1Samuel 2:1
I Rejoice
Hannah made a very simple but profound statement in this verse. She
said, "I rejoice." She was making this statement at a very unique
point in her life. From chapter 1, we learn:
Hannah had been barren.
She had prayed for a child.
God had given her a child.
Once given, she had refused to go worship the Lord until the
child was weaned.
After weaning the child, she gave the child to Eli the priest!
(She only had the one child and she had no promise of having
another.)
Now, as she returns home without the child she had longed for,
Hannah made the statement, "I rejoice."
It would seem that Hannah would be sad at this time. She had just
given away the treasure for which her heart had so longed, but she
was not sad. She was rejoicing.
Let me tell you some things about being happy and sad.
1. It takes less work to happy than to be sad.
I had heard the old saying that it takes more muscles to
wear a frown than to wear a smile. According to plastic
surgeon, Dr. David Soul, it doesn’t. He named the 12 muscles
required to smile and the 11 which are required to frown.
http://anatomynotes.blogspot.com/2006/01/muscles-to-smile-muscles-to
-frown.html
So why would I say it requires less work to be happy? Well,
it’s not because of science but experience that I say it. In
my experience, more energy is required to be sad than to be
happy. Being sad just wears you out. Ask anyone who battles
depression and they will tell you tired they are, but try to
follow anyone who is happy and they will run you to death.
2. It is better for you to be happy than sad. This one is
Biblical.
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a
medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
3. Being happy is a choice.
a. Christians chose the way they look at life and the
attitudes that characterize us.
b. Hannah rejoiced because she chose to rejoice.
This evening, let me give you some things that, if you want to, we
can rejoice in.
I. We can rejoice in the goodness of God.
A. By the term, goodness of God, I am not speaking of God’s
goodness to me or you, although He had been very good to me.
B. I am speaking of His nature. God is good and I rejoice in
that fact.
Nahum 1:7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the
day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust
in him.
C. Suppose God’s nature was akin to ours or even worse Satan’s?
1. Suppose God could liee? Salvation might be God’s cruel
joke.
2. Suppose God could be jealous? He might pick some to be
His favorite and destine some to the left overs.
3. Suppose God could change His mind? We would never be
safe.
4. Suppose God took pleasure in inflicting pain? We would be
His to torture for ever.
D. Yet, God is none of those things and has no evil or bad within
Him at all!
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above, and cometh down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning.
E. God being good does not mean that you and I will not sometimes
hurt or suffer.
1. In His goodness, God gave mankind a choice as to what kind
of world we would have.
2. Man chose sin.
3. Sin brings death; sin brings floods; sin brings cancers;
sin brings disease; sin brings suffering and sorrow.
4. Even in these things, God promises His children that He
will work it out for good.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose.
5. Why? Because He is good!
II. We can rejoice in payment of sin by Jesus. Considering where we
are, this should not need much explaining.
A. I was guilty in my sins.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God;
B. I deserved to die and be damned for them.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
C. Jesus took my place in judgment.
Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength,
in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
D. Jesus gave me His place in glory.
1John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but
we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be
like him; for we shall see him as he is.
III. I can rejoice in the work of the Holy Ghost.
A. The Holy Spirit has many works that He performs but none is
any more important than that of being our CONVICTOR.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It
is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go
not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world
of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father,
and ye see me no more;
11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world
is judged.
B. The Holy Spirit has two parties that require His convicting
power.
1. To the world, the Holy Ghost would reprove of sin.
a. The Holy Ghost is the One who deals with the lost (and
the saved) about sin.
b. I can define and declare sin but only He can make a
person regret and repent of it.
c. Of course, that conviction is required for salvation
so without the Holy Ghost, no one would ever be
saved.
2. To the saved, the Holy Ghost reproves (teach, direct) in
the ways of righteousness.
a. \\#10\\ Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit would
start doing what He had been doing.
b. Jesus had been showing the disciples something that
they had never seen before, righteous living.
(1) All the disciple had ever seen was pharisaical
living.
(2) That is religious without righteousness living.
(3) That is hypocritical living.
c. Man did not have to have the Holy Ghost to live a
righteous life.
(1) He could have done it with the Word of God.
(2) Many Old Testament saints did do.
(3) But it is a whole lot easier to live right with
Him living inside of us and directing us.
d. And the fact that we have the Holy Ghost now doesn’t
mean we can’t still be hypocrites.
(1) There are a lot of people who call themselves
Christians who are living hypocritical lives.
(2) But having the Holy Ghost makes it a whole lot
more difficult.
IV. We can rejoice in love of family.
A. I do not know if you have this one or not, but I do.
B. How could I not rejoice when a family that has loved me so
much, been so good to me, and made me so happy?
C. I have never lived a day of my existence without some human
being loving and doting upon me.
V. I can rejoice in the service of the church.
A. The church, like the Holy Spirit, has many hats to wear.
Every one of them is cause to rejoice.
B. Some of the services of the church:
1. The church is the nemesis of Satan.
2. The church is the line between good and evil.
3. The church is the fellowship of the redeemed.
4. The church is the proclaimer of the gospel.
5. The church is the nursery for the newborn Christian.
6. The church is the classroom for growing saved.
7. The church is the launch pad for the serving saint.
8. The church is the support for the front-line soldier.
9. The church is the emergency room for the wounded believer.
10. The church is the help for the struggling worshipper.
VI. I can rejoice in the beauty of creation.
A. Sometimes to countermand the world, we swing the pendulum too
far to the right.
1. Some worship nature (pantheism).
2. Others just claim to worship God in nature.
3. As a result, we sometimes deny God in nature, but He is
there!
Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse:
Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are
thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
B. We cannot see God when we look at creation but we can see His
fingerprints.
C. Rejoice in the beauty and glory that God has created all
around us.
VII. I can rejoice in the health of my body.
A. Again, this is personal to me.
1. I can see (some).
2. I can hear (some).
3. I can still run (some).
4. I can think (some).
B. For all my senses and abilities, I can rejoice.
C. I do not want to lose one of the many abilities I have enjoyed
to realize that I have taken them for granted and not thanked
God for them 1000 times!
VIII. I can rejoice in reliability of the Bible.
A. All the things I share with you today I know because I can
trust the Bible that tells me so.
2Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works.
B. The Word of God is reliable not only for doctrine but for all
matters of life and happiness.
IX. I can rejoice in the availability of salvation.
A. I am saved, but I am not rejoicing in my salvation alone.
B. I rejoice that I will ever find a person that cannot be
saved.
1. I have met some who will not be saved.
2. I met one who thought he could not be saved.
3. But salvation appears available to all who will believe
and repent during this age.
X. I can rejoice in the hope of heaven.
A. This past week Dr. Billy Graham went to heaven.
1. I am sure he was not a perfect man.
2. But he preached Jesus to millions.
3. Then he got old.
4. Then he died.
5. Is that all there is?
B. No. No! NO!
1. There is a heaven and it is real.
2. I have stood at caskets and preached it.
3. I have wept at loved ones tombs and rejoiced in it.
4. And the joy that truth gives me has thus far sustained me
in every sorrow I have seen.
C. And it can do so for you as well!
This World is Not My Home
Words and Music by Albert E. Brumley © 1965
This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
O Lord you know I have no friend like you
If Heaven’s not my home, then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Just up in Glory Land we’ll live eternally.
The Saints on every hand are shouting victory.
Their song of sweetest praise drifts back from Heaven’s shore
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
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