0:00 I'm very blessed by the theme that you've chosen for this. 0:22 And praise the Lord for 51 years of blessing. But what a good time to rejoice. Rejoice in hope and in the blessing of God and how much God has done for us. I think it's a very good thing to reflect on. Rejoicing and joy is something that we don't often think about. 0:47 We hear often in the church about our calling in life is to become like Jesus. And when you hear challenging messages and you're stirred up, it will produce in you a passion to be like Jesus. I'm sure it does that you hear challenging, stirring messages and it produces in you a passion to be like Jesus. 1:15 I have many memories, especially in 40 Da Costa Square, because the PE building was built after I left home. But many memories of sitting there and just being stirred in my heart to follow Jesus more wholeheartedly. Convicted of sin and laziness or backsliding and being stirred on to follow Jesus more wholeheartedly. 1:44 But in the midst of that passion to be like Jesus, it's possible that we might miss joy. That joy is what God intended for us to have all along when he brought us into his family. I heard a little joke once about what is or a riddle, maybe is a better word for it. 2:09 What is the biggest word in the English language? And the answer for that is the word smiles, because it's got the word mile in the middle, one mile long. So for you children, maybe you'll like that. The biggest word in the English language is the word smiles, because it's got the word mile in the middle. 2:35 Now, it's just a nice little riddle, but there's something there that I often think about that should be a reflection of our Christianity. See, the closer we get to God, I believe, the more we will really know his joy. 2:56 If you turn with me to Psalm 16, it's a verse that we have heard often in the church. Psalm 16. The last part of verse 11 reads like this. 3:17 In your presence is fullness of joy. In your presence is fullness of joy. I've thought about it like this. Imagine if you're walking by a restaurant that you know cooks good food. As you get, you know that you're getting closer to the restaurant, if they're making the food there. 3:42 Or let's say, maybe let's use a better example. You're coming home from work after a long day, and you really love your wife's cooking, which I hope us husbands all do. And from a distance, you can get the smell of what your wife is cooking at home. 4:00 Some lovely chicken curry or something like that. Whatever your favorite meal is, and you can smell it from a distance. And your heart gets excited that you get to eat this wonderful, delicious meal that you can smell from that's cooking on the grill or on the stove. 4:21 I thought about it like that with Jesus, with God. If you're really getting closer to heaven, you will really be able to almost taste the joy that is in heaven. Another place in the Psalms, it says, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. 4:41 And I really believe that if we are actually getting closer to God, closer to him in his nature, and heaven is just a place in heaven. It says, in his presence is fullness of joy. Wherever God is, there will be joy. It's not just in heaven. 5:01 We pray often that his presence will be in our meetings. In every meeting, we pray that his presence will be there. And what is the mark of his presence? If Psalm 16, verse 11 is true, there will be a joy about us. And I often try to test that I'm actually getting closer to God by this test. 5:26 How much joy is there actually in my life? And yes, of course, we want to be more holy. We want to be more like Jesus. We want to be pure in our speech, in our thoughts, in our attitudes and motives. But with all of that holiness, growing in that holiness means also growing in the joy of the Lord. 5:50 In Matthew 25, we read a story that Jesus told, which, again, you all know very well. It's the story of the talents. And in the story, we're told that this master gave three different servants of his some talents. 6:16 He gave one of them five, another of them three, two, and the other he gave one. I won't read the whole story, but I want you to describe the reward. I want you to see the reward that these first two servants get because they were faithful in what they did. 6:38 Because they were faithful. Here's how that reward is described. This is a picture of us getting to be in the presence of the Lord, getting to be there finally. This is the final destination. We've worked hard. We've been diligent. 6:53 We've been faithful. And now we get to the reward. What's the reward? In Matthew 25, verse 21. His master said to him, well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. 7:13 Enter into the joy of your master. In other words, come and see how happy I am with you, is how I paraphrase that. The joy of the master is what? How happy the master is with this servant who was faithful. 7:34 He says the same thing to the second slave in verse 23, the last part. Enter into the joy of your master. When God, when I imagine Jesus swinging the gates open to heaven to welcome you in or welcome me in. He'll say, come and see how happy I am here. 7:56 How joyful it is here. This is heaven. And we can fool ourselves into thinking that we have become more like God because we obey certain rules or we understand certain doctrines. Or we think that our standard of outward righteousness has reached some level. 8:17 Or we know the Bible more. Or we go to more prayer meetings. Or I'm a part of this church. We can easily fool ourselves into thinking that we have become more like God. See, Satan has managed to convince the world that God has extremely high expectations of us. 8:36 You have to be like this and you better not mess up. Or if you messed up, God is angry at you. And he's convinced, even Christians, who are children of God, he's convinced them that God is very hard to please. He's always just upset and angry about some little thing that you did. 8:57 Oh, you slipped up, you lusted for a moment or you said something with your tongue. Yes, sin is serious. But the devil has managed to paint this picture of a God who just always seems grumpy and gloomy and just grumpy. You know, some dads are like that sadly, some grandpas are like that. 9:19 But God, that's what the devil has convinced many Christians. A grumpy dad up in heaven who's just, oh, you messed up again, you messed up again. Or that he's boring. That he's just always, if there's anything enjoyable, he doesn't want you to have that. 9:35 And the result was that in Jesus' time, the people who were pursuing God outwardly the most ended up looking exactly like that. If you met the Pharisees, you would meet a bunch of glum, stern, strict looking people, always looking like they're looking right into your soul almost. 9:59 And you better not mess up. And I'm sure the little children, when they saw the Pharisees coming, they were afraid of, they might yell at them or something. So they ran away. And they were always in fear. And the result of that was, you see that in the Pharisees' life. 10:18 It's described like this in Matthew 23. Turn back a couple of pages. In Matthew 23, you can read a description of the people who, thinking that God was this angry, glum, hard to please person, they ended up like that. 10:40 They themselves ended up angry, glum, hard to please. Because they didn't have the joy of the Lord. And they probably thought, we're the most spiritual people in the world. We're closest to God. And yet they were the farthest from God. 10:57 And if we really knew God, and we knew that God is joy, He's full of joy. His presence is full of joy. Joy just comes out of Him, as it were. Like a fragrance. You come near God, and you'll smell joy. You can see it from a distance. 11:17 And the people who thought they were getting closer to God, if they had really known, they knew Psalm 16, verse 11. It was in their Bible. The Pharisees did. But they didn't think about that verse. If they had really meditated on it, 11:32 there was a Pharisee who thought, Lord, you said that in your presence is fullness of joy, but I don't have joy. I think such a Pharisee would have come to know the truth, and come to really know God. And so you see, for example, 11:46 the fruit of such a life, of following a God who is angry and stern, and always ready to pick at some little thing about me. You see, for example, in Matthew 23, verse 14. He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, 12:06 because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense, you make long prayers. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation. What's wrong with a long prayer? They prayed long prayers in public. They wanted to be heard. 12:25 And Jesus, what do you think he prayed? He prayed forever prayers. See, there's long prayers, which is you're measuring how long it is. And then there's prayers which are, you cannot measure because it's constant. It's forever. 12:45 Because it's a conversation. If prayer is a conversation with God, then you're not measuring how long it is. You're just talking to God. I mean, do you ever measure how long you talk to your wife or your husband? If you really love your husband or wife, 13:01 do you sit there and say, Guess what, wife? Honey, we spoke for 45 minutes. You don't think like that. If you really love your wife, you really love your husband, you could speak for hours, days. And you're not measuring the time. 13:17 The Pharisees were measuring their prayer meetings because they were serving a strict, glum God. Jesus, when he spoke to the Father, it was his Father in heaven. There was no time limit. If he got tired and the prayer had to stop 13:34 because he had to go to sleep, okay, go to sleep, but get up in the morning and continue talking to your Father in heaven. So you see how for the Pharisees, because they served this strict God and they thought, they probably thought, 13:48 Oh, if I don't pray for at least half an hour today, God is going to be angry at me. So I better pray a long prayer. And you missed it. You forgot to pray. You only prayed for 10 minutes. God is angry with you. He's going to punish you. 14:01 You're going to fail your exam. These are the lies the devil tells us about who God is. Here's another one. You skip down to verse 27. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, 14:23 but inside they are full of dead man's bones and all uncleanness. So you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. And they weren't merciful because the God they served 14:40 was so strict and unmerciful and unloving and demands, high demands on people. They became like that to others. They put heavy burdens on people and wouldn't even help them at all. This is the lie that the devil has managed. 14:58 And I think it's possible that we are sitting in a church like this and having such thoughts that God is like that. I believe it's quite possible and I know that because that's how it was for me. Now, I believe that when we really preach 15:13 a high standard of holiness, a high standard of righteousness, because God is extremely righteous, far more holy than we realize. But the danger is because we are human beings, we only see dimly that we can paint an idea of God 15:31 that in our own idea of what the righteousness of God and the holiness of God looks like, we imagine that that must look very strict and don't have any fun because fun and holiness cannot mix together. Because we have this earthly idea 15:48 of what holiness is and fun is, that they are two very different things, that joy and holiness cannot be together. But that's a lie from the devil. It's the devil who has convinced us that if you want to be holy, you cannot have joy. 16:04 And if you want to have fun and be joyful, then you cannot be holy. And yet, God is completely holy and completely full of joy. That's what Jesus came to show us. When Jesus came and the disciples saw him, they saw somebody 16:22 who was far more holy than any of the Pharisees, but he was joyful. He had such overflowing joy and he represented the Father. And my dear brothers, dear sisters, and even dear children, God has called us, he has placed us in the church 16:40 so that we too can represent God. And without condemning yourself, without feeling any shame or guilt, you ask yourself, what do the people who are closest to you think about God based on what they've seen about you? Your co-workers, let's say, 17:01 or your relatives, your neighbors, your wife at home, your husband at home, your children, your parents. What picture of God have they gotten from you? Has it been like the Pharisees? Oh, God is very strict. Don't do this. 17:17 Don't do that. Oh, you messed up here. Parents, think about it with your children. What picture of God have they gotten from watching your life or from how you've interacted with them? Has it been like the Pharisees? Strict, glum, serious, 17:34 no fun, no joy? Or was it like Jesus who was so full of joy in John 15? If you'll turn there with me, please. John chapter 15. John 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 are Jesus' final sermon, as it were. And this is a sermon 17:54 not to the crowds. In Matthew 5, 6, and 7, he gave a sermon on a mountain to his disciples, but also to a large multitude of people who were there. And many times you see him speaking speaking to the multitudes. But here was a private message, 18:09 a private meeting with his disciples before he was killed. And in that, it's amazing if you think about it and you read about it sometime, you'll see how much he mentions joy. And it's captured in this verse especially. 18:27 Matthew, sorry, John 15, verse 11, these things I have spoken to you. In other words, all these three and a half years, he's telling Peter and James and John and Thomas and Philip, Nathaniel, he's saying, I've been with you 18:41 three and a half years and I've said to you a lot, but all of these things I have said to you so that you will have my joy. I have had so much joy throughout my 33 and a half years and I'm about to go and hang on the cross 18:59 and suffer and be beaten and blood will come gushing down my, I'm going to go to Gethsemane and their blood will come oozing out of my skin and then they're going to beat me and they're going to put a crown of thorns on me. 19:11 They're going to poke nails into my hand and crucify me and I'm going to die. But I have so much joy and he said, listen, I've told you about the Father. I've told you about righteousness and purity and all of that because I want 19:26 this joy that I have that's bursting inside of me, I want it to be in you as well so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full so that you too can have this overflowing joy and I remember some years ago I read this verse 19:44 and I actually just kind of put my hand on my chest and said, Lord, I missed it somehow. I've been CFC from the time CFC started and I feel like I've missed joy. I have such a desire to be holy and pure and I confess 20:05 and I weep when I fall but somehow in the midst of all of that I miss joy and yet you've said here that all of these things that you said even a command like where Jesus spoke about hell and gave warnings and all those things 20:20 he said but all of this even the warnings is so that your joy may be made full and I said, Lord, I want that. Now, the reason that we struggle with joy is because especially, now I think that if the standard that we are taught 20:38 is low oh, you just confess your sins get forgiveness and then just wait to go to heaven and that's it. Maybe such people will actually be more joyful because they think God is happy with them and I understand that when we preach 20:57 that there's more to life than that that God has called us to become like him and Jesus called us to follow him and to take up our cross that there would be suffering in the Christian life when those are the things that we hear about 21:12 it's easy that in the midst of all of that hearing about suffering and taking up the cross and all that that we miss that all of that is meant to give us true joy and we can think well how could God actually be joyful over me 21:28 when he knows everything about me see I know everything about me and I know yes I know the things that God has helped me with but I also know the things that are still imperfect I know those areas that I still fall in I know those areas 21:45 that are still I'm embarrassed about or ashamed of and I think well God you see that too how can you be joyful with me I'm not joyful with me when I think about myself I think oh man I'm like this and I'm like that and I'm not joyful 21:59 and I think God knows me even more deeply than I do he's probably not happy with me either and dear brothers dear sisters dear children oh that we would know how much God delights in us Psalm 103 Psalm 103 David begins by saying 22:19 bless the Lord oh my soul oh my soul and you know David had such a joy in knowing the blessings of God for example verse 3 who the forgiveness of our sins and healing from sicknesses he just delighted 22:40 he says bless the Lord all that is within me bless his holy name bless the Lord verse 2 he repeats it don't forget his benefits David rejoiced so much in something that he was given from God like forgiveness we have been given 22:57 far more than that as you hear forgiveness is what they had in the Old Testament sanctification becoming like Jesus that's our calling in the new in the new covenant and that's a higher standard yes but it should be a reason 23:12 for even more joy if all David was given was forgiveness verse 3 and he was so excited about that when we have been given so much more the opportunity to be like Jesus to be freed from all sin to never be bound by sin ever again 23:31 victory and being saved completely from sin when we've been given more shouldn't our joy be more of course it should but look at what he says in verse 13 just as a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compassion 23:52 on those who fear him for he himself knows our frame or the literal word there is when it says our frame what we are made of he is mindful that we are just dust I love those verses David realized that God's not angry at me 24:12 he knows I'm dust and he knows that he knows my weakness he knows how my frame he knows what I'm made of and Jesus came to this earth and was tempted and in the same way as we are and felt that same pull so that he understands 24:32 even more if David could say God understands that I'm just dust how much more should we be able to say that because Jesus came and took on this flesh of dust and he is a sympathizing high priest we are told in the book of Hebrews 24:49 so God is pleased with you because you are his child now if you live a life that is displeasing to him yes we must take that seriously but God delights in us simply because we are his children that's where it starts when we 25:10 accepted his invitation to be a part of his family he was so excited about that because Jesus died for that reason so that he could be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters we are told Romans chapter 8 and also in the book 25:26 of Hebrews that he said Jesus says in one place look father me and all the children that we have so what I see there is that God is delighted when he has one more child and when you accepted Christ's invitation when you repented 25:43 of your sins and accepted in faith Christ's invitation for you to be a part of God's family it brought him so much joy any of you who are parents you know what joy you feel when you have a little baby that baby has finally arrived 25:59 and you're so excited and you're just full of joy everything is great how much more our heavenly father when we are his children for eternity so God is bursting with pleasure over us I like to think of it like that you know that verse 26:14 in Zephaniah 3 verse 17 it says he will rejoice over you with shouts of joy and earlier in verse 14 he says shout for joy oh daughter of Zion you're a daughter of the king I love that he has an encouragement for you sisters 26:32 and for you young girls you're a daughter of Zion you're a daughter of God you're in his family and he says I rejoice over you why because you're my daughter because you're my son so God I love to think about this that God is bursting 26:48 with pleasure with me yes he knows that I still have a long way to go he knows my frame he knows what I'm made of he knows my weakness but if you're honest with God and say Lord I want to live a life that's pleasing to you 27:02 I haven't done it right so far but I really want to follow you help me I'm your child and please help me and he's bursting with pleasure simply because you are his child if you turn with me to Matthew chapter 13 I want to 27:21 show you one of the shortest parables that Jesus told Matthew chapter 13 this is a parable that is exactly one verse long it's a very short parable and maybe one that's easy for us to overlook 27:42 and forget about Matthew 13 verse 44 it says that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field which a man found and hid again a treasure which is hidden in 28:04 the field I don't know what picture comes to your mind when you think about this field I used to think about it like just a field okay there's nothing wrong with a field you find a treasure in it but I started to see this 28:20 field as a picture of my life and sometimes we can get this picture of my life being like a junkyard a lot of mess things garbage thrown there and weeds growing if you've ever driven by a field where that doesn't belong 28:37 to anybody maybe a property that somebody bought but they haven't built the building on it yet you see these weeds are growing probably some snakes there some rats and junk people throw their garbage there that's that's that 28:54 field that's what I think this field was like very ugly to look at very messy a lot of junk and garbage and trash and bad smelling and weeds growing and all of that and maybe you think of your life like that when you think about 29:10 your earthly life you think about all the messes you've made and how you wish you could do things better or had done things differently you made a mess of your life you've sinned you've failed God in different ways you're not 29:24 as spiritual as some others in the church you're not as spiritual as you thought you would be after coming to the church for so long all these thoughts the devil tries to put in as he has put into my life in my mind as well 29:36 which cause us to look at our life like this messy field this junkyard this lots of trash and garbage there but it says that this this treasure was hidden in exactly such a field and it brought me much joy some years ago 29:54 to see that God has hidden joy in my life exactly as it is nothing needs to change about my circumstances and at that time I was going through something a little bit difficult that I was being challenged by and I was tempted 30:11 to think what a mess I've made of my life or so much regret perhaps and the Lord said your life is like this in the midst of this there's a joy that's hidden somewhere there's a treasure that's hidden somewhere and I want to 30:26 encourage you maybe somebody here in this meeting or listening to this message who feels like that's a picture of their life a field that's full of mess and foul smelling and just weeds growing and gotten out of control 30:41 you don't know how to get out of that mess in the midst of that mess I hope you'll be encouraged to know that there is a treasure hidden and God changed my perspective of my life when I realized that he has hidden himself 30:56 right here in my circumstances in my life so whatever your circumstances are like today is Sunday tomorrow maybe you have to go to work maybe it's a work situation maybe it's a family situation a situation in your marriage 31:13 financial problem or a health problem whatever it might be it could feel like a field that's a complete mess there's no hope in sight it just seems impossible to ever recover from this in the midst of that Jesus says I want 31:27 to be there and what does this man do he finds the treasure the field is the same it's still a mess the weeds are still there but he says I gotta buy this field because there's a treasure there and God gave me a willingness 31:45 and a love for his circumstances and his doings in my life like that hymn that Frederick Faber wrote I worship the sweet will of God whatever another hymn we sing whatever God ordains is right that means that I accept joyfully 32:05 whatever God that this field that he's giving me has a treasure hidden in it look at what this man does a man found the treasure when he found the treasure that became the focus and for him the field whatever the circumstances 32:22 of the field looked like whatever that field looked like didn't matter to him his focus was on the treasure and I want to encourage you dear brothers dear sisters dear children as I was encouraged through as I meditated 32:35 on this short little parable that in my life circumstances exactly as they are God has hidden a treasure and when I see that treasure then I can be joyful I can be proud of this plot of land and when he told his neighbors 32:52 hey I bought a piece of land and they asked him where's this piece of land and he says yeah it's over there and they look at it and they say how can you be excited about that junk piece of land what good is in that land 33:04 what they didn't know is that he had found the treasure and people may look at your life and but what they don't know is you found joy you found Christ there's 33:25 a hymn that we like to sing here at RLCF it goes like this little is much when God is in it and another part of that chorus goes there's a crown and you can win it if you go in Jesus name if Jesus is in that field with you 33:45 hidden deep down within it there's a crown waiting for you and you can win it it's for you don't worry about somebody else's crown don't compare yourself with somebody else's piece of land but exactly in the life circumstances 33:59 that God has given you and given me if Jesus is there and we find that treasure of Jesus hidden in my life then it'll bring us joy and so I've gone about life circumstances now or I try to at least I sometimes don't do it 34:16 perfectly but whenever I go through life I say Jesus you're here somewhere I'm walking through the weeds and I'm getting poked with thorns and I'm smelling this and there's some more trash garbage over there but Jesus you're 34:31 here somewhere I want to find you Jesus in this trial that's how we will find joy in the midst of that say Lord Jesus you're here somewhere it's like a hide and seek he's hidden himself in this ugly looking field that is 34:47 my life and then this man goes and hides it again and then he says I will sell everything to find Jesus in the midst of my circumstances Paul experienced this if you read in 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 it's 35:07 a little phrase he uses here but it's a very powerful one 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 we read in verse 10 sorrowful yet always rejoicing a very short phrase sorrowful he was going through sorrow 35:27 he was going through lots of problems he was facing Paul probably faced far more problems than you and I ever faced but in the midst of that he was honest he says yes I'm sorrowful there's maybe tears coming down my eyes 35:42 and I try to do it in secret so that I don't bring too much attention to it he says I'm sorrowful but always rejoicing so maybe Paul you know Paul had to as he walked through I'm sure it grieved him when he 36:02 says I have many co-workers but only one of them really seeks Christ's interest all the others seek their own interest and that must have grieved Paul so much to see one person after another when Paul writes about Demas 36:14 saying he has left us and gone after the world there was sorrow in Paul's life to see his co-worker walking away and yet in the midst of all of that he says I'm always rejoicing you cannot steal my joy from me was what I 36:32 hear Paul saying you can allow you pierce my body you can hurt me emotionally you can do this or do that but God could do it for Jesus in spite of all he faced if God could do it for Paul he can do it for us before I close 36:52 I thought I would just share a few things that I see in scripture about how to truly have joy to have this rejoicing rejoicing you know it's not just joy it is the act of being joyful and I want to talk about that so it's 37:11 not just a feeling there's an action involved in us so in that regard I want to just mention five things if you have a pen and paper you can write it down and meditate on it maybe the Lord will show you some other things 37:25 but here are five things I see in scripture that show me how I can truly always be joyful and the first is to truly repent you know it's interesting to me that when Jesus talked about in Luke chapter 15 about things that 37:43 were lost there was a lost sheep there was a lost coin and there was a lost son or a prodigal son the son was lost in all three of those parables there's one thing that's common or two things that's common let's say the 38:04 first thing is that something was lost and it was found that's the first thing that's in all three of those stories the other thing you see in all three of these stories is there's tremendous rejoicing this is the parable 38:19 of joy I don't I don't like to think of it as a lost parable some people call it the lost parables I call it the joy parables because at the end of the story there's lots of joy there's a big party going on the shepherd 38:37 calls his friends and says rejoice with me the woman calls her friends and says rejoice with me the father throws a big party calls his friends and says rejoice with me so it's the parables of rejoicing and but that comes 38:56 through repentance this son repented and because he repented he experienced the I don't think he'd ever seen his father as joyful as he did and that's why the devil doesn't want you to repent he knows that when you repent 39:13 you will experience the joyfulness of God there's a psalm in which I see the word joy coming often you know which psalm that is it's psalm 51 a psalm that David wrote after he had sinned deeply after all that God had done 39:33 for him he sinned horribly he committed adultery with another man's wife one of his best most trusted servants soldiers one of his most trusted soldiers while that soldier was fighting for David in fact at one point David 39:52 went into the battle and his generals told him probably Uriah also told him David you shouldn't be here they almost killed you they cornered David at one point almost killed him and he was just rescued at the last minute 40:04 and after that his soldiers told him don't come into battle anymore you stay home and here's one of this soldier saying we'll fight for you you take it easy and while he's taking it easy David commits adultery with the wife 40:18 of one of his trusted generals and then kills that general so that he can marry this wife horrible horrible sin Nathan the prophet came and confronted him and said you're the man David's response was you're right I am the 40:35 man I have sinned against God and I repent and after that he writes this this psalm psalm 51 it's precious it's a psalm of repentance but it's also a psalm of joy I want you to see how many times joy is written in this psalm 40:51 verse 8 make me to hear joy and gladness let the bones which you have broken rejoice if God has disciplined you if God has allowed you to go through some difficult trial because of your sin even his purpose in that is that 41:10 when those bones that he has broken come back and are restored that there is joy there is always greater joy after repentance there it is and then we'll continue reading in verse 12 restore to me the joy of your salvation 41:30 and sustain me with a willing spirit verse 14 deliver me from blood guiltiness oh God the God of my salvation then my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness so this isn't a psalm of regret a psalm of shame this 41:50 is a psalm of true repentance because David is speaking about joy and here's a mark I've come to see of true repentance if you truly repented yes there will be guilt there will be sorry there will be weeping but there will 42:07 be joy there will be joy and I've come to see condemnation will leave you without joy you'll feel discouraged you'll feel condemned and that's not repentance true repentance is a radical hatred for sin a turning and then 42:27 an experiencing of the joy of the Lord and David experienced it I believe and that repentance also must produce a hatred for sin if you turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter one so it's 42:48 not just repentance that produces or creates joy in us and shows us the joy of the Lord it is actually a hatred for sin repentance is hatred for sin after I have sinned but the best is don't sin at all and hate sin and that's 43:05 what Jesus had in Hebrews chapter one we read in verse nine Hebrews one verse nine speaking about Jesus you have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness therefore because you love righteousness and hate sin 43:25 God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above anybody else this verse is telling us that the happiest person the most joyful person that ever lived on this earth was Jesus and there's only one reason why that we're 43:43 told here he hated sin that's a secret to true joy hate sin if you find any little sin don't cover it up don't make an excuse for it if your wife says you spoke to me a little rudely that way don't defend yourself don't make 43:59 an excuse hate it and if our hatred for sin is great our joy will be just as great Jesus hated sin the most more than any other human being and therefore his joyfulness was the most of all do you want to be joyful then hate 44:16 sin so that's first of all repenting and hating sin radically secondly if you turn me to John chapter 16 simply ask that's the second thing just say Lord I don't seem to be joyful I want you to make me joyful make me a joyful 44:34 person Lord John 16 read in verse 24 John 16 as you know is a chapter of the Holy Spirit where he says that the Holy Spirit will come and I will send you a helper the fruit of the Spirit is joy we're told in Galatians chapter 5 44:50 and then in this context John 16 verse 24 Jesus says until now you have asked for nothing in my name ask and you will receive so that your joy may be made full so simply ask say Lord I don't want to fake joy I don't 45:11 want to pretend that I'm joyful I don't I'm tired of this plastic smile I put on my face whenever I show up for the meeting I want joy and Jesus says just ask me just ask me ask that's it just ask and you will receive and your 45:28 joy will be made full I think one of the reasons you know it's sad I remember hearing readings a comment somewhere or an article I think I forget where it was where somebody said Christians are some of the glummest looking 45:41 people saddest looking people and I was convicted by that I said Lord is that true if somebody in work knows that I'm a Christian will they say man I know he's a real Christian because he's really joyful not oh he's so holy 45:57 or he reads his Bible or he prays all the time the real test of our Christianity should be joy because that's the mark that we are in God's presence so ask the Lord will give and our joy will be made full thirdly choose 46:15 joy it's a choice in Philippians chapter 4 we're told this verse Philippians chapter 4 and verse 4 rejoice in the Lord always and like I was just saying a few minutes ago that word 46:35 rejoice is that make that joy come there's an act involved this is a command we have to obey so it's something I have to do rejoice in the Lord it's not just have joy it's rejoicing that means there's an act involved 46:55 in my part to rejoice in the Lord it's a choice I make and then he says again I will say rejoice so rejoice is more than just having joy it is saying I choose joy which means I think of it like in Deuteronomy 30 I think 47:12 where God at the end of all the commands that he gave the he says listen I set before you life and death you pick I hope you'll choose life is what he's saying there he says I present I put in front of you life and death 47:30 don't choose death choose life the choice is ours and I see that God is also offering us the same in our lives today he says I offer you joy or gloominess choose joy in other words when that when you're going through that 47:46 trial when you're going through that situation instead of just sitting on the pity pot and feeling sorry for yourself because things are not going the way you want it say I refuse I going to choose joy today Lord and in 48:04 that verse he says choose life that you may live I think of it like the same way Jesus telling us choose joy today and see what a difference you'll make in your own life what a different day you'll have what a different 48:20 week you'll have what a different week your wife and your husband will have around you because you simply made that choice to choose joy it's a choice we have to make to rejoice fourthly if you'll turn with me to Romans 48:35 chapter 12 fourthly turn off the world's inputs I'll explain what I mean by that turn off what the world is trying to tell you Romans chapter 12 we read in 48:55 verse 12 similar verse to our theme our theme comes from Romans 5 I think verses 2 and verse 11 but here's a similar verse Romans 12 verse 12 rejoicing in hope rejoicing in hope persevering in tribulation devoted to prayer 49:12 etc but this comes as the consequence of what we read at the beginning of that chapter in Romans chapter 12 verse 1 where he says therefore I urge you brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy 49:30 sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship and then he says do not be conformed to this world and etc etc and then rejoice in hope so I see that there's a connection there and I'll tell you it's 49:50 not just that it's in God's word I've seen this in my own life that I found that the times when I was often lacking in joy came after I had looked at something in the world or someone in the world or something else and I 50:07 said I wish I had that I compared my life circumstances with somebody else's life circumstances or I listened to some worldly person saying something I got some worldly input it could be through worldly music through worldly 50:24 preachers worldly speakers even good speakers you know your best life now type of speakers and trying to present you with something artificial or even world loving preachers preachers who have a worldly mindset so 50:45 if I was receiving the world's input I found that I couldn't really have joy it was frustration and I was jealous and I was dissatisfied and discontent but when I turned off the world's input and I says I refuse to be conformed 51:03 to the world so when the world tries to tell me oh you need to have this gadget or you need to have this new car or you need to wear these clothes or you need to wear your hair like that or you need to buy this or you need to 51:15 go to that party or when the world tells you that and you push it aside you'll find you really have joy but if you allow the world's input to come in then you'll find that that joy is lacking I found this in my own life 51:30 and I said Lord I don't want to buy into the world's idea of joy many of you young people perhaps maybe older people as well social media can be like that Facebook and Instagram and whatever other kinds of social media they 51:46 have I believe that that's a tool that the devil is using to rob people of joy when you look at what somebody else looks like they're having a good time going on a vacation somewhere and they're posting pictures of it and then I 51:59 feel sad that I don't earn enough money to go on that vacation and it's all fake and they presented themselves to look a certain way and address a certain way they call them influencers that word in itself ought to be a red 52:14 flag that I don't want to follow an influencer because they might influence me I don't want to be influenced that's what Romans 12 verse 2 is telling me don't be influenced by the world especially on social media because that 52:29 will rob you of your joy turn off the world's input if you find that it's starting to if you find that you're scrolling they call it doom scrolling you just you end up doomed doom and gloom because you're scrolling and you're 52:45 looking at this and looking at that and it just spins a web around you leaving you lacking in joy so turn off the world's input because you don't want that that will never lead you to true joy and lastly if you continue reading 53:02 in Romans 12 we read verse 12 rejoicing in hope Romans 12 12 then in Romans 12 13 he says contributing to the needs of the saints practicing hospitality and the way I would word this is the fifth point I'm mentioning is 53:20 don't forget that you have a bag of seed don't forget in the midst of all your trial and your circumstances don't forget that you have a bag of seed where is that from if you turn with me back to psalm 126 psalm 126 we read 53:38 in verse 6 psalm 126 he who goes to and fro weeping carrying his bag of seed in other words he's going to 53:58 and fro to and fro means that sometimes there's a it doesn't feel like anything's really happening I'm not making much progress does your life sometimes feel a little bit like to and fro back and forth your job sometimes 54:12 feels like I don't know what's happening here my life I don't really feel like I'm making much progress to and fro while you're doing that this man is carrying his bag of seed and just dropping seeds as he's going to and 54:27 fro he's planting he's planting those seeds going to and fro to and think about going to and fro to work in the traffic the traffic in Bangalore to and fro to work back to work back seems like it Monday Tuesday Wednesday 54:45 Thursday Friday little bit of weekend then you're back to work to and fro but while you're doing that you're carrying a bag of seed maybe you're sitting on the scooter or in the car or on the bus praying for somebody saying 54:58 Lord I don't want to waste this you're stuck in a traffic jam but I don't want to waste it you've given me a bag of seed I want to plant that through prayer or through messaging somebody to tell them I want to encourage 55:11 you brother I want to encourage you sister while I'm sitting in this traffic but planting that seed so like I said earlier don't forget that in the midst of all your circumstances you've been given a bag every one of us 55:25 has been given a bag of seed just plant that somewhere if you're a part of this local church this church alone you can plant into the little children or others in this church by praying for them think of the different brothers 55:40 and sisters in your weekday groups or even others that you interact with and pray for them it says the last part of that says this person who goes to and fro carrying his bag of seed shall indeed come again with a shout 55:58 of joy bringing his sheaves with him one day you'll see the fruit of those years of he was weeping why was this man weeping because he was going through a difficult trial himself things were really hard in his own life but 56:13 he still had the bag and he didn't use those difficult trials in his life as an excuse for not planting the seed and I know I can think of times when I was going through something difficult and I was so preoccupied with 56:27 my own problems that I forgot about the bag that I had in my hand and may that never be for any of us that if you've been sitting and just spinning circles about how bad your life is or how difficult your trial is remember 56:43 brother sister child there's a bag in your hand plant those seeds you will come rejoicing Proverbs 11 verse 25 he who waters others Proverbs 11 verse 25 he who waters others will himself be watered this is the life of rejoicing 57:02 and one last thing and that is that I often think that it really ought to be that if joy is in my heart my face ought to show it now we don't want to be artificial about this we don't want to pretend to smile but it really 57:17 will show in psalm 34 it says they looked to him and their faces were radiant psalm 34 i think it's verse 5 they looked to him they looked to god and their faces were radiant you know what happens if you shine a bright light 57:33 on your face your face will look bright moses face he came out from being in the presence of the lord and his face was shining like the sun lord i was in the presence of the lord my co-worker ought to be able to say 57:53 well you don't look like it you look kind of gloomy and then i examine my life and say lord let it be that people can see not to gain any honor from them or anything like that but they too will want to have this life that 58:11 people will see man he's been with the Lord his face is glowing he's shining there's our joy in his spirit this is the life that God wants us to have and a little verse in Ecclesiastes I read some time ago which I thought 58:27 about it like this Ecclesiastes chapter 8 the last part of verse 1 Ecclesiastes 8 verse 1 if you don't know Ecclesiastes children know anyone else Psalms Proverbs and then Ecclesiastes it's after the book of Proverbs Ecclesiastes 58:46 8 in the last part of verse 1 it says a wise a man's wisdom illumines him that means brightens his face is the little word that brightens his face and causes his stern face to change his stern face remember how I 59:06 described the Pharisees face was stern because that's the God they worshipped and then imagine that I used to be this stern person because I thought that's what God was like and then I saw what God was really like when I 59:19 saw Jesus Jesus came to show us the Father and and I saw the Father that he is happy he is full of joy and when I looked to him it made my face also joy may we carry the joy of the Lord on our faces not artificially but 59:36 may the Holy Spirit so come and fill our hearts a genuine baptism of the Holy Spirit of joy have you pictured that when the Holy Spirit comes and baptizes you in fire you you're baptized into joy think about getting dumped 59:49 into a big tub of joy a big baptism tank of joy what will happen when you get baptized into joy you come out dripping with joy and seeking for the continual baptism into a baptism of joy this is rejoicing in hope and what 1:00:07 the Lord has done for us I just want to read a poem that I read some time ago Annie Johnson Flint if you ever have a chance to read about her I share some biography stories as some of you know on YouTube at our prayer meetings 1:00:23 here and if you find that on YouTube you can find the story of where I spoke about Annie Johnson Flint she suffered tremendously in her body extremely painful arthritis she suffered and eventually she died with that pain 1:00:38 and she said one time like a thousand needles poking into her skin on her hands and on her feet and she dealt with that pain but in the midst of that she wrote some of the most beautiful powerful hymns his grace his love 1:00:57 has no limit his grace has no measure that's an Annie Johnson Flint hymn and here's a poem she wrote I'll just read it and it really challenged me to go further beyond what I know of Christ where if I've paused with Christ 1:01:13 if I've just stuck at the cross or stuck at the tomb then I'm still in gloom and discouragement and heaviness listen to this here's the poem some of us stay at the cross some of us wait at the tomb quickened and raised together with 1:01:31 Christ yet lingering still in its gloom yes we're made alive but we're still hanging out at the cross or at the tomb some of us bide a stay at the Passover feast without knowing Pentecost with Pentecost all unknown we haven't 1:01:48 known the power of the Holy Spirit the triumphs of grace in the heavenly place that our Lord has made our own if the Christ who died had stopped at the cross his work had been incomplete if the Christ who was buried had stayed 1:02:06 in the tomb he had only known defeat but the way of the cross never stops at the cross and the way of the tomb leads on to victorious grace in the heavenly place where the risen Lord has gone so let us go on 1:02:27 with the Lord to the fullness of God he has brought unsearchable riches of glory and good exceeding our uttermost thought let us grow up into Christ claiming his life and its powers including the power of his joy the triumphs 1:02:47 of grace in the heavenly place that our conquering Lord has made ours Christ overcame so that his joy would be in us and our joy would be made full maybe so heavenly father I ask with all my heart that none of us will miss out 1:03:06 on the life of joy that you long so for us so much for us to have forgive us Lord that we've been so taken up with the little things of earth little problems even failures Lord that we've allowed them to discourage us or to 1:03:21 bring self condemnation to no entry roads Lord I pray from now on we will receive that joy that you wanted us to have and we live in that we'll experience a continual baptism in joy thank you Lord you will do that while you 1:03:38 continue to keep make us more holy more like you more pure more self-controlled more loving to others more forgiving and all of that more like Christ in his holiness make us more like Christ in his joy I believe you will 1:03:53 do that thank you Father in Jesus name Amen
