REJOICE

Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Christ came to take away our sins, to roll off our curse, to unbind our chains, to open our prisonhouse, to cancel our debt; in a word, to give us the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Is not this joy? Where can we find a joy so real, so deep, so pure, so lasting? There is every element of joy - deep, ecstatic, satisfying, sanctifying joy - in the gospel of Christ. The believer in Jesus is essentially a happy man. The child of God is, from necessity, a joyful man. His sins are forgiven, his soul is justified, his person is adopted, his trials are blessings, his conflicts are victories, his death is immortality, his future is a heaven of inconceivable, unthought-of, untold, and endless blessedness. With such a God, such a Saviour, and such a hope, is he not, ought he not, to be a joyful man? Octavius Winslow

REJOICE........

Luke 2: 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

REJOICE.......

From Spurgeon's, "The Parable of the Lost Sheep"
"Who for the JOY that was set before him endured the
cross, despising the shame."

A great sorrow was on Christ when our load of sin was laid on
him, but a greater joy flashed into his mind when he thought
that we were by his death, recovered from our lost estate.

He said to himself, "I have taken them up upon My shoulders,
and none can hurt them now, neither can they wander to
destruction. I am bearing their sin, and they shall never come
into condemnation. The penalty of their guilt has been laid
on Me that it may never be laid on them. I am an effectual
and efficient Substitute for them. I am bearing their sin,
that they may never bear My Father's righteous anger."

His love to them made it a JOY for him to feel
every lash of the scourge of justice!

His love to them made it a delight that
the nails should pierce his hands and feet!

His love to them made it a JOY for him that
his heart should be broken with the absence of his Father, God.

Even "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
when the depths of its woe have been sounded,
will be found to have pearls of joy in its caverns.

No shout of triumph can equal that cry of grief, because our
Lord joyed to bear even the forsaking by his Father, for the
sin of his chosen ones, whom he had loved from before
the foundation of the world.

Oh, you cannot understand it except in a very feeble measure!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

REJOICE....REJOICE....REJOICE....REJOICE.....

Cristina