Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

Father. We ask now that the words of my mouth, the meditations of our hearts, would be acceptable in your sight, for we ask it in Jesus name, amen. It was on Friday of this week that I stood at a telephone public and put my last $0.20 in the machine. I dialed the number. It rang twice and suddenly I was disconnected and the machine ate my twenty cents. And so fortunately I was able to hit the operator button. A friendly operator spoke and she said, yes, may I help you? I said, I’m trying to dial this number. I was disconnected. Could you please connect me with that party? She said, I’m not able to do that. You will have to speak to a directory operator. With that she shifted me to another phone number.

It rang some 20 times and finally an operator said, this is the directory operator. I said, well, I’ve put $0.20 in the machine and I’m waiting to have a call place. She said, well, all I can do is give a refund. So if you give me your name and address, I will be glad to send you twenty cents. I said, well, that isn’t going to help me. I don’t have any change. She said, just a moment, I’ll put you in touch with the operator. And suddenly another sound of the telephone and a new operator answered and I said, I’m trying to place a call. I’ve talked to an operator and a directory operator and they have told me that you can place the call. She said, I don’t know why they keep telling people that.

The only thing that I can do is put you in touch with the directory operator and the directory operator will flash back to me and give approval that I can place the call for you. I said, now you’re going to hold on while I’m talking to the directory operator. Yes, I am. And as soon as I was connected to the directory operator, I heard this terrible sound of the hanging up of the operator. As I again began to explain my situation to a brand new directory operator, she said, it’s impossible for me to flash the operator. She has hung up. I’ll place you in contact with the operator. Now what you have to do this time is ask for her supervisor. And so I got a brand new operator and said, I’d like to speak to your supervisor.

And she said, is there something I’ve done wrong? I said, no, and I went through the whole story. Finally I spoke to the supervisor who put me on hold. And then the operator returned and said, I’ll be glad to place your call for you. What was that number again? And she dialed the number, and there was nobody home. About a half hour later, I was in the printer’s office. And each week the person who lays out our bulletin always asks with some degree of curiosity, what are you preaching on this week? And having just seen my pulse rate slowly drop from the episode with the operator, I said, I’m preaching on the subject of how great our joy is in Jesus Christ. And it struck me how contrary I was feeling at the moment.

And if I could have, I would have ripped that telephone off the wall. And there was little joy at that moment. And yet, at the same time, as we look at our text today from Matthew, chapter two, verse ten, we are told one of the greatest truths of scripture, perhaps one of the greatest sentences of scripture, certainly at this time of year. It fills us with some of the most wonderful feelings, as we would reflect that those wise men, when they saw the star, we are told they rejoiced with exceeding joy. Now, if you look at the word joy, you will find throughout the scripture that it is referred to in the Old Testament alone over 100 times.

And yet, as we look at the word joy, we see that it’s never developed in the Old Testament with the focus that we find in the new. For example, in one kings, we’re told that when King David proclaimed that Solomon was to be the next king, all of the people, we are told, went up with him, and they followed him. And the people played flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound. When Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem and there was opposition on every hand, we read in Nehemiah chapter eight, verse ten, as the strength of the laborers was diminishing, Nehemiah said, the joy of the Lord is our strength.

Jeremiah spoke to a group, saying that there would be remaining a remnant of those who are faithful, those who love the Lord, a remnant of Israel, and that the Lord would turn their mourning into joy. And it strikes me with some degree of clarity as we look at the Old Testament references to the word joy, that it is almost always used in reference to events that occurred, the rebuilding of the temple, a new king. And there is a human element to that joy. And yet, even though it is mentioned over a hundred times in the Old Testament, it seems as though the concept of joy is not fully developed until we come to Luke chapter two, verse ten.

When we read that the angels in Bethlehem spoke to the shepherds, and they said, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And here we find a reference to Joy that is not related to some change in administration to the completion of some building, but that God has brought into the world joy in the birth of this child, Jesus. Our text tells us that when the magi, those wise men, saw this star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. Now, the word joy in the New Testament is uniquely a Christian concept. Certainly there are things that can happen in life that bring me joy. The birth of a child brings joy.

The gathering of a group as they would come to witness the wedding of a man and a wife bring joy. A smile can bring joy, but these are earthly descriptions of joy. It’s only when we come to this description of the coming of the babe in the manger that we find out that something has occurred which is of such magnitude, such delight, that it is referred to as.

Thank you for listening to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org, or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. That’s Princeton Ministries Post Office box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 08543. The Lord bless you, and Doctor Smith looks forward to hearing from you.