A Meditation upon Matthew 25:21, 23: "His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. . . . His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. . . . His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matthew 25:21, 23).

            The joy of thy lord.  We may view in this phrase, although through a glass darkly, the ineffably blessed happiness of our Triune God.  The Father, Son, and Spirit each possess in their Person the infinite treasures of everlasting joy.  They rightfully joy in themselves.  This joy is communicated within the Godhead as each member rejoices His beloved eternal companions.  The Father rejoices in His Only Begotten and the Spirit, the Son in the Spirit and the Father, and the Spirit in the Father and Son from whom He proceeds.  We possess specific notice of this inter-Trinitarian joy, the contemplation of which sinks the heart and mind in wonder.  I was daily his delight, says the Son of His Father, rejoicing always before him (Proverbs 8:30).  Thou, oh God, hast made the Messianic King exceeding glad with thy countenance (Psalm 21:6).  The fruit of the Spirit is joy (Galatians 5:22), if so in us, how much the more within the Trinity itself must there be constantly the very joy of the Holy Ghost (1 Thess 1:6)?  “God is mighty” (Job 36:5) and “God is merciful” (Psalm 116:5), “God is righteous” (Daniel 9:14) and “God is light” (1 John 1:5)—and, in what is really the necessary concomitant to these other Divine attributes, His is the perfection of joy.  See the phrase my joy twice upon the lips of the Lord Jesus (John 15:11; 17:13).  What joy is this?  To what can we compare it?

            Yet the God of all joy does not shut up this happiness within Himself, but, as an ever-overflowing fountain, communicates this His joy to His people.  In our text, it is not just the joy of thy lord, but a summons to His redeemed servant, enter thou into the joy of thy lord.  The only begotten Son of God says not only, my joy, but These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.  Oh thou wretched worm, see what thy God promises thee!

TDR