WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.219 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:12.560 Elation Church. Joy is a spiritual principle. 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:21.559 I'm going to say that again. Joy may be more 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:25.800 than you think you know about it. It's a spiritual 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:31.760 principle. Everybody say joy. Let's look at some 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:34.880 Bible verses. Nehemiah 8 and 10. We sang about 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:41.240 this today. The joy of the Lord is your strength. 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:47.299 How many of you feel weak at times? And you could 00:00:47.299 --> 00:00:49.859 use some more strength to help you get through 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:52.320 your day, to help you deal with the situation 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:54.479 that you're dealing with. Who needs some more 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.659 strength every once in a while? We can be found. 00:00:59.469 --> 00:01:03.630 Anytime you need strength, it can be found in 00:01:03.630 --> 00:01:08.209 the joy of the Lord. Because the joy of the Lord 00:01:08.209 --> 00:01:14.310 is your strength. Psalm 118, 24. I think we might 00:01:14.310 --> 00:01:17.109 have sang about this. This is the day the Lord 00:01:17.109 --> 00:01:20.209 has made. Look at the person beside you and say, 00:01:20.250 --> 00:01:26.939 today. God made it. God made today. This is the 00:01:26.939 --> 00:01:30.219 day the Lord has made. We will rejoice. Everybody 00:01:30.219 --> 00:01:34.000 say rejoice. And be glad. Everybody say be glad. 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:41.640 In it. Here's the deal. If you're going to have 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:44.840 any joy or rejoicing or gladness, it's going 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:50.799 to be because you chose it. I'll say it again. 00:01:51.420 --> 00:01:53.519 Even though I don't have it written down. I think 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:59.099 I can remember it. If you are going to have any 00:01:59.099 --> 00:02:05.379 joy or rejoicing or gladness in your life, I'm 00:02:05.379 --> 00:02:07.060 going to add a little phrase, in this fallen, 00:02:07.140 --> 00:02:12.300 messed up world, you're going to have to choose 00:02:12.300 --> 00:02:16.879 it. Because we all face a lot of choices every 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:22.180 day, right? How many of you have the choice to 00:02:22.180 --> 00:02:27.430 be mad every once in a while? Almost daily. How 00:02:27.430 --> 00:02:34.030 many of you have the choice to complain? How 00:02:34.030 --> 00:02:45.490 many of you have a choice to be sad? Hello? What 00:02:45.490 --> 00:02:48.569 I'm telling you is joy is a spiritual principle 00:02:48.569 --> 00:02:50.310 and you don't have to choose all those other 00:02:50.310 --> 00:02:59.569 things. You can choose joy. We've looked at this 00:02:59.569 --> 00:03:03.689 verse quite a few times. Luke 2 .10, this is 00:03:03.689 --> 00:03:06.569 at Jesus' birth, at the announcement of His birth, 00:03:06.650 --> 00:03:09.449 the angel said, I bring you good tidings, they 00:03:09.449 --> 00:03:11.569 were talking to the shepherds, I bring you good 00:03:11.569 --> 00:03:15.610 tidings of great, exceedingly great, exceedingly 00:03:15.610 --> 00:03:17.990 large, exceedingly loud, if you look at the word 00:03:17.990 --> 00:03:26.509 study, joy. So could we say that Jesus brought 00:03:26.509 --> 00:03:33.469 a new level of joy that is available in this 00:03:33.469 --> 00:03:37.750 earth? Jesus brought it. And guess what? He didn't 00:03:37.750 --> 00:03:39.669 take it back to heaven when it went back to heaven. 00:03:40.349 --> 00:03:48.530 He ushered it in. John 15, 11. These are Jesus' 00:03:48.689 --> 00:03:53.099 words. I've told you these things. What did he 00:03:53.099 --> 00:03:59.759 tell us right before then? He said, well, I want 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:04.740 you to do life with me. I want you to abide in 00:04:04.740 --> 00:04:07.939 me. Abiding is where we live. It's not where 00:04:07.939 --> 00:04:15.439 we visit. He says, abide in me. I'm the vine. 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:21.019 I'm the source. And if you abide in me, my source 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:27.600 is going to flow through you. Hallelujah. I might 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:33.139 just preach myself happy today. And after he 00:04:33.139 --> 00:04:36.459 said that, he says, I want you to do life with 00:04:36.459 --> 00:04:39.300 me. I want you to do my kind of life. You can 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:42.540 read the verses before it. He says, if you're 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:45.879 connected with me and walking in the spirit and 00:04:45.879 --> 00:04:49.689 living with me, You know what? That's the way 00:04:49.689 --> 00:04:54.709 to joy. He says, I've told you these things so 00:04:54.709 --> 00:05:01.769 that you will be filled, filled with my joy. 00:05:05.750 --> 00:05:09.009 I told you these things. This is how to be filled 00:05:09.009 --> 00:05:16.569 with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow. So 00:05:16.569 --> 00:05:18.889 it's not just being filled with the joy of the 00:05:18.889 --> 00:05:22.189 Lord. It's overflowing with the joy of the Lord. 00:05:22.310 --> 00:05:25.209 That's what Jesus said. I didn't write this. 00:05:31.490 --> 00:05:33.490 Look to the person beside you and say, it's available. 00:05:34.750 --> 00:05:39.589 You just have to choose it. Romans 14, 17. Oh, 00:05:39.670 --> 00:05:43.660 we've read this one a lot too. The kingdom of 00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:47.620 God is not meat and drink. Because everybody's 00:05:47.620 --> 00:05:50.339 just about, well, what can we eat? What should 00:05:50.339 --> 00:05:52.279 we eat? What shouldn't we eat? What should we 00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:54.740 drink? What should we drink? I mean, you know, 00:05:54.740 --> 00:05:58.040 in this society, we're living around all these 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:01.779 pagan temples and people are sacrificing food 00:06:01.779 --> 00:06:04.360 and all this kind of stuff. And then it's making 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:06.259 available. They're selling it in the markets 00:06:06.259 --> 00:06:08.740 now after it's been sacrificed to some false 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:14.240 gods. Should we eat that or not? Everybody's 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:21.639 like, rules, rules, rules, rules. So the kingdom 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:30.439 of God is not all these rules. So many people 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:33.639 think that Christianity is just about keeping 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:39.620 a list of rules. Have you ever thought that before? 00:06:42.029 --> 00:06:45.069 It's about, well, you need to do this, and you 00:06:45.069 --> 00:06:47.110 need to do this, and you need to do this, and 00:06:47.110 --> 00:06:48.970 you shouldn't do that, and you shouldn't do this, 00:06:48.990 --> 00:07:00.089 and you shouldn't do that. The kingdom of God 00:07:00.089 --> 00:07:06.149 is not about that. If your religion is about 00:07:06.149 --> 00:07:16.279 rules, you're missing it. Kingdom of God, the 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:19.259 eternal rule and reign of God that's now that 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:21.939 Jesus ushered into this earth. It's not about 00:07:21.939 --> 00:07:26.160 the rules, but it's about righteousness. It's 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.100 about understanding that we are clothed in the 00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:32.139 righteousness of Christ because of what Jesus 00:07:32.139 --> 00:07:35.040 did on the cross. And in relationship with him, 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:38.120 we are as righteous as we will ever get. We can't 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:40.199 get more righteous. We can't be any less righteous. 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:42.540 Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we're 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:46.839 now clothed in his righteous robe. That happens 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:50.139 at salvation. That's what the kingdom of God's 00:07:50.139 --> 00:07:57.160 about. The kingdom of God's about peace. So why 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:01.920 do we always, I need peace. God, please give 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:04.319 me peace. I want peace. I don't have any peace. 00:08:11.860 --> 00:08:15.680 Jesus has already given you more peace than you 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:21.379 can handle. Overflowing peace. He's already given 00:08:21.379 --> 00:08:26.540 it to you. But you have to take it. You have 00:08:26.540 --> 00:08:33.399 to believe it. I mean, God's name is peace. He 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:37.179 is Yahweh Shalom. So why do you think He's holding 00:08:37.179 --> 00:08:41.990 out on giving you peace? Don't ever think he's 00:08:41.990 --> 00:08:46.149 holding out on you. We need to receive what he's 00:08:46.149 --> 00:08:55.309 made available to us on a daily basis. But we're 00:08:55.309 --> 00:08:59.110 not done. The kingdom of God is about righteousness. 00:08:59.570 --> 00:09:02.169 Give righteousness. It's about the peace that 00:09:02.169 --> 00:09:04.950 surpasses all understanding, that guards my heart 00:09:04.950 --> 00:09:08.230 and my mind in Christ Jesus. And it's also about 00:09:08.230 --> 00:09:13.750 joy. In the Holy Ghost. Glad one person got happy. 00:09:17.309 --> 00:09:22.669 If your religion does not have joy, if your experience 00:09:22.669 --> 00:09:26.250 with church or with God doesn't include joy and 00:09:26.250 --> 00:09:32.110 peace and gift righteousness, you're barking 00:09:32.110 --> 00:09:35.110 up the wrong tree. I don't know if that translates 00:09:35.110 --> 00:09:41.120 into another language or not, but... You're focused 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:49.659 on the wrong things. Galatians 5 .22. Oh, we've 00:09:49.659 --> 00:09:53.379 read this one before. The fruit of the Spirit 00:09:53.379 --> 00:09:57.980 is love. Everybody say love. Joy. Everybody say 00:09:57.980 --> 00:10:01.820 joy. Peace. Everybody say peace. And a whole 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:05.940 lot more. Don't ever forget self -control because 00:10:05.940 --> 00:10:08.370 that's in there too. We talked about that for 00:10:08.370 --> 00:10:14.289 several weeks. But the fruit of the Spirit, the 00:10:14.289 --> 00:10:16.269 kingdom of God is about joy in the Holy Ghost. 00:10:16.309 --> 00:10:19.710 The fruit of the Holy Spirit, part of that is 00:10:19.710 --> 00:10:26.629 joy. And the fruit of the Spirit should be continually 00:10:26.629 --> 00:10:34.789 increasing and not decreasing in our lives. I'll 00:10:34.789 --> 00:10:36.450 say that again, even though nobody asked for 00:10:36.450 --> 00:10:42.480 it. The fruit of the Spirit should be continually 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:45.600 increasing. That's called spiritual maturity. 00:10:45.700 --> 00:10:49.559 When the fruit of the Spirit is increasing in 00:10:49.559 --> 00:11:03.080 our lives. Hallelujah. Philippians 1 .25. This 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:04.720 is Paul talking. And having this confidence. 00:11:06.059 --> 00:11:09.679 I know that I shall abide and continue with you 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:17.059 all. You know, Paul just said, I sure would like 00:11:17.059 --> 00:11:21.860 to go be with Jesus. I sure would like for my 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:27.019 faith to be made sign. I'm looking forward to 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:30.480 that day. I'm not dreading taking my last breath 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:37.990 because I know what it's leading to. I don't 00:11:37.990 --> 00:11:42.409 fear my last breath. I'm not going to commit 00:11:42.409 --> 00:11:45.990 suicide or anything like that, but I don't fear 00:11:45.990 --> 00:11:50.190 my last breath because I know to be absent from 00:11:50.190 --> 00:11:52.870 this earth suit body is to be present with the 00:11:52.870 --> 00:11:57.090 Lord according to the word of God. My faith will 00:11:57.090 --> 00:12:00.610 become sight. I'll be face to face with Jesus. 00:12:02.350 --> 00:12:05.870 Hallelujah. There's nothing to be afraid about 00:12:05.870 --> 00:12:12.659 if you're in Christ. It's nothing to fear. But 00:12:12.659 --> 00:12:15.720 Paul is saying, you know what? I'm torn between 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:18.899 this because I want to go to heaven, but I've 00:12:18.899 --> 00:12:21.919 got work to do here. Look to the person beside 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:23.620 you and say, you've got some work to do here. 00:12:28.539 --> 00:12:30.940 He says, I know that I'm going to abide, that 00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:33.720 I'm going to stay. I'm going to continue with. 00:12:35.019 --> 00:12:37.659 you all, I'll just say y 'all right there, with 00:12:37.659 --> 00:12:42.159 you. I shall abide and continue with you all 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:52.039 for your furtherance. To help you grow spiritually, 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:59.159 I need to stay, is what Paul said. To help you 00:12:59.159 --> 00:13:06.759 grow. For your furtherance. And, Joy of faith. 00:13:06.860 --> 00:13:13.799 Everybody say joy. Paul needed to stay because 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:17.340 they hadn't really took hold of the joy that 00:13:17.340 --> 00:13:24.000 was available to them in Jesus. He's going to 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:31.299 keep on so that their joy will be full like Jesus 00:13:31.299 --> 00:13:36.659 said and their joy will overflow. How many of 00:13:36.659 --> 00:13:41.220 you know Paul had some pretty bad days? There 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:44.500 was a time when a lot of people said, hey, we're 00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:47.159 not even going to eat again until we kill Paul. 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:50.639 Now, you may have some people that don't like 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:54.340 you, but I don't know of anybody in this room 00:13:54.340 --> 00:13:56.120 that somebody says, I'm not even going to eat 00:13:56.120 --> 00:14:02.799 another meal until I kill you. Shipwrecked, whipped, 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:14.639 beaten. I mean, he had some bad days. But he's 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:20.200 like, I'm not leaving yet. Because you need to 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.440 have more joy in your faith. You need to grow 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:27.539 spiritually. I need to help you. I need to keep 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:33.039 watering and feeding and watering and feeding 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:34.840 and watering and feeding and watering and feeding 00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:41.740 until the joy of your faith rises. Philippians 00:14:41.740 --> 00:14:46.039 4 .4. I think we sang about this today too. Because 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:49.779 I get to pick out the songs. Rejoice in the Lord 00:14:49.779 --> 00:14:53.820 always. And again I say rejoice. And you might 00:14:53.820 --> 00:14:58.340 say, what's that have to do with joy? I'm glad 00:14:58.340 --> 00:15:05.879 you asked. Because rejoicing is the outward expression 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:17.220 of joy. Rejoicing is the expression of joy. Rejoicing 00:15:17.220 --> 00:15:20.200 the Lord always. Does it say rejoice in the Lord 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:24.399 when everything is going wonderful? You know, 00:15:24.419 --> 00:15:26.419 you need to really rejoice in the Lord because, 00:15:26.460 --> 00:15:29.840 you know, everything's been going your way. Everything's 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:33.299 perfect. Everything's so awesome right now. So 00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:36.500 you need to be rejoicing. Is that what it says? 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.620 No, it says rejoice in the Lord always. And in 00:15:42.620 --> 00:15:45.840 case you didn't get it, the Holy Spirit says, 00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:54.240 and again I say, rejoice. Let your joy in the 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:58.500 Lord, your joy in the Holy Spirit, let that come 00:15:58.500 --> 00:16:07.899 out. Let that be expressed. Always. How many 00:16:07.899 --> 00:16:13.330 of you know that You're going to have to choose 00:16:13.330 --> 00:16:21.009 for it to be always. Because like we've already 00:16:21.009 --> 00:16:27.490 said, you've got the opportunity to gripe, complain, 00:16:27.830 --> 00:16:36.769 be sad. You've got the opportunity. You're not 00:16:36.769 --> 00:16:39.769 the only one who has the opportunity to be overcome 00:16:39.769 --> 00:16:45.159 with fear. Everybody in this room. How many of 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:47.139 you have the opportunity to complain every once 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:49.379 in a while? Raise your hand. How many of you 00:16:49.379 --> 00:16:54.720 have the opportunity to be filled with fear and 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.860 be afraid? Who has that opportunity every once 00:16:56.860 --> 00:17:03.500 in a while? Who has the opportunity to just get 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:11.680 mad sometimes? I heard. Heard somebody say this, 00:17:11.700 --> 00:17:13.140 so I'm going to repeat it because it just hit 00:17:13.140 --> 00:17:15.759 my brain right now. Listen, you can get glad 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:28.619 in the same britches that you got mad in. I thought 00:17:28.619 --> 00:17:34.019 that was funny. Some people try to over -spiritualize 00:17:34.019 --> 00:17:36.359 joy to the point where believers say, you know 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:41.170 what, I must have it. But I don't know what it 00:17:41.170 --> 00:17:45.029 really is. If the Bible says I have joy, then 00:17:45.029 --> 00:17:49.289 I must have it, but I just don't know. I'm going 00:17:49.289 --> 00:17:53.109 to tell you something. This preacher, this preacher 00:17:53.109 --> 00:17:58.789 right here, has stood in the pulpit and said, 00:17:58.930 --> 00:18:03.009 because I heard somebody else say it and I thought 00:18:03.009 --> 00:18:10.680 they were smart. Joy. It's like the deep current 00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:18.480 in a river. Now, happiness. Joy and happiness 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:20.779 have nothing to do with each other. Because happiness 00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:24.859 is like the rapids and the movement on top of 00:18:24.859 --> 00:18:30.019 the river. But joy runs deep. Joy is what's there 00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:32.619 whether you see it or not. You know, that river's 00:18:32.619 --> 00:18:35.099 moving whether you see it or not. It can look 00:18:35.099 --> 00:18:37.809 real still. But what's moving it is that joy 00:18:37.809 --> 00:18:42.329 that you can't really see. I've said that. Has 00:18:42.329 --> 00:18:45.029 anybody ever heard a preacher say that? Well, 00:18:45.049 --> 00:18:48.089 this preacher has said it. Thinking I was being 00:18:48.089 --> 00:18:52.549 real spiritual. Right? Here's what I was doing. 00:18:52.630 --> 00:18:58.630 I was over -spiritualizing joy. Where you say, 00:18:58.769 --> 00:19:03.329 well, I must have it. I really don't know what 00:19:03.329 --> 00:19:10.599 it is. All I had to do was look in the Bible 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:13.019 and look at the word and look at the definition 00:19:13.019 --> 00:19:15.859 of the word that the Bible uses. The Bible, New 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:17.779 Testament is written in Greek, right? So we need 00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:20.579 to look it up and just see. And guess what? It 00:19:20.579 --> 00:19:27.200 didn't say anything about deep current. That's 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:31.680 not what it says. Biblical joy, the joy that 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:33.200 we're talking about, it's not hard to grasp. 00:19:33.820 --> 00:19:36.000 It's not a hard to grasp spiritual concept. It 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:43.799 can't be seen. The Greek word is kharah. Hope 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:47.440 I said that right. Unless I need to say kharah. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:52.200 I don't know. Thanks for laughing. I thought 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:57.539 it was funny. Here's what it means. Every time 00:19:57.539 --> 00:19:59.460 you read the word joy in the New Testament, here's 00:19:59.460 --> 00:20:01.559 what it means. It means exceeding joyfulness. 00:20:02.670 --> 00:20:07.730 It means gladness. It means rejoicing. I've got 00:20:07.730 --> 00:20:13.710 a question. How much of that is invisible? Is 00:20:13.710 --> 00:20:18.150 any of that invisible? Can you have any of that 00:20:18.150 --> 00:20:22.130 with a big scowl and a frown on your face? Looking 00:20:22.130 --> 00:20:24.950 like your mama gave you a bottle with lime juice 00:20:24.950 --> 00:20:29.250 in it growing up. Just bless God. I have joy. 00:20:36.430 --> 00:20:40.890 I'm just telling you what the Word says. I don't 00:20:40.890 --> 00:20:43.690 think you can have exceeding joyfulness or gladness 00:20:43.690 --> 00:20:49.210 or rejoicing without it being noticed by the 00:20:49.210 --> 00:20:57.990 people around you. As I was studying, I'm like, 00:20:58.109 --> 00:21:04.700 boy, you got a ways to go. Just like we talked 00:21:04.700 --> 00:21:06.400 about the other week about the Word of God being 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:09.079 like a mirror. And you see yourself in the mirror. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.299 And then you start looking at this and you're 00:21:12.299 --> 00:21:17.740 like, boy. The good thing is when you get out 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:19.140 of the mirror, all of a sudden it's like it's 00:21:19.140 --> 00:21:21.059 cool again because you think that you have joy. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:28.619 But in the mirror of the Word of God, you can 00:21:28.619 --> 00:21:31.319 tell that you need to be choosing joy more than 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:34.230 you've actually been choosing joy. And you might 00:21:34.230 --> 00:21:36.730 not have even realized that you can choose joy. 00:21:40.049 --> 00:21:45.190 But it's a spiritual principle. If it wasn't 00:21:45.190 --> 00:21:48.349 a spiritual principle, it wouldn't be in the 00:21:48.349 --> 00:21:58.690 Bible over 400 times. C .S. Lewis says, joy is 00:21:58.690 --> 00:22:03.029 the serious business of heaven. I agree with 00:22:03.029 --> 00:22:06.460 him. I mean, it's not a Bible verse, but... He 00:22:06.460 --> 00:22:10.640 said, joy is the serious business of heaven. 00:22:13.660 --> 00:22:18.299 I can't prove it biblically. Psalm 1611 says, 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:22.220 in your presence, in God's presence, is fullness 00:22:22.220 --> 00:22:30.160 of joy. What does fullness of joy look like? 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:36.700 Just a dab of joy? Is it a dab of joy? A little 00:22:36.700 --> 00:22:41.960 dab will do you? No. In your presence is fullness 00:22:41.960 --> 00:22:46.980 of joy. Here's another one. Luke 15, 10. We've 00:22:46.980 --> 00:22:50.220 read this a few times too. There's joy. Everybody 00:22:50.220 --> 00:22:56.500 say joy. Celebration, rejoicing, gladness, cheerfulness. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.380 There's joy in the presence. Of God's angels. 00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:05.460 Who's in the presence of God's angels? Who's 00:23:05.460 --> 00:23:10.779 in the presence of God's angels? I hope I've 00:23:10.779 --> 00:23:13.420 already corrected this in so many of you, but 00:23:13.420 --> 00:23:19.440 maybe you think that it's the angels that are 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:23.359 rejoicing and having joy. Because I grew up thinking 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:31.670 that. It says there's joy. In the presence of 00:23:31.670 --> 00:23:38.390 God's angels. Well, God's seated on the throne. 00:23:38.430 --> 00:23:41.869 Jesus is at his right hand. They are in the presence 00:23:41.869 --> 00:23:49.369 of the angels in heaven. Also, those who have 00:23:49.369 --> 00:23:55.490 gone before us in faith, having faith in Christ, 00:23:57.039 --> 00:23:59.859 They are there in the presence of the angels. 00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:07.160 So there's rejoicing and celebration and gladness 00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:12.380 and joy going on in heaven whenever one sinner 00:24:12.380 --> 00:24:18.140 repents. Now listen. I think there are over 8 00:24:18.140 --> 00:24:23.420 billion people in the world. How many of you 00:24:23.420 --> 00:24:31.269 think that... People are repenting on a pretty 00:24:31.269 --> 00:24:37.089 regular basis if there's 8 billion. Are you with 00:24:37.089 --> 00:24:42.869 me? Do you think that people might continually 00:24:42.869 --> 00:24:50.150 be repenting out of 8 billion? That the repenting 00:24:50.150 --> 00:24:57.650 never stops on earth? Is that a fair statement? 00:25:01.589 --> 00:25:05.269 So what does that tell us? There's a whole lot 00:25:05.269 --> 00:25:09.690 of joy. There's a whole lot of rejoicing. Because 00:25:09.690 --> 00:25:12.049 it bumps up a notch every time one person... 00:25:12.049 --> 00:25:13.950 I mean, it takes a little while to rejoice, right? 00:25:14.670 --> 00:25:16.950 But it just keeps compounding and compounding 00:25:16.950 --> 00:25:19.910 and compounding and compounding. Hey, there's 00:25:19.910 --> 00:25:22.470 a lot of joy and celebration and rejoicing and 00:25:22.470 --> 00:25:26.519 gladness in heaven. Heaven is a very happy place. 00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:38.440 But yet I grew up thinking that God was like 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:40.819 one of the Supreme Court justices and he's just 00:25:40.819 --> 00:25:50.099 sitting there looking at everybody. Oh, I'm going 00:25:50.099 --> 00:25:55.319 to get you for that. Oh, I'm going to get you 00:25:55.319 --> 00:25:58.920 for that. You shouldn't have had that thought. 00:25:59.059 --> 00:26:03.180 I'm going to get you. You shouldn't have said 00:26:03.180 --> 00:26:06.539 that. I'm going to get you. You shouldn't have 00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:10.660 done that. I'm going to get you. That's just 00:26:10.660 --> 00:26:15.400 the way I grew up. That's just the concept I 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:20.420 had. If you've never had that concept, God bless 00:26:20.420 --> 00:26:26.579 you. Because it's a bad concept. Heaven's a happy 00:26:26.579 --> 00:26:30.640 place. Heaven's a place of joy and rejoicing 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:38.400 and gladness. And anybody that really gets in 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:43.440 God's presence taps into some supernatural joy. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:56.230 Right? I'm going to say it again. If you will 00:26:56.230 --> 00:27:00.869 tap in to the manifested presence of God, you 00:27:00.869 --> 00:27:05.630 will have supernatural joy available to you no 00:27:05.630 --> 00:27:07.910 matter what's going on around you, just like 00:27:07.910 --> 00:27:10.670 you can have supernatural peace in your life 00:27:10.670 --> 00:27:15.490 no matter what's going on around you. Hallelujah. 00:27:17.990 --> 00:27:27.000 Help us take it. Like I've said multiple times, 00:27:27.160 --> 00:27:38.680 joy is a key spiritual principle that's often 00:27:38.680 --> 00:27:43.480 overlooked. The concept of joy and rejoicing 00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:47.000 appear over 400 times in the Bible. If it's in 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:49.940 the Bible over 400 times, do you think that God's 00:27:49.940 --> 00:28:00.920 serious about it? Billy Sunday. Old preacher, 00:28:01.019 --> 00:28:03.000 I can't remember when he was a preacher, but 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:05.640 I think he was a baseball player. Am I correct? 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:09.960 Baseball player, professional baseball player 00:28:09.960 --> 00:28:14.740 turned preacher. Here's what he said, and I agree 00:28:14.740 --> 00:28:17.019 with him too. That's why I've got his quote up 00:28:17.019 --> 00:28:19.019 here. If I didn't agree with him, I probably 00:28:19.019 --> 00:28:22.480 wouldn't have his quote. The trouble with many 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:26.500 people... is that they have just enough religion 00:28:26.500 --> 00:28:35.019 to make them miserable. Just enough to make them 00:28:35.019 --> 00:28:41.140 miserable. If there's no joy in your religion, 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:57.660 you've got a leak somewhere. John Wesley. Here's 00:28:57.660 --> 00:29:02.660 what he said. Sour godliness is the devil's religion. 00:29:09.140 --> 00:29:20.480 A joyless Christianity is a religion that's false 00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:32.460 and encouraged by Our spiritual enemy. God wants 00:29:32.460 --> 00:29:35.960 you to be happy. Everybody say blessed. Every 00:29:35.960 --> 00:29:37.680 time you read that word blessed, what does it 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:43.119 mean? Supremely blessed, happy, well off. How 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:45.420 many of you believe God wants to bless his children? 00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:48.920 Made his blessings available to his children? 00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:51.900 So God wants you to be happy and God wants you 00:29:51.900 --> 00:29:56.380 to have joy. I've got a lot of preacher friends 00:29:56.380 --> 00:29:59.920 that would be mad at me for saying that. And 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:04.500 I feel sorry for them. I feel sorry for them. 00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:12.599 But what if you're not experiencing the blessed 00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:15.480 life, the happiness of God? What if you're not 00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:25.779 experiencing true joy? Well... How many of you 00:30:25.779 --> 00:30:29.700 know what this is? Might be because you're not 00:30:29.700 --> 00:30:35.039 tuned in correctly to the Word of God. I was 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:38.539 the youngest of four. I know this is hard to 00:30:38.539 --> 00:30:50.799 believe. But we had three VHF stations and two 00:30:50.799 --> 00:31:00.589 UHF stations. that were available. I was the 00:31:00.589 --> 00:31:05.089 youngest. Mom and dad, three older siblings. 00:31:06.190 --> 00:31:10.049 I was a remote too. There's no such thing as 00:31:10.049 --> 00:31:14.450 a remote. If the channel had to be changed, it 00:31:14.450 --> 00:31:19.950 wasn't just walking up to the TV and clicking. 00:31:22.130 --> 00:31:28.319 It was like a big dial. 1 through 13 was your 00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:34.920 VHF stations. So it would click. It had a big 00:31:34.920 --> 00:31:36.799 knob in the middle that you would click to those 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:40.019 stations. But just because you put it on channel 00:31:40.019 --> 00:31:43.480 7, it doesn't mean that Spartanburg showed up. 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:49.539 So it wasn't just clicking the station. No, the 00:31:49.539 --> 00:31:53.819 antenna was on top of the TV. And we thought 00:31:53.819 --> 00:31:56.460 it picked up better if we wrapped tinfoil around 00:31:56.460 --> 00:32:00.339 the top of the antennas. That little circle that 00:32:00.339 --> 00:32:04.920 you see is for UHF channels. The other ones are 00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:09.099 for VHF channels. So we put tinfoil on them, 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:13.619 and you had to turn it towards Spartanburg to 00:32:13.619 --> 00:32:17.579 pick up Spartanburg. Then you had to turn it 00:32:17.579 --> 00:32:19.519 towards Greenville. If you want to go to channel 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:22.839 4, you had to turn it towards Greenville. to 00:32:22.839 --> 00:32:28.039 get Channel 4. And then, Asheville didn't come 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:32.579 in great. That was Channel 13, but to get Asheville, 00:32:32.599 --> 00:32:36.279 you had to turn it towards Asheville. And it 00:32:36.279 --> 00:32:42.900 was still pretty fuzzy most of the time. Had 00:32:42.900 --> 00:32:48.880 to be tuned in. Public broadcasting. Can't remember 00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:52.700 what channel it was on. It was on UHF. But there 00:32:52.700 --> 00:32:56.299 was a Christian station in Greenville that was 00:32:56.299 --> 00:33:00.779 channel 16. You didn't have to turn that circle. 00:33:00.900 --> 00:33:03.940 For some reason, UHF came in better than VHF. 00:33:05.700 --> 00:33:08.440 But it was a long way away, not as powerful. 00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:10.839 So it was kind of rough, had a lot of static. 00:33:12.460 --> 00:33:14.299 When you turn on the TV, I might as well throw 00:33:14.299 --> 00:33:15.759 this out there. When you turn on the TV, you 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:18.039 had to stand there and wait. And then a little 00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:20.380 light would show up right in the middle of it. 00:33:22.190 --> 00:33:24.349 And then it would kind of go across and then 00:33:24.349 --> 00:33:26.609 it would kind of get bigger. Anybody know what 00:33:26.609 --> 00:33:32.670 I'm talking about? One of the great things that 00:33:32.670 --> 00:33:35.789 happened that should happen today is right at 00:33:35.789 --> 00:33:40.109 midnight, every station cut off. Every station 00:33:40.109 --> 00:33:46.430 showed an American flag and played the national 00:33:46.430 --> 00:33:54.519 anthem. And then it was like, we're done. Off. 00:33:57.279 --> 00:34:07.740 Huh? Yeah, that'd be nice, wouldn't it? That'd 00:34:07.740 --> 00:34:10.880 be nice. Now we got 800 channels and nothing 00:34:10.880 --> 00:34:18.159 to watch. Don't have anything to watch. Anyway. 00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:21.880 So if you're not experiencing the joy of the 00:34:21.880 --> 00:34:25.360 Lord, joy in the Holy Spirit, maybe you're just 00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:28.440 not tuned in correctly. Hopefully those verses 00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:31.099 helped you tune in just a little bit. Or maybe 00:34:31.099 --> 00:34:35.019 you're experiencing some things in this life 00:34:35.019 --> 00:34:41.059 that try to steal your joy. Because there's some 00:34:41.059 --> 00:34:47.400 joy stealers. Sometimes expectation can be a 00:34:47.400 --> 00:34:52.920 joy stealer. It's good to have expectation, but 00:34:52.920 --> 00:34:55.679 it's not good to say, I'll be happy or I'll have 00:34:55.679 --> 00:35:00.719 joy when this happens or when that happens or 00:35:00.719 --> 00:35:04.619 when this day gets here. You know, always pushing 00:35:04.619 --> 00:35:09.960 it out sometime to the future. You got to choose 00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:13.059 it now. You got to choose it today. And if your 00:35:13.059 --> 00:35:16.179 expectations are, well, you know, if all this 00:35:16.179 --> 00:35:22.150 falls into place, Then I can be glad, and I can 00:35:22.150 --> 00:35:25.010 be cheerful, and I can have joy, and I can rejoice 00:35:25.010 --> 00:35:29.230 if everything lines up exactly like the way I 00:35:29.230 --> 00:35:32.809 want it to. Look at the person beside you and 00:35:32.809 --> 00:35:46.679 say, good luck on that. Conflict. We just said 00:35:46.679 --> 00:35:48.820 that we have the opportunity to be mad sometimes. 00:35:48.980 --> 00:35:54.159 Well, we face conflict, right? If we live in 00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:56.960 this broken world, we have some conflict coming 00:35:56.960 --> 00:36:01.900 our way. But it's up to us to choose how we're 00:36:01.900 --> 00:36:09.199 going to respond to that conflict. It's up to 00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:14.460 us. Is getting mad really going to make a difference? 00:36:17.159 --> 00:36:22.500 All it's going to do is steal your joy. Wouldn't 00:36:22.500 --> 00:36:25.400 it be so much easier to say, you know what? They 00:36:25.400 --> 00:36:28.380 did me wrong. They said something that made me 00:36:28.380 --> 00:36:31.219 feel bad, but you know what? I'm not going to 00:36:31.219 --> 00:36:41.699 let it steal my joy. Stay in control of your 00:36:41.699 --> 00:36:50.400 own feelings. Pain in the past. Some people don't 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:53.760 think they ever can experience joy like we're 00:36:53.760 --> 00:36:56.519 talking about, cheerfulness, gladness, rejoicing, 00:36:56.519 --> 00:36:58.719 celebration. They think that they will never 00:36:58.719 --> 00:37:01.699 be able to experience that again because of something 00:37:01.699 --> 00:37:10.300 that happened in their past. If that has ever 00:37:10.300 --> 00:37:12.719 been an issue for you, please, please, please 00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:22.829 do whatever you can to be here next Sunday. Because 00:37:22.829 --> 00:37:26.110 what happened to Ken, there was no fault of his 00:37:26.110 --> 00:37:35.469 own. Just the way his life turned out. If anybody 00:37:35.469 --> 00:37:38.869 could say, because of what happened to me in 00:37:38.869 --> 00:37:42.269 my past, I will never be able to be happy. I'll 00:37:42.269 --> 00:37:44.969 never have joy. I'll never be able to rejoice. 00:37:45.150 --> 00:37:47.789 I'll never have gladness. If anybody can say 00:37:47.789 --> 00:37:57.719 it, he can say it. But he made a choice. Pain 00:37:57.719 --> 00:37:59.760 of the past. Here's the deal. God's a healer 00:37:59.760 --> 00:38:05.900 of your broken heart. That's what he does. That's 00:38:05.900 --> 00:38:10.599 who he is. He will give you beauty in the place 00:38:10.599 --> 00:38:14.599 of the ashes in your life. And he will give you 00:38:14.599 --> 00:38:21.530 the oil of joy in the place of mourning. Some 00:38:21.530 --> 00:38:23.489 people are just stuck in mourning for the rest 00:38:23.489 --> 00:38:29.949 of their life. Stuck. But God will give you the 00:38:29.949 --> 00:38:35.170 oil of joy. He'll bind up your wounds, the Bible 00:38:35.170 --> 00:38:41.349 says. Troubles. Anybody face any troubles? Cast 00:38:41.349 --> 00:38:44.510 all your care on the Lord because He cares for 00:38:44.510 --> 00:38:48.190 you. Troubles that come your way can steal your 00:38:48.190 --> 00:38:55.869 joy if you let them. And here's the deal. Don't 00:38:55.869 --> 00:38:57.489 get mad at me because I'm trying to help you. 00:38:59.889 --> 00:39:03.070 Troubles cannot steal your joy unless you let 00:39:03.070 --> 00:39:11.929 it. Troubles cannot steal your joy unless you 00:39:11.929 --> 00:39:19.349 let your troubles steal your joy. Psalm 51, 12. 00:39:21.320 --> 00:39:27.019 Restoring to me the joy of thy salvation. There's 00:39:27.019 --> 00:39:32.239 joy in our salvation. Psalm 35. Weeping may endure 00:39:32.239 --> 00:39:36.239 for a night. Look at the person beside you and 00:39:36.239 --> 00:39:38.679 tell them, don't get stuck. Don't get stuck. 00:39:43.579 --> 00:39:52.099 Don't get stuck. The biggest thing you face should, 00:39:52.300 --> 00:39:55.639 I mean, it might possibly knock you for a loop, 00:39:55.739 --> 00:40:00.579 but don't get stuck. Weeping may endure for a 00:40:00.579 --> 00:40:08.320 night, but joy comes in the morning. Here's where 00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:09.960 we're going to focus the rest of our time. Look 00:40:09.960 --> 00:40:11.500 at the person beside you and say, listen fast. 00:40:14.579 --> 00:40:17.800 James 1. We spend a lot of time in James lately. 00:40:18.730 --> 00:40:23.409 James 1, verse 2 through 4. Here's some instruction. 00:40:23.889 --> 00:40:27.550 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any 00:40:27.550 --> 00:40:34.010 kind... Everybody say, any kind. When troubles 00:40:34.010 --> 00:40:48.440 of any kind come your way... When troubles of 00:40:48.440 --> 00:40:53.340 any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity 00:40:53.340 --> 00:41:03.119 for great joy. Have I been telling you the truth 00:41:03.119 --> 00:41:07.340 up until now? When troubles of any kind come 00:41:07.340 --> 00:41:10.139 your way, consider it an opportunity for great 00:41:10.139 --> 00:41:17.349 joy. For you know something. You know something. 00:41:19.050 --> 00:41:24.570 That's how, listen, it's raining. It's going 00:41:24.570 --> 00:41:27.969 to be okay. Going to have great joy loading out 00:41:27.969 --> 00:41:30.789 in the rain. Hallelujah. Getting wet to your 00:41:30.789 --> 00:41:41.170 socks and your drawers. Hallelujah. At least 00:41:41.170 --> 00:41:43.329 God has given me the strength to be able to do 00:41:43.329 --> 00:41:48.949 it. Hello? He's given me the strength to be able 00:41:48.949 --> 00:41:52.230 to do it. I could be laid up in a hospital somewhere 00:41:52.230 --> 00:41:57.909 and not be able to do it. Hallelujah. Dear brothers 00:41:57.909 --> 00:42:00.909 and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your 00:42:00.909 --> 00:42:04.230 way, consider it an opportunity for great joy 00:42:04.230 --> 00:42:09.969 because you know something. For you know. We're 00:42:09.969 --> 00:42:11.590 going to read the rest of it, but I just wanted 00:42:11.590 --> 00:42:16.840 to stop at for you know. Now, I know you didn't 00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:21.219 want me to dissect every word of this, but I 00:42:21.219 --> 00:42:25.440 spent a long time, over an hour, and you don't 00:42:25.440 --> 00:42:28.219 want to spend another over an hour, I'm pretty 00:42:28.219 --> 00:42:32.840 sure. But I did an in -depth word study of the 00:42:32.840 --> 00:42:37.719 words to this, so I have a DFV version for you. 00:42:38.420 --> 00:42:42.539 Dean Forrest version. Okay? The first one was 00:42:42.539 --> 00:42:45.960 NLT, New Living Translation. This is the Dean 00:42:45.960 --> 00:42:48.480 Forrest version after doing a word study on every 00:42:48.480 --> 00:42:53.159 word in these verses. Choose joy, gladness, and 00:42:53.159 --> 00:42:58.699 rejoicing. Let joy, oh boy, when it says consider 00:42:58.699 --> 00:43:03.420 it all joy, it means to esteem it all joy. It 00:43:03.420 --> 00:43:09.480 means to judge it joy. It talks about authority. 00:43:13.769 --> 00:43:17.750 Let joy have the rule and authority over all 00:43:17.750 --> 00:43:27.550 your trouble. Come on, somebody. When we face 00:43:27.550 --> 00:43:30.389 trouble, what we have to do is we have to make 00:43:30.389 --> 00:43:32.789 a ruling, a judgment. We've got to consider and 00:43:32.789 --> 00:43:36.769 esteem it. No matter what we're seeing, we're 00:43:36.769 --> 00:43:42.369 going to count it joy. Because we're going to 00:43:42.369 --> 00:43:45.889 let joy have rule and authority over our trouble. 00:43:50.070 --> 00:43:53.610 We're going to let joy have rule and authority 00:43:53.610 --> 00:43:58.110 over our adversity. We're going to let joy have 00:43:58.110 --> 00:44:02.190 rule and authority over our temptations. We're 00:44:02.190 --> 00:44:05.670 going to let joy have rule and authority over 00:44:05.670 --> 00:44:15.519 the trials of our integrity. Does anybody encounter 00:44:15.519 --> 00:44:22.079 some of this stuff every once in a while? Is 00:44:22.079 --> 00:44:34.340 your integrity ever on trial? Hello? Let joy 00:44:34.340 --> 00:44:39.460 have the rule and authority over any evil experience 00:44:39.460 --> 00:44:44.789 that you encounter. Would anybody say you face 00:44:44.789 --> 00:44:51.309 some evil experiences in your life? Even not 00:44:51.309 --> 00:44:57.590 a fault of your own? How can you choose joy, 00:44:57.730 --> 00:44:59.869 gladness, and rejoicing? How can you let joy 00:44:59.869 --> 00:45:02.869 have the rule and authority over the troubles 00:45:02.869 --> 00:45:17.119 that you face? Because you know something. I'm 00:45:17.119 --> 00:45:21.360 trying to remember how to pronounce it. Kara. 00:45:24.380 --> 00:45:32.460 There's two words here. Kara and karis. Can you 00:45:32.460 --> 00:45:34.360 just look at these words? I want you to look 00:45:34.360 --> 00:45:40.579 at these words. The first one is joy. The second 00:45:40.579 --> 00:45:45.920 one is grace. I was just blown away when I saw 00:45:45.920 --> 00:45:50.050 this. I found it in some word help studies that 00:45:50.050 --> 00:45:52.050 I was reading and stuff, and I'm just like, really? 00:45:53.369 --> 00:45:58.309 I should have known it. All my edumacation and 00:45:58.309 --> 00:46:03.750 stuff. I should have known it. But can you tell 00:46:03.750 --> 00:46:10.050 that there's a pretty serious relation or a connection 00:46:10.050 --> 00:46:14.829 between joy and grace just by looking at the 00:46:14.829 --> 00:46:22.139 words? Can you tell? Well, joy and grace are 00:46:22.139 --> 00:46:30.840 connected. Here's what you know. Here's how you 00:46:30.840 --> 00:46:35.559 can choose joy, gladness, celebration, rejoicing, 00:46:35.599 --> 00:46:38.260 even in the face of trouble, because you know 00:46:38.260 --> 00:46:49.239 something. You know God's grace. Paul was facing 00:46:49.239 --> 00:46:54.920 a difficult time, and the Holy Spirit told him, 00:46:54.960 --> 00:47:04.739 my grace is sufficient for you. What I have done 00:47:04.739 --> 00:47:10.539 for you, what I have accomplished for you, my 00:47:10.539 --> 00:47:17.940 acts of favor and kindness towards you, My promises 00:47:17.940 --> 00:47:23.559 that I purchased when I took on flesh and became 00:47:23.559 --> 00:47:27.260 a man and laid down my life, everything that 00:47:27.260 --> 00:47:30.699 I accomplished, everything that I've promised 00:47:30.699 --> 00:47:34.880 to you, no matter what you're facing, listen, 00:47:35.019 --> 00:47:48.090 that's more than enough. Here's what you know. 00:47:49.690 --> 00:47:54.230 I can count it all joy when I face trouble because 00:47:54.230 --> 00:47:57.010 I know something. I know that God's acts of kindness 00:47:57.010 --> 00:48:00.150 and favor have made provision for me in this 00:48:00.150 --> 00:48:08.769 very situation that I'm in. The provision has 00:48:08.769 --> 00:48:17.730 already been made. The promise has already been 00:48:17.730 --> 00:48:23.329 forgiven. Given, not forgiven. The promise has 00:48:23.329 --> 00:48:32.590 already been given. The problem is, most of the 00:48:32.590 --> 00:48:36.269 time we don't know it. And when we don't know 00:48:36.269 --> 00:48:40.369 it, it's hard to count it all joy when we face 00:48:40.369 --> 00:48:42.610 the trouble if we don't know that God has already 00:48:42.610 --> 00:48:48.719 provided. Are you with me? I don't want to weave 00:48:48.719 --> 00:48:50.659 you in somewhere that you don't have a clue what 00:48:50.659 --> 00:49:00.059 I'm talking about. You got to know. You got to 00:49:00.059 --> 00:49:04.480 know. You got to know that in Christ, who you 00:49:04.480 --> 00:49:07.360 are in Christ, that you're more than a conqueror. 00:49:07.619 --> 00:49:10.840 That the blessings of Abraham is yours. You got 00:49:10.840 --> 00:49:13.460 to know that. You got to be confident in it. 00:49:14.340 --> 00:49:20.059 I know it. You got to say, I see what I'm facing 00:49:20.059 --> 00:49:25.780 right now, but I know something. I know that 00:49:25.780 --> 00:49:28.360 God's going to supply all my need. I know that 00:49:28.360 --> 00:49:30.599 I'm the head not to tell, above only not beneath. 00:49:33.579 --> 00:49:36.519 I know that I'm a new creature. I'm a new creation 00:49:36.519 --> 00:49:42.840 in Christ. I know that. I know that I can do 00:49:42.840 --> 00:49:46.059 all things when I'm in Christ. I can do all things 00:49:46.059 --> 00:49:48.699 that he is leading me to do and call me to do, 00:49:48.719 --> 00:49:51.719 the situations that I face. I know that I'm going 00:49:51.719 --> 00:49:59.099 to triumph in all things. Because I know God's 00:49:59.099 --> 00:50:10.340 promise. I know something. Because my faith in 00:50:10.340 --> 00:50:20.809 God already knows the outcome. I can count it 00:50:20.809 --> 00:50:25.590 all joy because I know something. By faith in 00:50:25.590 --> 00:50:29.630 God's grace, gifts, and promises, I already know 00:50:29.630 --> 00:50:33.690 the outcome. I know where I'm going to wind up. 00:50:36.909 --> 00:50:40.530 The Bible even tells us that Jesus was able to 00:50:40.530 --> 00:50:45.650 endure the cross. Everybody say trouble. He was 00:50:45.650 --> 00:50:51.800 able to endure the cross. Because of the joy 00:50:51.800 --> 00:50:56.179 that was set before him. He knew what was going 00:50:56.179 --> 00:50:59.360 to happen. He knew the outcome of him dying on 00:50:59.360 --> 00:51:02.900 the cross. He knew what he was going to accomplish 00:51:02.900 --> 00:51:10.800 for you and for me. So he endured it. Found joy 00:51:10.800 --> 00:51:19.429 in it. Because of the outcome. Football season's 00:51:19.429 --> 00:51:21.010 here, so I got to tell them a little story again. 00:51:21.989 --> 00:51:26.230 Because some of you hadn't heard it, and some 00:51:26.230 --> 00:51:31.369 of you have probably forgotten it. I love college 00:51:31.369 --> 00:51:35.369 football. Well, I better change that. I enjoy 00:51:35.369 --> 00:51:39.170 college football. I love people, and I love God, 00:51:39.309 --> 00:51:45.289 but I enjoy college football. Is that fair? Oh, 00:51:45.429 --> 00:51:51.869 boy. I like my teams. Get excited. You might 00:51:51.869 --> 00:51:53.469 not want to be around me when I'm watching a 00:51:53.469 --> 00:51:58.030 football game. Because if my quarterback takes 00:51:58.030 --> 00:52:02.110 a sack instead of throwing it away, you're going 00:52:02.110 --> 00:52:07.869 to hear me coaching through the TV. As they got 00:52:07.869 --> 00:52:10.730 him tied up, I'm going, throw it away, throw 00:52:10.730 --> 00:52:13.670 it away. I mean, I get worked up watching football. 00:52:20.940 --> 00:52:23.019 It's like, I was a defensive back in high school. 00:52:23.840 --> 00:52:27.760 So I'm like, why are you giving him 12 yards? 00:52:30.119 --> 00:52:33.039 Why are you standing 12 yards off the line? They're 00:52:33.039 --> 00:52:35.380 just beating you to death, throwing that little 00:52:35.380 --> 00:52:38.559 short slant right in front of you. Get up in 00:52:38.559 --> 00:52:41.920 his face. Bust him one good time and back up 00:52:41.920 --> 00:52:47.739 quick. They're killing us. Don't you know how 00:52:47.739 --> 00:52:51.679 to play cornerback? You're not a safety. Get 00:52:51.679 --> 00:52:59.239 three to five yards in front of me, not 12. Man, 00:52:59.300 --> 00:53:10.539 I coach. It sounds like you're out. Anyway, here's 00:53:10.539 --> 00:53:12.380 the deal. If I don't get to watch the ball game 00:53:12.380 --> 00:53:17.639 live, there are opportunities to watch replays. 00:53:20.139 --> 00:53:22.840 Some people say, don't tell me the score because 00:53:22.840 --> 00:53:27.159 I haven't seen it yet. Don't tell me the score. 00:53:28.599 --> 00:53:32.860 I'm like, tell me the score. Here's why. Because 00:53:32.860 --> 00:53:35.539 if my team loses, I don't even want to watch 00:53:35.539 --> 00:53:42.199 it. Right? We lost. Why do I want to watch us 00:53:42.199 --> 00:53:48.099 lose? If my team wins, I want to watch it. But 00:53:48.099 --> 00:53:50.309 here's the deal. If I'm watching a replay and 00:53:50.309 --> 00:53:52.389 I know that my team's already won, I watch the 00:53:52.389 --> 00:53:58.710 game a whole lot differently. Right? I don't 00:53:58.710 --> 00:54:03.389 get all worked up. It's okay if you get sacked 00:54:03.389 --> 00:54:07.130 because I know we won. It's okay if they keep 00:54:07.130 --> 00:54:10.610 getting those short, you know, end slants and 00:54:10.610 --> 00:54:12.710 keep getting... It's okay if you're not playing 00:54:12.710 --> 00:54:14.809 up close because we already won. I'm just going 00:54:14.809 --> 00:54:19.780 to sit back and enjoy it. I watch it differently 00:54:19.780 --> 00:54:26.059 because I already know the outcome. You better 00:54:26.059 --> 00:54:31.860 listen. Because we already know the outcome by 00:54:31.860 --> 00:54:37.199 faith based on God's promises and based on our 00:54:37.199 --> 00:54:45.719 confident hope that God is faithful. Our faith 00:54:45.719 --> 00:54:49.539 in His faithfulness. We can live our lives in 00:54:49.539 --> 00:54:54.539 a different way, people. We can choose joy every 00:54:54.539 --> 00:54:57.699 day, no matter what we face, because we know 00:54:57.699 --> 00:55:04.739 the outcome. When we're standing in faith, if 00:55:04.739 --> 00:55:08.440 we're not standing in faith, we may not have 00:55:08.440 --> 00:55:14.139 a good outcome. It's not just up to however the 00:55:14.139 --> 00:55:19.440 wind blows. It's up to us knowing the promise 00:55:19.440 --> 00:55:22.179 of God, wholeheartedly believing the promise 00:55:22.179 --> 00:55:27.460 of God, agreeing with the Word of God, with our 00:55:27.460 --> 00:55:34.099 words, and taking hold of it. Having complete 00:55:34.099 --> 00:55:36.659 confidence that God's going to keep His promises. 00:55:38.460 --> 00:55:41.119 And when I stand in faith, I know the outcome 00:55:41.119 --> 00:55:45.539 of my day. I know the outcome of my week. I know 00:55:45.539 --> 00:55:51.360 the outcome of my month. I know that I'm standing 00:55:51.360 --> 00:55:54.860 in an opportunity. Every time I face trouble, 00:55:55.019 --> 00:55:57.639 I know I'm standing in an opportunity to see 00:55:57.639 --> 00:55:59.679 the goodness of God about to break loose in my 00:55:59.679 --> 00:56:08.739 life. That was my next slide. When counted all 00:56:08.739 --> 00:56:15.190 joy. Because we're in a position where we are 00:56:15.190 --> 00:56:21.130 about to see God do something amazing when we're 00:56:21.130 --> 00:56:24.710 standing in faith based on his promise that he's 00:56:24.710 --> 00:56:28.590 already made that has everything to do with this 00:56:28.590 --> 00:56:30.530 trouble and this situation that we're facing 00:56:30.530 --> 00:56:36.050 today. God doesn't have to create a whole bunch 00:56:36.050 --> 00:56:39.329 of new promises just to get you out of your situation. 00:56:45.679 --> 00:56:47.500 Hallelujah. Some of you are looking at me like, 00:56:47.599 --> 00:56:53.579 what? Verse 3, for you know that when your faith 00:56:53.579 --> 00:57:00.639 is tested, everybody say, fight the good fight 00:57:00.639 --> 00:57:04.920 of faith. Fighting the good fight of faith is 00:57:04.920 --> 00:57:06.800 where we're standing when we count it all joy, 00:57:06.920 --> 00:57:08.880 we're fighting the good fight of faith, right 00:57:08.880 --> 00:57:13.050 in the middle of it. Oh, you should remember 00:57:13.050 --> 00:57:18.090 that. Count it all joy is fighting the good fight 00:57:18.090 --> 00:57:21.670 of faith. When you face trouble, if you'll count 00:57:21.670 --> 00:57:24.030 it all joy, that is fighting the good fight of 00:57:24.030 --> 00:57:26.889 faith. You know that when your faith is tested, 00:57:26.969 --> 00:57:33.150 your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it 00:57:33.150 --> 00:57:40.320 grow. Everybody say, let it grow. For when your 00:57:40.320 --> 00:57:42.980 endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect 00:57:42.980 --> 00:57:50.019 and complete, needing nothing. That only comes 00:57:50.019 --> 00:57:56.920 when you count it all joy. That's key to this 00:57:56.920 --> 00:58:04.659 text. Here's a DFV for the last two verses. Standing 00:58:04.659 --> 00:58:08.019 in faith with confident expectation without wavering, 00:58:09.449 --> 00:58:11.829 in the middle of your trouble, right, is what 00:58:11.829 --> 00:58:15.909 we're talking about, will produce something in 00:58:15.909 --> 00:58:22.070 you. It'll produce a cheerful, hopeful, steadfast 00:58:22.070 --> 00:58:27.130 endurance. A constancy is another definition 00:58:27.130 --> 00:58:32.630 of that word. That will keep you from failing 00:58:32.630 --> 00:58:38.760 or being destitute. You go do a word study on 00:58:38.760 --> 00:58:41.019 these verses and you'll find everything that 00:58:41.019 --> 00:58:54.139 I've put here. So here's the deal. Counting it 00:58:54.139 --> 00:58:58.980 all joy in the middle of the trouble because 00:58:58.980 --> 00:59:03.420 you know something, right? And if you stand, 00:59:04.650 --> 00:59:08.090 And you stand on the grace of God, His favor 00:59:08.090 --> 00:59:11.150 and His acts of kindness towards you, His goodness 00:59:11.150 --> 00:59:13.889 towards you, His promises towards you. If you'll 00:59:13.889 --> 00:59:24.309 keep standing, if you'll keep choosing joy, something's 00:59:24.309 --> 00:59:28.510 going to be produced on the inside of you. It's 00:59:28.510 --> 00:59:33.599 going to bring the best results. It's going to 00:59:33.599 --> 00:59:35.800 produce a cheerful, hopeful, steadfast endurance, 00:59:35.960 --> 00:59:38.960 a constancy that will keep you from failing. 00:59:42.179 --> 00:59:44.199 How many of you know that choosing joy will keep 00:59:44.199 --> 00:59:51.900 you from failing? Just because God promised it 00:59:51.900 --> 00:59:55.739 doesn't mean that you're not going to fail in 00:59:55.739 --> 01:00:07.840 different areas of your life. Some of us want 01:00:07.840 --> 01:00:09.840 to say because God promised it is, you know. 01:00:11.440 --> 01:00:15.199 Why am I failing if God's promised? Why did I 01:00:15.199 --> 01:00:21.960 lose? God must not be keeping his promises. Bless 01:00:21.960 --> 01:00:25.840 your heart. You must not be choosing joy and 01:00:25.840 --> 01:00:39.400 choosing to fight the good fight of faith. Hallelujah. 01:00:41.300 --> 01:00:44.800 Here's my last slide. Everybody say last slide. 01:00:47.420 --> 01:00:59.599 Here we go. The level of your joy, the level 01:00:59.599 --> 01:01:03.619 of your rejoicing, the level of your gladness 01:01:03.619 --> 01:01:12.789 is an indicator. It indicates something. Because 01:01:12.789 --> 01:01:15.030 if you don't have joy, rejoicing, and gladness, 01:01:15.190 --> 01:01:26.389 you know what? Your faith is very weak. If you 01:01:26.389 --> 01:01:30.869 don't have joy, rejoicing, and gladness, the 01:01:30.869 --> 01:01:33.710 level of your trust in God, your confidence in 01:01:33.710 --> 01:01:40.110 God, that He's going to keep His promises, your 01:01:40.110 --> 01:01:46.099 faith, It's very weak. But when you have it, 01:01:46.139 --> 01:01:52.840 when you choose it, when you choose it, when 01:01:52.840 --> 01:02:02.260 you choose joy, because you know something. And 01:02:02.260 --> 01:02:04.719 what you know is based on what God has said and 01:02:04.719 --> 01:02:08.980 what God has done, right? We're not just choosing 01:02:08.980 --> 01:02:13.019 joy. This is not just some kind of secular theory. 01:02:18.639 --> 01:02:22.920 We're choosing it based on what we know. And 01:02:22.920 --> 01:02:29.920 when we stand, we will have joy. When we stand 01:02:29.920 --> 01:02:33.320 in faith, we will have joy. We will have rejoicing. 01:02:33.539 --> 01:02:36.500 We will have celebration. If we're really in 01:02:36.500 --> 01:02:39.880 genuine faith, believing that God is faithful, 01:02:40.039 --> 01:02:42.619 believing that he's going to keep his promises 01:02:42.619 --> 01:02:45.239 that we found in scripture and we're standing 01:02:45.239 --> 01:02:55.500 on. You might have to stand a while. We think, 01:02:55.500 --> 01:02:57.820 oh, if we do this for five minutes, then wow, 01:02:58.079 --> 01:03:00.119 you know, God's holding out on me because it 01:03:00.119 --> 01:03:08.719 didn't happen in five minutes. Sometimes it takes 01:03:08.719 --> 01:03:20.480 a while. But in your waiting, choose joy, gladness, 01:03:20.539 --> 01:03:26.659 rejoicing. Let's pray. God, thank you for today. 01:03:26.760 --> 01:03:32.980 Thank you for your truth. We take hold of your 01:03:32.980 --> 01:03:41.199 word. We see areas of our life where we're not 01:03:41.199 --> 01:03:47.980 living up to the standard of what you provided 01:03:47.980 --> 01:03:51.659 for us, to what you want for us, to how you want 01:03:51.659 --> 01:03:54.360 us to live. We see that we're coming up short. 01:03:59.139 --> 01:04:07.139 But we receive your word. And from the day on, 01:04:07.199 --> 01:04:08.840 we're going to be doers of your word, not just 01:04:08.840 --> 01:04:17.960 hearers. In Jesus' name, amen. This online worship 01:04:17.960 --> 01:04:20.480 experience was brought to you by the friends 01:04:20.480 --> 01:04:22.099 and partners of Elation Church.