[0:00] All those songs we sang this morning had something to do with being excited about what God has done for us, having joy in our lives.
[0:18] Galatians chapter 5, remember verse 16, we talked a couple weeks ago, walking in the Spirit. We're to walk in the Spirit. And we talked about what that means a little bit that day.
[0:31] And then we look down to verses 19, 20, and 21 where he talks about what it means to do the works of the flesh. Works of the flesh were not good works. Works of the flesh were things that were evil, basically.
[0:48] Last week we started talking about the fruit of the Spirit. Remember it's the works, plural, versus the fruit, singular. So when he mentions these different things, they're all part of one fruit.
[1:00] They're not all separate things. They're all part of one. So he says the fruit of the Spirit, verse 22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
[1:15] Against such there is no law. And last week we talked about what it means to walk in love. This week we're going to talk about what it means to walk with joy.
[1:26] To walk with joy. We have a friend named Joy, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the joy we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[1:38] So let's have a word of prayer, and then we'll talk about walking in joy. Dear Heavenly Father, I pray this morning you'd help us to see what it means to walk with joy.
[1:52] Lord, to have a joy in our heart, a joy in our life that surpasses everything else that's going on around us. To have a joy that comes through knowing Jesus Christ as our Savior, having him live within us.
[2:06] A joy that says, I don't care what's going on in the world and what's going on in my life and everything. I have a joy because I know Christ as my Savior.
[2:18] Lord, help us today to understand what that joy is, to understand what that joy does for us. Lord, that we might be those joyful Christians.
[2:29] That others may see the joy of Christ in us. That they may see and want what we have. Because we have joy in the midst of tribulation, in the midst of discouragement, in the midst of all kinds of things taking place in this world.
[2:45] We can have joy. Thank you, Lord, for what you've given to us. In Jesus' name, amen. Staying positive in a very negative world is a very tough thing to do, isn't it?
[2:59] I mean, you see all kinds of negative stuff all the time. And you hear all kinds of negative stuff. But throughout the Bible, Christians are commanded to have joy.
[3:12] Have joy in your life. Matter of fact, in Nehemiah 8.10, it says, Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared.
[3:31] For this day is holy unto our Lord. Neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. You have times going through the day, going through life, you're just discouraged, you're depressed, you're just, oh, man, things are so tough.
[3:50] Things are so bad. Are you walking in the Spirit? Because he says you're the fruit of the Spirit. One of them is joy. And he says, the joy of the Lord is your strength.
[4:00] Do I understand what it means to walk in the joy of the Lord? To have his strength with me day by day. In Philippians chapter 4, verse 4, it says, Rejoice in the Lord always.
[4:14] And again, I say rejoice. Remember, a sentence that starts with a verb. Is a what? An imperative. A command.
[4:26] Rejoice in the Lord always. Well, you know, it's tough to do that. Sometimes we get, you know, discouraged. Sometimes things aren't going our way. Yes, but you have the Lord.
[4:40] He says rejoice in him always. No matter what's going on, rejoice in him. Do you know in the New Testament, the word joy is in there about 60 times.
[4:51] The word rejoice is in there about 72 times. It's an important word. 60 and 72 times. Something to do with having joy and rejoicing.
[5:02] I think God thinks it's important. If you put it in there that many times. You know what's really interesting? Last week we talked about having the love of God. And walking in God's love.
[5:14] And now we're talking about joy. Where do we, how do we understand the love of God? Well, we understand because of God's grace. God's grace.
[5:25] He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. That we might have salvation. He died. He's buried. He rose again. That we might live. That we might have salvation.
[5:36] And we say that's because of the grace of God. And then he says, have joy. It's really interesting. If you look up the words, the Greek words, the Greek word means a joy which foundation is found in God.
[5:53] When he's talking about joy there, he's talking about you have a foundation that you're standing on that is founded on God. No matter what comes our way, no matter what gets thrown at us, we have a foundation.
[6:10] We stand on God. And what's really amazing, the word for grace in the Greek is the word charis. C-H-A-R-I-S.
[6:21] The word for joy, chara, C-H-A-R-A. See how closely related those two words are?
[6:32] When you understand the love of God in your life, you will have the joy of God in your life. Do we understand everything that God has done for us?
[6:43] We talked about love last week. We're talking about joy today. But do you understand how closely they're related? Why he put those two words together there in the fruit of the spirit?
[6:54] Love, joy. Romans chapter 14, verse 17 says this. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
[7:08] When we think of a kingdom, we think of physical things. We think castles. We think armies. We think all the food I could possibly want. I think servants.
[7:18] I think servants. All of these different things. Notice what he said. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. What is it? Righteousness. Jesus Christ comes into your life.
[7:30] He saves you. You have the righteousness of Christ in your life. Excuse me. He says you have peace. And you have joy in the Holy Spirit.
[7:42] You know, you want a kingdom? You want something that's solid? You want something to rule in your life? How about having the love of God and the joy of God and the peace of God to be with you day after day after day for the rest of your life?
[7:58] And on into eternity. That's the kind of kingdom I want. I want one that's going to make me happy. 1 Thessalonians 1.6 And ye became followers of us and of the Lord.
[8:11] Having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. He says you came to know Christ and you were going through all kinds of tough things. You were being persecuted.
[8:22] You were being. Many of you were sick. Many of you were going through. You were servants. But. You came to know Christ and you got the joy of the Holy Spirit in your life.
[8:35] Doesn't matter all these other things. I have joy. In my life. You know. We cannot know joy. God's joy. Until we know God's love.
[8:47] We have to know the love of Christ. You have to first know Jesus Christ as your Savior. When you know him and allow him in. He is going to bring joy to your life.
[8:59] So what's the reasons for our joy? Let's look at that first. The reasons for our joy. First of all. Joy is the result of salvation. I've just kind of been saying that haven't I?
[9:12] When we know Christ. That's when joy comes into our life. Romans chapter 15 verse 13 says this. Now the God of hope. Fill you with all joy.
[9:23] And peace. And believing. That you may abound in hope. Through the power of the Holy Ghost. He says the God of hope. We look at life without God right now.
[9:33] And we look at our world. And we say. And our world is headed for. Who knows what. Our world is headed for. Destruction. Our world is headed for. Really bad times.
[9:47] But he says. He's the God of hope. He'll fill you with all joy. I can look at what's going on in the world. And I can have hope. And I can have joy. Part of that's because I've read the end of the book.
[10:00] I know what's coming. I know what's going to happen. And I know I'm not going to be here for all of it. Because God says he's going to take us out of here. You know.
[10:10] To have joy and hope in Jesus Christ. He says you can have hope. Through the power of the Holy Spirit. When you ask Jesus to come into your life. His spirit comes in to live in you. He says you have joy.
[10:23] And power. So. Joy is a result of salvation. We rejoice because of the love of God. We rejoice because of the love of God. First Peter.
[10:35] 1.8. Whom having not seen. Ye love. In whom. Though now ye see him not. Yet believing. Ye rejoice. With joy.
[10:47] Unspeakable. And full of glory. He says you haven't seen Christ. Yet. You haven't been able to lay your eyes on Christ. Yet. But you believe. The things that we have told you.
[10:58] The things that we have experienced. The things that we have seen. And you believed what we told you. You believed. What we. What the word of God says.
[11:09] About the coming Messiah. And you believe what Jesus did. That he was that coming Messiah. And he says. Because of that. Ye rejoice.
[11:19] With a joy. Unspeakable. And full of glory. He said. You allow Jesus into your life. You're going to experience a joy. Like you never experienced before. Like a joy.
[11:33] Sometimes it's just hard to express. What God has done for us. And how he's taken care of us. Do you remember. When Jesus first came into this world.
[11:45] Luke chapter 2. Verse 10. It's the night that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And it says this. The angel said unto them. Fear not. For behold. I bring you good tidings of great joy.
[11:58] Which shall be to all people. It wasn't just to those shepherds. It wasn't just to the Jews. It was for all people. He says. Jesus coming. Into this world. Jesus doing what he's going to do.
[12:12] In this world. Jesus doing what he's going to do. For the salvation of mankind. He says. It's for all of you. And you're going to know such joy.
[12:23] When he comes into your life. We also rejoice. Because of the book of life. The book of life. Some of you. I can't even remember. If it was Wednesday nights. Or Sunday school. Or what. We've been talking.
[12:35] We talked about the book of life. Names written there. When you're saved. Your name is written. In a book.
[12:47] And when it comes to the end of time. And Jesus is separating. Those who are going to heaven. Those who are going to hell. What's he looking for? Is your name written?
[13:00] Luke chapter 10. Verse 20. Notice behind me. Not withstanding. Not withstanding. In this. Rejoice not. That the spirits. Are subject unto you. But rather rejoice.
[13:10] Because your names. Are written in heaven. Remember. Jesus had disciples. Who were going out. And they had power. Over the spirits.
[13:20] Over demons. They could cast him out of people. They had power over them. To command them. What to do. And they're like. Whoa. This is so cool. And Jesus is like.
[13:31] Don't get too excited about that. You want to get excited. Get excited about the fact. That your name is written. In heaven. That you are set. For all eternity.
[13:43] That when you pass away. From this earth. You are going to heaven. Because your name is written there. Oh. What a great thing. So we have salvation.
[13:53] We have joy. Because of the salvation we have. And then notice. The verses we're looking at here. In. Galatians chapter 5. Verse 22. The joy.
[14:05] Is part of that. Fruit of the spirit. He says. When you have the spirit. Come into your life. When you have this. Fruit of the spirit. In your life. You get. Love.
[14:16] And joy. And peace. And long suffering. And gentleness. And all those others. He says. You get all those. In your life. The fact that Jesus Christ.
[14:28] Comes into your life. The fact that his spirit. Comes to live within you. He says. This is part. Of what you get. I don't know about you. But there's a whole lot. Of things in this world. I wouldn't mind having.
[14:39] But I'd much rather. Have joy in my life. I'd much rather. Enjoy my life. Than to have. All the different things. Again. In Romans 14. 17. Same verse. He says.
[14:50] The kingdom of God. Is not meat and drink. Righteousness. Peace. Joy. There's a lot of people. That have a lot of things. But they don't have those things.
[15:02] They don't have Jesus. Righteousness. They don't have peace. They don't have joy. They're always a sound. To get more. And get more. And get more. And get more. I'd rather have. The peace. Than the joy. In my life.
[15:13] Joy. Joy is something we get. Because of the spirit of God. However. In this life. There is resistance.
[15:25] Against joy. Resistance. Against joy. In spite of the Holy Spirit. Working in us. In spite of all he's trying to do. There are sometimes. Aspects of life.
[15:36] That. We allow in. Or we have. In our life. Some of them. We don't even allow. They just come. But we. They come into our life. And we dwell on those.
[15:47] Instead of dwelling on the fact. That. I have Jesus Christ. Example. Bitterness. Bitterness. Bitterness comes into people's lives. They get upset.
[16:00] With people. They get upset. With circumstances. They get us. And they're bitter about it. They allow it. To work. On their heart. They allow it. To work. On their mind. And they have this bitterness.
[16:11] Toward people. You know what's interesting? Hebrews. 12. 15. Looking diligently. Lest any man fail.
[16:24] Of the grace. Of God. Lest any root. Of bitterness. Spring up. Trouble you. And thereby. Many. Be defiled. You know what's interesting.
[16:35] About this. This verse. For me. What's my favorite verse? Looking unto Jesus. That's how the verse starts. That's the first three words.
[16:46] Where's that verse found? Hebrews 12. Verse 2. Looking unto Jesus. We're going to look at that verse some more later. But looking unto Jesus. Notice what this verse says.
[16:58] Looking diligently. Looking diligently. Unto Jesus. Lest any man fail. Of the grace of God. Lest the root of bitterness.
[17:09] Spring up. Keep your eyes. Focused on Christ. Allow him. To do his work. In your life. And if you allow him. To do his work. And you allow his spirit. To come in. And let him do his work.
[17:19] He says. Bitterness won't be there. You'll have love. And joy. Peace. And all those other things. And you notice.
[17:30] At the end of the verse. Thereby many. Be defiled. You know. We a lot of times. Will allow things.
[17:41] To come into our life. And when we do that. And we dwell on them. It's going to hurt our testimony. He says. Many are defiled.
[17:52] You think about it. I meet Christians all the time. Who are bitter. About something. And they've been bitter. About it 10. 20. 30.
[18:03] Years. And it's still there. And because of that bitterness. Their testimony is hurt. And he says. Many be defiled.
[18:13] People are not getting saved. People are not coming to Christ. People are not growing in Christ. Because I have a root of bitterness. God wants to use me. To help them. But I have this root of bitterness.
[18:26] And you know. As I was thinking about it. That's a sin. How do I know that? Go back to what we just talked about. Looking unto Jesus.
[18:38] Verse 15 here. Looking diligently. If I'm looking unto Jesus. If I'm looking diligently. Doing what he wants me to do.
[18:49] I've got my eyes forward. Bitterness. I'm looking backwards. If I've got bitterness in my life. I'm going. These people back here.
[19:00] Did this to me. Then I don't have my eyes on Christ. Do I? I'm not following him. Be so very careful. Do not let bitterness come into your life.
[19:12] Second thing. Suffering. Suffering comes into our eyes. And that one we don't have as much control over. When we face suffering. Sometimes it's. You know. We didn't have anything to do with it.
[19:23] It just. Showed up. It's just there. And when we abide in Christ. Through suffering. We're going to find something about suffering. When we do it right.
[19:35] You know. Suffering is a resistor. To joy. But if we do it right. It could actually further our joy. First Peter. Chapter one. Verses six through eight.
[19:47] First Peter chapter one. Verses six through eight. Says. Wherein ye rejoice greatly. Though now for a season. If need be. Ye are in heaviness. Through manifold temptations.
[19:58] That the trial of your faith. Being much more precious. Than of gold that perisheth. Though it be tried with fire. Might be found. Under the praise.
[20:09] And honor. And glory. At the appearing of Jesus Christ. Whom having not seen ye love. And whom though we see him not. Yet believing. Ye rejoice with joy unspeakable. And full of glory.
[20:20] He says. There's things that are going to come into your life. Things that you don't want to have there. Things that you don't. You didn't ask for. Things that you know. Just. They're there. Fire. But he says. That trial of your faith.
[20:31] Can bring you. Something more precious. Than gold. Though it be tried with fire. He says. You take the gold. And you heat it up. And you clean off the dross.
[20:42] And you heat it up again. And you clean off the dross. And you heat it up again. And you clean off the dross. He says. That kind of gold. The very purest gold. You could possibly have.
[20:52] Not worth. What you can learn. By trusting Christ. And following him. Romans chapter 5. Verses 1 through 4.
[21:03] Therefore being justified by faith. Putting your faith in Christ. Letting him be your savior. We have peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access.
[21:14] By faith. Into this grace. Wherein we stand. Rejoice. In hope. Of the glory of God. And not only.
[21:25] And not. Only so. But we glory. In tribulations also. Knowing that the tribulation. Worketh patience. And patience. Experience. And experience. Hope. He says.
[21:35] When we go through trials. When we go through suffering. We go through. He says. There's things to learn there. There's things that God wants for us. To gain there. He says.
[21:47] Rejoice in the hope. That is in Christ. Where is your hope? Is it in Christ? Or is it in others?
[21:58] Or in things? He says. Look. We glory in tribulations. Why? We learn patience. And are we going to have the patience?
[22:09] We go learn from the experience. And we learn from the experience. We learn to have hope. God is in control. And taking care of us. Number three. Persecution.
[22:21] Persecution. Matthew chapter 5. It's the Beatitudes. It's the. Blessed are they. Blessed are they. Blessed are they. Blessed are they. Matthew chapter 5.
[22:33] Verse 10. It says. Blessed are they. Which are persecuted. For righteousness sake. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Ooh. He says.
[22:43] You wait with me. You have patience with me. You stick with me. You have hope in me. You have joy in me. You have peace in me. He says. You stick to it. He says.
[22:53] Yours is the kingdom of heaven. Verse 11. Blessed are ye. When men shall revile you. And persecute you. And shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. He says. When people are saying things about you.
[23:04] When people are ridiculing you. When people are mocking you. When people are lying about you. When people are doing hell. He says. It's okay. Verse 12. Rejoice. And be exceeding glad.
[23:16] For great is your reward in heaven. Stop there. He says. You can do all of those things. You go through them with me. You allow yourself to face all these different things.
[23:26] But you do it with me. And he says. Your reward is in heaven. You may not see it here. But he says. It's in heaven. And then he says. For so persecuted they the prophets.
[23:39] Which were before you. Ezekiel. Isaiah. Moses. David. Others.
[23:51] You're in pretty good company. Stop them to think about that. He says. They did the same thing to the prophets. You're in pretty good company. Stay true to Christ.
[24:02] Stay true to him. Follow him. No matter what's going on in your life. Whether it be. Bitterness. Or suffering. Or persecution. He said. You stick with me. And watch what happens.
[24:15] Because even if it doesn't go the way we think it ought to. We have a home in heaven. He said already. He said. There's a place for you. Your reward is in heaven. As a Christian.
[24:27] If you've been a Christian for a while. You do know there are times when. Discouragement. And those things get to you. I'm supposed to have the joy of the Lord.
[24:40] The joy of the Lord is my strength. But there are times. When things come. And it's like. Oh. Man. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I don't know how much more of this I can.
[24:51] Put up with. I just. Oh. Well then. Number three. The reinstatement of joy. Sometimes we do lose our joy. Joy.
[25:06] Is a byproduct of obedience. Sometimes we don't obey God. Sometimes we don't follow him as we should. Joy comes when we obey and follow him.
[25:17] Proverbs 16.3. Proverbs 16.3 says this. Commit thy works unto the Lord. And thy thoughts shall be established. When we commit our way to God.
[25:29] And allow him to work in our life. Those of you with me on Wednesday nights. Fred not. Trust in the Lord. Delight thyself in the Lord. Commit thy way to the Lord. Rest in the Lord.
[25:41] Wait on the Lord. All those things we've looked at in Psalm 37. He says. When you trust in the Lord. He said things are going to happen. When you commit your way to the Lord.
[25:52] When you obey. He says joy is going to be a byproduct. Of that. Commit thy works unto the Lord. Thy thoughts shall be established. He says you keep your focus on him.
[26:02] He will help you with your thoughts. He will help to guide you where you need to be. So. We lose our joy. What do we do? Well let me give you four things.
[26:14] Real quick. To develop your joy. First of all. You're going to develop joy. Through our singing. What? Through our singing.
[26:25] Why did I have you sing songs like. Heaven came down. Why did I have. There's within our heart a melody. Why did I have you sing those songs this morning?
[26:36] They're joyful songs. They're happy songs. They're songs that remind us. To keep our focus on Jesus. Let him work in our life. And we'll find.
[26:47] The happiness and the joy. That we need. Through singing. Bible says we're to make a joyful noise. We were talking about that this morning. Bunny's going to do a solo for you next week.
[27:00] Oh anyway. It's a duet. You and Steve are going to do. Okay. We. Come to the Lord with. Joyful singing.
[27:13] Make a joyful noise. You've heard me say this before. If you've been here very long. My dad. I sing. You've heard me sing. You've heard Bunny.
[27:23] Singing. You know. Singing. My dad. They have the old saying. Said. You can't carry a tune in a bucket. You've heard that saying. My dad could not carry a tune in a 55 gallon drum.
[27:37] It was awful. It was terrible. Bonnie said. He's the only one she ever stood next to. That she couldn't keep on tune. Because of his singing. Because my dad loved to sing.
[27:48] He would sing out. In the services and stuff. He'd sing hymns. And he'd sing those right out. And everything. But he was terrible. But the Bible says. Make a joyful noise. And my dad would go.
[27:59] See. That's what it is. I may not be able to sing. But it says make a joyful noise. I can do that. And it had a joyful spirit in him. Because of that.
[28:10] When I worked in Heartland. We had a pastor. Pastor Fenimore. Heartland. Heartland. We had. Three story building. Gymnasium. Things attached to it.
[28:21] And everything. And so. There would be times. I needed him for something or other. He wasn't in his office. So then what did I do? It's a big building. I don't want to wander all over the building.
[28:33] A lot of different rooms. I would just stop. And I would listen. He would be whistling. Whistling. Whenever he was walking around in the building. He'd be whistling hymns.
[28:44] I would just listen. Oh. There he is. He's down there. And I'd go find him. Because he was whistling. He had a joyful spirit in him.
[28:55] When he was alone. And nobody else was around and stuff. He wasn't talking to somebody. He wasn't working on studying. For messages and stuff. When he was just wandering around the building sometimes. He would whistle.
[29:07] Because that joy of the Lord. He was there. So we do it through our singing. James chapter 5 verse 13. Says. Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry?
[29:19] Let him sing psalms. If you've got the joy of the Lord. Or you're lacking the joy of the Lord. And you want it back in your life. Just start singing. Singing.
[29:31] Heaven came down. And glory filled my soul. Sing hymns. Second. We can do it through serving. Serving. You ever help serve others?
[29:43] Do things for others? Makes a difference in your life. Doesn't it? Whenever I have people who are going through things. And they're down. And they're depressed. And they're like.
[29:54] Oh this is happening. And that's happening. And the other thing. One of the things I'll do to them is say. Go find somebody to help. Go find somebody. Go find somebody. Go find somebody. Go find somebody. Who needs your help. God.
[30:05] Takes the mind off of you. And looks on them. And as you help them. You start to feel better. God is using you. In somebody's life. Through serving.
[30:15] Acts chapter 20. Verse 24. But none of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear unto myself. Acts 20. Verse 24. So that I might finish my course with joy.
[30:29] And the ministry. Which I have received of the Lord Jesus. To testify. The gospel of the grace of God. He says look. So that I might finish my course with joy.
[30:45] And the ministry. What is the ministry? Serving. That I might finish the service. That God has given to me.
[30:56] Which I receive the Lord. He says go out. And do it with joy. Serve others. And watch God work in your life. Third thing. Through soul winning and discipleship.
[31:09] Soul winning and discipleship. Proverbs chapter 11. Verse 30 says. The fruit of the righteous. Is a tree of life. And he that winneth souls.
[31:19] Is wise. You want to do something for the Lord. Go out. Tell people. About the Lord Jesus Christ. Go out and show them. From the word of God. What Jesus did for them.
[31:31] And as people get saved. Or people grow. It brings joy. Philippians 4. 1. Therefore my brethren. Dearly beloved. And longed for. My joy and crown.
[31:44] So stand fast on the Lord. My dearly beloved. Paul's pointing out. He says look. He says you go out. And you. Take the gospel to people. And you see people saved.
[31:55] And he says look. You're going to be. You're my longed for. You're my joy. And my crown. He says. I want you to understand. That you.
[32:07] Have. Been given. Something special. Rejoice in it. Fourth thing. Through stewardship. Through stewardship.
[32:19] What is stewardship? Giving. Taking care of things. That have been given to you. Treating them right. I did not put quotes up this week. I had enough slides for you.
[32:31] To take care of back there. So I did not put the quotes up this week. But one guy said. A cold heart. And a stingy hand. Go together. If we're not willing to give of ourselves to others.
[32:42] We're not going to give. He says. You got a cold heart. You see people in need. And you can't do anything for them. He said. No. That's not right. Here's one you never would have thought.
[32:54] You would hear me say. Is a quote. In. Church. Bob Hope. Those of you who know Bob Hope. He said. Laughter.
[33:05] Is an instant vacation. Giving. Giving. Is a two week cruise with pay. Think about that. Giving is a two week cruise with pay. He said.
[33:16] We need to learn to give. You know. I think about him. He wasn't saved. But. Going out and doing those.
[33:30] What do you call them? USO. Tour things. The soldiers and stuff. Giving of his time. Giving of his money. Going out and doing those things. Probably brought him more joy.
[33:42] Than anything else he did. In life. Acts chapter 20. Verse 35. I have showed you all things. How that so laboring. You ought to support the weak. And to remember the words.
[33:54] Of the Lord Jesus. How he said. It is more blessed to give. Than to receive. He says. It's more blessed to give. You know. When I get things. It's nice.
[34:05] I like getting gifts. I like getting anything. But I feel a whole lot more. When I give out. To people. Help people. You often hear me say.
[34:15] A quote from John D. Rockefeller Sr. How much is enough? Just a little bit more. You hear me say that one a lot. Let me give you another quote. From John D. Rockefeller Sr.
[34:26] Here. The poorest man I know. Is the man who has nothing. But money. The poorest man I know.
[34:36] Is the man who has nothing. But money. You know. That is so true. If I'm relying on just money. I don't have much. Second Corinthians 8.
[34:49] 2 and 3. How that in great trial of affliction. The abundance of their joy. And their deep poverty. Abounded under the riches. Of their liberality. For to their power.
[34:59] I bear record. Yea. And beyond their power. They were willing. Of themselves. What does all that mean? He's talking about people. Who had given to his ministry.
[35:10] As he was on a missionary. Journey. And to a church. I don't remember which church it was now. But a church that he was in. And we needed help. They were going through persecution. And they were the Macedonians.
[35:21] He said. They got nothing. They don't have anything. But they were willing to give. Of what they had. They were willing to give. Of what they didn't have.
[35:32] He said. They were willing. To reach out. And to help others. And he said. They had power beyond themselves.
[35:43] God blessed them. For the giving they had. So you want to increase your joy. He says. Look. Sing. Serve.
[35:55] So win. What was this one? And whatever this one was. He said. Do these different things.
[36:07] See. Christian joy comes through salvation. If you've never experienced. The unspeakable joy of salvation. You're going to have trouble understanding.
[36:18] What it means. To truly have. Joy. In your life. We look for substitutes. In this life. We look for. Alcohol. We look for drugs.
[36:28] We look for. This. That. And the other thing. He says. No. No. No. You want joy in your life. Come to Jesus. You want joy in your life. Understand who Jesus is.
[36:40] Get to know him. Even believers though. Do lose their joy at times. Perfect example. David. David.
[36:52] The man after God's own heart. Did so many things. That were wrong. But in. Psalm 51. 12 or 13. He says. Restore unto me the joy.
[37:04] Of thy salvation. And uphold me with thy free spirit. He says. I lost my salvation. He says. Restore the joy. That goes with it. I've done this. And this. And this. Please forgive me.
[37:15] And restore the joy. And he says. And uphold me. With thy free spirit. Your spirit comes into me. Help your spirit. To lift me. Help your spirit. To encourage me. Help your spirit.
[37:26] To point me. In the right direction. That I may look. In the right direction. One last verse. And we're done. Hebrews 12. 12. 2. Looking unto Jesus.
[37:38] The author and finisher of our faith. Who for the joy. That was set before him. Endured the cross.
[37:53] What? Who for the joy. That was set before him. Endured the cross. I don't think the cross was fun.
[38:05] I don't think the cross was. You know. An enjoyable time. I don't think the cross was anything like that. But it says.
[38:15] Who for the joy. That was set before him. Endured the cross. Jesus went to that cross. Nails through his hands and his feet. Hanging up there in front of everybody. Being pierced in the side.
[38:27] Dying on that cross. Being put in a tomb. Where's the joy. In that. But as. Jesus did that.
[38:38] Think about what he was thinking. I'm fulfilling the will of the father. These people in front of me. And these people throughout the ages.
[38:50] Need a way of salvation. These people who are doing this to me. Father forgive them. For they know not what they do. For the. The thousands and millions.
[39:02] Who are going to be with us in heaven. Father. For those who are going to be saved. For those who are going to get to spend eternity with us. Who for the joy.
[39:13] That was set before him. Endured the cross. I will do this. Because of what it's going to do. For others. Talk about service.
[39:27] That is the ultimate service. He says he despises shame. But now. He is set down at the right hand of the throne.
[39:38] Of God. God. Has done so much for us. And all he asks us to do. Is to believe in him. Keep our eyes focused on him.
[39:50] Trust him. And he will shower us with love. He will shower us with joy. If we just keep our focus on him.
[40:06] Hope. Hope is. I just lost it. Expectation.
[40:17] All I can think of is unexpected. Unexpected. No.
[40:30] All of a sudden I forgot the definition I usually use for that. But anyway. We have. Hope. In God. Because of what he has done for us. We have hope in God.
[40:41] Because. I can look at his love. I can look at the joy he gives. And I can know he's going to be there for me. Throughout all eternity. If you're here this morning. You don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. You're your savior.
[40:51] Can I say this. You will not experience anything like. Having him come into your life. And having his love. Take over your life. Having his joy.
[41:03] Fill your life. Having him. Give you strength. Day by day. Because the joy of the Lord is my strength. And have hope. In his life. As I watch this life.
[41:15] And I watch the things that are going on. That I can have hope. In what's taking place. So I want to finish this morning with a hymn. Don't get your hymn book. It's going to be on the screen. Let's stand together.
[41:25] Oh yeah.