Maintaining the Joy of the Lord
By David Wilkerson
May 17, 2010 Dearly Beloved:

DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD?
The Bible says, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of
God… Some must enter therein”
(Hebrews 4:9, 6).
We are to pray, seek and ask, and then simply trust that God is at
work. We are to believe he is
leading us. And whether everything ends up in loss or gain, God has a
plan. He closes one door to
open another. Why the Lord has subjected his miracle-working power to
our human faith, I can’t
explain. All I know is that Christ shows us that unbelief paralyzes his
work.
Time after time under Moses’ leadership, the children of Israel
refused to lay hold of God’s past
promises to them. Every word that God had said to them was useless in
their minds. Because his
glorious promises were not mixed with faith, they became void and
ineffective.
Often the Israelites wanted a new word from the Lord. Despite his great
promises to them, they asked
in crisis after crisis, “God, are you with us or not?” In other
words: “Lord, give us your word that you’re
with us. We can’t see any evidence that you are. Give us a new
revelation, some new evidence.”
In spite of their murmuring and accusations of unfaithfulness, God gave
Moses a reminder: “Dread
not, neither be afraid… The Lord your God shall fight for you,
according to all that he did for you in
Egypt.” Note this was not a new word. Rather, God was saying, “I
told you in Egypt I would go before
you, I would fight for you, I would dwell among you.” The same
reminder is echoed in both the Old
and New Testaments: “The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold
your peace” (Exodus 14:14).
Over and over God had told them, “I am with you. I will fight for
you. Lay hold of my promise, and
forget it not.” But here they were again, trembling before their
enemies, voicing all kinds of fear,
saying, “We are not able to go up.” They doubted God’s call on
their lives, doubted God loved them,
doubted his presence in their midst.
Many of us are so like Israel! We wonder, “God, are you really with
me in this? I know what you
promised me, but is it really true? Oh, Lord, I’ve got to hear from
you. Please, speak a new word. Give
me some new assurance. Will I be delivered from this?”
Why do we fear and tremble before our enemy? It is because we do not
truly believe what God has
already promised us. Often we act as if he has never said a word to us!
The Holy Spirit does send us a
special word of comfort, assurance or direction. But the surest word is
always found in the Scriptures.
Do you tremble before an enemy stronghold? Remember what God has said
to you: “I will fight for
you! Dread not, neither be afraid. Greater is he that is in you than he
that is in the world. No man or
devil can pluck you out of my hand. I will keep you and sanctify you by
my Spirit.” Dear one, lay hold
of the promises already provided. Trust God’s revealed Word!
Thank you for remembering our ministry worldwide to the poor, the
needy, the widowed and
fatherless. For information on these efforts and others, go to:
www.worldchallenge.org/missions .

In Christ,
DAVID WILKERSON
DW:bbm 5.17.10

Newsletter: Maintaining the Joy of the Lord
May 17, 2010 The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).
At the time these words were
proclaimed, the Israelites had just returned from captivity in Babylon.
Under the leadership of Ezra
and Nehemiah, the people had rebuilt Jerusalem’s ruined walls. Now
they set their sights on
reestablishing the temple and restoring the nation.
Nehemiah called a special meeting at the city’s water gate within
Jerusalem’s rebuilt walls. “All the
people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was
before the water gate”
(Nehemiah 8:1). Some scholars believe this was a gathering of about
50,000 people.
First came the preaching of God’s Word. Scripture says the people
were hungry to hear it: “They
spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses…
Ezra the priest brought the law
before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear
with understanding”
(8:1–2).
These people didn’t need to have God’s Word urged on them. A
consensus of hunger had developed
among them. And they were fully prepared to submit to the authority of
God’s Word, wanting to be
governed by it and to conform to its truth.
Amazingly, Ezra preached to the crowd for five or six hours, “from
the morning until midday” (8:3).
Yet no one present noticed the time passing. Instead, “The ears of
all the people were attentive unto
the book of the law” (8:3).
What an incredible scene. I believe it would be hard to find such an
occurrence in the modern church.
Yet true restoration can never take place without this kind of
all-consuming hunger for God’s Word.
Make no mistake, at that scene at the water gate in Jerusalem there was
no eloquent preaching. Ezra
didn’t deliver a sensational sermon. Rather, he preached straight
from the Scriptures, reading for
hours on end and explaining the meaning. And as the people listened
they grew excited.
At times Ezra was so overcome by what he read that he stopped to
“(bless) the Lord, the great God”
(8:6). The glory of the Lord came down powerfully and everyone raised
their hands in praise: “All the
people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands” (8:6). In
repentance and brokenness,
“they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to
the ground” (8:6). Then they
stood up to experience more.
There was no manipulation from the pulpit, no dramatic testimony. There
wasn’t even any music as
yet. These people simply had an ear to hear everything God said to
them.
Beloved, I believe the Lord desires to move among his people in the
same way today. Yet the kind of
reviving and restoration we see happening to God’s people in Nehemiah
8 requires a ministry and
congregation as excited by the Scriptures as Ezra was.

It also requires a people who are just as anxious to hear God’s Word
and walk in it. Even the most
fiery preacher can’t stir up a complacent congregation if they’re
not hungry to hear God’s truth.
The result of this powerful preaching was a continuing wave of
brokenness among the hearers.A
half-day of preaching wasn’t enough for the hungry Israelites. They
wanted even more of God’s Word.
They formed groups, with seventeen elders besides Ezra leading them in
Bible studies the rest of the
day.
“(They) caused the people to understand the law…so they read in the
book in the law of God
distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the
reading” (Nehemiah 8:7–8).
As the people grasped God’s law they began to mourn over their sin.
“All the people wept when they
heard the words of the law” (8:9). Try to picture it: 50,000 people
bowing to the ground, mourning
their transgressions in unison. Like a hammer, God’s Word had broken
their pride, and their weeping
echoed over the hills for miles.
I ask you: Is this what an awakening is all about? Is it a word so
piercing that people are driven to
their knees, weeping and repenting before God? I have experienced such
holy gatherings myself.
When I was a child, our family attended “camp meetings” at the
Living Waters Camp Ground in
Pennsylvania. Jesus’ second coming was preached with such power and
authority that everyone was
convinced Christ could return any moment.
Yet as genuine as these manifestations were, none of these things in
themselves can draw sinners
into God’s house. Imagine an unconverted person trying to bear up
under life’s stresses, with marital
problems, hurting and confused, afraid his life has no meaning. Such a
person is joyless, with no
hope. Nothing he tries satisfies his inner thirst. It is the
manifestation of the genuine joy of Jesus that
touches him in the midst of his pain and sorrow.
We have to understand: The water-gate revival in Jerusalem wasn’t for
sinners. It was for the
back-slidden children of God. The Lord was trying to restore his
people, to deliver them from bondage
and baptize them with joy to make them strong. Indeed, the testimony he
wants to bring forth in his
people is lasting, genuine joy. “The joy of the Lord is your
strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). This joy, which
comes from true repentance and trust in God’s Word, brings strength
to his people and draws sinners
into his house.
I believe this deep, abiding joy is largely missing today. I have heard
Christians say, “We prayed down
a revival in our church.” Yet this cannot happen by prayer alone.
There can’t be any such awakening
unless people hunger diligently for God’s Word. And they must wholly
commit their lives to being
governed by the Scriptures. We simply can’t obtain heaven’s joy
until the pure Word has convicted us
of our backslidings.
When David disobeyed, he lost the joy of the Lord. That joy could only
be restored by true

repentance. And David knew this; so he prayed, “Wash me thoroughly
from mine iniquity, and cleanse
me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever
before me …Purge me”
(Psalm 51:2–3, 7). David also prayed to regain what he’d lost:
“Restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation” (Psalm 51:12).
When God’s Word is revered, the result is an outpouring of genuine
“Jesus Joy.”Ezra told the crowds,
in essence, “You have hungered for God’s Word and allowed it to
work in your heart. You have
repented and mourned, and God is pleased. But now it is time to
rejoice. Take out your handkerchiefs
and wipe away your tears. It is a time for joy!”
The glory of the Lord fell on Israel, and the people spent the next
seven days rejoicing: “All the people
went their way to eat, and to drink…and to make great mirth, because
they had understood the
words that were declared unto them” (Nehemiah 8:12).
The Hebrew word for “mirth” here means “gladness, happiness.”
This isn’t just a good feeling, but a
deep, inner exuberance. It is clear to everyone around that this
wellspring of joy has come from
heaven.
When we started Times Square Church in 1987, we quickly realized we
were pastoring in a
modern-day Corinth, one of the most carnal areas in the world.
Therefore, we had to preach a
convicting message that would awaken hearts. When we first opened our
doors, our services were
attended by many Christians who worked in the entertainment industry on
stage, TV and film. Some
had chosen to stay in careers that clearly dishonored the Lord.
We wondered whether we could evangelize unsaved show people if our own
congregants were still
involved in unsavory aspects of the business. So we preached a message
of “separation,” and the
Lord began to deal with the people. Many gave up lucrative careers in
show business and God blessed
them marvelously. One former actor now pastors a church in Israel.
We discovered that God had kept a godly remnant for himself in Times
Square, a people who loved
his Word. In every service the people sat like hungry birds, their
mouths wide open for food.
Afterward, they took home sermon tapes to listen to. Our church
experienced a spirit of repentance,
an eagerness to obey and a readiness to conform to God’s Word.
As we all came under the power and government of God’s Word,
ministers and congregation alike,
our services were filled with more than tears of repentance. The
sanctuary was filled with sounds of
victory, joy and gladness. There was great rejoicing because we had
begun to understand the great
truth of God’s Word. People cried with joy when they began to see who
they were in Christ — that at
the Cross all their sins were judged, and that they were no longer
under God’s wrath.
To maintain the joy of the Lord among his people Israel, God called for
an even deeper work in the
nation.God had heard the Israelites’ cry and he had shown mercy to
them. He had turned their

mourning into mirth, allowing them to shout and rejoice. And now he
called them to gather for yet
another meeting. In short, if Israel’s joy was to be maintained —
if it was not to be lost once again —
God had to dig a little deeper.
Certain areas of people’s lives still weren’t conformed to his
Word. Yet the Lord had allowed everyone
to rejoice for a season because he wanted them to know they were loved
and secure. Now, during this
state of acceptance and joy, he asked them all to commit to a greater
separation from the world.
God said to these joyful souls, “I am well pleased with you. You have
revered my Word, repenting of
your sin, rejoicing in my mercy and committing to obey me. Now it’s
time for you to act on my love. I
want you to separate yourselves wholly, to break away completely from
the worldly influences that
have crept into your hearts and homes.”
The simple fact is, God’s people can’t go forward to fullness in
Christ if we don’t increasingly separate
ourselves from the spirit of this world. If we’re not becoming more
heavenly minded and less attached
to worldly pleasures surrounding us, we also will be drained of the joy
of our salvation. The sad truth
is, many believers are unable to enjoy their salvation because they
neglect obeying God’s Word.
Obedience to his Word is the place that blessing and joy begin!
Israel didn’t want to lose their great spirit of rejoicing. So they
assembled again to obey God on this
matter: “The seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers,
and stood and confessed their
sins” (Nehemiah 9:2). “They…entered into a curse, and into an
oath, to walk in God’s law…and that
(they) would not give (their) daughters unto the people of the land,
nor take their daughters for
(their) sons” (10:29–30).
Note that Israel’s circumstances and trials didn’t change; God
changed them. Nehemiah reminded a
rejoicing Israel of how God had provided for their forefathers in the
wilderness. The Lord had poured
out manifold mercies on them. He had taught them by his Spirit and led
them by the cloud and the
pillar of fire. He had supernaturally provided them with manna and
water. And, miraculously, he
didn’t allow their clothes or shoes ever to wear out (see Nehemiah
9:19–21).
Likewise today, God has promised to pour out these same mercies on his
people. In the midst of our
afflictions, we must quietly go to God’s Word and pray that the Holy
Spirit will write it on our hearts.
That is how we begin to enter his rest and peace.
Yet we can still choose to live in a wilderness as Israel did. Nehemiah
pointed out that Israel’s
forefathers had ignored God’s law: “They were disobedient, and
rebelled against thee, and cast thy
law behind their backs…Yet many years didst thou forbear them…yet
they would not give ear”
(Nehemiah 9:26, 30).
Only the joy of the Lord supplies us with true strength. We can talk
about our ten- or twenty-year walk
with Christ, but if we’re not trusting the Holy Spirit to quicken
God’s Word to us, our joy will be

short-lived. We must continually hunger for his Word; that is where joy
begins and continues.
How do we maintain the joy of the Lord? We do it the same way we
obtained his joy in the beginning:
We love, honor and hunger for his Word. And we continually walk in
obedience by the power of the
Holy Spirit.
On a personal note, I found gladness and peace in my own heart the day
I claimed my position in
Christ. It happened when I fully believed that in Christ I could come
boldly to God’s throne with
assurance. I was no longer charged with sin, with no wrath facing me.
The judgment for my sins was
never to be on me again because God had already judged them through his
Son on the cross.
Today God’s people have what the Old Testament saints could not even
conceive: a righteousness by
faith alone and not by works. Moreover, we have a blessed peace knowing
that God no longer
imputes sin to us because we are in Christ. This is the living Word of
God; this is believing the
Scriptures. This is the hope that brings a believer into unspeakable
joy, peace and rest. And this joy is
our daily strength, our portion to face all our afflictions!
May our precious Lord bring you into this place of rest in all your
trials. And may his joy become your
strength. Amen!
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