of God is so 'alien' to the world rejecting the Savior!!
. .
In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit." . . Luke 10:21

The Saviour was "a Man of sorrows,"
Yet, He lived with joy, yea, our Christ had His songs, . . . . though it was night with Him;
though His face was marred,
and His countenance had lost the lustre of earthly happiness,

At times His Face, lit up with a matchless splendour of unparalleled satisfaction, as He thought upon
the recompense of the reward, and in the midst of the congregation sang His praise unto God.

In this, the Lord Jesus is a blessed picture of His church on earth.

. . . Of every thoughtful Christian, he/she has discovered by faith, the fact that down deep in Christ's innermost soul He carried an inexhaustible treasury of refined, heavenly joy.

Of all the human race, there was never a Man who had a deeper, purer, or more abiding peace than our Lord Jesus Christ.

"He was anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows."

His vast benevolence must, from the very nature of things, have afforded Him the deepest possible delight, for benevolence is joy.

There were a few remarkable seasons when this joy manifested itself.

"At that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said,

I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth."

At this hour the church expects to walk in sympathy with her Lord along a thorny road; through much tribulation she is forcing her way to the crown.

To bear the cross is her office, and to be scorned and counted an alien by her mother's children is her lot;

and yet the church has a deep well of joy, of which none can drink but her own children.

There are stores of wine, and oil, and corn, hidden in the midst, upon which the saints of God are evermore sustained and nurtured;

and sometimes, as in our Saviour's case, we have our seasons of intense delight,

for "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our God."

Exiles though we be, we rejoice in our King; yea, in Him we exceedingly rejoice, while in His name we set up our banners.
~ ~
Charles Spurgeon