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Luke chapter 10, a passage that 
we have looked at in the past, the foundation for Christian 
joy. Specifically, Jesus' words in 
Luke 10 at verse 20, where he says, Nevertheless, do not rejoice 
in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice, 
because your names are written in heaven. We have looked at 
this in the past, but I think it is fitting for the first day 
of a new year to consider the foundation for our joy as Christians. For certainly there are times 
when our joy is not what it ought to be, when we are not as thrilled 
in the Gospel as we should be. So hopefully as we consider this 
passage of Scripture, our hearts will be warmed and we'll consider 
those things which are most fitting to promote joy in the life of 
God's people. I'll just pick up reading in 
Luke 10 at verse 1. After these things, the Lord 
appointed seventy others also and sent them two by two before 
His face into every city and place where He Himself was about 
to go. Then He said to them, The harvest 
truly is great, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the 
Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go 
your way. Behold, I send you out as lambs 
among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, 
nor sandals, and greet no one along the road. But whatever 
house you enter, first say, Peace to this house. And if a son of 
peace is there, your peace will rest on it. If not, it will return 
to you. And remain in the same house, 
eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer 
is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. 
Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat such things 
as are set before you. And heal the sick there and say 
to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. But whatever 
city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its 
streets and say, the very dust of your city which clings to 
us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless, know this, that 
the kingdom of God has come near you. But I say to you, that it 
will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to 
you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which 
were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would 
have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it 
will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than 
for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted 
to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. He who hears you, hears 
Me. He who rejects you, rejects Me. And he who rejects Me, rejects 
him who sent Me. Then the seventy returned with 
joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name. 
And He said to them, I saw safe and fall like lightning from 
heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents 
and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing 
shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice 
in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice 
because your names are written in heaven. In that hour Jesus 
rejoiced in the spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of 
heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the 
wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, 
for so it seemed good in your sight. All things have been delivered 
to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the 
Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to 
whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Then he turned to his disciples 
and said privately, "'Blessed are the eyes which see the things 
you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings have 
desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and have 
not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard 
it. Amen. Let us pray. Our God and 
our Father, we thank you for the Holy Scripture and we pray 
for the Spirit now to guide us and to lead us into all truth. 
We pray that you would help us to consider the basis, the foundation 
for our joy. Help us in this coming year truly 
to manifest joy. Do forgive us, God, that we give 
in to melancholy or we give in to those things which would strip 
us of our joy and help us to be refreshed and to be reminded. 
And Father, even to be zealous for Your glory in the manifestation 
of Christian joy. And we ask through Christ our 
Lord. Amen. When we see the context here, 
the disciples are sent out. Jesus sends them out two by two 
to go and to preach the Gospel. He says, the harvest truly is 
great, but the laborers are few. And then He says, pray that the 
Lord of the harvest to send out laborers in His harvest. And 
then He dispatches. He not only calls them to pray, 
but He calls them to act. And He sends them out, clothes 
them with authority so that they may preach the gospel of the 
kingdom and that they may indeed engage in the work of gospel 
ministry. And then they return, according 
to verse 17, and they are filled with joy. And they specify the 
reason for their joy. Lord, even the demons are subject 
to us in Your name. Christ reminds them that He has 
given them authority, reminds them or tells them that Satan 
he saw fall like lightning through the preaching of the Gospel. 
We see the strong man plundered. We see Satan being bound up. And Jesus reminds them of this. 
But then He tells them in verse 20, as we've seen, Nevertheless, 
do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, 
but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. 
Now, he is not saying that they should not rejoice at all in 
the fact that they have seen demons subjected to their ministry 
or anything like that, but he is speaking in an idiom. He says, 
do not rejoice primarily in this, but rather rejoice primarily 
in the fact that your names are written in heaven. There are 
various references to a book of life that is contained in 
heaven where the names of God's elect are inscribed. He calls 
them to reflect upon that. And it seems to me that in this 
statement there is a basis for joy. And the first thing we need 
to notice is that the basis for joy is not wrapped up in our 
performance. It is not wrapped up in what 
we do for the Kingdom of God. Now there are times again when 
if the Lord has been pleased to use us, we may find a joy 
in that. But Jesus is saying, do not rejoice 
primarily in what you do for the kingdom, but rather rejoice 
primarily in the King who has written you into the book of 
life. So there is a distinction made. 
There is a distinction between the basis for our joy, between 
performance and our salvation. We are not to rejoice in how 
we serve. We are to rejoice in the fact 
that God has saved us by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ. I want to look at four reasons 
why we ought not to rejoice primarily in what we do for the kingdom 
and then look at five reasons why we ought to rejoice in the 
salvation that God has freely given to us. The first reason 
we are not to rejoice primarily in our performance is because 
our performance may tend to pride in usefulness. It is an unfortunate 
reality that we are a very proud people, even as Christians. Now, maybe this is all new to 
you. Hopefully it is not, but we are very proud And there is 
a tendency in us to be proud. And if the Lord should be pleased 
to use us in any measure for good to others, we can get big 
heads. We can get swollen egos. We can 
get full of ourselves. Pride in usefulness is a genuine 
reality. Turn over to Luke 18 for a moment. 
In Luke 18, Jesus taught a parable of two men. And if we are not 
careful, and if we are fastidious in our religious performance, 
we can end up sounding like this Pharisee who says, The Pharisee 
stood and prayed thus with himself, Luke 18, 11, I thank you that 
I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, and adulterers, or even 
as this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes 
of all that I possess. Now, we may not vocalize that 
sentiment. We may not tell others that that's 
the expression of our heart, but we may manifest such an attitude. Pride in our performance is wretched. Pride in our accomplishments 
is offensive. The Apostle Peter tells us we 
are to be clothed with humility. We are to be like our Lord Jesus 
Christ. And if God should grant you a 
measure of usefulness in His Kingdom, and you put all of your 
joy based on that usefulness, pride may be the result. A second 
reason why we need to guard against this performance-based joy is 
that it is not a true indicator of grace in the heart. God used 
Balaam's ass. That does not mean that Balaam's 
ass is going to sit in heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God used Balaam. God uses men to accomplish His 
purposes without ever saving them. So the fact that men can 
perform for the kingdom does not mean that they are in the 
kingdom. Perhaps your mind is already 
tracking with the end of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus 
specifies two trees and two ways and two types of builders. And then he highlights the type 
of man that he never knew. In Matthew 7, verse 21, it says, 
Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom 
of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 
Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied 
in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders 
in Your name? And then I will declare to them, 
I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice 
lawlessness. Their performance was no sure 
indicator of the grace of God in their hearts. Notice that 
Jesus does not deny what they had done for the kingdom. Jesus 
does not say to them, no, you've never prophesied in my name. 
No, you've never cast out demons in my name. And no, you've never 
done many wonders in my name. He doesn't say that. He acknowledges 
their performance. He acknowledges what they have 
done And he says, I never knew you. You need to be very careful. Your status with God is not dependent 
upon your performance. What a wretched way to live if 
it were the case. We could never work enough. We 
could never do enough. We could never accomplish enough. 
You know, sometimes I monitor, you know, the debates that are 
going on between Christians and non-Christians. And one of the 
things that's very offensive to the non-Christian is that 
God saves sinners. It's very offensive. It just grates against the flesh. You mean this guy who lived this 
life is going to go to heaven? Yes. Well, that's not fair. No, it's grace. Sometimes the 
worst go to heaven and the best go to hell. That's offensive 
to the flesh. We need to be very careful that 
we don't think that way. We can look at other Christians 
and their performance and we can get so discouraged and think, 
man, look at what they're doing. And then look at me. You're not 
saved based on your performance. You're not saved based on how 
many demons you cast out. You're not saved based on how 
many wonders you've done in Jesus' name. You see, you've got to 
get this. Luke 10-20 is crucial for your 
joy. A third reason why we ought not 
to make the basis for our joy, our performance, is that it does 
not abide. It does not abide. It comes and it goes. If we are banking on our performance, 
when we get too old and can no longer perform, we're going to 
be depressed. If we get maimed in some sort 
of a collision and we're no longer able to do what we once did, 
is our joy gone now? That there's no more? See, we 
need to be very careful. This is not an abiding joy. These disciples, when they returned 
with joy, having done miraculous things for the Lord, would probably 
in a few years go and preach and not do miraculous things 
for the Lord. They would not see a lot of people 
converted. They would not see a lot of people 
coming into the Kingdom in mass. Does that mean they can't be 
joyful? Of course not. We need to be careful. This does 
not abide. Work accomplished may not be 
lasting, and our usefulness may go right out the door. That doesn't 
mean we're to be unhappy. You see what Jesus is doing. 
You're not rejoiced primarily in what you're doing, but rather 
rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Nothing can strip 
that joy. That's how you can obey the injunction 
of Paul the Apostle in Philippians 4. Rejoice in the Lord. Again, I will say, rejoice. Well, how? If it's performance-based, 
insofar as we're doing what we're supposed to, we'll be happy. 
But when we slack off, we're to be depressed? No. And then 
a fourth reason why we ought not to put our joy or bank on 
our joy with reference to our performance is that this does 
not sustain us in the valleys. It just doesn't. When you are 
spiritually tried and you are spiritually depressed and you 
are in the valleys, looking at what you used to do well is not 
going to promote joy. I guarantee it. When you are spiritually tried 
and you are in the valleys, looking at how you used to obey God better 
is not going to promote joy. What promoted joy to David as 
he walked through the valley of the shadow of death? I will 
fear no evil. Why? Because thou art with me. Not because I used to be bigger, 
stronger, faster and better. He sees God as His portion. He 
sees God as His strength. He sees God's rod and God's comfort 
and God's power as that means to bring Him through the valley 
of the shadow of death. Beware, brethren, of basing your 
joy on your performance. And here's why we ought to base 
our joy on our salvation. Jesus says, but rather rejoice 
because your names are written in heaven. Firstly, because it 
can be enjoyed by all the saints. See, if we're performance-based, 
we're going to read a biography, say, of C.H. Spurgeon or George 
Whitefield, and we're going to pretend or we're going to believe 
that we're nothing. We are no good whatsoever. We 
don't do a thing for Jesus. But when we look at what Jesus 
says to look at, rather rejoice that your names are written in 
heaven. All the saints have access to this. Every single one from 
the least to the greatest. From the Spurgeon and the Paul 
to the Joe Blow. Every single saint who by God's 
grace has looked to Jesus and lived can rejoice that their 
name is written in heaven. That is where, that's our common 
denominator. That's our leveler. That's where 
all Christians are the same. Love what Spurgeon says, in our 
sanctification we grow in the grace and in the knowledge of 
the Lord Jesus. There's various degrees. Some will be very sanctified. Others need to grow in their 
sanctification. Justification is different. Everybody 
is as justified as they'll ever be. Every Christian is justified 
in the same manner, through the declaration of God, through faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're all on equal footing. Not, 
wow, that guy does so much better. No. Your name is written in heaven. A second reason why we ought 
to be joyful concerning our salvation is that it springs from faith 
in Christ. That's what ought to make the 
Christian happy is Jesus. Not himself. Have you ever been around Christians 
that are proud? Well, hopefully you're all going 
to say, yeah, all the time. Every time I look in the mirror. 
Every time I get around other Christians. But there's some 
who seem not to harness it, perhaps, as others. It's offensive, man. It's like, I don't want to hear 
about you. I want to hear about Jesus. Jesus 
is the champion. Jesus is our deliverer. Jesus 
is our victor and our king. We ought to be celebrating Jesus. 
Not celebrating what I did for Jesus, but celebrating what Jesus 
did for me. That's what the Christian life 
is about. It's not our celebration of what we've accomplished for 
Christ. It's our celebration of what Christ has accomplished 
for us. It puts things in the proper 
perspective. It puts Christ on the throne 
and not ourselves. A third reason is that it centers 
in on God's sovereign election. When he says, but rather rejoice 
because your names are written in heaven. Who wrote our names 
in heaven? It wasn't us. We didn't ascend 
up into heaven. We didn't take that holy pen 
and write in that holy ledger. In fact, before God had saving 
dealings with us, we didn't even care about the book of life. 
We certainly didn't care if our names were in it. We'd probably 
joke about not being in it. It was God who inscribed us. 
It was God who chose us. It was God who predestinated 
us. It was God who undertook on our 
behalf. So you see, the basis for my 
joy cannot be what I do. It must be what God has done. 
The basis for your joy cannot be what you have done, but what 
our triune God has done. That's how I think we're supposed 
to live. Now, I don't live that way, I'll confess it. I'm just 
as wrapped up in the whole performance thing as probably any other Christian. You know, going into this new 
year, and especially January, I have noticed historically in 
my life, January, they ought to get rid of it. We ought to 
go from December to February, because January is a big dark 
hole. in my life. I don't mean to sound 
negative or depressing, or maybe you're going to go, wow, yeah, 
January is bad. Thanks, brother. No, I'm not 
meaning it like that. But one of the reasons I thought 
about this text was we're entering into a new year. It's January 
4th. Snowing. You know, people say, 
oh, do you like the snow? Yeah, it's nice for a week. I'm 
sorry, man. I don't know if I can live in 
this all my life, you know? There's a lot of things out there. 
Well, what is it that can manifest joy? It is a firm grip on the 
grace of God. Not on performance. Not on what 
we do. Not on how we do it. I mean, 
look at the church situation. You know, you've got churches 
that got people cramming in, thousands and thousands of people. 
You look at our church. Wow, we don't have thousands 
of people. Oh, it's depressing. Yeah, it is depressing. That's 
why we need to rejoice that our names are written in heaven. 
That's why we need to be focused heavenward. Not to say we shouldn't 
pray or labor or try to call people to repentance and faith, 
but it needs to center in on God's sovereign election. A fourth 
reason we ought to be salvation-based when it comes to joy is that 
it can be cultivated. It can be cultivated. What do 
I mean by that? I mean you study your Bible. 
You read the Scriptures. You learn about the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Spirit and the salvation of your soul. What 
does that do? Hopefully it promotes joy. Hopefully 
it produces a smile and an otherwise hardened face when you consider 
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Not 
God so rewarded the world because they had performed so meritoriously. No. God so loved the world. God gave. God provided. God gave us that Son. God gave us redemption. God initiated. God sought Adam and Eve. God 
made a covenant with Abraham. God protected His lineage. God 
protected His seed. God protected His remnant. God, 
in the fullness of the time, sent forth His Son. God provided 
all things necessary for our salvation. That can be cultivated. We can get happier the more we 
know the Bible, the more we study the plan of salvation, the more 
we understand theology, the more we wrap our heads around what 
God in Christ is doing in this world. That promotes joy. Again, rightly focused, not because 
of what we're doing, but because of who God is. And He has revealed 
Himself in the Old and the New Testaments. He has given us this 
revelation of His own Self and His own Word for our well-being. And a fifth reason we ought to 
be salvation-based with reference to our joy is because it abides 
in all circumstances. We may be useful, and then we 
may not be. But ain't nobody taking our salvation 
away. No one erases names from the 
book of life. Isn't that blessed? Remember 
when I was younger, they had a jacket, members only. The members 
only jacket. They looked like such goofballs 
who wore those jackets. If you used to wear a members 
only jacket, I'm sorry, but you looked goofy. Members only of 
what? A group of people out there that 
have the same type of jacket? Wow! But members only with reference 
to heaven. You're part of a blessed society 
that no man can take away. Moth and rust cannot destroy. 
No one strips that inheritance from you. So that when you are 
in the darkest, most trying, and most difficult time, you 
can smile. You can have joy. You can rejoice. Because this joy abides in all 
circumstances. Nevertheless, do not primarily 
rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you. It's almost 
as if the Lord would say, because there's coming a time when they're 
not going to be. There's coming a time when people 
are not going to respond favorably to the gospel. There's coming 
a time where they will persecute you, where they will whip you, 
where they will beat you, where they will try and destroy you. 
So don't rejoice in what you can do, but rather rejoice in 
what God has done. This explains why the apostles 
in Acts 5.31 could depart from that Roman prison, having been 
lashed with a whip, rejoicing that they were counted worthy 
to suffer shame for His name. This is the explanation as to 
why Paul and Silas in prison in Acts 16 could be singing hymns 
of praise to God. If they judged it based on their 
reception, based on how people saw them, how society viewed 
them, well, they would be of all men most depressed. We got 
whipped here. We tried to serve this community. 
They spit on us. They scoffed at us. They rejected 
us. That's depressing. Let's be sorrowful. That's not what it was. They 
knew their names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and 
in that they rejoiced. They could sing hymns of praising 
to God. Brethren, I am encouraging you 
this morning to take these things to heart. What is it that makes 
you happy? Is it what you do for the Lord? 
Is it how you perform for the Lord? Is it how much you prayed 
last week? Could you be that Pharisee whom 
Jesus spoke of? I thank you, God, I'm not like 
other men. It makes me cringe when I hear 
that kind of talk. I'm not like that guy. Any time 
that we would say, I'm not like that guy, think about it biblically. 
You're worse than that guy. You're as bad as he is at the 
root, and he isn't saying, well, I'm not like that guy. Brethren, 
to be joyful is to be found in Christ. Not having a righteousness 
of our own which is from the law, but that righteousness which 
is from God through faith in Jesus Christ. Our Lord sets the 
example of how we ought to be joyful. Verse 21, In that hour 
Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit. Isn't that great? One of the 
few times in Holy Writ where Jesus ever refers to Jesus' joy. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief. We don't read that the Son of 
God walked around with a big phony smile. We don't read that 
He skipped through Palestine singing Zippity-Doo-Dah. He was 
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He's at the grave 
site of Lazarus and what happens? He's exceedingly sorrowful. He 
is troubled. He is grieved. He is even angry. 
Here he's rejoicing. Notice what causes Jesus to rejoice. 
In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, I thank 
you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these 
things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even 
so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. All things 
have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows who 
the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except 
the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." 
So, Jesus expresses joy over God's grace. You see that? I thank you, Father, 
Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things 
from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to babes." That's 
the grace of God. He reveals to babes. Sometimes 
people get hung up on that, oh, He's hidden from the wise and 
the prudent. Oh, that's not fair. It's justice. For God to hide something from 
man whom He owes nothing to is justice. It's not unfair. Christ rejoices that God has 
revealed these things unto babes. Christ's joy is expressed over 
the Father's pleasure. Even so, Father, for so it seemed 
good in your sight. The New American Standard says, 
it was well-pleasing in your sight. That's what makes Christ 
happy. The grace of God. The pleasure 
of God. and the reality of God's revelation. All things have been delivered 
to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, who the 
Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the 
Son. And the fact that there is fellowship between the persons 
of the Trinity and sinners. That's what makes Christ happy. 
See, Jesus didn't say, well done, men. No, there is a well done, 
good and faithful servant when we enter into heaven. But what 
he is highlighting to his disciples in their earthly ministry in 
this particular scenario is don't rejoice primarily in what you 
do for God. Rejoice primarily in what God 
has done for you. That's what's going to bring 
you lasting joy. That's what's going to make you 
happy. That's what's going to keep you in the valley of the 
shadow of death. That's what's going to keep you 
from apostasy. That's what's going to keep you 
from all of the idolatry and all of the sin and all of the 
wickedness that we are prone to follow. Because we want to 
be happy, don't we? That's not necessarily a sin. 
It's not wrong to want to be happy. It's just how we pursue 
that happiness. Jesus is all about our happiness 
and He is all about telling us how to pursue it biblically. 
It is to be in God. It is to be in the Father. It 
is to be in the Son and the Spirit. It is to be founded squarely 
upon the gospel of free and sovereign grace. That's what's going to 
keep you, that's what can be cultivated, that can be enjoyed 
by all the saints. Do you have joy? Do you? And if so, what is it 
based on? If it's based on you, you've 
got problems. If it's based on God, you're 
in good company. Because that's where Jesus faced 
His joy. And please, please seek to cultivate 
it. Please seek to develop it. Please 
seek to grow it. There's nothing noble about not 
knowing your Bible. There's nothing noble about not 
knowing doctrine. There's nothing noble about laziness 
or indifference. Scriptures are very clear that 
we need to pursue God. We need to pursue the knowledge 
of God. We need to grow in our understanding of who he is. Not 
just because God will reward us. Even in that, I think we're 
faulty. I'm going to do McShane's Bible 
reading calendar so I can read through the Bible in a year. 
Fine. if the goal is to grow in your understanding of God. 
Not so that you can tell people, I do the McCain Bible reading 
calendar. Boy, am I happy! I'm going to 
go to Bible study every Wednesday night, all throughout the year. 
Great! Is it to grow in the knowledge 
of God? Or is it because you think there's 
some secret tally someone is keeping track of, and if you're 
not there, it reflects poorly on you? That's not a reason to 
go to Bible. That's not a reason to go to 
church. We're not saved by our performance. We're saved by God's grace through 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, take the Word of Christ seriously. but rather rejoice because your 
names are written in heaven. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for the Holy Scriptures, and we thank you for this account 
in Luke 10. We thank you for our Lord's emphasis, 
and I pray that we would all learn this lesson well, that 
we would not look at our performance, but we would look at your performance. 
We'd look at your Gospel. We look at Your glory. We look 
at election and predestination. We look at Your decree. We look 
at the entirety of Holy Scripture and what it testifies concerning 
our triune God and the saving of sinners. May these things 
promote joy in our lives. May these things promote joy 
in our families and in this local church. May we indeed manifest 
the joy that Paul speaks of and may we manifest the joy that 
Jesus evidenced here in Luke 10. We just pray now, Lord God, 
that you would help us to think biblically, help us to think 
rightly concerning these things. And we ask through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.