discovering riches of grace we haven't yet discovered. We haven't had time to discover that we're eaten up with so many other things. The things of earth have not really become strangely dim. We pray for them in their captivity, for many of them are captives, but they're free. And millions in this beloved country are free, but they're captives, captives to lust and captives to drugs and drink and devilry. Lord, we see again the great need of a mighty sweeping worldwide revival, one great last breathing of your spirit through your church. We would say as your word says, will thou not revive thy people again in the midst of the years? God, come and steal, we pray thee, the spoil of the devil. Come, we ask thee, and liberate captives by the million in all nations of the earth right now. We thank you that there is power in that precious blood of which we've been singing today. We thank you for the blood that shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. And then in a nobler, sweeter song, we'll sing thy power to save. When these poor, lisping, stammering tongues shout victory o'er the grave. We thank you again for this word. We ask your Holy Spirit, you wrote it, you inspired men. May it inspire us as we read it. May it quicken our hearts and minds today, enrich us. Some of us have come in tired, not only in body or in mind, but maybe in spirit, oppressed. Not only in mind, but Satan has been desperately near, perhaps this week, and temptations have been fierce, and problems have arisen that are not yet solved. We would discard them all and concentrate our thoughts on thee. We will pick up spiritual treasure today. We would leave this house renewed in mind and in spirit, for your word says that they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Renew and quicken, we pray, that Lord Jesus may be exalted and glorified, and we shall go out with a firmer step and a stronger courage to meet our tomorrows. We'll give you praise in Jesus' name. Let's read the 12th chapter in the prophecy of Isaiah. Usually I like to get a word from the Lord about Wednesday. I'm not smart, I need three or four days to put a text on the back burner, and let it simmer, and get hold of me, and wake me up in the night, and disturb me. And this week, I've had at least three texts. I'm not going to preach them, or you won't get home till lunch tomorrow, but I nearly switched when Herb got us singing that first hymn. That song service was beautiful today. I nearly switched, but I'm staying with that that the Lord gave me, and if it's only for one person, well, that will be all right. So here it is, the 12th chapter in the prophecy of Isaiah. And in that day, thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength, and my song. He also has become my salvation. Therefore, with joy, shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day, ye shall say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord, for he hath done excellent things, for this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. Now, what do you see in this chapter? At first, it seemed to me like a tree that's full of blossom. Just gorgeous and attractive. Then I said, that's not good enough. I see it now as a tree, and the branches of it are filled with fruit. The psalmist, pardon me, it is really a psalm. It's a hymn of thanksgiving. It seems to me that it explodes with something more than happiness. It's full of ecstasy. Skipping the first verse here, and coming into the second verse, it speaks of my song. Verse 3 talks about my joy, or with joy. Shall we draw waters from the wells of salvation? Verse 4 says, Praise the Lord. Verse 5 says, Sing unto the Lord. And verse 6 says, Cry out and shout. There's a crescendo there. There's a gradual climbing of praise and of adoration and of thanksgiving to the Lord. We're to sing, we're to cry out and shout, and we're to praise Him, and we're to magnify Him. I say it's like a tree to me full of fruit that's delicious and delectable and desirable. The psalm begins within that day. Now, of course, you run into problems. There's hardly a scripture anywhere that isn't capable of two or three interpretations. And this is capable of, it will stand the stress of three interpretations at least, that it's dealing with something historic in the life of the children of Israel. Or it's dealing with something prophetic, either the great millennial day or eternity. Or, if it deals with both of them, I don't care. It also fits right down in the experience that we have today. Now, the key verse to me in this is, Therefore with joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation. Actually, the Hebrew word there doesn't talk about a well in the sense that we think of a well. It talks about a gusher coming up. So it says, Therefore you come to a place which is always gushing up. There's limitless life. My mind jumps over to the word of the Lord Jesus when he says to the woman, Look, I can give you water. You know, we used to sing a song, didn't we? Jesus gave her water that wasn't in the well. She went away singing and came back bringing others for the water that wasn't in the well. And she's puzzled when he says, I can put a well of water within you that will spring up constantly. Charles Wesley has a beautiful hymn, Jesus, lover of my soul. There's a phrase in that hymn that says this. I always thrill. I get a kind of a chill when I say it. He says, Spring thou up within my heart, rise to all eternity. Now the psalmist here is talking about one person really, the God of his salvation. Go back again to this first verse. In that day, in what day? Well, scholars don't agree about this. You see, this is a time of deliverance. There's been oppression. There's been trial. There's been persecution. There's been a long, long night of darkness. Did you ever have one that you thought would never end? I don't mean night, you know, like we have it coming tonight, all being well. I don't mean that. I mean a period of oppression when it looks as though the skies are made of lead. If God hears, he's not hearing me. He may be hearing others. Here I am, I'm oppressed. I'm forsaken. I'm neglected. Now some say this is the time of Nebuchadnezzar when the Assyrians were going to come out and just about slaughter, destroy, liquidate the people of Judah. And God intercepted and brought them deliverance. Therefore, in that day, the day of deliverance. But again, I say, let's pinpoint this. Supposing you just take it to one day in your life. We've all had amazing days in our lives. One of the hymns that they used to sing in the old Methodist church when I was a kid was, Oh, happy day that fixed my choice. And we had a policeman in Leeds, in the city where I lived, and they had no flashes in those days. You know, I'm so old, I can remember when there were no aeroplanes and no telephones and no TVs, well, odd telephones. But he used to stand there, big man, fine man, about six foot three with a helmet on. I thought he was Goliath that had come back to life when I was a little boy. I used to go back and look at him like this, you know, and say, I need a marvellous complexion. And he was always singing. And everybody knew he was a Christian, and his name was Day. And so in the police force, they called him Happy Day. That's a nice thing, isn't it? Everybody said, Oh, Happy Day isn't on today. Do you mean Happy Day? There were other days, you know, all kinds of days. And some days, D-A-Z-E. But Mr. Day was a happy, happy creature. We used to sing that, Oh, Happy Day that fixed my choice on thee, my Saviour and my God. The end of the verse says, High heaven that heard that solemn vow, that vow renewed shall daily hear. Now, as I prayed earlier when I came in, you know, Jesus told a story about the lepers who were cleansed. God knows how they did it, I don't. But isn't it amazing that ten lepers were cleansed and only one returned to give thanks? Man, you'd have thought everywhere Jesus Wendy would have been there. Jesus would say, Oh, you're here again. Yes, I'm coming tomorrow and I'll be there the day after. Man, you delivered me, you healed me. There was no hope for me. Leprosy in the Old Testament is a hideous thing. It meant everybody was an outcast who got it. Well, we had spiritual leprosy. And Jesus came in that day. Yeah, you had great days. Maybe a wedding day or some other day. Great days. But a day that exceeds every day. And not only that, the Word of God doesn't always speak of a day as 24 hours. There is coming a day of the Lord and that day will be without any termination. It's an eternal day. It's a paradox, but there it is. It's an eternal day because the sun never rises and the sun never sets. There's no need of sun. He is the light. Won't that be wonderful? Hallelujah forever. There's no need of light in heaven. Again, in the Holy of Holies, there was no light. I love to think of that. In the Outer Court daylight, in the First Court, there was seven-branch candlestick. In the Holy of Holies, no light except the glory of God. Oh, how wonderful when His glory comes. I still can't get over it. Of course, I'm as dumb as anybody, but I can't get over the fact that those men on the Mount of Transfiguration fell asleep. You talk about the whale swallowing Jonah, that's no... I'm like the old lady. She said, if it said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I'd believe it. Well, I would too, if God said so. But he doesn't say foolish things. But I do not understand how those men, in one of the crisis hours of Jesus, fell asleep with a glory of another world upon Him. No, no, it wasn't the spotlight from heaven. It was the inward holiness, His inward beauty, His inward majesty that shone out on Him. And listen, I've got news for you. When you see Him, you'll what? You'll be like Him. No, that'll make your feet itch, and your scalp itch, and your back itch, and everything else. When we see Him, when this corruption is put on incorruption, we're going to have a body with no blood. Why? He left all His blood at the cross. He has resurrection life. He has a life we know nothing about. And when we see Him, we're going to be like Him. And we're going to share that eternal day. But I'm anticipating a little here. You see, He says now, look. Oh Lord, I will praise thee, He says again, in the first verse. Praise in the first verse there. Praise in the fourth verse. Song in the second verse. Sing in the fifth verse. Cry out and shout. You know, the more excited you get about it, you want to lift your voice up and say, well, hallelujah. This is no fairy story. This is reality. Now He says, do you see what deliverance is what? Well, isn't it merely simple gratitude for you to lift up your voice, tune your harp? I remember reading years ago where Spurgeon was in one of his Sunday morning services, and he got so excited. He was talking about praise and adoration. He says, Oh God, for a well-tuned harp. You know, he wanted to join the orchestra in heaven right away. He felt all tuned up. Oh Lord, for a well-tuned harp. Was it Wesley? I forget. Or was it Watts who said, Oh, for a heart to praise my God. A heart from sin set free. A heart that always feels the blood so freely shed for me. A heart in every thought renewed and full of love divine. Perfect and right and pure and good. A heart where it's not possible to have discord either toward God or anybody else. Where it's not possible to be impure in any attitude either to God or man or anyone else. A heart like that. Now, he says to these people, Well, all you have to do, you know, is to open up your hearts and celebrate. With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation. Now, really, you know, this is no new experience. Some people have referred this back again. They say, Well, do you know what this is? This is the experience of the children of Israel when they came through the Red Sea. Well, surely they had a rehearsal there. You say, I sometimes wonder what we'll sing in heaven. Oh, I'll tell you. I got a note. A man left me a note 2,000 years ago. A fellow called John on the Isle of Patmos left me a note about that down here. He says, We're going to sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. So, we better do a bit of rehearsing. Won't that be wonderful? Why? Because that was one of the greatest hymns of praise that was ever sung. You know, the children of Israel had come out of bondage. Not only come out of bondage, but if you'll pardon the word, they'd stolen a lot of wonderful things out of Egypt. Silverware, gold, precious things. And they got away with it. So they thought, till somebody looked around and said, Oh, they're coming. They're coming and they're coming with chariots. They're going to liquidate us. You know what the children of Israel said? Oh man, can't we be ungrateful? Do you know what they said when they saw the enemy coming? They said, Why didn't you leave us in Egypt? We told you to leave us alone. We get into trouble. Do you know what Moses says? Oh my, this is tough, isn't it? Come on, the enemy is breathing down your neck. They're coming in their chariots. They've got their swords. They've got their bows and arrows. They're going to wipe us out. And do you know what the silly man says? Stand still and see the salvation. He should have said, Run like mad. He should have said, Pick your kids up. Let's get away as quick as we can. He says, Listen, stand still and see the salvation. Stand still. Oh, that's like saying, Paint the front porch when the house is on fire. Huh? It's like saying, Fill your diary. The boat's going down, but do make a last note in your diary just where you sank in the Atlantic. Stand still and see the salvation of the... Well, that's what he's talking about, isn't it? In this psalm, what does he say? Behold, God is my salvation. Now, we tie that up to one thing only. Something which is spiritual. He's not talking about spiritual salvation here. He's talking like, You rescue a man who's drowning. You're his savior. That's salvation to him. And he's talking about that salvation. That's what I'm trying to get to today. The deliverance is that God will work. It may not be my way, my mother used to sing. It may not be thy way, but yet in his own way, God will provide. The little fellow says, Daddy, I don't mind helping you to build an altar. And we've got a bucket of fire. But where is the lamb? And he says, Son, God will provide a lamb. Doesn't look like it, does it? He's built the altar. He's tied the boy up. He's got the knife up. He's bringing it down and the lamb hasn't come. And suddenly the voice says, Stay thy hand. I say again, most Christians would say, That's the voice of the devil. I know that God told me to kill my son. But my sheep hear my voice. What happened when the children of Israel have been pursued? You know, there are lots of things God does. And I think he's doing it for me. And do you know, poor fool I am, he isn't doing it for me at all. He's doing it for his own glory. He says in the 46th chapter of it, 36, pardon me, chapter of Ezekiel, Look, I'm going to cleanse you. I'm going to do a thing. But listen, don't get proud. I'm not doing it for your sake. I'm doing it for my holy name's sake. My name is being trodden down. But wait, I'm going to avenge myself. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And then the Lord says to Moses, Why are you crying to me? Now, you're told to stand still. Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward. Lift up thy rod and stretch out thy hand. Now, verse 17. This is of the 14th chapter of Exodus. He says, I will get unfair honour upon all the host. And then it says a little further down. In verse 17 it says that. And it's repeated again in verse 18. Now, how did the children of Israel get guidance? Oh, that must have been wonderful. You know, if the children started to cry and said, Well, do you think that the enemy is going to come? It's dark and I'm frightened. I heard somebody. Mummy says, just a minute. She lifts up the tent and says, You see that? A pillar of fire by day. And a pillar of cloud by day. And a pillar of fire by night. And this pillar of cloud led the children of Israel right to the edge of the Red Sea. And when they needed it most, it disappeared. It wasn't there. Where was it? Lord, are you playing tricks on... No, no, no. No, no, no. No. No. You've walked by sight. Now you're going to walk by faith. Where's the cloud? Behind us. What we're going to do? Walk backwards away? No, no, no. But the cloud has led us all this time. Why isn't it going before us? Oh, you have no problems with it going before you. Look, just watch this. And it says, Moses stretched forth his hand. I'm sure Herb and I would have exploded if we'd been there. Dear Lord, you see a man there with a stick that before had done nothing but whip a sheep's behind when it got stuck in a fence and prod it. And now he takes that rod. The rod of Moses becomes the rod of God. He says, stretch forth thy hand. You talk about miracles. People say there are a bit of miracles in the New Testament. They all... No, they're not. They're all miracles. They're all supernatural. They're all beyond rationalization. How do you get a pillar of fire that nobody has to fuel? Oh, if you know the answer to that. Do you mind just phoning the White House this afternoon and tell him you've solved the energy crisis forever and ever? That we know how to get a pillar of fire that does not need refueling? Why? Because God is a consuming fire. He was in the fire. He was in the fire. And the pillar of fire suddenly changed to a cloudy... Let the fiery, cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through, the hymn writer said. And they come right down to the edge of the water. And Moses lifts his hand just like you'd part your hair. I often think of it when I part the little bit I've got left. And I think of him part... Man, that must have been breathless. Do you think it was? Oh, yes. Do you think there was some nervous? I do. Now, come on, come on. He divides the water. And you know what it says? The pillar of cloud went from before their face and stood behind them. It was a... Listen to this. You talk about God cracking jokes. Who was it one day, one of the old mystics said, God loves to be funny in some situations. Why? Well, did you ever hear a proverb, every cloud has a silver lining? That's an old proverb. Do you know when that pillar of fire went this way, on the back it was as black as that? To the folk behind, and in front it was whiter than that? It was light to the children of Israel and darkness to Egypt. Well, isn't that triumph? Look, that world outside tonight is as black as hell, but men are afraid to admit it. Again, there are three classes of people in the world only. Those who are afraid, those who don't know enough to be afraid, and those who know their Bibles. That's the only classification. Not blacks and whites, rich and poor, intellectuals and ignoramuses. Three classes of people. Those who are afraid, they know what's coming. I believe if you can get Mr. Carter by himself, he's terrified to his roots downward. He smiles and puts a mask on. He's a terrified man. He has to be. Unless some miracle happens, we're going to have tremendous trouble about that canal that he signed. Almost like a dictator. He signed it and then asked everybody to agree with it. That's what dictators do, not what presidents do. The report yesterday said that in China, they say that Mr. Vance's trip there has put the clock back, not forward. Mr. Carter's upset because of establishing these homes on the western banks by the Jews. I listened about four or five days ago on TV to that very smart sheik that's the head of the OPEC nations and his eyes glistened and he said, look, we're going to have peace in the Middle East or America will know and you'll never forget it. In other words, they'd withdraw every spot of oil they give us and strangle our machinery. Or we're living in ominous days. Make no mistake about it. It's a pillar of darkness. When these men were coming on, they could see nothing but blackness. They couldn't even see God's people. I want to tell you, if he hides you in the cleft of the rock, there isn't a demon in hell can find you. You may have to sing, not always up there in the sky with the angels. You may have to sing down here with Spafford when he's heartbroken and bereaved, losing his four daughters when sorrows like sea billows roll. But is God only the God of daylight or is he the God of darkness? Is he the God of Sunday and not of Monday? Is he the God who gives me ecstasy and doesn't allow me to go down into the valley of the shadow of death? It was a pillar of cloud. It was a cloud and darkness to Israel, but it gave light, hallelujah, to the children of Israel. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. Now, the children of Israel went down into the midst of the sea on dry ground. But wait a minute, look, this wall is what? I don't know. What is it, eight feet high about that? Seven? And maybe it was 30 feet. Would you like to step down into 30 feet? And all you had on this side was... Why didn't they need a pillar of cloud? Why did they have a pillar of cloud? Because so they wouldn't turn to the left or turn to the right. You don't have much option about turning to the right or left if you've only 30 feet of water on the left and right, do you? Unless you decide to swim it through with a fish, isn't it a problem? What an amazing thing! That one man... Oh, this hurts me, I'll admit that. It gets to me, I'll admit that. It doesn't say even Joshua is standing with him or someone else. One man stands there. Why? Because he has the mind of God. Because he says, this plus God, one man with God is a majority. I'm going to say to this water, get out of here. And you're going to go through and you're not going to have to polish your boots when you get through anyhow. Because there'll be no mud on them. You're going across dry shot. Well, bless the Lord forever. What do you think they did? Chapter 15 of Exodus says, Then sang Moses and the children of Israel a song. I should think they did too. If they hadn't sung a song of jubilation, they'd be singing a funeral service. That's all there was to it. The whole nation... You know, I think that Moses must have felt a bit mad about this. I mean, not mad, puzzled about it. You know, he was going to wipe the whole nation out one at a time. He'd have been at it till today. And birth rate would have gotten on top of him anyhow. It's what he did, didn't he? He decided to go kill the Egyptian that was oppressing. And the Lord says, Oh son, you may as well try and blow the sun out. Now you just leave it to me. One day I'll pull the plug and drown the whole bunch of them. Don't start worrying in the flesh. I'll do it in the spirit. I'll do it in my wisdom. So the children of Israel sang. A song of Moses and the children of Israel sung this song. What did they sing? Verse 2 of the 15th of Exodus. The Lord is my strength. Oh, I like that. They gave God every bit of the credit. It's not the strength of my faith. It's not my courage. It's not my zeal. It's not my confidence. It's God who is my strength. And do you know what he says? You say, well, I'm not very strong. Well, then you're a candidate for it. Do you know why? Because he says, my strength is made perfect in weakness. The man who's strong leans on his strength. The man who's wise leans on his wisdom. The man who has no wisdom leans on the wisdom of God. He leans on the strength of God. The Lord is my strength and my song. He is my salvation. He is my God. Verse 3, the Lord of hosts in his name. Come down to verse 11 or verse 9. This is going back on the story a minute. The enemy said, the Egyptians said, I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoils. My lust shall be satisfied upon them. I will draw my sword. My hand shall destroy them. And then he says, thou didst blow with thy wind. Isn't that amazing? You don't think so? God didn't even lift his arm. He just, that's all he did and blew them out. The Spanish Armada sent, what, 400 ships to England. They were going to destroy Britain with its Protestant witness. What happened? Well, God just blew with his wind. That's what they put on the coins afterwards. He blew with his wind. That's all. That's all. See, God doesn't know anything about exertion. You and I exert ourselves. God doesn't exert. He just commands. He has authority. He has power. His word is law and power. And he just blew. And I guess he enjoyed it too. He just blew with his wind. And upset the king, the nation, the whole bunch of them. Look, there's a, digressing here, there's a tour of the treasures of King Tutankhamen. Tutankhamen. Amenhotep II. He was supposed to be the king that followed the king that was drowned here. Now, if they come to San Antonio, you must go see them. They're in Houston, I think. One of the most amazing collections that the world has ever known of gold. I don't know whether they exhibit, but one thing they found was a tree just about a span height. It's a tree with branches. And you know what there is caught in the branches? Well, nothing very much, except it got a man saved, actually. A ram caught in the thicket. All in pure gold. I wonder why God put it there. Do you think it was a rebuke? Huh? Somebody says, well, what's that goat? Got its horns in the tree. Says, that's not a goat, it's a ram. Somebody says, was that a god they worship? Well, there is a story in the Bible about that. Leonard Woolley, one of the greatest of modern archaeologists, went to Ur of the Chaldees. Began digging in the dust as an atheist. And by the time he got through, he was a confirmed believer. In the flood, because he found such relics, he found deposits there that convinced him that the Bible is true. Now, nobody, nothing makes the Bible true. The Bible makes other things true. Nobody exalts God. God exalts. God isn't looking down, as I say so often. He's not looking for sponsors, even whatever the radio fellow says. He's not looking for sponsors. He is God. He is right. He has authority. He has power. But then, he says that the enemy said, we're going to spoil them. We're going to avenge our lust on them. We're going to be satisfied upon them. And we're going to draw. But God said, I will draw my sword with my hand and destroy them. And then verse 10 says that, it's blow with thy wind. The sea covered them. They sank as lead in the mighty waters. Now, can you hear that? A whole congregation. Some people say there were five million. Well, I don't care if there were only five thousand. I think there were more. Maybe a million people. Can you hear them all singing? Man, I wonder what the tune was. Verse 11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee? Glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Thou didst stretch out thy right hand. Because immediately Moses stretched out his hand. The hand of God was covering the hand of Moses. It was an omnipotent hand. Thou and thy mercy has led forth thy people. And so forth and so on. Now, is this what's been spoken of here in this 12th chapter? I don't know. I don't really care. But I'm saying this, that there is one thing here that we need to rediscover. Now, if you can find the formula for this. Let me tell you this. Last night, in America alone, apart from other countries, I guess over the nation, a billion dollars were spent trying to find this elusive thing. Millions of dollars are spent every day trying to find it. You can't find it. If you can get the formula and put it in a bottle and sell it, you'll be a millionaire in the first day. It's one of the most elusive things in the world. What is it? Joy. That's what the world looks for. And the substitute is happiness. Now, happiness needs external props. Joy needs no external props. With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation. The Lord is my strength and my joy. Hitler had a caption, hadn't he? Strength through joy. It was a scripture turned round. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Now, I say that we need this. Now, this isn't the only spoke in the wheel. I've often looked at a wheel. Here's a wheel. These are the spokes. Now, which spoke is most essential? I don't know. If you take this out, you weaken the others anyhow. Every spoke is essential. Now, I need the joy of the Lord. You need the joy of the Lord. But I need more than the joy itself. That would destroy me. I need the salvation of the Lord. I need the peace of the Lord. I need the strength of the Lord. I need the assurance of the Lord. I need the comfort of the Lord. I need them all. They're all spokes in the same wheel. But that doesn't mean sometimes you can't stop at this spoke and look at it anyhow. You see, he says that joy, with joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation. And in that day ye shall say praise the Lord. Now, what are the dangers? One of the great dangers is that there are people around today who tell you this. Well, listen. You know, this Christian life, this spirit-filled life is all joy. It has no sorrows. It has no trials. And it has no difficulties. Well, if that's true, I missed it. I missed it. Crown him with many crowns, Matthew Bridges says. And in that old translation of that hymn, there's a lovely phrase. I like it very much. It says of Jesus, who every grief hath known that rings the human breast. Isaiah says concerning Israel and the Lord Jesus, that in all their afflictions, he was afflicted. And the angels of his presence saved them. There's a verse here I can't just remember now, where the apostle talks about the... Here it is. In 2 Timothy 3, he says this. Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, all love and patience. That's fine. Then he says, my persecutions and afflictions which came to me at Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra, the persecutions, what persecutions I endured. Now, what's behind that what? I don't know. But when Paul uses it, you know he's got some emphasis there. He says, what persecutions they had. Then he adds this. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Now, we stress the other side so much. Oh, if the Lord comes in, he'll give you peace that passes all understanding. Right. But let me whisper something in the other ear. Do you know what he also says? Jesus says, in the world ye shall have tribulation, but fear not, I've overcome the world. We were saying this week, somebody referred, I think Herb referred there to Ethel Walters and she loved to sing his Eyes on the Sparrow. Well, I heard my mother sing it many times before I heard Ethel Walters and knew she lived. It's a lovely old hymn. And the verse says, the chorus says, I sing because I'm happy. Well, do you ever sing when you're not happy? I need to sing more when I'm not happy than when I'm happy. Do you know why often we get cast down? Because we brood on sorrows and difficulties and situations. And the devil loves to get us concentrated on that despairing, dark, difficult spot. That's what he wants us to do. And he can work on it and it ferments in us. But I need to come to the other side. I need to think of my ecstasies, my joys, my blessings. And when I do, I find my spirit begins to lift. You know, it says there in, I think 2 Chronicles 20, about the children of Israel. When they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the enemy. No, no, no, no. No persecution and trial and difficulty. They're not exceptions. They're the rule of Christian living. Now, you'll hear a hundred interpretations of the spirit-filled life and what happened to those marvelous men after Pentecost without anybody quoting this. That they were up before the magistrates. They were beaten. They were chastised. And you know what they went? They went away singing. Why? Because they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer. Huh? Oh my! I thought you rejoiced when he let you around all the bends and you didn't suffer. And when hardships were out of the way. No, no, no. It says that they rejoiced when they found that they were worthy to suffer for his namesake. What is it James says? James 1, I guess James 1 verse 2, if I remember right. James 1 verse 2 says, I'll read it to you. My brethren, count it all joy when you inherit a fortune, when people love you, when they load you with gifts, when they say you're the nicest woman in town, when they say you're the best dressed person or you have the loveliest car. Oh no, no, no. Somehow this is, doesn't say that in the Amplified even. This is what it says. It says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations. Hey, I reckon you need a lot of joy when you get down where the divers are. Huh? Reminds me, the colored man says that when they asked him what it meant, that the people were with Jesus and they suffered from divers diseases. He says, well I've got a church full of those folk. They have? Yeah, when I talk about the offering, they dive for this door and they dive for the other. They're diving all over the place. Well, I don't know whether that's the total interpretation. It isn't. But listen, do you ever run into a bad dark patch where there's divers temptations? Just before I left the last meeting we were in, a young varsity student came to me. He said, Mr. Ravenhill, it's a good thing you preached on that last night. I had preached on 1 Peter, a favorite chapter of mine. And he said, you know, I don't think I've ever been assaulted by the devil like I was today. I've been hitting a high peak this week. Man, we've been in heavenly places, but it seemed as though I was the only one. And all hell let loose on me. Just, just, the devil was giving me all he had. Well, counted all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. Now listen to what, you see, scripture bears out scripture. That's what James says. This is what Peter says. Greatly rejoice. Oh, I like that. I like that. I like, oh, I like those prison epistles of Peter, of Paul. You know, when he's having the roughest time ever, he doesn't say, I hope you'll have a night of prayer and get me out of jail because God once got Peter out. And I'll tell you what, I've done 10 times more than Peter. I've founded more churches than he did. I've suffered more than he did. I've endured more than he did. Now you pray and get me out. He didn't say that. What does he, he never even mentions a thing about himself. He says, rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice. He hits the nail on the head and says, let me hit it on the nail again. Rejoice. And again, I say rejoice. In the midst of adversity. So it says here in 1 Peter 1 and verse 5, 6. Ye greatly rejoice. Oh, I like that. I like that. Well, wait a minute, there's another side to the coin. Do you know what it says? Though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptation. Oh man, he should have left that out. That spoils the whole thing. Temptation. He doesn't say temptation. What does he, he says manifold temptation. When they come like the waves of the sea falling over each other and there's no way out. He says, well then sing at the top of your voice and shout hallelujah. Because he who hath delivered doth deliver and he will yet deliver. That's what God says in his word. You hath delivered, doth deliver, he will yet deliver. I've got guarantees all the way. Though now for a season. There are seasons in the spiritual life, make no mistake about it, like the army. There are times when you've been so high, I guess with God, you thought you'd never get down again. You'd never feel heavy again. You'd never feel, you felt, I can, look, I can face anything. Tomorrow you happen to wake up different. Now nobody explains all the moods of life. Nobody can. Some days you feel if the, if somebody tied one hand behind your back, you could fight the devil with the other and lick him. Another day you felt if he came and you kicked him with all your feet and your hands, you'd still be beaten. Heaviness. Is that consistent with the spiritual life? Well maybe this will help you. It says that Jesus was going into Gethsemane and he was in a heaviness, great heaviness of spirit, the Son of God. If you bypass affliction, why does he go to Gethsemane? What about that miserable, illegal trial that they had for him? Why isn't he sleeping? They push him for Pilate to Herod, Herod back to Pilate. They mock him. They put a dirty old garment on him and spit on his face. Is that the way you treat a king? You mean to say that fella hanging on a cross, he's going to set up a kingdom? How dumb can you be? You know he's like everybody else. You know he's like everybody else. He's a cheat. But you put him to death, he's a blasphemer. He even said he's the Son of God. You believe that kind of stuff? Nonsense. Do you think he wasn't in heaviness going into Gethsemane? Don't you think he wasn't in heaviness going up that road to the cross? Do you think he wasn't in heaviness when his father quit on him? Come on. No wonder the hymn writer says, none of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed, nor how dark the night the Lord passed through, ere he found his sheep that was lost. Heaviness is not inconsistent with a spirit-filled life. The next verse talks about the trial of your faith being much more precious than the gold that perishes. I like that. Let me turn to the, sorry, pardon me, turn to the 35th chapter of Isaiah for a minute. It's a great chapter. Verse 8, we'll start up. There shall be a highway there and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those the wayfaring shall be. Shall not err therein. Will you notice there are three marvellous things in that verse? A highway shall be there. That's divine provision. The unclean shall not pass over it. That's divine prohibition. The wayfaring man, though a fool, though a simpleton, won't be kept out. That's divine permission. No lion shall be there, neither any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And that's the folk, you see, that are mentioned in this, in this psalm. He's redeemed us from all our iniquity. He's our salvation. He has redeemed us. All right. The ransom of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. And they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isn't that beautiful? Now, if you skip over to the 61st, which is a, which is the prophetic chapter of the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry. In chapter 61. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he hath appointed me to preach good tidings and so forth and so on, he, he mentions. Now look at verse 3. I'll go back to verse 2. This is the task of Jesus, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion. That's the second time mourning is mentioned. To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. That word there, trees of righteousness, is speaking about a type of tree they had there which was the strongest tree that could stand all the buffeting and all the assailing of the storms. Now notice really, you know the alchemists, the alchemists have been trying to find for centuries how to transfer or change, miraculously change, a slab of lead into gold. They never found it. But there's something greater than that. You see, joy is amongst other things, it's a fruit of the spirit, love and joy and peace. But again, you don't get good fruit without pruning. Joy isn't something God throws at us. I believe that joy is a by-product of two things. I believe it's a by-product of obedience, number one, and I believe it's a by-product of suffering. The word makes it very clear, if we suffer we shall also reign with him. I don't know all that means, but if we suffer we'd reign with him. It's not self-afflicted suffering like wearing a hair shirt. It's not the affliction that somebody puts on us because we've done a dirty deed, but it is an affliction which God in his infinite wisdom allows to come. He was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, and so he pleased the Lord to bruise his only begotten son. The most beautiful character, spotless in his holiness, blameless in his character, faultless in his obedience, and yet God bruised him. Well, is there an easy way for us? Here's the law of transformation, he gives what? Beauty for ashes. You can't do much with ashes, can you? I can't. Ashes denotes that something has been consumed. It speaks of sacrifice, and out of that sacrifice, well you have the supreme example. The Lord Jesus becomes a supreme example in humiliation, in death. There's beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning. Now that can mean mourning for grief I have that comes on myself, or mourning for the nation, which I think it was in this case. Mourning for the departed glory of the nation. And yet through it all, God is working a mysterious work of grace in us. He gives beauty for ashes. That some of the ugliest things that come out in your life and mine, it's not a case of the old idea, you know, you burn the ashes and some sphinx or something comes out of it, it's not Greek mythology. This is genuinely the word of the living God, that out of that thing which is consumed, and I would hold on to it, but he allows it to be burned up and destroyed, and the forlorn beauty comes out of the ashes, and the oil of joy comes out for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Well I think that's a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful thing. Now let me tie it all up in another, in a psalm, Psalm 15. We used to learn this when we were in school, and I should know it better than I do. Verse 11, Thou wilt show me the path of life. In my presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. You see, it doesn't matter how you rate the excitement, or you rate what the world calls happiness, or what it might even call joy, every joy that man has, everything that it creates, is terminal. It's going to die. It's like the hymn writer says, Francis Henry Light in his hymn, Abide With Me, change and decay, in all around I see, all thou who changest not. Now what does it say? It's talking about fullness of joy. Where is it? It's in his presence. Where is his presence? Well, amongst other things, where two or three are gathered together in his name. Oh, it's talking of a distant day. This is a prophetic psalm, all right, have it that way. But by the same token, right now, we know that his presence, I cannot get away, and I do not want to get away any day without realizing I'm a millionaire. You didn't know that, well I'll tell you I am, and what's more, so are you. Your sister in China today hasn't a shirt to cover her back. I got a thing about China the other day, which is very interesting. Leslie Lyle wrote a book, he's one of the great authorities on China today. There's been a great amount of talk about a man called George Vins, I think a Baptist preacher there in Russia. They're trying to get him out of prison. But Leslie Lyle says, for every one George Vins in Russia, there are a hundred of them in China. Remember, China has three times the population of Russia. He says there's incredible suffering there. Mao Zedong's wife has been thrown out of power, and I say hallelujah for that. Because she was one of the chief instigators to wipe out the Church of the Living God. You know, in the last 28 years ago, when they purged China of Christian missionaries, there were nearly 60,000 of them, native and foreigners, and they got rid of the whole bunch of them. Your brother, your sister today in China, as we sang the hymn, the longer I serve him, the sweeter he grows. I'm sure it's not true, in our external vision, an external thing every day seems brighter, the way gets clearer. But that's all right if you're living in our environment, where we've creature comforts and nice cars and lovely homes and refrigerators. What about China, where they don't know where the next loaf of bread is coming from? What about the place where you just march down the road every day with a shovel? And one girl's letter I read from Cambodia said, she'd been trained in a university in America, had gone back there to do a job, an official job in the country. Her delicate little fingers, she always had them manicured so neatly. She's a sweet-looking oriental girl, and now she's kneeling in rags with bleeding knees and torn fingers repairing ditches. She's as much culture as anybody that lives here anywhere else, yet the tide has turned. And she said, the only thing that I have is my joy in Jesus Christ. Not seen my mother for years, my sisters, my brothers. I live amongst filth, filthy habitation, filthy language, filthy everything. And all I have is the joy of the Lord. Could you stick that for a week? Could I? Hmm? What if you lost your darling children? What would you do, Bobby, for six days and six months or six years? You couldn't get a new dress. No laws? Any laws, moral laws or other laws? We're told pretty authentically that the stringency now in Cambodia, it's the most diabolical system in the world. The cruelty that's existing there is worse than China. Not long since it was a free nation. Well, I don't think it's true for them. I wouldn't dare to sing that every need he is supplying for them. Certainly not material. We sing it sometimes, well, I prayed for this and I got it. No, no, no, no. But I'm quite sure of this in my own heart. You don't have to agree with me. I'm sure many of those people are far richer spiritually than we are, at least than I am. Their confidence in God, their assurance in God. What's this psalm say? Thou wilt show me the path of life in thy presence. So his presence is the source of joy. Not only a source, but in my presence is fullness. So let's say it's joy in his presence. It's joy with plenitude. Because he says it's fullness of joy. And you know what? It's joy that's permanent. Because he says, at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. I think sometimes one reason why we don't have more joy is, let me put it this way. Supposing a lawyer came to you this week and said, look, you didn't know this, but I've been tracing you for five years. I've caught up with you. This will tells me that you inherit, it could be up to 15 million dollars, a beautiful house on the seafront in Florida, a yacht, a lovely house in the hills up there in Colorado. We were looking at some of those film star's homes the other week there in Phoenix. Rocks as big as this house. They've suspended them across. They're fabulous looking to get a view of the hills and everything. You're going to inherit that and a yacht and a home and 15 million dollars and so many acres of land and some jewels that were bought from the Tsarina of Russia when the jewels were sold. Well, this is the will. Of course, you don't need to read it. I know you won't read it, not till you hear news from me which, well, your uncle's pretty healthy. It may be 10 years before, but I want you to know this. This is your inheritance. You just put it in your desk. You know, I haven't enough confidence in one of you to believe you'd do it. Would you? Wouldn't you look at it? Man, I would. I'd look at it every day. I'd look at it and say, I am going to inherit what? 10 million dollars, a house in Florida, a yacht, a stately home up in the mountains, 20,000 acres of land, bonds, security, jewelry. Wow! I'll tell you what, I'm going to enjoy that before I get there. You know that hymn, we're marching to Zion. Never think of the phrase in it that says, the hill of Zion yields a thousand sacred sweets before we reach the heavenly fields or walk the golden streets. Do you know why so often we're cast down? The psalmist talks to himself. You do that, I do. You have to talk to somebody sensible now and again. And so the psalmist says, why art thou cast down, O my soul? Why are you cast down? Look at the hope you have. Yeah, we don't get reading the will and find out what the father has for us. In thy presence is fullness of joy, and at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Do you know why I can be full of joy? Number one, because of, did we sing it today? Great is thy faithfulness. That's why I'm full of joy. He'll never fail me. He'll never break one of his promises. Number two, do you know I'm full of joy? Because all that's pressing on us right now, the gates of hell will not triumph over the church of Jesus Christ. So I stick my feet down and laugh at the devil and say, listen, you're not going to squelch me. I've got joy because of his faithfulness. I've got joy because the gates of hell shall not prevail against me. Another reason I've got joy, when I think of it, he could have cut me off many times before I was saved. I didn't respond to the gospel the first time I heard it, did you? I must have heard it a hundred times. One poet says, I had long withstood his grace, long provoked him to his face, would not hearken to his call, grieved him by a thousand faults. Depth of mercy, can there be mercy still reserved for me? Can my God his wrath forbear me, the chief of... I heard him, he knocked, he knocked. He could have walked away, but he still knocked. So I rejoice in his faithfulness. I rejoice in his lovingkindness. I rejoice that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. The church of Jesus is more precious than the crown jewels. They're done compared with it. But as the hymn writer says, with his own blood he bought her and for her life he died. I like the hymns that were written by one that we call Bernard of Clairvaux. He wrote, Clairvaux, he wrote, Jesus the very thought of thee with sweetness fill my breast. There's another Bernard, famous Bernard called Bernard of Cluny. And he wrote a hymn, Jerusalem the golden with milk and honey blessed. Beneath thy contemplation sink heart and voice oppressed. I know not, oh I know not what joys await us there. What radiancy of glory, what bliss beyond compare. They stand those halls of Zion all jubilant with song. And bright with men and angel that crowd and the martyr throng. The king is ever with them and the daylight is serene. The pastures of the blessed are decked in glorious sheen. Let me tie it all up. You've had some wonderful days in your life, haven't you? Come on, forget the bad ones right now. Haven't you had some great days of joy, fellowship, vacation, times when the glory of God filled the temple? Well, if you add them all together, the first day in heaven will exceed every day we've ever lived on earth. It will be so full of glory and majesty and beauty. They stand those halls of Zion all jubilant with song. Say, it says at his right hand there are pleasures forevermore. They're never going to quit. You won't even wake up and find you've got to work one day. Oh, there's going to be service but not sacrifice. There's going to be day but no night. Heaven is all peace without any war. It's all harmony without any discord. It's all health without any sickness. It's all life without any death. It's all joy without sorrow. Isn't that something? The sweet and blessed country, the home of God's elect. Somebody called me today. They always call on Sundays. I don't know why when I don't want them to call. And they call long distance. They must have a lot of money. They talk and talk and talk. But these people are excited. They've been to a meeting. Actually, it was an Amway meeting that they had last week in Missouri. One of these big semi-annual things. They were quite excited about it. There'd been a young man testified on the Friday night. Well, he got into trouble and he went bankrupt in his business. And everything went wrong. And then he met the Lord in a very unusual way. And put everything straight before the Lord. And told the Lord how it's serving us. To cut a long story short. Now he's the last on the list of new millionaires. And the youngest. He's 35 years of age. And he was saying. But I don't treasure these things I've got. Not unless they keep balance with my spiritual life. Which I thought was very beautiful anyhow. And then the lady said. But you know the most exciting thing was on Sunday morning. There's a Baptist pastor's wife testified. I don't know how many years she's been blind. Her eyes are like two poached eggs. She has no retina in the middle. And I don't know how or when or where or who. But somebody laid hold of God and prayed for her. And she's got 20-20 vision. And she went back to the doctor and he said. You've got 20-20 vision. But I want to tell you something. Clinically and legally you're blind. Well what do you mean? He said because well your eyes are two. They look like poached eggs without any yellow in the middle. They're white blobs. And not only that. There's a hole right through the retina of both eyes. You can't see. Isn't that lovely? And they said the whole audience was sobbing in tears. This precious Baptist pastor's wife. Totally blind. Prayer was made. She couldn't see. She can see. The doctor says but legally you're blind. Well it doesn't matter what they say. Legally does it? If you've got 20-20 vision. So what? Now that doesn't mean I'm going to throw my glasses away. Maybe I should but I don't. It doesn't get me into bondage. One period when we saw healings of every kind. The thing that upset me like Miss Kuhlman told me once. She said well the thing that hurts me Brother Amiel is this. That I come out of an audience and there are so many blind and lame people. There are more people not healed than are healed in my meetings. I've never been in a meeting yet. I was in Kuhlman's meetings. I was in William Branham's meetings. I was in George Jeffrey's meetings. I've been in I don't know how many healing crews. I've never seen a blind person. Get the sight. And people always say well of course we've talked to Brother Sauncer. He said it takes a lot more faith. I don't understand that. Maybe I'm dumb. God's omnipotent arm doesn't have any problems does it? I got into bondage. Why don't I go to a hospital and walk around all the hospital beds? One thing I hate to see on TV. I'll turn it off. If I see them showing crippled children and blind children it tears me up. Now I mean this. If God would give me a ministry of healing where everybody that I healed or one in five got their sight. I would quit this job and I'd go around and find who those people were. Particularly children. Now I'm not getting into bondage over that. But by the same token that chapter in Isaiah 35 that I read to you. There's a highway and a way and it's a way of holiness. There's a divine provision. There's a divine prohibition. The unclean are not going to pass. There's a divine permission. The simple soul can pass that way. And in that chapter it says the eyes of the blind shall be open and the ears of the deaf unstop and the lame shall leap as a heart and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. I believe it's physical. I believe it's spiritual too. It's awesome to me. I see people in their gorgeous automobiles. I see them sometimes if you stay in motels or hotels. Rich people and I think well boy she's a doll. That man has a physique on him. He's just come out of the swimming pool. Maybe he's all bronze. He looks like a young tart and I say the guy's dead and he doesn't know it. He's dead. He's dead. She sits there at lunch and she's passing a diamond so you'll know it's there. I say lady listen you're bankrupt. Well we can see it that way but let's look at it the other way for a minute. Isn't it marvelous that we're alive in him? Come on now. Isn't it amazing that one day he touched you when you were not just bad you were dead. When we were more bound than we knew. When we were poorer than we realized. When we were far off from God. You know we need to have more joy in the Lord. We really do. The joy of sins forgiven. The joy that I'm a child of God. The joy that from everlasting to everlasting he is God. The joy that the gates of hell will. We've got the right thing. The world's wrong. That world outside is mad. We're the only sane people around. Oh and this joy that we're going to have. Peter talks about it. Do you know what he says it is? Well he can't explain it. That's what he says. Well what does he say? He says it's a joy unspeakable. Isn't that beautiful? A joy unspeakable and full of glory. Hallelujah. For everlasting to everlasting he's God. He is my God. He is my salvation. He is my deliverer. And you have delivered. He does deliver. He will yet deliver. And the good book says that if you're in a night of trouble. Joy cometh in the morning. It'll soon be tomorrow.