Seated. Our scripture reading this morning is Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five. We begin reading in verse 16, as we hear the contrast of the works of the flesh. And our text is the fruit of the spirit, 22 and 23, and particularly the fruit of the spirit is joy. Let's hear God's very word, Galatians 5, 16. I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another, so that you not do the things that you wish. But if you're led by the spirit, you're not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, cleanliness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. Our Father in heaven, thank you for your word. Speak to us now, I pray, through it. Lord, may we hear your voice explaining, opening your passage, and we might understand more of what it is to know true Christian joy. Lord, I pray that we might glorify you even in hearing your word, in Jesus' name, amen. Before we get started, we have our kids quiz here. We'll give it just a moment to pop up on the screen. Today we have just two questions. And question number one is, aha. Question number one, joy is the same as exultant happiness and giddiness, true or false? Joy is the same as exultant happiness and giddiness. And question number two, I'm doing something that I don't think I've ever done before in church. I'm gonna show a picture on the screen. So don't be too terribly shocked. But the question is, which picture shows a joyful person? Which picture shows a joyful person? So we have two pictures up here. Number A is a joyful person? Or is it number B is a joyful person? Or is it both A and B? Or is it, I can't tell from this. So which picture shows a joyful person? And then you can see your choices. You also find them there on the back of your handout. They're listed on the bottom of the page. Well, as we get started here, I'd like to do just a quick little thought exercise, a quick moment of self-examination and self-reflection. And what I'd like you to do is to think about the hymns that we've sung in the past few minutes. In case you really weren't paying attention, we sang. Come, Christians, join to sing. We sang, we're marching to Zion. We sang, rejoice your pure in heart and Jesus saves. And I've written down here a sampling on the songs that we sang, a phrase from each of those. We sang, come, lift your hearts on high. Let praises fill the sky. He is our guide and friend. His love shall never end. Alleluia, amen. And then let our songs abound and every tear be dry. We're marching through Emmanuel's ground to fair worlds on high. And with all the angel choirs, with all the saints on earth, pour out the strains of joy and bliss, true rapture, noblest mirth. Rejoice, give thanks and sing. And give the winds a mighty voice. Let the nations now rejoice. Shout salvation full and free. This our song of victory, Jesus saves. Jesus saves. Now standing up here, I think we all sang happily and joyfully and with full hearts, at least that's what it sounded like to me. But I wonder how many of us, if we were to give it just an honest think, would we be able to honestly say that this is an accurate reflection of my experience? How many of us would say that that joy I just sang about is mine, that I relish that joy every day, that I rejoice in the Lord always. Now, we all know intellectually that that's the way it's supposed to be, but all too often that isn't our actual experience. Ironically, we often start out our Christian lives really on fire and excited to do and be all it is that we can do and be. But as we age as Christians, some of that excitement, some of that zeal, begins to fade away. As we age, as Christians, we get more nuanced, if you will. Much the opposite of excitement, much the opposite of zeal, our greater knowledge, our greater understanding, it seems to somehow get in the way. Now, of course, we should become more refined. I mean, of course, we should become more sanctified in who it is that we are and what it is that we do. But And get this point really, really well. This does not mean that we're to be less excited, that we're to be less passionate, that we're to be less zealous. Our greater knowledge, our greater understanding as we grow, it should cause us to be more excited, more passionate, more zealous about the things of God. This is very important for us to understand as we talk about something like joy. We're surrounded by a world, we're surrounded by a culture that isn't particularly into godliness and holiness. And that causes us grief. Plus, we live actual human lives and experiences all the ups and the downs and all the triumphs. in all the tragedies, all the good days, and all the difficult ones. And as a result, godly people can live troubled lives. Godly people can live difficult lives. Even Jesus himself was not known particularly, you know, as a man of smiles, but as a man of sorrows. As, you know, the apostles, they're not much better. As we read through the epistles, they don't exactly provoke, you know, uncontrollable laughter as you go through them. Now, the Bible tells us clearly that there are good and that there are legitimate reasons for us to be sorrowful and to even be angry. And let's face it, that there is a lot to be upset about. There's a lot to be bothered by. But while we do live in a world that is marked by discontentment, it's marked by discouragement, it's marked by rebellion, and while we do live personal and family lives that can be filled with discouragement and pain and disappointment, While we do fellowship in imperfect churches, and while we do know the weight of sin in our own lives, while we know all of these things, the Bible tells us that one of the dominant marks of the true child of God is that of joy. A holy joy that strengthens us for our daily work. A holy joy that beautifies us as we fellowship with other Christians. A holy joy that sweetens our walk on this earth. A holy joy that prepares us for eternity where we will be enjoying God forever. And it is this joy that we want to consider this morning. I have two main points to look at this morning, just two. And the first one is the necessity of joy, the necessity of joy. I've already said it, so I don't think I'm giving away any surprise ending here, but the spirit of rejoicing is what ought to mark us out as the people of God. Yet somehow this has become, at least stereotypically, not the mark of the reformed type believer or the reformed type churches. I say stereotypically because, of course, it doesn't apply 100%. But that classic stereotypical picture is, well, we're reformed. And as such, we know the deeper things of the faith. We know the more sober things, and we know the more serious things of the truth. We're not the happy, clappy, shallow folks like those that are out there. These are serious matters. We must make sure that we always show how serious this is. Again, the stereotype. It can be easy for us to look at that sort of thing, that seriousness, that gravitas, that soberness, and come to the conclusion that that must be godliness. that these must be the people that really know God. It's not the people whose faces are filled with joy, whose faces are radiant, that shine. No, it's those who have dust and ashes on their head that must better know about God. Over there, those are the frivolous folks. While over on this side, these are the serious, the godly, the obedient folks. And that's what some think as they effectively diminish or marginalize the idea of joy. Others will marginalize it, will diminish joy by saying that joy and gladness and happiness in these things, rejoicing, they're merely matters of personality. They're merely matters of natural temperament. And we know that personality, it does play a part, certainly. Some people are just born flat out happy. Nothing can seem to get them down. Others? or a little bit more melancholy. Perhaps they just have that negative vibe going, kind of have that, you know, Eeyore kind of thing. Some say they can find a dark lining in any silver cloud. Yet others have known such difficult circumstances, such difficult experiences, they just seem to have an air of sadness about them. You know, another person worded, some people just naturally whistle a happy tune while others hum the blues. And that's so. But personality, natural temperament, no matter how it manifests in us, it does not negate, it does not change the reality of what calls us to be here. We already have that. Fruit of joy. We're not talking about what we are by nature. We are talking about what the Spirit of God does in the life of the believer. The happiness and joy that we might feel by nature, it's a very different joy from the child of God who knows joy regardless of temperament, who knows joy regardless of experience and regardless of circumstances. The joy of the believer is a very different creature. Now, this idea of joy, it's very common in the Bible. So last night, as I went page by page and looked through my whole Bible, I found that there are over 400 references to joy and rejoicing in the scripture. Actually, as you know, I didn't actually page the entire Bible. There are programs that do that for you. But lots and lots of references to joy in the Bible. Clearly, whatever joy is, it's something that must be very important to God. And therefore, it needs to be very important to us. This is not a subject of indifference. This is not a subject of who I am or who I may not be. It's not about my personality. It's not about my proclivities. Now, in many cases, these Bible references, they are commands. Do this, rejoice. And they're telling us who God is and what he has done and what he has promised, and then calling us to respond, an appropriate response to these truths, which is joy. What is the appropriate response of our souls to the love of God? What is the appropriate response when we behold what manner of love the Father has given to us that we should be called the children of God? I can tell you categorically, it isn't boredom, and it isn't unhappiness, and it isn't blandness. It is rejoicing with joy overwhelming. We read in Philippians 4, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. This is a command of God. And not doing it is just as much a sin as violating honor your mother or your father or thou shalt not kill. As Christians, this joy should just be natural to us. It should be a normal thing for us. It's just natural to us. As an example of how this should be natural and normal, do you think they need to teach a class of excitement for lottery winners? Imagine you have a room full of people who just won the lottery big time. Do you think they need to have that class? All right, class, you've just won $500 million. Now, let's work on appropriate responses here. Now, you should probably smile. And you can use one of these words, you know, Yahoo or yippee or yay. No, no, they just know how to jump up and down and carry on as they're handed that big giant check. And the same is true for anybody. Receiving good news. You know, you think of that girl, when the guy of her dreams, he gets down on one knee and he asks her to marry him and he pulls out that just sparkling diamond ring. Does she need to be told? She'll probably smile now. No, she knows to act radiant and happy and excited. It's naturally welling up within her. On the news that we have about God and his work in us and his promises for us, this news is calculated to bring about joy in the life and heart and soul and mind of the believer. Secondly, what is joy? What is joy? Well, I'm gonna have seven different thoughts about this. The first one is what joy is not. What joy is not, ironically, I'm gonna put in my definition of joy under this, but joy is not, first and foremost, an emotion. And again, this is really important. It's totally counter to the world's thoughts. Joy is not first and foremost an emotion. The world's definition, perhaps even many of ours, it's gonna be along the lines that joy is all about, you know, exultant happiness, about giddiness, you know, giggling and all that sort of thing. That is not the correct definition of joy. That might be a result of joy and we'll see that more later. But for purposes of what we're saying today, as I think it's described in scripture, joy is a delight of the mind and soul, springing from who God is, and what he has done, and what he is doing, and what he will do. Say that definition again. Joy is a delight of the mind and soul, springing from who God is, and what he has done, and what he is doing, and what he will do. And as we'll talk about later, we'll see that this very much should result in feelings of excitement and exaltation and exhilaration. It should do that. But these feelings are a result of joy. They're not the essence of joy. Second thought under what is joy. Joy is the fruit of the spirit. Joy is the fruit of the spirit. I'm not gonna spend much time on this other than to note that this means that joy is discriminatory. Joy is of a limited distribution. And this is really an unpopular notion in our day. But nonetheless, this means that not everybody gets it. To be very specific, no unbeliever can have this joy. Only believers get this and all the other fruits of the Spirit. The only way to possess this true and lasting joy is to have the Holy Spirit living in you and working in you. It is His work. Third, joy is our response to who God is. Joy is our response to who God is. This is talking about actual, literal theology, the study of God. You say, well, can that possibly be right? I mean, when was the last time somebody said, we're studying theology today, and the class jumps up and says, yahoo. No, much the opposite. Theology has become really sort of a bad word in our day. It's almost an accusation. It's like, at best, it's boring. I mean, right? Yet this is where our joy, if it is real, must begin. Note how clearly this is spelled out in that verse we read just a minute ago in Philippians 4. Rejoice in the Lord always. It doesn't tell us to rejoice in our circumstances. It doesn't tell us to begin with all the good things God has done for us. Joy starts with the Lord, with who he is. Listen to another verse, Psalm 32. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous. Shout for joy, all you upright in heart. When was the last time any of us obeyed this particular command? Have you recently shouted for joy because of who God is? Have you ever shouted for joy because of who God is? Yeah, you know, we're, We're mature, we find adults, you know, we don't do things like that. It's just not done. Oh, but I happen to know that it is possible for us to shout for joy in other contexts, even as mature we find adults supposedly. I've done it. You know, the Packers are behind, the clock is running down, it's four down and forever. Then Jordan Love drops back, throws that amazing Hail Mary pass, it's caught in the end zone as the clock expires. Well, what happens? I can tell you that, I don't just give that polite little golf clap. No, there's a shout of excitement. The stadium is shaking if you were there. After one such play, this is a true story, in Seattle a few years ago, seismographs in the region recorded the actual ground shaking from the cheering that was going on in the stadium from the crowd's excitement. But then we come to God's house and we listen to who God is. And our response is not even as much as a golf club. God is good. That's nice. God is like a father to us. How wonderful. He made heaven and earth, the seas and all that is in them. How interesting. Now, don't get me wrong here. I understand a certain level of restraint. I'm not calling for everybody here to suddenly, you know, jump out of their seats and jump up and down and get all excited and shout and scream, you know, do the wave across the room. Yeah, stop that there. I see you a little. Don't do that. Now, where is our appropriate joyful response? Where is our appropriate joyful response? Where is the contemplation of God that moves us Psalm 33 tells us, rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, for praise from the upright is beautiful. Psalm 97, rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name. Philippians chapter three, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, for we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit. Rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Why do we rejoice in the Lord? Because we are the covenant people of God. That's astounding. As a result, we get to worship God. And as such, we're characterized as rejoicing in Christ Jesus. The Christian glories in Christ Jesus. The Christian is ecstatic at the thought of who Jesus is. But there's more. Fourth, joy is our response to what God has revealed. Joy is our response to what God has revealed. We don't just rejoice in what God, who God is, but also in what he has said. Psalm 1, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and night. Think of your excitement when winter is here, it's that three days in Florida. Well, the forecaster says it's gonna be really, really cold tonight, and you're going out, so you go into your deep storage and you pull out that coat you haven't seen in 12 months, and you put it on, as you reach in, you find $20 in the pocket. You had no idea it was there. Pretty sure some version of Yahoo was going to come from you. You just found something really cool, something really neat has happened here, 20 bucks I didn't even know about. Now imagine instead you reached in and you pulled out $1,000. Wow, this is incredible. What if you reached in and you pulled out that $100 million winning lottery ticket that you had completely forgotten about? All your problems, at least the financial ones, are solved for the rest of your life. Plus, you can fix this place up like the Taj Mahal for the rest of us. Of course, we should all out here have reclining chairs and cup holders and personal reading lights for our seats. Individualized thermostats would be nice. But we're all rejoicing now. We're all happy. We're all expressing. Well, it does strike me, I've mentioned the lottery a couple of times now. Important public service notice. Don't buy lottery tickets. Young people, lottery tickets, bad idea. Just illustrating a way that all of our financial problems are being suddenly solved. Well, in God's word, all of your problems are solved. In here, we have the map to eternal life. In here are the riches of Jesus Christ discovered. In here are the answers to all the world's issues and to all the world's problems and to all the world's conundrums. In here is the flashlight shining the light on the darkness and on the confusion. Yahoo! Or whatever your word of excitement might be. John 15 tells us, Not sure I have it in here, but anyway, John 15 tells us, these things I have spoken to you, that your joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. John 1.4, and these things we write to you, that your joy may be full. That first passage there in John 15, these things I write to you, I've spoken to you, that your joy may remain in you, and your joy may be full. Jesus is in the upper room. He's preparing his disciples for his gruesome and torturous execution the very next day. And what is his mind on? Our joy. You say, wow, that's how much he wants, that's how much he expects us to be happy. God's word should be our delight. God's word should be that thing that brings a big giant kid smile to your face. In Psalm 103, and I'm just totally lost here in where my verses are. I guess I've gotten behind a couple. I must not have switched in the right places. Psalm 119, how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Sweet are your words to my taste. For me, if I were the psalmist, I probably would word it that it's better than pepperoni pizza. Think of your happiest food, whatever it might be. What is the food that would cause your mouth to just start watering? Maybe you jump up and down a little bit of excitement, just anticipating it. Maybe you're told, get ready, because we're heading out now for that double fudge, triple chocolate sundae. Again, whatever that food might be for you. The psalmist says, God's word is better than that. It's better than going to DQ. It's better than going to Pizza Hut. It's better than that. God's word is to be delightful to us like that. It isn't burdensome. It isn't merely a duty that we need to push through every morning to say we read that chapter. No, it's not the beets or Brussels sprouts of the food world where you tell your kids it's good for you, so just eat it now or else. the happy Christian, the joyful Christian, they are the Bible-consuming Christian. Not just reading it, but reading with faith and laying hold of these things and applying these things, making them part of who we are. Joy is a response to what God has revealed, and it's also our response to God's salvation. Joy is our response to God's salvation. Can you say this morning, God has saved me? Can you say this morning, Christ has died on the cross, shedding his blood for me? If so, you have a precious, Precious gift. Romans 8.1 tells us, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And this should produce just that yahoo within you every time you think about it, every time you read it, every time you hear it. You know what's one of my favorites is it seems like I managed to work it into just about every sermon. Psalm 13, but I have trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me. Or Psalm 35, and my soul shall be joyful in the Lord, it shall rejoice in his salvation. Or Psalm 32, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart. What is the proper response to knowing that God has taken my sin and forgiven it? To knowing that he has cast that sin into the depths of the sea, never to be seen again? Knowing that he has thrown it as far as east is from the west, never to be seen again? Think about it again as if it were new, as if it were fresh. The infinite, the perfectly holy judge has taken away my sin. One day I will stand before him in all of his holiness and in all of his glory, wearing a lifetime of sins, and I will find the blood of Jesus Christ has covered it all. We will know the reality of Romans 5.20 But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. What is the response to knowing God has taken my sin and forgiving it? Oh, true joy. Our debt is gone, wiped out by His grace. I think most of us can probably relate to being in debt at some level, perhaps even for some of us to a really large debt, the kind of debt, you know, that makes us anxious, that wonder, you know, how am I ever going to pay this thing off? Imagine how you'd feel if the bank called up and said, I've got some news for you. Somebody has paid your full balance. Your debt is gone. You owe nothing. How would you respond? Think you might tell that story? Imagine how your outlook would change, your attitude would change, have all that anxiety and fear and stress gone, all because of the generosity of another. Brothers and sisters, this shouldn't be that very hard for us to imagine. You and I did have a debt so huge that nobody could ever possibly hope to repay it. Remember the story in the Bible of the servant who owed his master just a ridiculous amount of money. He owed, it says in there, 10,000 talents, which in today's money is something like the equivalent of 200,000 years of average wage. 200,000 years of wages. I mean, this is kind of, it's not gonna be paid off. This is the kind of debt, though, people are trying to pay that think that they can make it to heaven if they're just good enough. I just chip away at it, I'll finally get there. It isn't going to happen. It simply can't happen. And then God says, oh, but my grace, it's greater than all your sin. And it is gone, instantly, completely, permanently. Jesus paid for the sins of his people on the cross in a way that no sinner ever could. not even if you're given millions of years to pay for it. How do we respond? Psalm 40 says, let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let such as love your salvation say continually, the Lord be magnified. This good news, it is so big that we should never get over it. We don't rejoice in our salvation for one week and then the next we move on to some other topic and the next week another and so on. No, every week we gather together and we open our mouths and we sing and we praise God about the amazing grandeur of what he has done for us in Jesus Christ. But there's yet more. Joy is also a response to what God is doing for us right now. What is our response to what God is doing for us right now? Do you know what God is doing for you right this very moment? He is making you like his son. What an amazing thing. God is taking men and women and boys and girls who are dead in their sins, who are enemies of Christ, and he's making us look more and more like Jesus. Philippians 1 says, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it. until the day of Jesus Christ. He is in that process of completing that work, keeping you, protecting you, changing you, kind of like a sculptor, sculpting away at that block of marble that is who you are. He's chipping away all those things that don't look like Jesus Christ, chipping away all those things that are sins and transgressions and blemishes and anything else that isn't like him. This is such an important work. This is such a great work that we read that we can even rejoice when that chipping away is done through difficulties, painful trials, because we know how valuable this is. James 1. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, but that patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect, complete, lacking nothing. You say, really? Count it all joy in these things? That can't be right. And certainly, we often don't do that. How can we embrace difficult things with joy? Because God is using these things to make us more like his son. Every desire for God, it should cause us to rejoice for what God is doing in us. Every move away from sin should cause us to rejoice for what God is doing in us. Every stirring of love for our brothers and sisters should cause us to rejoice for what God is doing in us. Every indication, every evidence of God working in us should cause us to rejoice, whether it's positive or not so positive on that work, whether it's enjoyable or whether it's difficult, should cause us to rejoice as we're made more like Christ. Seventh, joy is our response to what God will do for us in the future, a response to what God will do for us in the future. Well, guess what? If God has done all these other things, you know, such as knowing us and calling us and justifying us and saving us and so on, he is going to glorify us. Jude, verse 24, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you with thoughtless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, gonna present you exceeding joy, and joy that is indestructible, a joy that is indescribable, a joy unlike anything that we have ever known. When we are presented before the throne of God, when Christ brings his bride to the Father without spot, without wrinkle, without blemish, without any other such thing, how does the bride respond at that time? With exceeding joy. So many Christians seem to think of that last day as a day of abject humiliation, when our failures are played out on a giant screen for all the world to see, as if somehow the beginning of heaven is to be nothing but a day of misery and a reminder of terrible failure. But brothers and sisters, we are gonna stand in the presence of God's glory, standing faultless with exceeding joy. And however little or much we might know about heaven, we know that it is a place of unending joy and celebration. Whatever our lot might be now, however dark and difficult or impressive our path might be now, there is a fullness of joy that awaits all of God's children. J. I. Packer worded it so well. Glorification is a work of transforming power whereby God finally turns us into sinless creatures in deathless bodies. Love that, glorification, a work of transforming power, whereby God finally turns us into sinless creatures in deathless bodies. We are going to see our Savior, the one who lived for us, the one who loved us, the one who died for us, and we will be dressed in spotless white, and we will rejoice with joy inexpressible, so great is it all. This is ours. You might say, yeah, but Kurt, that's all in the future. Things are still really hard right now. Yeah, that very well might be, that very well might be. But imagine, we have this foretaste, but imagine a person, they're a person just having a really rough time, just about seems like everything in their life just seems to be going wrong. Now they're just exhausted, they're tired, they're worn out from the difficulties, the stresses in their path. Then today, after the service, a bunch of them go up to them and say that, you know, we all chipped in and we've bought you a two week trip to Hawaii. We've talked to their boss, they have all the days off with pay. You know, here are your plane tickets, here are your resort reservation, here are your prepaid restaurants and all that other stuff that you need. Go and have a great time. assuming you're normal and that you like that sort of thing, what's going to be your response? How are you going to react to that? When will the joy begin? Say, well, I won't be happy until I'm walking on the beach and seeing that sunset and strolling with that fruity drink with a little umbrella in it. I won't be happy until then. No, you're going to be happy at the mere promise of such a thing, of this grand experience that's awaiting you. You go to work tomorrow, it still has all the same troubles and trials and difficulties, same issues. You go home and all the difficult circumstances are still there, but you know that in a week you are going to paradise, and it has all been promised, and it has all been paid for, and you can picture yourself there, and you rejoice. It is as good when you actually get there? No, of course it's not. But nonetheless, you rejoice at the mere anticipation, at the looking forward to it. Brothers and sisters, God has revealed to us, God has showed us something of the world to come. That place where we will live forever with our Savior and in the companionship of all the saints of all the ages. Certainly, we're ecstatically happy in Christ's presence there. We get to see others as well. Who do you want to meet? I can't wait to take a tour of the place with my son. We are walking along, he says, hey look, that's Calvin over there talking to Paul. He tells me, oh yeah, I had breakfast with Spurgeon this morning. A new earth, and all that offends, and all that distresses, and all that causes pain is God, God. Revelation 21, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There should be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There should be no more pain for the former things have passed away. Everything is new. Everything is perfect. Everything is good. We're never gonna hear that cancer diagnosis. We're never gonna hear that heart disease diagnosis. We're never gonna hear that tragic news of the bad car accident. Whatever buildings exist, there won't be a hospital there. We're never going to attend a funeral. There will only be joy and gladness. Psalm 16, in your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. So that's the passage opened up, the passage of one word, joy. What do we do with this? What conclusions, what applications might we wanna draw from this passage and for this morning? The first one is a word to the unbeliever, a word to the unbeliever. It's important to understand if you're here today outside of Christ, if you here are not a Christian, not having believed on him for your salvation, all this joy stuff that we've talked about, it's not yours. It's not yours. Furthermore, it can't be yours, at least not in your present condition. None of these fruits of the Spirit can be yours while you remain an unbeliever, but they can be yours if. You give yourself faith, repentance to Jesus Christ. Bow before him as your Lord and Savior and all this joy will be yours, but don't delay. You don't know how much time you have left. Young people, you have what seems like a really long life ahead of you, but you don't know that. Older person, as the hymn says, the sands of time, they are sinking. Believe this life outside of Christ. There will never again be for you, all of eternity, love and joy and peace and all these other good things. Today is the day of salvation. God has promised that if you come to him, regardless of how dark your past might be, he will receive you to himself and he'll grant you for all eternity that love and joy and peace. and all those other good things. And I plead with you, do not let today pass without getting right with God. If you don't know how to do this, if you need to hear more about this, if you have questions, talk to someone and do it today. Young person, ask your mom and dad about this. Ask your grandparents about this. For any, when we're done, just a bit, talk to me, talk to the pastor, talk to one of the members. There are many here that are eagerly wanting to talk to you about God's amazing grace. Do it today. Second, this is to those who are in Christ, seek after true, deep, solid, lasting joy. Seek after this, the true, deep, solid, lasting joy. There is a lot out there in this world that pretends to be joy. It's easily exposed by looking at the means in which it is pursued. If only I were good at something then, I would be full of joy. Or if only I had more money, then I'd be full of joy. Or if only I had a great relationship with that special somebody, then I'd be full of joy. And there's so many things, you know, food, and houses, and cars, and beauty, and music, and jobs, and physical intimacy, and vacations, and parties, and drugs, and alcohol. We just go on and on and on. So many things that are all used to try and find that ultimate elusive joy. Some of these might be fine things. They might be good things, but they are not the foundation of joy. They're not the source of joy. There is so much that the world tries, and ultimately, it always fails. Don't believe me? Read Ecclesiastes sometime. Check out how things turned out for a guy who decided to find happiness and had all the resources to give it the ultimate try. I can give you the spoiler at the end. It doesn't work. It's not just the world. There's a lot in the church that masquerades as true joy, that has no solid foundations. All too many of the churches in our day, they've created program upon program to tickle the ears and to stoke the emotions of the people and to work them up into an emotional high by music and drama and stories and all these sorts of things. Every psychological gimmick that Freud could come up with is being used in the church to work people up, but it doesn't last. And the reason it's very simple is the church is trying to substitute sensual, of the senses, experience for spiritual joy. Spiritual joy does not come by gimmick. It comes by understanding who God is and what he has done and what he is doing and what he will do. Now, once again, don't hear me saying that emotions are bad, or that they're to be avoided or anything like that. No, not at all. Just as like love last time and it'll be the same as peace next time, joy had better be more than just a nifty intellectual proposition. It had better stir the feelings. It had better stir the emotions and the passions. I would suggest you give a really long, hard look at it to see if it really is joy. True love, true joy, true peace, and so on, they will show themselves, they will manifest themselves, but it must be built on something solid to be true love, true joy, true peace. So we need to get our thoughts, we need to get our perspective straight, and joy, and love, and peace, and all the rest, they will naturally result. The bottom line is that we cannot think about God, and we think about his character, and his covenant, and his faithfulness, and his promises, all these other things, and be depressed and discouraged at the same time. Our feelings are not random. They are a result of the state of our mind. Get the mind right, and our feelings will inevitably follow. I was trying to think of something to illustrate this, and I came across a picture somewhere, which I've borrowed. I'm calling it, it's the Trinity Mountains. These are tall peaks of solid granite mountains. These majestic things. Think of pictures you may have seen of the Himalayas, which is those grand majestic mountain peaks. The bottom of these, you have dark and cloudy valleys. Not much light can make it down there. And that's where we start. And even though we might stir some happy feelings, the reality is we're down in Hadim Valley. So those feelings will soon pass by like they were never there. But then we begin to ascend these peaks, begin to climb, and we begin to understand more and more about the beautiful and glorious truths of God. These are the truths of God. So let's climb one of these peaks, this peak over here, Mount Redemption. We'll climb Mount Redemption. And as we start climbing, we learn about that dreadfully sinful condition in which we're born, at enmity with God. And as we climb a bit more, we're astonished to find that even before we were born, even before the world was created, God said, I want you as my adopted child. Way back then, He knew us by name and he loved us. Even though he knew full well what a terrible rebel we were going to be, even then he loved us. We're above the clouds here as we're climbing. We keep going as we delve into the absolutely mind-blowing reality of Christ's death on the cross. For me, our hearts are filling with wonder, with joy that can't be taken from us as we continue to climb and we learn more and more about God. We reach even higher as we discover that God does everything to overcome our sin and our resistance to him and to bring us to himself in salvation. And finally, as we near the top, we learn of God's determination to keep us safe for all of eternity, making us evermore like his son and protecting us from all dangers. Now we've reached the top. As we stand here on the peak of Mount Redemption, we gaze out at just a stunning vista of amazing mountains as far as we can see in every direction. Over there, there's Mount Faithfulness. And look, do you see Mount Sovereignty? Mount Goodness, what an amazing mountain, each one of those full of the amazing truths of God. And we look forward to climbing each one of those mountains, learning about all the details of those peaks. Oh, but then, but then we see the most beautiful sunrise. It's the sunrise of God's glory coming up. with the sky just seemingly on fire with reds and oranges and blues and our hearts are filled to overflowing as we see God's glory overflowing with joy, with awe, with wonder. We got to this place because of a solid granite of God's truth. We should never dismiss learning about God's truth, learning about his word, learning about God's doctrines. Our fullness of joy depends on it. It's based on it. We see God better and fuller and higher as we go on these different mountains of God's truth. But we don't stand on these mountains just staring at that granite and looking at its composition and the grains and the colors. No, if we are consumed by truth for truth's sake, we have completely missed out. Our brains might be satisfied, but we have missed out just as surely as if we tried to stir up good feelings while remaining down in the gloom. Brothers and sisters, I urge you, climb the mountains, seeing and learning ever more about God, but do so to see that amazing sunrise, to see God, and to revel in Him, to rejoice in Him, to be fulfilled in Him. And this is so contagious. You know, just as that gloomy gust can walk into a room and it seems like that damp fog just ruled in, squelching any happiness, so can a person that truly is delighting in the joy of the Lord bring that brilliant sunrise. Let us be stirring each other up so that when we meet together, truly it is a foretaste of heaven where we are so rejoicing that we don't even want to leave. Third, The word to those who are in Christ and think you can read others' minds. To those who are in Christ and think you can read others' minds. This one, this is a warning. This one is a caution. I don't know how many times I've heard in churches the complaint that there just is no joy there. I'll say I've not heard that complaint in my time here. Maybe that's real, or maybe I just haven't talked to the right people. I don't know, but those making such complaints, these are people who say that these churches, they epitomize the stereotype, and that they're cold, and heartless, and joyless, and down, and dour, and dull, and boring, and unfeeling, and glum, and heavy, and blah. And yes, I just opened up the source and wrote them all down, because they all fit the description that people want to apply to churches. The reality is they're looking for some outward manifestation. And when they don't see enough of whatever it is, they reach a conclusion about what is in people's hearts and what's in people's minds. Remember the picture of the two people back in the beginning? I hope by now you've figured out the right answer. I'm not gonna claim that everybody here at any other church is full of joy. I can't do that. But you can't tell me the opposite either. Remember what joy is. A person can be full of rejoicing in Jesus Christ and not meet whatever your exterior criteria might be. personality, and upbringing, and culture, and timing, and just a host of other things influence how a person's joy is externally displayed. In some cases, or even those, because of God's providential working in them, in their minds, or in the makeup of their brains and their bodies, they have certain conditions that drive their outlook and their responses in a different way than probably we can even begin to understand. But should many, should many have a cheerful, happy exterior, particularly in church? Yeah, I'd say so. Is it possible we don't all encourage that enough? Yeah, maybe. But just as sure, a lack of happy clappy does not joyless make. To accuse someone of knowing no joy, it's close to accusing them of not knowing Christ. Be very careful with such thoughts. So again, a warning here as we look at other people. Finally, a word to those who are in Christ and know great struggles and difficulties. Word to those in Christ who know great struggles and difficulties. Do you know the valleys more than the mountaintops as you walk through this life? Is your joy seemingly feeble? Is it maybe infrequent now? Don't be discouraged by what you heard today. If your heart is often heavy by the circumstances, with the stresses and those trials that you're called on to bear. I do urge you though, take your eyes off of those difficulties and place them on Jesus Christ. Lift your eyes away from them and unto your heavenly father. Remember the story of Mary in the Bible. She woke up one day to find herself pregnant and unmarried. This is a day in which one can be taken out in stone for such a thing. What was her response? She looked away from her really bad looking circumstances and looked to her God instead. She said, my soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God, my savior. Or remember the story of Paul and Silas. They were severely beaten and then they're thrown into prison. This is really, really bad then. What were they doing? Acts 16 says, at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. The prisoners were listening to them. Things couldn't get much worse. They're having a hymn sing. Or hear these words in more modern times, like the 1500s. These are words written by a man who's about to be burned at the stake in Rome. He writes from a terrible prison, which he astonishingly calls the most delightful pleasure garden. He writes, in a dark hole, I have found cheerfulness. In a place of bitterness and death, I have found rest and the hope of salvation. Where others weep, I have found laughter. Where others fear, I have found strength. Who will believe that in such a state of great misery, I've had pleasure? That in the loneliest corner, I've had company? That in the hardest bonds, perfect repose? All these things, Jesus, my Savior, has granted me. He is with me. He comforts me. He fills me with joy. He drives bitterness from me and gives me strength. in consolation. And we know that spirit. In the words of Matthew Henry, there is enough in God to furnish us with joy in the worst circumstances on earth. Do you know that? Do you know that really? God did furnish us with joy in the worst circumstances on earth. Well, brothers and sisters, let's meditate on all of these things that we've spoken of this morning. All the glories of who God is and the amazing things that are contained in his word and the wonders of your salvation and God's work for good in your life right now and God's promise of eternal rest and peace and joy forevermore. 1 Peter 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this, greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. Feast on these things now. Rest and delight in your God and in your Savior and each of us, whether your path is relatively easy or whether it's difficult. Look forward to that day. Yearn for that day when you're brought into glory. Our joy will be known in full. If our eyes are full of tears now, God himself will wipe them away. Our pain, our loneliness, our doubts, our sins, our enemies, our circumstances, all will be gone, destroyed. And all here today who love the Lord Jesus will be dressed fully in His righteousness. And with all of God's people at all times, we will shout for joy. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, thank you for who you are, for what you have done. Oh Lord, help us to take our eyes off of ourselves and to look to you in adoration, to look to you in amazement, to let you enjoy. Help us to take our eyes off the trite things, the trivial things, the temporal things, as all the sources of our joy. Take our eyes from them. Instead, to set our heart, our eyes, our minds on things above, set them particularly on our glorious Savior. May we be a people who are characterized by our joyfulness, characterized by our rejoicing. Lord, be with those who through various hard circumstances, who through difficult providences, this is really hard for and have difficulty with us. Lord, may we all rejoice in our present salvation and our certain hope of eternal glory with you. In Jesus' name, amen. Could you take your hymnals please? Turn to number 195. 195, we're gonna sing joy to the world. I ask you to stand to sing. And for those of you who might say this is the wrong time of year to sing this, this is one of those grand hymns that speak of our God and our savior from the day of his birth to his ruling forever. Lord, to the earth The fields and ponds. The fields and ponds. The fields and plains. Repeat the sounding joy. Repeat the sounding joy. Repeat, repeat, repeat. He comes to claim His blessings full. Our ransom, our mercy is now. Our ransom, our mercy is now. Our ransom, our mercy is now. and praise, and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love, and wonders of His love. Amen. Let us be dismissed, hearing God's blessing from his word. Brothers and sisters, people of God, hear his blessing on you. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It's just like, what is this? you Yeah.