| Christian Life and Doctrine | January 1961 |
“The Joyful Sound”
A 1960 General Convention Discourse
“Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.” —Psalm 89:15
THE Bible uses various symbols to help us grasp the meaning of the truth and its value to us as new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is likened to bread by which we are nourished. Jesus, quoting Moses, said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4) It is referred to as water. Paul wrote of our being sanctified and cleansed by “washing of water by the Word.” (Eph. 5:26) The truth serves to protect us, so Paul urges that we put on “the whole armor of God.”—Eph. 6:11
In our text the truth of the divine plan of redemption and salvation is spoken of as a “joyful sound,” suggesting the happifying and exhilarating effects of harmonious music. In this same vein David wrote that the Lord has put a “new song” in our mouths, “even praise unto our God.” (Ps. 40:3) This “new song” is also referred to in Revelation 5:9 and 14:3. In Revelation, chapter 15, the overcomers of the Gospel Age are represented as singing “the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints [margin, nations]. Who shall not fear [reverence] thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.”—vss. 3,4
Here the joyful sound, the new song, or song of Moses and the Lamb, is shown to be a declaration of the “great and marvelous” works of the “Lord God Almighty,” and that “just and true” are his ways. This song also asserts that eventually “all nations shall come and worship” before the Lord, and this will be due to the fact that his “judgments are made manifest.” A song that contains such soul-satisfying information could not be other than a joyful sound to all whose ears are attuned to hear it, and whose hearts are in the right attitude to appreciate it.
Noise and Confusion
HOW much in contrast is the position of the world of mankind—those who do not know the joyful sound which heralds the marvelous works of the Lord God Almighty. Since sin entered into the world more than six thousand years ago Satan has continued to deceive the people of all nations, thus leading them away from God and into darkness and confusion. All sorts of messages are being proclaimed by those walking in darkness, but they are confused and contradictory, a jargon of voices making a great deal of noise, but no harmony.
In the marginal translation of Psalm 40:2 this condition is referred to as “a pit of noise,” and at one time we were in this pit. But we longed to hear something besides noise, and in the Lord’s due time he “inclined” unto us and heard our cry. In response he brought us up out of the “pit of noise,” and put a new song in our mouths.—vss. 1-3
This new song is the joyful sound of the truth. It is the great theme song of God’s love, the first notes of which were sounded in the Garden of Eden, when God said that the “seed” of the woman would “bruise” the serpent’s “head.” (Gen. 3:15) The melody of this joyful sound was heard more distinctly in the promise God made to Abraham that through his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed.—Gen. 12:3; 22:18
A new variation of this melody was added when God confirmed his promise to Abraham by his oath. When the promise to bless all the families of the earth was reaffirmed, the Lord said to Abraham that his seed would “possess” the “gate” of his enemies. (Gen. 22:16-18) To “possess,” or control, the gate of an ancient city, implied rulership over the city. Here, then, was a promise that the seed of promise was to exercise rulership, or dominion, and that it would be by means of this rulership that the people of all nations would be blessed. Thus we might think of it as the kingdom theme, and it soon became a very pronounced aspect of the joyful sound.
Jacob prophesied that the promised ruler in the divine plan would come from the tribe of Judah. Shiloh was to be his name, and unto him, Jacob prophesied, would be the gathering of the people. (Gen. 49:9,10) Later the promise of a coming Ruler was narrowed down to the family of David, who himself was of the tribe of Judah. God’s covenant with David pertaining to the future Ruler of the world is described as “the sure mercies of David.” (Isa. 55:3,4; II Sam. 7:12-16) So far as the literal ruling house of David was concerned, it was overthrown in 606 B.C., but Isaiah foretold that it would be re-established by Jesus.—Isa. 9:6,7
The ancient servants of God, who had confidence in his promises, looked for the coming of this Great One, this Messiah whom God would send to be King and Ruler of the world to bless all the families of the earth. To them this hope of Israel was indeed a joyful sound. The nominal house of Israel had little respect for God’s promises, and therefore did not know this joyful sound, but with the true Israelites of each generation it was different. They walked in the light of the Lord’s countenance and rejoiced in the prospect of his fulfilled promises.
True, the Ancient Worthy class did not understand all the details of the divine plan as it was centered in Jesus, the antitypical David, but they did rejoice to know that a kingdom was to be established by a Great One from the seed of Abraham, and that if faithful they would have some prominent part in that kingdom. They were blessed in this knowledge of the joyful sound, and rejoiced in the assurance that in the Lord’s righteousness they would one day be exalted.—Ps. 89:16
Writing particularly concerning God’s faithful servants in the patriarchal age, Paul said, “These all died in faith, not having received the [fulfillment of the] promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”—Heb. 11:13-16
In the Scriptures a city symbolizes a government, a kingdom, and the whole Ancient Worthy class will be the earthly rulers in the messianic kingdom, those “princes in all the earth” mentioned by the Psalmist. (Ps. 45:16) It was this inspiring hope that gave them strength to endure. Through their faith in God’s promises they “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”—Heb. 11:33-40
A New Age Begins
WHILE the Ancient Worthies rejoiced in their hope of the coming messianic kingdom, and expected to be raised from the dead to have a prominent part in that “city,” they did not know that a still higher position was to be given to the faithful servants of God of a coming age. They did not know about that “better thing for us,” and that their being made perfect in the “better resurrection” would have to wait until the “us” class of the Gospel Age was completed and exalted.—Heb. 11:35
This new age began with the coming of Jesus, the antitypical David. The angel said, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”—Luke 1:30-33
With the birth of Jesus began the fulfillment of all those wonderful promises of God which combined to produce that joyful sound which so gladdened the hearts of the Ancient Worthy class. Jesus came to be the King of promise, and he came to be the channel of blessings that eventually were to flow to all the families of the earth. Paul wrote, “To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”—Gal. 3:16
Andrew joyfully announced to his brother Simon, “We have found the Messias.” (John 1:41) We can imagine the rejoicing among that little company of disciples in their realization that the Great One of promise was actually in their midst and that they had the high honor of being directly associated with him. God’s promises were coming true and it was given to them to he eyewitnesses to the fact that now the messianic promises were being translated into reality, for the King had come.
The chief aspect of Jesus’ message throughout his brief ministry was the kingdom. He encouraged his disciples to believe that they would be associated with him in the kingdom. They rejoiced in this prospect, and two of them made bold to seek special places of honor in the kingdom—one on his right hand, and the other on his left hand. (Mark 10:35-37) Jesus did not tell these two that they would not have an exalted position in his kingdom. Instead he emphasized the severe tests of worthiness of joint-heirship with him, and explained that the exact positions of his associates in the kingdom would be assigned by his Heavenly Father.
Not the “Due Time”
THE disciples did not realize that Jesus would not establish his kingdom at that time. In order to prepare them somewhat for the disappointment which he knew they would experience when he was taken from them and crucified, Jesus related a parable of “a certain nobleman” who went into a far country to receive a kingdom and to return. (Luke 19:11,12) But these ardent disciples had not yet received the Holy Spirit to enlighten them, and they did not perceive from this parable that Jesus was to die, hence their great disappointment when he was put to death by his enemies.
After his resurrection Jesus joined two of his disciples as they journeyed to Emmaus. They thought him to be a stranger, and in telling him of the death of Jesus they said, “We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.” (Luke 24:21) The implication here is that now they were not sure. They had heard the reports that Jesus had been raised from the dead, but were not convinced that these were true. Certainly a dead Messiah could not set up a world government and bless all the families of the earth.
Then it was that Jesus, quoting from the prophecies concerning his own suffering and death, asked, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26) Later they learned that the stranger who had walked with them was in reality the resurrected Jesus. Then they said one to another, “Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?”—vs. 32
Their hope was revived, and the joyful sound again rang out in their hearts. Now they were beginning to see that it was essential that Jesus should die, else the world of mankind would not be redeemed from death, and the promised blessing of all the families of the earth could not be fulfilled. This aspect of the joyful sound became clear to those early disciples at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
Now they also understood that in order to reign with Christ it was necessary that they suffer and die with him. They learned that the foretold sufferings of Christ included their share in this phase of the divine plan. They learned that the kingdom of the Messiah could not be established in power and great glory until all the body members of Christ had proved their worthiness to live and reign with him by being faithful unto death. They learned also that as joint-heirs with Jesus in his kingdom, they would be a part of the seed of Abraham through which all the families of the earth would be blessed.—Gal. 3:27-29
Christ’s Second Presence
WHEN Jesus appeared to his disciples for the last time, he commissioned them to be his witnesses throughout the earth, and then they saw him taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. Two angels then appeared and explained to the disciples that Jesus would come again. (Acts 1:6-11) When they received the Holy Spirit, the hope of Christ’s return became very precious to them. They knew that not until then would the glorious kingdom of promise be set up in the earth; that not until then would all the families of the earth be blessed.
So the joyful sound of the Gospel was now more nearly full and harmonious than ever before. The Messiah of promise had come. He had, in keeping with the prophecies and the divine plan, given his life as a ransom for all. The work of selecting from the world of mankind those who will live and reign with him had begun; and now they understood that at the end of the age he would return.
Before he was crucified, Jesus told his disciples that he would send the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit would call to remembrance many things which he had said to them. Can we doubt that now the disciples recalled that wonderful promise made by Jesus, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go … I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2,3) What a song of love this now must have been as they continued to proclaim the Gospel of the kingdom, and waited for the return of their Lord!
Nineteen centuries have passed since Jesus went away into that “far country” to receive a kingdom. And now the Scriptures reveal that he has returned. No, we do not see him in the flesh, for he gave his flesh for the life of the world. (John 6:51) Paul explained that we no longer know Christ after the flesh. (II Cor. 5:16) Now he is a glorious divine being, invisible to human eyes. But his presence is clearly discernable through the “sure Word of prophecy,” and we rejoice that our loving Heavenly Father has given us the needed spiritual vision to discern that we are now living in the days of our Lord’s second presence (Luke 17:26), that “the day of the Lord” has not come upon us “as a thief in the night.”—I Thess. 5:1-4
Kingdom Theme Revived
WITH the rise of the papacy, the counterfeit kingdom of Christ, the kingdom theme song of the Scriptures was suppressed. While individuals and small groups of ardent believers continued to rejoice in the hope of our Lord’s return and the establishment of the real messianic kingdom, these were charged with heresy and persecuted. Nor did the Reformation do much to change this situation. The Miller movement publicized the teaching of Christ’s second advent, not to establish a kingdom for the blessing of all the families of the earth, but rather to destroy the earth.
Not until the end of the thirteen hundred, five and thirty days mentioned in Daniel 12:12, which was the year 1874, the due time for our Lord’s return, was the hope and proclamation of the kingdom restored to the Lord’s faithful people. There the faithful watchers began to realize the blessedness which was foretold as coming to those who “waiteth, and cometh” to this time. This blessedness was experienced in discerning the harmony of the joyful sound, and in the hearing and appreciation of this glorious theme song of God’s love for the sin-cursed and dying race.
The blessedness of those who would know the joyful sound of divine truth in this time of our Lord’s second presence was foretold by Jesus. Speaking of the time of his return, he said to his disciples, “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.”—Luke 12:37
When, in fulfillment of this promise, Jesus girded himself and served a little group of faithful watchers back in the early seventies of the last century, how wonderfully the divine plan opened up to them! Records of that time indicate that the object of our Lord’s return was one of the first great truths that was restored to them, that object being, as set forth by Peter, to usher in the “times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”—Acts 3:19-21
Now it could be seen that the second coming of Christ, instead of marking the end of all hope for the unconverted world, signaled the ushering in of a, time of opportunity and blessing for “all the families of the earth,” that blessing which was promised to Abraham as coming through his seed. In the light of this glorious restitution hope for the world, the death of Jesus as the world’s Redeemer took on a depth of meaning previously impossible to discern. It was now seen that Jesus’ death guaranteed an opportunity of life for all mankind, the living and the dead, and that provision had been made in the divine plan for this truth to be made known to all “in due time.”
Other features of the divine plan then fell quickly into place, each in its own way contributing to the harmonious melody of that joyful sound which then began to burst upon the ears of “the blessed people of God.” The fall of man; the giving of the Law to the typical house of Israel; God’s dealings with and promises to the prophets and other Ancient Worthies; the birth, baptism, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus; his nature when here on earth; his present highly exalted divine nature; the call of the church; the harvest at the end of the age, and the glorification of the church—all these scriptural truths took on a clearness of meaning which previously had been hidden.
Now all the doctrines of the Bible were seen in the light of the grand finale of the plan of salvation, the blessing of all the families of the earth during the “times of restitution of all things.” While these doctrines were not new, when understood in the light of the new day which then began to dawn, they seemed new. And, those who were walking in the light of God’s countenance began to sing this “as it were a new song,” this harmonious melody of divine love, the joyful sound.
The High Calling
PROFESSED believers in Christ had for a long time held to the hope of going to heaven when they died, and the Bible does surely teach a heavenly reward for all consecrated followers of the Master who are faithful even unto death. But this teaching could not be understood clearly, and in all its beauty, apart from its relationship to the coming kingdom blessings of restitution for the world of mankind. Previously it had been thought of as God’s provision for all believers, and as an escape from the torments of a creedal hell.
But how wonderful it was to realize that those who are “partakers of the heavenly calling” are a part of the coming priesthood through whom mankind is to be blessed. A realization of this explained why the followers of Jesus are called upon to suffer and to die—that it is because they have the privilege of sharing with their Master in the “better sacrifices” of the Gospel Age, the great sin-offering work which is to deliver the world of mankind from the thralldom of sin and degradation and death.—Heb. 3:1; I Pet. 2:5; Rom. 12:1; II Tim. 2:11,12
Yes, this too was a sweet melody of truth which has rejoiced the hearts of all who have heard and appreciated it; those to whom the Lord has given a hearing ear. Now we know that if we are faithful in adding to our faith virtue, and all the other Christian graces, and do not fall away from our steadfastness, we shall have “an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” not as subjects of that kingdom, but as co-rulers with our Master, sharing with him in the blessing of “all the families of the earth.”—II Pet. 1:4-12
The Voice of God
PAUL tells us that God, who in times past had spoken to the fathers through the prophets, had “in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” (Heb. 1:1,2) God’s voice was heard through his Son at the first advent. And truly God has again spoken through his Son. The result is that all his past messages, beginning in the Garden of Eden when he said that the “seed” of the woman would “bruise” the serpent’s head, down to those thrilling last chapters of the Book of Revelation, have become harmonious and understandable, a joyful sound indeed to all those whose ears are attuned to it.
And it was indeed “meat in due season” that the returned Lord served through “that servant.” Peter had said concerning Christ that his return would mean times of restitution of all things; and how appropriate that Jesus should reveal this to the faithful watchers when first he returned. This was essential that a world-wide proclamation of this glorious truth should be made.
Peter’s words, “until the times of restitution of all things,” do not imply that the very moment of our Lord’s return would be marked by a resurrection of all the dead. Jesus came at his first advent to die for the world, but he was present for more than thirty years before he laid down his life on the cross as man’s Redeemer. His second presence is for the purpose of establishing his kingdom and restoring the redeemed world to life, but that work will not be fully accomplished until the close of the millennial age.
While no one has yet been restored to human perfection, the great increase of knowledge along all lines has gradually awakened the people of the world to the fact that they are being denied their rights, and has caused them to long for, yea, to clamor for, the universal blessings of earth which they now recognize to be their inalienable rights. This has produced confusion throughout the earth, and is resulting in the overthrow of the systems of selfishness which stand in the way of the kingdom of Christ and the blessings of joy and life it will dispense to the people. Yes, the old “building” is being demolished in preparation for the new, even the long-promised kingdom of Christ, and this is a necessary part of the work of the new day.
Not Coming, But Here
THE joyful sound of truth concerning the seed, the Messiah, the great King of glory, proclaimed to the ancient servants of God that the coming of the promised One was future. The apostles rejoiced to realize that the antitypical David had come and had died as the world’s Redeemer. Yet he returned to the heavenly courts; and now they also looked forward to his coming, his second coming, when he would set up his kingdom, and when through him all the families of the earth would be blessed.
But now his second coming is a reality. We are not looking for that event, for it is in the past. Through the sure “Word of prophecy,” we have seen him as the “Chief Reaper” in the “harvest” which “is the end of the age.” We are rejoicing in the “meat in due season” which he has served to the “household of faith.” Because he has come, the joyful sound of truth has become more joyful than ever.
Through the prophecies we also see earth’s new King destroying the “kingdoms of this world.” Yes, our King is indeed “marching on,” even as we sing. Yes, Christ is come, and this inspiring note is added to the joyful sound of truth, the new song which the Lord has permitted us to hear, appreciate and understand, and has commissioned us to sing. And may we sing this song with all the volume and enthusiasm we can muster. No music as harmonious or sweet, and soul stirring has ever before been heard. Not only does this joyful sound cause our hearts to rejoice, but our rejoicing increases as we sing this new song aloud, that hearing ears everywhere may be glad with us.
“With this blessed hope before us,
Let no harp remain unstrung;
Let the mighty ransomed chorus
Onward roll from tongue to tongue.”