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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
THE JOYFUL SOUND
(Play Sound Effect CD – Approx. 3 minutes)
Sounds – sounds are everywhere. Voices speaking into your ears and your heart; music that floats across the airwaves; the noisome din of traffic; news broadcasts and the sounds of nature. Everywhere we go our minds are invaded by sounds.
In fact, sounds have become such a problem that our laws have had to be amended to allow for only limited decibels of sound in order to maintain peace and hearing health.
How many of you have been caught in traffic with the horns blowing, people shouting, traffic screaming by on the opposite side and then to have someone pull up and get caught close to you that has their bass music so loud that it rattles the trunk lid of their car and makes your windows rattle at the same time?
Yes, noise can be a problem, but noises can be helpful too. Take the sound of a fire or police siren to alert people to be out of the way so that emergencies can be handled quickly and lives saved as a result. Or just think about that wonderful sound that most of us hear every morning from the alarm clock that wakens us from a deep and restful sleep. Or take the sound of soothing music. One old saying is that “music hath charms to sooth the savage beast” and we all know of a lot of two legged beasts that really could use some soothing, right?
How many of you get your best sleep of the night in that 10 minute time frame between the first alarm and the snooze alarm? It has been said that most heart attacks occur between the hours of 6 AM and 9 AM. Why, because people are resting comfortably, their heart rate is lower than it will be all day and suddenly there is this alarming noise and the heart races at triple speed for a few minutes until we figure out what the noise is. If we could just do away with the noise of the alarm clock, perhaps we could lower the rate of heart attacks, right? Well, we all know that’s not possible for most people so we just have to keep taking the risk every morning!
Considering the multitude of sounds that we hear every day is interesting, funny and even frustrating but I want us to look at another sound tonight.
Psalms 89:15 – 17, “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: They walk, O Jehovah, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name do they rejoice all the day; And in thy righteousness are they exalted. For thou art the glory of their strength; And in thy favor our horn shall be exalted”
Are you blessed tonight? If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have been washed in the Blood of the Lamb, saved from the pits of sin, cleansed, given the Righteousness of Christ and born again by the Spirit of God – then my friend, you are the most blessed people on earth.
We are blessed because of we know the “Joyful Sound” that David sang about in his worship to God! Just what is that “Joyful Sound”?
The Joyful Sound is the sound of the hammer striking the nails that were driven into the hands and feet of our Lord.
The Joyful Sound is the sound of Jesus’ last words upon the Cross when he shouted, “It is finished”.
The Joyful Sound is the sound of the Holy Spirit as He speaks to our hearts and draws us closer to God.
The Joyful Sound is the sound of the voice of the Lord speaking to us through his Holy Word.
Blessed are those people who know the joyful sound…of the love of God, the grace, and the mercy of God that are ours in Christ. We know the sound of perfect peace in the midst of life’s storms. We know the sound of abundant forgiveness of sin and pardon from the sentence of death by the blood of Christ. We know the sound of justification that comes by his righteousness; of atonement by his sacrifice; and of complete salvation that is ours through Jesus’ obedience, sufferings, and death.
The Joyful Sound is the sound of the Gospel that is preached to us a good news, instead of the steady diet of bad news that is fed to us daily by all of our national and international news agencies, TV and radio.
The sound of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a joyful sound because it is a shout of victory gained over a war that was impossible to win, that great victory over death, hell, the grave and eternal punishment for sin!
It is the sound of victory after the long struggle and the shouts of battle because Jesus has conquered Satan, overcome the world, destroyed the power of death and put every enemy of our soul under his feet once and for all time.
The Joyful Sound is the sound of Jubilee, or the time of redemption of man to his rightful state and place in God that God has intended for him to occupy since the dawn of creation! WE HAVE REGAINED OUR ETERNAL INHERITANCE IN THE REALMS OF GLORY!
I think that the words of one old Black Spiritual Song have a very real and powerful message to every born again Christian. These words were quoted by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the end of his great speech on freedom and liberty around the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation that was supposed to set men free from slavery - “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
The nation of Israel knew the Joyful Sound of the Jubilee Trumpet. Every 50 years, every debt was forgiven, every debtor slave was set free, and all of the property in Israel reverted back to its original owner as each family was allowed to regain their inheritance.
Leviticus 25:9-10, “Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. NIV
The Joyful Sound for a Born Again Christian is the sound of the Gospel that
proclaims liberty to the captives, freedom from the dominion of sin, and condemnation by it, from the tyranny of Satan, and the bondage of the law; and gives an inheritance to all the saints in Christ.
Oh it is a wonderful thing to hear the preaching of the Gospel, but it is greater to "know" it spiritually and to experience it for yourself!
Those who hear and live the Joyful Sound walk in the light of God enjoying the presence of God, having the manifestation of Jesus in their midst, and have the Joy of the Lord in their hearts.
Finally, we shall soon hear the Joyful Sound of God’s trumpet as he calls his Bride home for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. What a joyful sound that will be. What a glorious reunion we are going to have!
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
What a JOYFUL SOUND that will be! Blessed are those who hear that Joyful Sound. Blessed are those who obey and respond to the Joyful Sound of the preaching of the good news of the Gospel. Are you ready to hear that sound? Are you ready for the coming of the Lord to take his church away? Are you watching the eastern sky and waiting for his soon return. What a Joyful Sound that trumpet is going to be for those who are ready to meet him!
There will be no more sounds of fighting in the streets or crying in the homes! There will be no more sounds of mourning over those who have fallen asleep in death. There will be no more sounds of saber rattling and angry voices of war. There will be no more sounds of pain, no more screams in fear, no more shouts of battle – only Joyful Sounds of praising God and worship of our God upon his throne.
Only the Joyful Sounds of a delivered people who will sing a new song. Only the Joyful Sounds of eternal victory because the battle is over forever!
Blessed are those who will hear those Joyful Sounds!
