Preaching With Joy
You’ve Already Been Punished
“If one believes in the death of the Lord Jesus as his substitute he already has been united with the Lord Jesus in His death. For me to believe that in the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus is to believe that I already have been punished in the Lord Jesus. The penalty of my sin is death; yet the Lord Jesus suffered death for me; therefore I have died in Him.”
–Watchman Nee
“The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.”
Psalm 37:39
“Give up the struggle and the fight; relax in the omnipotence of the Lord Jesus; look up into His lovely face and as you behold Him, He will transform you into His likeness. You do the beholding–He does the transforming. There is no shortcut to holiness.”
–Max Lucado
Release the Perfume!
“And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume.”
Luke 7:37, ESV
“How delightful your caresses are, my sister, my bride. Your caresses are much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any balsam.”
Song of Solomon 4:10
We should know that our simple and sincere words bless Jesus.
We are truly significant in that way. Sometimes we have no idea the role we can play in His kingdom. What we’re doing when we offer up our true worship really does matter. The Kingdom comes when we really worship Him. Our sincere praise ushers in God’s rule in our hearts.
We touch Jesus, somehow, and in some way, we’ve blessed Him.
I believe that our sincere words encourage Him. He gladly receives this heartfelt offering of worship. He often responds and blesses those who sing their genuine praise to Him. Sometimes it’s hard to grasp that our worship really does matter to Jesus.
I have learned much from Him when I finally lay at His feet. I really want to pour out every bit of perfumed nard, and I sincerely desired to hold nothing back; to pour out the entire bottle.
We must make sure our worship stays extravagantly simple and centered on Jesus.
The Furnace of Affliction
“The furnace of affliction is a good place for you, Christian; it benefits you; it helps you to become more like Christ, and it is fitting you for heaven.”
–Charles Spurgeon
“You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 1:6-7
“Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of. Most of the grand truths of God have to be learned by trouble; they must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction, otherwise we shall not truly receive them.”
–Charles Spurgeon
Broken Believers 