Brothers and sisters, if you would please take your scriptures and let us turn in the Old Testament today for our reading in Nehemiah chapter 8. And we'll be reading the first 12 verses, but focusing on verse 10, but even going abroad from that. Again, as we have closed our time of teaching in the gospel, I mean, the gospel again of Christ, but in the epistle or Paul's letter to the Galatians, we now just take up a topical sermon that kind of bridges the way between Galatians and Jonah. And it's again to remember that we need to focus on the Lord. We need to focus on the Lord. The Galatians had taken their eyes off the Lord. They had taken their eyes off the Lord and put it upon the works of their own hands to establish them. They had taken their eyes off of Christ. Again, as the only sufficient Savior and means of saving them, justifying them, adopting them, and sanctifying them. in the Lord. And again, as we move into the book of Jonah at the end of the month, we're going to see that Jonah takes his eyes off the Lord as well. And the Lord's trying to teach them something about his holy character. And so it's a hard lesson that sometimes we need to learn. But again, here in the words of the book of Nehemiah, we're reminded again that we need the Lord and we need to focus our attention primarily upon Him. Well, before we come to the reading and the preaching of God's Word, let us go to our Lord in prayer that He would use again this Word and use His Word again to enliven us to the joy that He has provided for us. Let us pray. Our gracious and heavenly Father, Your Word is again a guide to our feet and a light to our path. We pray that You would again make Your Word come alive in the hearing and the reading and the hearing and the preaching of it this morning into our very souls. You say that Your Word is a sharp, double-edged sword in which it pierces down into our very bodies. again, into the very marrow of our bones. And you think about the sepid discerns between the spirit and the soul, and we can't even really understand what that means, but it goes down deep and does that work in us. And so we pray that Your Word would do so this day, not only in rebuking ourselves and correcting us, Lord, but also enlivening us and providing those things that way of that the fount of blessing that you give that pours out through the means of your Word this day, Lord. We thank you for your Word that your people would hear it, receive it fully, and that it would be applied through the power of your Spirit into our lives. And we do pray all this, again, with the blessing of your Son, Jesus Christ. We pray it in His name. Amen. So brothers and sisters, I ask that you once more please stand in honor of the reading of God's Holy Word that comes to us from Nehemiah 8. I'll actually start off in the last part of verse 73 of chapter 7 and read through verse 12. When the seventh month came, the children of Israel were in their cities. Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in the front of the water gate, and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the water gate from the morning until midday before the men and the women and those who could understand and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. So Ezra the scribe stood on the platform of wood which they had made for the purpose, and beside him at his right hand stood Matathiah, Shemai, Ananiah, Ariah, Elkiah, and Maasa, and at his left hand, Hedayah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashem, Hashbanana, Zachariah, and Meshulam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the people answered, Amen, Amen, while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also, Jeshua, Bani, Shirabiah, Yaman, Yaqob, Shabbathai, Hadijah, Maasaiah, Keletah, Azariah, Jazabad, Hanan, Pelaliah and the Levites helped the people to understand the law and the people stood in their place. So they read distinctly from the book of the law of God and they gave the sense and help them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, this day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn nor weep. This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites quieted all the people saying, be still for the day is holy. Do not be grieved. And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly because they understood the words that were declared to them. Again, this is the word of the living God. Please be seated. Children, do you know that you bring joy to many people? Children, do you realize that? That you bring joy to many people. It's amazing to realize that you can be the means by which others are brought joy. And you don't even really realize it. But you do. You bring joy to many. In fact, when you were born, someone probably said, look at this bundle of joy. Right? Don't we use that of our babies? They're bundles of joy. Again, because of the joy they bring to their parents, and their siblings, and their grandparents, to both family and friends, and even strangers when they see them. A stranger, their face can light up with a smile when they see that little one. Again, bundles of joy. Now that doesn't mean that it's always joy and gladness. Parents, you know that. It's not always joy and gladness all the time. But the fact that you do bring joy again should make you happy. That you bring joy into someone else's life. And don't take that for granted. Do not take that for granted. For there are people in this world who seem to only bring misery, pain and sorrow and sadness to people. And that may be us at times. Well, as God's people, as his children, all of us as Christians are recreated in Christ Jesus and called by God to be instruments of His joy. To both proclaim His joy, but also to bring joy to others. Remember that joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is the one who indwells you. This is the fruit you are to bear in your life as the Spirit indwells you. Jesus tells His disciples that one of the purposes for speaking and teaching them the things that He does is so that His joy would be in them, and that their joy would be full. And it is the same for all of you who are united to Jesus Christ by faith and follow Him. You are adopted into God's family as children in order to be agents of joy. But you don't always feel joy, do you? Do you? You don't always feel joy. You don't always feel the joy because sin and the curse rob you of this joy. So often we feel sorrow. We feel pain. We feel anger. We feel frustration. We feel confusion. We feel heartache. And joy seems to be absent, far away, to be unattainable in our present circumstance. Well, the Lord provides an answer to this, to this dilemma of the seeming absence of joy. And in fact, He Himself is the answer. He Himself is the answer. And the answer is provided, again, in the Bible, God's Word. And one clear expression of this is found in the passage that Pastor kind of clumsily read. Again, trying to read through those hard names is always difficult. There's an art to it, and I'm sorry that I didn't do it in a better way. But again, we see it from the book of Nehemiah chapter 8, especially verse 10, which brings us to our purpose statement for our message for today, which is, the Lord's joy is your strength. Very simple, right from the Word of God. The Lord's joy is your strength. As His people, you are called and commissioned to be vessels of joy. be vessels of joy. But you are not the source of this joy. The Lord himself is the source. OK, it is as you focus upon him and rejoice in him, you receive joy from him that he fills you with his joy and uses you as an instrument to dispense joy to one another and to others. Again, You experience the Lord's joy again. Others experience the Lord's joy through you. Imagine that. What a great privilege and calling that is. And so therefore you are his agents of joy in a lost and fallen world where it seems like there is no joy. Now, there is joy. People experience some form of joy, but it's temporary and fleeting. It's different than the joy we feel in the Lord, which is eternal. Again, so remember the answer, remember this word of life from your creator and redeemer, the Lord's joy is your strength. And we'll consider this life-giving blessing of joy under three points this morning. And our first point is, don't remain in your sorrow, but enter into the Lord's, your Lord's joy. Do not remain in your sorrow, but enter into your Lord's joy. Okay, we read from Nehemiah, okay, but let's put that into context. In the context of Nehemiah, the people of Israel have been brought out of 70 long years of captivity in exile in the kingdom of Babylon. OK, far away from the means of grace of the covenant of the blessings of the covenant of God. There is no house of God there. Again, there's all those reminders. There's no festivals of the Lord in Babylon, okay? And again, the psalmist talks about weeping in Babylon, right? But again, they were in exile in Babylon, away from the blessed, holy presence of the Lord. But they have returned again to the promised land, and even to the chosen city of God, Jerusalem. And as great and glorious as this truth is that they are now free, right? They've been brought back to captivity, they've returned to Jerusalem. Again, this glorious reality that God has brought them out of captivity and back to the land flowing with milk and honey, and even returning them to God's holy city, Jerusalem, as they looked around, right? As they looked around with their physical eyes at what they saw, the scene before their eyes, it looked very bleak and depressing. Because the external exterior beauty and glory of the kingdom of God seems to have faded. It appears to have faded. And with it, so did the people's joy. So did their joy. And this seems to be compounded when Ezra the scribe and priest stood up and began to read the words of God's law, right? Before them. Because they understood that they were guilty of forsaking God's holy law. And that's why they went into exile. Read Deuteronomy. Moses is very clear that they heard the curses of the covenant and realized that they had suffered those things because they had forsaken God and His word, His law. Again, the very things had fallen upon them as Moses, the Lord's prophet, had predicted. And of course, this brought sorrow, mourning, and weeping. Okay? So in the people of Israel's immediate circumstance and situation, they experience sorrow rather than joy. Again, why? Why were they experiencing this? Because they failed to see what the Lord wanted His people to see. Again, it's good for them to remember that they are responsible for forsaking the Lord and doing that. But what the Lord wants them to see as the leaders of Israel encourage them to is to see his blessings. We talked about being blessed by the Lord last week, didn't we? And how important that is to consider his blessings, his benefits. Well, he wanted them to see his blessings. Although they were in captivity, they are not in captivity any longer. Okay? The temple was destroyed. The house of God was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586. But it's been rebuilt. The house of God is there. It's been rebuilt. And although the outward, external glory of this present house and temple appeared to be much diminished and dimmer, the Lord promises, right, through His Word, okay, promises through his lips, the lips of the prophet Haggai, that the glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former that was destroyed. It will be greater. And also, that which caused Nehemiah himself, the governor, to weep, the fact that there were no walls of defense surrounding God's holy city, Jerusalem, Now the walls have been completed. We read about that in chapter 6, verse 15. That which he was sent back to Jerusalem for by the Persian king, the commission, right, the mission's been completed. And so now was not the time for weeping, not the time for sorrow, not the time for mourning, but rather it is a time to rejoice. It's a time for joy. Also, it was the Lord's Day. It was the Lord's Day. The people gathered together at the gate and came eagerly to hear a word from their God. They joined together to worship the Lord, to bow before him in submission to his holiness, but also to rejoice in the great works of salvation that he had performed for them. So this is not a day for sorrow, but for joy. It is a time for feasting and enjoying the wonderful provision of our God. So the leaders of God's people respond to the people's sorrow and say, be still, for the day is holy, do not be grieved. That idea of be still, remember the Psalm? Be still and know that I am the Lord. Stop, quiet, no more weeping. Just stop for a minute and consider, I am the Lord. And what does that mean? How does that make you feel? They declare words of assurance and joy to the people, and so the people respond in feasting and rejoicing because they were made to understand the words that were declared to them. And at the climax and center of that message is the Lord's Word. It is the Lord's Word. The Lord's Word is proclaimed, do not sorrow. For the joy of the Lord is your strength." It's interesting, when you look back in the law, if men were like completely diswrought and they feared again the people that they were going to battle against, these soldiers and army, send them home, the Lord said. Send them home. They're not strong enough to go into battle for the Lord. So the Lord has His soldiers and you His people. Do not sorrow. Do not weep. Be strong, but be strong in the Lord. And so my question for you today is, do you see His blessings? Do you see His blessings? This too is the Lord's Day. We come and gather together to the Lord. There is a time for sadness, there is a time for weeping, there is a time for sorrow, as the preacher of Ecclesiastes tells us. But this is not that time. This is not that time. And so do not remain in your sorrow. but enter into your Lord's joy. Enter into your Lord's joy. Your state of mind and heart and soul communicate something about your Lord and King. Something about His rule and reign. And let me ask you, does the Lord's reign, is it so bad that it causes you to weep? To sorrow? To mourn? What has he done that's caused this? When Nehemiah came into the presence of the king of Persia, into his presence, he came in sorrowful and weeping. He was the cupbearer to the king of Persia. And because of the state, again, he was weeping and sorrowing because of the state of his people and their city. but it reflected upon the rule and reign of the king of Persia's kingdom. Okay. And so he asked them and inquired about it again, and he said, well, don't weep, go back and rebuild the walls, right? So you're not weeping anymore, but you have joy. So again, remember that God's rule and reign that your state Your emotional state of your mind, your heart, your soul, of your spiritual state, whatever it is, it reflects back on the rule and reign of your God. It's not that there isn't a time to weep, a time to mourn, a time to sorrow. But again, you shouldn't be continually doing that. You should enter into the joy of your Lord. And yes, we are to mourn over our own sin, our own guilt. But as God forgives you and cleanses you, your sorrow should turn to joy. We ought to be characterized by joy. We should be a people of joy. You are called and commissioned to be the Lord's joyful people. Well, this brings us to our second point. And our second point is the Lord himself is the fountain of all joy. The Lord himself is the fountain of all joy. The leaders of Israel here speak of the joy of the Lord. It belongs to him. It proceeds from him. Not only is the Lord God, the ultimate object and motivation for joy and rejoicing, but he himself is the source and origin of joy. That's why the apostle Paul tells us that joy is the fruit of the spirit of God. Where the Spirit is, there is joy. Joy is produced in you and through you by His Holy Spirit who dwells in you, who is Himself the fount of joy. The apostle often refers to the Christian's joy as the joy of the Holy Spirit, of the Spirit of God. He says the kingdom of God is joy in the Holy Spirit. This is what the kingdom of God is. That's why it's good news. So the Holy Spirit of God is the Spirit of joy. And the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of men is also the fount of God's joy. Let me ask you this question. What gives God the Father more joy than His own beloved Son in whom He is well pleased? When God the Father speaks from heaven, He says, this is my Son in whom I am well pleased. This is the one who gives me great joy. And this is why you must be united to Him by faith if you yourselves are to have joy. So the Father takes joy in His Son in exalting Him and glorifying Him. And do you realize that that is at the heart and center of everything that is? At the very beginning, before anything was, in all eternity, God the Father loves His Son and has determined to exalt and glorify Him. And that's why God did everything He did in creation and in salvation. That's at the heart of everything. The Father's love for His Son and His desire to glorify Him. And so you and I are to have Jesus's joy in us. We are to have Jesus's joy in us. Again, we read this from John's Gospel in the Upper Room Discourse. Jesus says, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you. And that your joy may be full. And so what is Jesus saying? He's saying that His joy becomes our joy. His joy becomes our joy. Again, it's the Lord's joy, and it becomes our joy. As you trust Him, as you place your faith in Him, as you love Him, as you are united to Him, as you grow intimately with Him, in every way, intimately, spiritually, fully. Again, in speaking of His suffering and death, Jesus tells His disciples, you will weep. You will be sorrowful. But your sorrow will turn to joy. It will turn to joy. And Jesus prays for His disciples, for you and me, to His Heavenly Father in what has been called the High Priestly Prayer in John 17. He says, but now, Father, I come to you. And these things I speak while I'm still in the world, that they, those who have been called by your name, that you have given unto me, may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. So let me ask you, has God answered Jesus' prayer here for you? Has he? Do you have the joy of the Lord, the fullness of the joy of the Lord in your life? Are you experiencing it? Are you feeling it? Has the father granted that granted that Jesus joy is being fulfilled in you for you and through you? Jesus also says that your fullness of joy should be the result of your prayers in his name. He says this. He says this to his disciples. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask. And you will receive. Why? In order that your joy may be full. And of course, the height and ultimate context of that request is that the Son would pour out His Spirit unto His people. He would pour out His Spirit into our hearts, which of course is the spirit of joy. And Jesus also promises saying, you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will be able to steal that joy from you. No matter how much persecution they suffer from their own countrymen, the Jews, by the Roman state, by this world, anything that you suffer, you can't be robbed of that joy. because it's the Lord's joy that he has given to you. So, brothers and sisters, don't lose heart. Although you cannot produce everlasting joy, the joy that never fades away or ceases, the one who is the fountain of all joy is the infinite, eternal Lord God, who is immutable, who never changes. and who is altogether faithful to his word of promise to give you this joy. His joy, the joy of the Lord, that it might become yours forever. That's good news, isn't it? Isn't that worth rejoicing over? But before we close, I want to look at one last point, our third and final point, which is a question. What is it that hinders you and me from experiencing the fullness of the Lord's joy in our lives? What hinders us from experiencing the fullness of the Lord's joy? We've already said it is our sin, our guilt, of course. But I want to, and here's the pun, I want to focus it. It's on our focus. It's what we focus on. And often it's because we're focusing on the wrong thing. The wrong things. Right? In this world. Again, remember the Nehemiah context. The people needed to get the Lord's perspective of things. Right? The people of Israel had taken their eyes off the Lord's blessings of salvation. and were focusing on their outward circumstances, which were true, right? That were real. Again, they had broken the covenant. They had suffered 70 years in captivity. But again, they needed to get the Lord's perspective of what He was looking at. Again, they grounded their experience upon the external situation, according to their own perspective of things, as they perceived them, as they understood them, and as they interpreted them. Brothers and sisters, this is why we are not joyful people. is because we focus on what we perceive as our perception of things, our interpretation of things, our understanding of things. And it isn't the Lord's perspective. We need to have the eyes of the Lord. And where do we get the eyes of the Lord? From His Word. He tells us what to focus upon. That's why the apostle Paul in Galatians was so severe. Oh, you foolish Galatians, you've taken your eyes off your Lord and putting them on your circumstances, your situation, the works of your own hands. And that's why they were biting and devouring one another. That's why they weren't loving one another, because they weren't focusing on the Lord. They were focusing on themselves. whether it's our brothers and sisters and what they're not doing for us, or again, the circumstances, situation, why am I suffering this way? Why am I going through this? Remember what the apostle Paul says, as we learned last week, the sufferings of this present life that we are suffering at right now are not even worthy to be compared with the glory that he has, again, determined for us in Christ. Remember, at night the psalmist says, there is sorrow, but joy comes in the morning. Are you focusing on that joy? We just got done with a Sunday school series on the eschaton, the consummation, the glorious future the Lord has for us. Focus on what He has promised on His Word. Don't get it off of you. Again, the people of Israel, because of their own perception, their outward looking at what was going on, of looking at themselves, what they perceived, understood and interpreted, this caused them to grieve and mourn and weep and remain in their sorrow, rather than entering into the joy of the Lord. And this was the Lord's day. They should have been focusing on Him. He's the one that has renewed and restored all these things. This is so often our problem, isn't it? This is so often our problem. Again, we see it with the wilderness generation, do we not? Rather than focusing on the wonder of the Lord's work in bringing them out of the house of bondage in Egypt from under the Pharaoh's cruel rule, they focused upon their own circumstance as they saw it. Wandering in the wilderness in tents, always on the move, rather than resting in their own homes in the land God had promised. Of course, Moses reminded them of the promises of the Lord. Reminded them, this is God of your fathers, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that promised them this land. But why? Why were they there? Because God was testing them. Right? He was testing His people. Testing their faith in Him. He gave Himself to His people. They might not be in the land, but the Lord was in their midst. But where are their eyes? Are they on the Lord? No. They're not on the Lord. They're on their circumstances as they perceived it. They chose to focus upon their own perception and understanding and interpretation of their situation as they themselves saw it. No water or wine like in Egypt. No food or delicacies like in Egypt. No permanent houses, like in Egypt. Things were better in Egypt. Really? Is that actually true? Because of this warped perception of their interpretation of things, which was completely wrong, in Egypt, what had God here in heaven? I hear their cry, their weeping, because of the cruelty and oppression of their taskmasters. What happened to that? Do you see what they've done? They've completely distorted and twisted the truth. Because in their present circumstance, well, we had some better things in Egypt, and now we don't. You have the Lord. He's in your midst. They completely forgot the severe harshness of their taskmasters, of their slavery, and twist and distort the reality of how bad it really was. God desired to bring them fully into His joy and His rest. But like with our first parents, He was testing their faith, their trust, their loyalty, their allegiance. Will they be His grateful and thankful people looking to Him, trusting in Him, remaining loyal to Him, or will they grumble and complain? And how does God refer to that? They were hardened in their hearts. These people, they are stubborn. And ultimately, they forsook Him. They took their eyes off Him, right? And focused on their circumstances. And it made them miserable people. These were supposed to be the people of the Lord. And yet they died in the wilderness, in the desert. Brothers and sisters, upon whom or what are you focused? Upon what is your focus? What are you looking at? Are you focusing upon the circumstance and the situation? Are you focused on someone else? Or are you focused upon the Lord? You see, the people are weak. You are weak. I am weak. And why are we weak? It's because the Lord is our strength. He is our strength. And unless the people look to the Lord, they will remain weak. And it's the same for you and me. We will remain weak. We'll be grumbling, complaining. We will be again a miserable people. But we are called to be the people of joy. And let me ask you, are you presently experiencing the fullness of the Lord's joy in your life? Remember what the author of Hebrews says about Christ. For the joy set before him, the Lord endured the cross, going even to the depths of death upon the cross for the joy that was set before him. Even in the midst of affliction and sorrow, the Lord had joy because He saw the end to which His work, His death, His sacrifice would accomplish. And what was that? The redemption of you, His people. That was His joy. The Apostle Paul says to the churches, to the Christians, again, as he planted these churches, he says, you are our joy. Just as you tell your little children, You're our joy. This is our bundle of joy. Right? So what are you focusing on? If you are not experiencing the fullness of the Lord's joy in your life, why? Why? Do you see the Lord crying out? Why are you living this way? Do you want to live this way? Do you not want to live as joyful people? There's no reason why you can't, no matter what your circumstance or situation. It doesn't matter. In every circumstance, we see God's people rejoicing. In the midst of affliction, oppression, doesn't matter. It's your perspective, brothers and sisters. It's who you're focusing on. It's so easy for you and me to blame everything and everyone else for our lack of joy. But when it comes down to it, the reason you are hindered from experiencing it fully is because you and I take our eyes off of Him who is the fountain of all joy. It is because we put something or someone before Him. Isn't that the first commandment? You are not to put anything before Me. Now, of course, God deserves to be number one. He does deserve that. But He's telling you the reason why you're experiencing misery is because you don't put me first. Because I am the fountain, the origin, the source of all joy. If you put me first, you will experience my joy. And yet we don't. Because we put other things before Him. And that's why we experience this, why we don't experience the fullness of His joy. We are weak in so many areas of our lives. People want to critique Christianity and say it's a crutch. And that's all well and good. But when the Bible says that we are weak, that's true. And people that deny that, they are fooling themselves because they are weak, too. But we are weak in so many areas of our lives. That's because we are weak by nature. But that is simply an excuse, brothers and sisters, because we don't have to be weak. The Lord has given us Himself. He is in our midst. So there's no excuses for why we are not experiencing the fullness of His joy. Okay? Because God is good. God in His goodness has given you and me the answer to our weakness, and our sorrow, and our discontentment. And the answer is Him. If you're looking for it anywhere else, if you're looking for it from your spouse, if you're looking for it from your family, If you're looking for it from your home, if you're looking for it in your job, your vocation, if you're looking for it in the church and you've taken your eyes off of him, you're not gonna experience it. You're gonna grumble and you're gonna complain because he's the answer. Now, should we experience joy in the church? Of course. Should you experience joy in your job? Of course. Should you experience joy at home? Of course. In your family? Of course. From your spouse, from your kids? Of course. But guess what? Here's the answer. If you put him first, I guarantee you'll experience joy in every all those areas of your life. You've taken your eyes off of Him, and that's why you're dissatisfied, you're discontent, you're complaining, you're grumbling, you're miserable, you're sorrowful, you're weak. My friends, please listen to me. If you are dissatisfied with the things in your life, at home, at work, or in your church, if you continue to look to these things to bring you joy, you are looking in the wrong place. You're looking at the wrong people for any joy that you receive here on earth in this life is fleeting and temporary because things change. We're not immutable. None of these areas are immutable. There's only one who doesn't change and it's God himself. And he's the fountain of all joy. He is true everlasting joy. Because all true, real joy comes from the Lord of Heaven. He's the fount of all blessing, including joy. If you desire to be strong, and specifically strong in joy, then look to the Lord of Joy. Look to the Lord of Joy. It's that simple. Focus on Him. Meditate on Him. Love Him. Right? Think about him. Seek the Almighty Lord who is full of joy, inexpressible and full of glory. Peter could write to those who he writes his letter to because their joy was in the Lord. And they experienced it, even though they didn't physically see him. You don't physically see Jesus, do you? You don't physically see God, neither did the Israelites. Moses said, what did you see when you saw the burning bush? Did you see anything? No, you didn't see any form. When He came down on Mount Sinai, did you see any form? No, you didn't. But He's there, isn't He? They experienced Him, didn't they? And you experience Him. Peter says, even though you don't see Him because He's in heaven, you have this joy inexpressible and full of glory. He's the one who fills you with joy and fulfills His joy in you and through you. The Lord's joy is your strength. So look to Him, beloved. Focus upon Him. Seek His perspective and may His joy strengthen you. And on that day, when you do see your Lord, when your Lord comes, May you all hear those blessed words. Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things." And how does he end that? He repeats it twice there in Matthew 25. He says, enter into the joy of your Lord. Enter into the joy of your Lord. But you don't have to wait. You enter in now. By faith. What are you trading the Lord, the fullness, experiencing the Lord's joy for? There's nothing in comparison of it. And there's no reason to. He's given you Himself. So enter into that joy, brothers and sisters. Think about, am I an agent of joy? You're called to be agents, instruments, means of joy, to spread the joy of the Lord. And so think intently about that this day. Think about your relationship with your Lord. Are you focusing on Him? Or are you focusing too much on this world, this life, your circumstances, your troubles, your troubled relationships, other people, whatever it is that don't matter? Have you ceased to focus your eyes upon Him? The Lord's joy is your strength. Amen. Let us pray. Our gracious and heavenly Father, we do thank you for your word. We thank you that you have given us yourself. You've given us your son. You've given us your spirit that you give us yourself that are that we may experience the fullness of joy in our lives and that we may pour it out unto one another and others. Lord, we pray that we would be your people of joy. Renew us in your joy. Pour your joy into our hearts by your spirit this day. And we pray all this. Again, in the name of the Lord of joy, the Lord Jesus Christ.