Joy Cometh in the Morning

This message is one of the Times Square pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing to World Challenge, P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or calling 214-963-8626.

None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends. I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave, thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but a moment.

In his favorous life, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Amen. I think Sister Gwen had an idea of what my message was tonight, and that's why she had the choir sing that.

Joy cometh in the morning. Amen. Amen.

Lord, we thank you. We thank you for the great joy that we have. Lord, what great joy and victory we feel here tonight.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Glory to God.

Lord, we're just being swept up in the flow of your Spirit in this meeting. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah.

Lord, thank you for the joy that has come in the morning and will continue to come. And Lord, tonight you put on my heart to talk about that morning. Hallelujah.

A morning like no other morning will ever be. That morning when we'll be with you forever. Hallelujah.

Lord, all of our joy, all of our mornings point to that morning. All of our joy points to that joy. Lord, we thank you.

We have a measure of it now, but it's only in part. Now we know in part, but then face to face. Bless your people.

Bless your word. Lord, touch people's lives here tonight. Lord, there are some who, while we rejoice, may not be able to rejoice because they do not know the source of the joy that you've given us.

And so, Lord, reach out through this auditorium tonight. Those that do not know you, those who are backslidden, those who have something that has robbed them of that joy. Lord, minister to their hearts, we pray tonight in Jesus' name.

Amen. You may be seated. Tonight I want to talk to you about some reasons why there is, for the true believer, joy that cometh in the morning.

However, what morning are we talking about? When is that morning? Now, to understand the biblical meaning of morning, you have to know that God's day began or begins with an evening and it ends with a morning. Ours starts in the morning and ends in the evening. God's arrangement is different.

His calendar is different. We read all through the creation chapter in Genesis. The evening and the morning was the first day.

The evening and the morning was the second day. The evening and the morning were the third day. Now all of that has a spiritual application.

There are many ways that that can be applied. For example, before we came to Christ, it was evening. For the man of the world, the man that does not know the Lord, his life begins in the morning.

It begins with a morning of opportunity, but it always ends in the evening of despair. But as a Christian, when you come to Christ, it was evening, it was dark. And in fact, some of you were saved at the midnight hour.

You were near death, you were near destruction until a light shone into your darkness. And thereafter, it has been joy that cometh in the morning. And morning after morning after morning.

In fact, your morning has been turned to morning. In 2 Peter 1.9 says, we have now also a more sure word of prophecy, meaning the scripture. Where unto you do well that you take heed as a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn.

And the day star, the day star arise in your hearts. There's only one way that you can experience joy in the morning. And that is by having the day star, which is Jesus, arise in your heart.

Now, not only do we have that experience. We not only pass from the darkness of sin to the morning of salvation. But from time to time, we pass through nights of sorrow.

Nights of sadness, nights of suffering and pain and sickness. But even in these things, thank God, the evening of sorrow always is followed by a morning of joy. A preacher friend loves to quote a verse which is found from Genesis to Revelation.

I was sharing with him one time a particular experience, a particular burden. And he said, Don, he said, don't forget, you know, whatever has happened, it comes to pass. It comes to pass.

And for example, that little phrase is all through the scripture. It says of Jesus, and it came to pass that he did this. It came to pass that he said that.

It came to pass that this happened in his life. And as I was sharing with this particular minister friend about a particular situation I was going through. He said, Don, remember that thing you're going through.

It came to pass. I said, you know, sir, that's very profound. Thank you.

It did. It came to pass. It came to pass away.

Our evening of sorrow always comes to pass because God brings us into the joy of a new morning. But tonight I want to speak about a joy that cometh in the morning. I refer to a morning that is coming.

A final morning that will never again be followed by another evening or another night. Right now we are hurrying through the nightmare of our human and earthly experience. The shadows are dark and ominous.

And they're menacing. But there is a morning coming that will surpass all mornings. And this particular morning will be followed by a day that will never end.

The night that you are passing through right now is only temporary. And when the morning that I'm referring to comes, there will be no more sorrow. No more sadness.

No more suffering. No more pain. No more sickness.

No more temptation. No more separations. It's a time when, as the songwriter has said, one glimpse of his dear face, all sorrows will erase.

Oh, that's the joy, my friend, that's coming in the morning. I was driving my car a week or so ago. And the Holy Spirit came and filled that glorified piece of junk that I drive.

The Holy Spirit filled that place, filled that car. And I started thinking about the things that are going to be over when we get to heaven and when we see Jesus. And I want to tell you, I had to watch it.

Because when that happens, I forget about the speed and forget about everything. It seems like my foot accelerates. Because, you know, when the presence of God gets heavy, then my foot gets heavy.

Officer, I was just thinking about heaven. Oh yeah, oh yeah. I began to think, first of all, the one thing, the first thing that thrills my soul about that morning that's coming is that the battle will be over.

The battle will be over. Psalm 46.9 says, He maketh wars to cease. And what a day that will be when our battles, your battle with temptation, your battle with sin, your battle with trials, your battles of your marriage, your battles of whatever, they're all going to be over.

What a day that will be. A second reason why there will be such joy in the morning that will never again be followed by darkness is because, like Apostle Paul, I'm no longer going to be in a strait or be in a fix. And I'll explain that to you in a few moments.

Because Paul talked about a strait, a dilemma, a conflict that he was in. And I want you to see tonight, I'm going to prove to you that you're in that same kind of conflict. And that one day, that conflict is going to be over.

Hallelujah. And then finally, a part of the reason there will be such joy in the morning of the day we're forever with Christ is because that which is perfect, that which is perfect will have come. These are three things or three reasons why we ought to have heaven on our mind and be always looking up because our redemption and our Redeemer draweth nigh.

Let me go through these things tonight. First of all, I look forward to the day when all our battles will be over and there will be no more wars. Now, I take you to Psalms 30 because David wrote Psalms 30 at a time when a morning of joy followed a long period of night.

It is believed that Psalms 30 was sung and was introduced at the occasion of the dedication of David's house or residence. The residence of the king. Now, why would David be so joyful over building a house? Doesn't it sound carnal to have the scriptures record and for David to make such a big thing and to have such high praise in his heart because he was building a house, a palace in Zion.

But that's what many believe that that's the occasion. That's what motivated this psalm. That's why he had joy in the morning.

Now, the reason when you understand what was going on, the reason he says in verse 1, I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast lifted me up and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. You see, David had made that house of cedar to live in, but it was not just a house, it was what it represented. He was now safely set on the throne as a king.

He no longer lived in the cave of Dulem or was going from cave to cave or mountain to mountain or wilderness to wilderness. He no longer had to battle against Saul. He no longer had to go through nights of being a fugitive and he was hunted like a common criminal.

And furthermore, he had done nothing to deserve it except the fact that he had been God's chosen servant. And so when he says, I will extol thee for thou hast lifted me up and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. David, you see, had had plenty of enemies.

He had enemies during those days when he fled from Saul. He even had hidden enemies in his own camp. He had enemies in his own household, his son.

And they had succeeded for a while in driving him off his throne. But there came a day for David when the war ceased and God gave him rest. Let me give you a little historical background on it.

You don't need to turn to it, I'll read it. 2 Samuel 5, 11 and 12, it says, And Hiram, king of Ira, sent messengers to David and cedar trees and carpenters and maces and built David a house. And David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake.

Two chapters later, verse 1, listen to what it says. And it came to pass. And it came to pass.

What came to pass? David's dark night and evening of warfare with Saul had passed away. It came to pass when the king sat in his house and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies. No wonder we hear him extolling the Lord in Psalms 30.

He's rejoicing because, you see, the battle is over. He is set now on the throne. He's finally come into his rightful inheritance.

And let me tell you something, you'd extol the Lord too if you were sitting in your apartment or your house instead of sitting in a cave and having the whole nation looking for you. And to see who would be the first one to spot David and go and squeal on him and tell Saul so Saul could find him. And David's dark night as an enemy of Saul was over.

And now he has a morning of joy. He sits in his house. And all I want to tell you, my friend, one of these days you and I are going to sit in our house.

Hallelujah. And the battle's going to be over. Glory to God.

The battle's going to be over. David goes on and he talks about two other things here. Verse 2, he said, Oh Lord my God, I cried unto thee and thou hast healed me.

He does also believe that because David was living as he was as a fugitive that he wasn't eating proper. He got sick and in fact it is believed that he may have been even right near death. And in his sickness David cries to the Lord and he thanks God for healing him physically.

And even emotionally he was at the point of despair. Verse 3, Oh Lord thou hast brought up my soul from the grave. Thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit.

But you see all of David's experiences are a reminder of the battles that believers, you and I, are continually engaged in. And in verse 5, if you have Psalms 30 open, let me read it to you again. And David states this wonderful truth about the evening and the night of his trials and tribulation.

He says for his anger endureth for a moment. You see David during this time has moments of self-doubt. He has moments when he wonders even does God love him because of all that he's going through.

And so he says that it appeared even that God was angry with him for a moment. But he said there's only a moment because in his favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.

And my friend this has a lot of applications but one of them I make to you tonight is that it speaks to me of the morning of the day of the Lord. And that day when all of our battle, I look forward to that day my friend because all our battles are going to be over, hallelujah. There will be no more souls, there will be no more sickness, there will be no more weeping.

Paul said it well, 2 Corinthians 7.5 he says for when we were coming to Macedonia our flesh had no rest. We were troubled on every side, there was fighting within and fighting and fears without. No wonder when you read some of the things that Paul went through, turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 4. No wonder when his journeys, after all of his journeys, he writes this to us in 2 Timothy the 4th chapter.

It's a familiar passage but you have to understand it in the context of what was going on in his life. He teaches us what our attitude should be when it comes time for our departure to be with Christ. 2 Timothy 4.6 he says for I am ready, for I am ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand.

And you know the tone of his letter is such that Paul is not asking for comfort or condolence. He didn't need a sympathy card at that moment in his life. Neither did he need some hyper faith person to come along and say Paul you know if you just trust God you shouldn't have those negative thoughts.

You need to rebuke those negative thoughts. Oh no Paul wasn't thinking about that. Paul was thinking about the joy that was going to come in the morning and so he said I'm ready to depart.

And I was studying that word depart because it's a very interesting word in the Greek language. The word depart is very picturesque and it's applied in their everyday language in various ways. For example the word depart was used to refer to the unyoking of an animal from the shafts of a cart or a plow.

And what David was saying, excuse me what Paul was saying is that death or departure or being with Christ was an unyoking from all of the burdens that he had carried. And he was saying I'm ready to depart, I'm ready to be unyoked from all of this and going to be with Jesus. I don't know about you but I'm ready to get unyoked.

Do you ever get weary of the heavy load that you're carrying? Do you ever feel like an ox that's carrying a cart of heavy problems and heavy debts and other problems? Well listen God will give you strength now to carry it but also remember one of these days we're going to be unyoked. And we're going to exchange a spirit of heaviness for a garment of praise. In that morning over there.

But the word for departure in its original language also is used as a word for loosening the ropes of a tent. And for Paul you see he was saying it's time to pull up the stakes and to strike camp again, I'm moving on. Now he had made many of a journey across Asia Minor and Europe.

And as he did listen to what he had to endure. He said in my travels I have been in constant danger from rivers and floods. From bandits, from my own countrymen, danger in high places, danger among false Christians.

I have been through toil and hardship. I have passed many a sleepless night. I have endured hunger and thirst.

I have often been without food. I have been cold and I have experienced nakedness. But besides these things that are without.

That which cometh upon me daily the care of all the churches. And Paul reflecting back over the perils of his journey. He says and when he says now I'm ready.

I'm ready to depart. I'm ready to pull up stakes. And my friend I don't know about you but I identify with that.

I'm ready to exchange, I'm ready to pull up stakes. There's nothing that's got me held down on this earth. I'm ready to pull up stakes for the last time.

To experience that final joy in the morning. Now there's another reason. Go with me to first, excuse me.

Go with me to Philippians. Go to Philippians chapter 1. I want you to see something else. Philippians chapter 1. Another reason that it will be joy that cometh in the morning.

When we go to be with the Lord. Is that never again will we be betwixt. Have you ever been betwixt? I'm going to explain it to you.

You don't know it but you are. Listen to Philippians 1.23. He said for I am in a strait. I'm in a fix.

I am in a strait and then there's this word. I think the word is not in the original. I believe it was added by the translators.

He said I am in a strait betwixt two. Having a desire to depart and be with Christ. Which is far better.

Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Now I don't know if you're conscious of it. I don't know if like Paul you have ever felt betwixt in this manner.

You see betwixt means to be in an intermediate position. Neither altogether one nor altogether another. Let me give it to you again.

Betwixt means to be in an intermediate position. Neither altogether one nor altogether another. You see Paul had two worlds that are pulling him at him at the same time.

The one from above and the one from below in which he was involved not in the world but in ministering to the world. And so Paul said I'm in a fix. I'm in a dilemma.

I'm betwixt because when I look up I want to be with the Lord. When I look out on the congregation I want to be with you. And so here is Paul.

That's what it means to be betwixt. And he uses the word straight which is a very heavy word. It's a strong word.

It's a word that would be used if you were in prison and they put you between two prisoners. You would be in a straight. You would be in a dilemma.

You would be right and you couldn't move. And so Paul applies this dilemma and he feels caught in between this. Now most of us, many of us experience the same thing but you don't know it.

Let me prove it to you. Let me prove it to you. I want to do a little experiment now and you got to follow me and you got to do it.

And I'm not trying to treat you like students or whatever and this is not a trick. I'm not setting you up for anything but I want to prove to you that you're just like Paul. We're just like Paul.

Let me ask you this question. How many of you want to go to heaven? How many of you want to go to heaven? Please raise your hand. Alright, how many of you are ready and willing now or tomorrow and the near future to die to get there? I didn't see as many hands and the hands that I saw went up very, very slow.

Now you understand Paul. Now you understand Philippians 1.23. You see, you've got yourself in Paul's same straight or fix. You want to go to heaven but you don't want to die to get there.

And one of these days we're no longer going to be in such a straight, we're no longer going to be betwixt. And the reason we're betwixt is that it doth not yet appear what we shall be. And oh thank God because if it did appear what we shall be, none of us would want to be here.

None of us would want to be here. And the world would not be evangelized. Yet we don't belong to this world except for one reason and that is to sign up as many people as possible to go with us.

Hallelujah. Otherwise only fools and sinners and kingdom now people would want to stay here. I'll let Gary North and Earl Polk and all the rest of them, they can have it, I'm betwixt, I'm ready to go, hallelujah.

And the only reason I want to stay, I don't want to run Washington, I want to save the world, we want to evangelize the world. That's the only reason we're here. You see Paul was in a blessed straight.

Not between two evil things but between two good things. Between living for Christ and going to be with him. His desire, his inclination was for death.

Now most of us have an aversion to death but Paul had a preference for death. He said having a desire to depart and to be with Christ. You see Paul's straight was not between living in this world and living in heaven.

Because between these two there can be no comparison. But his straight or his being betwixt was between serving Christ in this world or enjoying him in another world. And yet it was Christ that was in his heart.

And you see we ought to examine our hearts. Do you feel yourself in such a straight? Do you know such a state of being betwixt and between as the expression goes? There should be only one reason for wanting to abide in the flesh. And that is to reach the lost and to minister to others who are not yet reached.

Otherwise there ought to be something in our heart. And oh if there's anything that I keep coming back to in messages so often is this. Is that the church today has lost its sense of eternity and having eternal values.

And the nearness of the coming of the Lord and the desire to be with him. The whole me generation concept has infiltrated into the church. And you just don't hear preaching or people talk so much about wanting to go and be with the Lord.

The only reason I want to Paul said it's more needful for you to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. That's the only reason that I want to say otherwise I'm ready to go. I have nothing holding me.

Nothing holding me. The life principle of a Christian can hardly be put better. He said in verse 21 of that first chapter for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

In other words you can have your cake and eat it too. You got it made no matter what happens. So we stay, we're staying here for the call of God.

But if it wasn't for that I want to go and be with the Lord. Praise the Lord. Don't worry honey the Lord hasn't shown me anything.

Don't get worried. But if he wants to take me I'm ready to go. Hallelujah.

I'm ready to go. The final reason why it will be joy in the morning when we depart to be with Christ is that the perfect will have come. The perfect will have come.

Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 13. 1 Corinthians 13. This is the end of side one.

Scriptures to those of you that know the know the word. 1 Corinthians 13 says for we know in part and we prophesy in part. Ah but when the perfect comes the partial that which is in part shall be done away.

You see the joy that comes in the morning. That joy that is never followed by an evening. That joy will be because the perfect will have come.

1 John 3.2 is a description of this perfection. Dear friends we are God's children now. What shall we be? What we shall be has not been revealed.

But we know but what we know is that when it is revealed we shall be like him. The word perfection means completeness and wholeness. Now I thank God that we have a Christ that is revealed to us now.

A Christ that is sufficient for our redemption. He's sufficient for everything that we face. Every evening that we go through every trial that we go through Christ is sufficient.

Matthew 13.11 Jesus said the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given to you. We have truth that has set us free. And I thank God for that.

Because you see some people are always looking for some new exotic revelation or truth. But I want to tell you I'm not. I have everything I need now for righteousness and holiness.

I have Jesus now it says ye are complete in him. But you see I want more of what I already have. And as wonderful as what I have and know is still it's only in part.

And I long for a day when the perfect comes. You see so many Christians go off track. Or the reason so many go off track is that they do not search the scriptures.

They're not satisfied with a present revelation of Christ. Or they're not willing to wait for when the perfect has come. And so they keep looking for some new some mystical revelation.

And this is how the enemy traps them. And instead of going towards Christ all of these mysticisms all of these so-called new revelation. Simply take them away from Christ.

But my friend I'm looking for a day not down here on earth. But I'm looking for a future day when that which is perfect will come. So that what that which is in part will be done away with.

And when the end is once attained the means to the end of course will be abolished. There will be no need of tongues no need of prophecy. For you shall see him as he is.

That's why that's why we sing oh what a day that will be. And you see our present state in comparison to what it will be is referred to by Paul. As a state of childhood look at it.

He said he follows it up he said when I was a child I speak as a child. I understood as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things. Do you know something we you see what Paul was saying is that right now we're as a child.

But we will be as a man in eternity. And what Paul really is saying is very humbling. He says referring to our present spiritual state he said that even if I prophesy.

Even if I was taught the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven in such an extraordinary way. Still I am not out of my childish state. For all the knowledge of the word that we may have.

And for all of the books that line my walls. That my wife feels in an undated with sometimes I have to sneak books into the house. She says oh no another book.

For all of that and for all of the years I've been working with walking with a lot still I only understand as a child. I still only speak as a child. Because that is such the difference between that's what Paul is stating the difference between our present state and the state which is to come.

And let me tell you if we're ever tempted to get puffed up by our spiritual experiences. If we're ever tempted to get puffed up by all of the God-given gifts. Or the revelations that he gives us or the prophetic flow in our lives.

Remember we're only into kids stuff. Spiritually speaking I'm not yet a man. I still understand as a child I think as a child.

And as a church bless your heart we could put over the door Toys R Us. I mean anytime we think we arrived. Anytime we think we've got it we better put that up there.

Because Paul said in comparison to what's going to come. This is only a part of it. Hallelujah.

Until that which is perfect is come. It is written I have not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man. The things that God has prepared for them that love him.

Oh yes they are revealed by his spirit. But still we're in a state of childhood. I want to see Jesus because I'll be a man.

Because that which is perfect will have come. First Corinthians 13 12 says for now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face. Now I know in part but then shall I know even as I'm known.

Think of it. That's a wonderful thought. I will recognize Jesus even as he now recognizes me.

I will understand this completely then as I am understood by him now. And these are just some reasons tonight. Very simple reasons.

Simple message tonight. Why there's going to be joy in the morning. Our battles will be over.

Hallelujah. Our battles will be over. We'll no longer be in a straight.

We'll no longer be fixed in that betwixt state that Paul was talking about. And that which is perfect will have come. Praise his name.

Oh God put eternity in our hearts. Put the love of his soon coming in our hearts. Put a love to see him in our hearts.

May it prevail over our thoughts. May it be in our minds every single day that we live. May we live that way.

These are also some good reasons why you ought to be ready to meet the Lord. If you're not ready to meet him. Will you stand with me? Will you stand? Qualified than those who are less intelligent or less capable.

But if they have a teachable spirit God can use them. And I'll take them any day. I'll take them any day.

It's easier to mold clay than to chisel a stone. And when Jesus said to some of his listeners. Or what he said to them applies here tonight.

Listen. Matthew 18.3. And he, Jesus said, I tell you the truth.