Psalm chapter 16 and verse 11. The title of the message here this evening is In the Grip of Gladness. We've been doing a series the last several weeks on being in the grip, and we've talked about a number of different things in this series tonight. It is about being in the grip of gladness. I'm thankful tonight that we all can be in the grip of God's gladness, which is the joy that he can give into our lives. Lots of folks, not only Christians, but even for sure a lost and dying world is looking for things in the wrong places. How many have ever been looking for something and found out it was in a different place? Sometimes in our lives we can do the very same thing we can be looking for something that we want We're just looking in the wrong place for it And so with joy that is kind of one of those sayings lots of folks are looking for joy But joy comes from God, but the one reason why they're not getting the joy they want they're only getting the temporary satisfaction of a happiness that this world can give is because they're not doing a few things. I'm going to lay that out tonight and that'll help us this evening. We'll begin with the first truth here in just a moment. Well, let's take a look at what the Bible says about it in Psalm chapter 16. There in verse 11, we won't read all of the ones that we're going to get into tonight by standing, but we will for this first one. The Bible says, Psalm chapter 16, verse 11, the Bible says, Thou wilt show me the path of life In thy presence, watch this now, in thy presence is what? Fullness of joy. Say that with me. Fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Let's read it one more time. Thou hast shown me the path of life and thy presence is fullness of joy. At the right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. Let's pray. Father, we come to you tonight. Thank you, God, for your goodness. Once again, Lord, I pray that you'd help us tonight as we open up your word. God, we have sung. We have taken up the offering. We've had fellowship time. The young people have came up, and they have been honored in the things that they have been doing. But Lord, now here we are in the preaching of your word, and God, I pray you bless this time. Help us, God, to shut out the world just for a little while. And just to give you our thought, just to give you our focus and attention in our hearts tonight, just for a little bit, so that you can show us from your words some important things that'll help us to grow, to be better men and women of God for you. And if there's anybody tonight that's not saved, that tonight would be the night they'd give their life to Christ. Lord, I pray you bless tonight. Help me as I preach. This I pray in Jesus' name, amen, amen. You may be seated. As I said, oftentimes we're looking for things just in simply, really just the wrong place. We think that sometimes it's somewhere else and we really believe it. How many of you have ever said, man, I know, I know, I know where I laid it down. I know where I put it. Only to find out that that wasn't really where you laid it down and that wasn't really where you put it. But you were looking for it. I've never done that. Just kidding. But you were looking for it. You were looking for it. But you wasn't able to find it. You thought you knew where it was. And listen, just in the Christian life in general, a lot of that is the same way. But not just in Christians, but a lost and dying world, especially those that are lost and don't know Christ. the fullness of joy that a Christian has because part of that comes from, number one, in being saved. Because when we get saved, the Holy Spirit of God lives and dwells inside of us. Not only does He change our life, not only does He seal Himself within us, but He also imparts to us the fruit of the Spirit. And one of the fruit of the Spirit is joy. But listen, what we oftentimes do is we settle for the happiness of the world. We settle for something that's just going to last for a little time. The happiness, as we talked about many times before, just depends on the happenings, the circumstance. And when that's over, the happiness is over. But the joy is something that God gives. that is lasting, something that we can have, but something that is not superficial, but something that comes from God Himself. It is a fruit of the Spirit, the Bible actually says. So what is one of the things that we need to do? You say, well, I don't want anything superficial in my life. How many of you are tired? of having things that are superficial in your life. Things that don't last, just things that are superficial. Things that are just very fleeting, things that have no value to it whatsoever. And that's what happiness is. I mean, it seems great at the moment, and it really is, But it's so short-lived at times, and it depends on the circumstance, and it depends on what's going on. What I want us to get us to see tonight is that we strive to have something far greater than just a temporary happiness that just the world gives. But that we strive to have something that the God of heaven is desiring to give the people of this world. And where do we start with that? I mean, where does that begin and where does that start? The very first truth I want us to see tonight is the truth of God's gladness. The truth of God's gladness. Well, what is the truth of God's gladness? Well, number one, we talked about how the Bible says in Galatians, of how joy is a fruit of the Spirit, that it is given by God Himself, along with meekness and kindness and gentleness and these other things. You say, well, I can be kind and I can be gentle. I'm not talking about, listen, everybody can be kind and gentle in our flesh. We can all do that. I'm talking about something that goes beyond that. You ever try to be kind to somebody who wasn't kind to you? You ever try to be gentle to somebody who wasn't gentle to you? You ever tried to love somebody that wasn't loving you? That's what I'm talking about. The Lord Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount said, love your enemies, right? And a whole host of other things that he listed beneath that that he said that we need to do. When the Roman soldier comes up to you and compels you to go one mile because that's what you had to do, you had to carry the Lord for one mile, he says, you go too. That's what I'm talking, I'm talking something that's beyond, because see, if we just love as the world loves, as the Lord Jesus said, then what is that? If I just demonstrated kindness that anybody can demonstrate, then what is that? How does that separate the Christian from the rest of the world? How does that, if I only love because I am loved, then how does that separate me from the rest of the world? So we're talking about something that, We're talking about something that God gives, not something that's just superficial, not something that is stirred up from the flesh, but something that is empowered and something that is given by the God of heaven himself. And so how are we gonna get that? Well, we gotta see the truth of gladness. And so what is that? Well, of course, along with that is the truth of gladness is that it comes from God. But notice in our text here in verse 11, he says, thou will show me the path of life. In thy presence, watch this now, in thy presence is fullness of joy. You say, well, how am I gonna get this? Well, number one, I'm gonna get saved. You got to listen, you got to be saved. You have to have surrendered yourself to the God of heaven for the joy that God desires to give to his people. That's number one. Number two, one of the things that we see is that the joy comes from being in the presence of God. So let me ask you this. We cry out all the time, I just want to be happy, I just want to be happy, I want to be happy. Listen, why settle for happiness? Why not reach for joy? And while you're reaching for joy, do this right here. Get into the presence of God. Because where is the fullness of joy at? In his presence the Bible says the Bible says in his presence is fullness of joy And so since in his presence is fullness of joy, that means that I can have all that I want Don't you glad that it says in his presence is fullness of joy that God don't just have half joy God just don't have quarter joy. You don't just have three quarter joy well I've only that God can only give this certain amount but now the Bible says that in his presence is a the fullness of joy. So God, the God of heaven can give you exactly what it is that you need. Not a temporary, worldly, fleshly happiness that we usually have most of the time. Something that reaches far beyond. Something that is more supernatural. A love that goes beyond what we would normally love. A forgiveness that goes beyond what we would normally do. A kindness that excels and goes beyond. A gentleness that goes beyond. And so what I'm trying to get us to see tonight is let us not settle for less, because I tell you what, in this world we are settling for so much less than what God desires for us to have. Because listen, social media says, well listen, if you act like this, you do this, you post this type of video, you listen to this song, you run with this crowd, then that's where you'll be happy. That's baloney. That's baloney. Listen, the God of heaven has a desire to give you something so much more greater than that. And so let us not settle for less in our life. The Bible shows us here in our text, there in verse 11, that in his presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand, notice what he says in verse 11, at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. In other words, the God of heaven is saying, listen, not only is there joy here, but listen, there are things with me that are everlasting. The Bible says the pleasure of sin lasts for a season, but the pleasures here are forevermore. So why do we settle for less? We say, well, if I do this, I'll feel better. If I do this, I'll feel good. If I do this, I'll feel happy. If I drink that, I'll be okay. If I take this pill, everything will be fine. If I just go along with the crowd, it's all going to work out. No, it's not. Because you'll constantly come back. You'll constantly be coming back for that one thing that only lasts for a little while. And the pleasures of sin that last for a season. Because when it's all done and over. When it's all done and over, there's a price tag that has to be paid at the end of that. Now the Bible tells all of us, listen, every single one of us here are sinners tonight. Listen, nobody here is perfect. Listen, nobody here has it all together from the pulpit to the pew. Listen, we're all a work in progress. Every single one of us. But despite that, despite that, that doesn't give us an excuse not to live for God. not to live for God. The Bible says that in His, that in His presence is not only fullness of joy, The Bible also says that there are pleasures forevermore. So let us make sure tonight that we don't shortchange ourselves by the things that are in this world that the world is offering and that the world promotes and that the devil himself promotes, the things that are against God himself. Doesn't the Bible say that God himself says, I will not withhold anything, I will not withhold anything good with those that walk uprightly. The idea is that God's desire is to help you to be full of joy. And where does that joy begin? Number one, getting saved. Number two, getting in His presence. And so let me ask us this tonight, how many of us have spent some time in the presence of God today? If that's where we see the, if that's where the fullness of joy is, number one, how many of us are really saved? Number two, how many of us got into the presence of God? Because if we're not saved, we're not gonna have the joy that we want. We're gonna have a temporary happiness. Number two, if we didn't get into the presence of God today, then we didn't see the fullness of joy like we could have. We're shortchanging ourselves. And the world, man, the sin and all this stuff, man, just promotes it and promotes it. The devil's desires for you to settle for less in your life. And I'm just trying to get you to see tonight, there's no sense in us continuing to live our Christian lives like that. Because whether you're a Christian or whether you're lost and you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, both of us can settle for less. Both of us can settle for less. The Bible says here in our text that Thou will show me the path of life, and in thy presence the fullness of joy. Notice what happens. We see the fullness of joy there in verse 11. It is in his presence. We see it in his right hand. There is pleasures forevermore. But how do we get there? How do we get to that? Notice, he starts off the very beginning of the verse. Thou will show me the path of life. The path. God's guidance, God's direction, the way he tells us to live, what he, in his word, describes on what we should do. His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. And so we follow that which God desires for us to do, and as we follow that which God desires for us to do, where does it end up? It ends up in the presence of joy, and it ends up with pleasures forevermore. That's where it ends up. But how many of us, number one, are even following the path that God has laid out before us? How many of us, number one, are even walking down the path that God has laid out? That God says, listen, this is how I desire for you to live. This is what I want you to do. Because in this direction, in this path, this is where you're gonna find these things. But listen, if you don't go in this direction, if you don't go in this path, then you're gonna be settling for less. And God's desire is that you follow The Lord, the Bible says for us to be holy as He is holy and to follow in His steps. And so if we're not following in His steps, then how are we ever gonna reach the fullness of joy that is in His presence? And how are we ever gonna reach the pleasures that are forevermore? That's not just talking about the pleasures forevermore isn't just something that's just right now, but man, that's looking on into eternity. That's laying up treasures in heaven. The Bible shows us, listen, number one, The very first thing we got to understand about being in the grip of gladness is knowing what the truth of God's gladness is. What is the truth of God's gladness? Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 16, the Bible says, thy words were found and I did eat them and thy word was unto me joy. Thy words were unto me joy and the rejoicing of my heart. So what it was is he found joy When he began to study and devour and read and preach God's Word, that's where he began to find joy. That's where he began to rejoice. How does what brought life and light into his life is whenever he began to spend time in God's Word, and he began to spend time with God, and he began to walk down the path that God had called him to walk, which led him to joy in his life. I tell you what, I've been through some things in my life, and I'm so thankful. It's talking about memorizing scripture here tonight. Listen, I've been through some things in my life that I'm thankful that I was, that scriptures that I had read before in my life, that in those moments, I was able to recite them in my heart. I was able to bring them right out of my mouth, right there at that time, right when I needed them, because it was a blessing and a help to me. And I'm just telling you tonight that when you memorize scripture, which is extremely important, when you memorize scripture and you're able to recite the word of God without necessarily having the Bible necessarily in your hand, but you have it in your heart, as David said, I hide thy word in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Because what is one of the things that zaps away our joy, which we're gonna get into in a minute, It is, of course, sin. But what is the very first truth about it? We got to understand where we can get it. We got to understand what it's all about. The source is God himself. What is the truth? The foundation of God's gladness. David, he he got his joy back whenever he began to repent and get his life right with God. So we see the number one. We've seen the truth of God's gladness. Number two, we're gonna see the thieves of God's gladness. So what are the thieves of God's gladness? Well, as I said, one of the thieves of God's gladness is just sin in general. David said, I hide thy word in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Remember David and his affair with Bathsheba there in the Old Testament. The Bible says that he had this affair with Bathsheba, he had Uriah killed, And Nathan come up to him and Nathan said, listen, you're the man, you need to get this thing. So he brought this parable to him and he figured out, listen, man, I need to get things right before God. You know what he did in Psalm 51? Psalm 51, tremendous, tremendous psalm. But you see where David is in essence praying before the Almighty God of heaven. And he's talking about how his bones or even the conviction and the overwhelming conviction that's in his life is in essence gripping his bones. It is tightening up around him. And eventually he says, Restore unto me. the joy of my salvation. Restore unto me the joy of salvation. You know why? Because his sin and the way he was living, he wasn't walking down the path that God had laid out. He had got away from God. He had sidestepped. The Bible says that he is a man after God's own heart. Yes, he was, but he was still like you, and he was still like me. There were moments in his life where he wasn't everything he needed to be, and how many of us can vouch for that. Sometimes I'm just not what all I need to be. Anybody like that here tonight? Listen, every single one of us here this evening, we're not always what we need to be. Unless you say you're a Christian, that don't mean I'm perfect. People say, well, you heard me say this two million times, I'm gonna say it two million and one tonight. I'm not going down there, there's a bunch of hypocrites down there. Well, there's one in your house. And that's you. And that's you. There's one at the grocery store, but you still go. There's one at the lake, but you still go. There's one at the racetrack, but you still go. The devil do everything he can to give an excuse for you not to do what you know you're supposed to do. Just trying to be real with you tonight. We're not all everything we need to be sometimes, and not everybody sitting in church is saved and on their way to heaven. Not everybody is. So we got to understand this evening, that sin, man, sin is one of those things that gets into our lives and separates us and God. And when sin separates us from us and God, then that means we're no longer in his presence. And where is joy found? In the presence of God. So whenever we got sin in our life and we're living in sin and we're not doing right, you know, it happens to us on the inside. We're going to settle for the happiness. And it's fleeting. But what happens is when we settle for joy, we say, God, I wanna be in your presence. And we're sittin' under the spout where the blessings come out. Right? You're sittin' under the spout where the blessings come out and there you are and God's just fillin' you with joy because you're walkin' down the right path. But David, there was some moments in his life he wasn't walkin' down the right path and sometimes we aren't either. And when we're not, you know what happens? That sin comes in and we lose joy, because sin separates us from God. That's not a loss of salvation, if you say. That's just that sin separates us from God. There's something between us. Now you know what I got to do? Lord, will you please forgive me? You ever ask forgiveness? God, would you please forgive me? Lord, I've been living this way. God, I've been doing this, I've been doing that. And Lord, listen, you don't have to tell me, but you can call it out to God. God, this is what I've done, this is what I said, this is what I thought, whatever it is. And the Bible says in 1 John 1-9 that if we confess our sin, that he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. And when that happens, we become back into the fellowship of God and joy can now be poured out and restored again. We got to get into the presence of God. And how are we going to get into the presence of God? Psalm 16, 11. We're going to walk down the path that we're supposed to walk. And not only are we going to have the joy that we need to have, but we're going to have the pleasures forevermore. We're laying up things in heaven. And so we see the truth, but we also see the thieves. And the thieves are sin in general. Man, sin, as I said, it separates us between us and God. What is something else? I think another thing that can, of course, all of it's sin in general, but what is something else? I think one of the things that can rob us of joy is, of course, our worry. Anybody ever worried before? I think every single person in here has worried before. Have you ever, sometimes, heard somebody say one time, worry's like a rocking chair, you do a lot of moving, but you don't ever go nowhere. Listen, we all worry sometimes, we do. We do worry sometimes. And what does that worry do? That worry, it robs us of the joy. I'm gonna give you a verse for this. The Bible tells us in Philippians chapter four, verse six, the Bible says, be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer. Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer. Let your requests be made known unto God. The idea is, is to bring yourself to a place to where you get yourself into a place where you're saying, God, you know what? I'm not going to look around at the waves. I'm not going to look around at the water. I'm not going to listen to the wind. I'm not going to listen to the noise. God, I'm just going to keep my eyes fixed and focused on you. Because when I don't, what happens is I do the same thing Peter did, and he began to sink, and he began to look around. But if I keep my eyes on you, Lord Jesus, and I don't listen to the noise that's all around me, and I don't listen to the wind, and I don't pay attention to all the waves and all this kind of stuff that's trying to crash in and destroy my life, but if I just stay fixed and focused on you, I can walk on the water. I can walk on the water. These are viable, truthful lessons that the Word of God shows us in our life. But listen, sometimes we, just like Peter, you know what we do? We listen to the noise. We listen to the noise. And when we listen to the noise, then you know what happens. The devil rides that like a horse, like a Trojan horse, straight through your mind and straight through your heart. And the next thing you know, life as you know it is completely over. You ever tried to, you ever say, you know what, I don't feel good today. I wonder what I got. And you got on the internet and you say, I'm gonna WebMD myself. By the time you got done, you got three hours to live. Yeah. What I'm trying to get us to see tonight, listen, let's not WebMD ourself. We know God's in control, right? But the devil will ride that Trojan horse of this sound on the outside. right through your mind, right through your heart. And the next thing you know, it's all over. Next thing you know, God's not sitting on the throne no more. Your problems are. Nah, God's far bigger than that. God's far bigger than that. So our anxiety, our worry, our these types of things can rob us of this stuff. Not only that, not only is that a thief, but another thief is suffering. Suffering steals joy. Trials, as they say. Listen, sometimes we go through some difficult moments. Everybody ever been through one? We've all been there. We've been through some difficult times in life. And when we go through those difficult times in life, as they say, you can either get bitter or you can get better. Not trying to be cliche, but that is the truth. You can either get bitter about what's going on or you can use a situation to help you to get better and to see what else you can do further down the road. To help you become a better person. To use the resistance that you face or the trial that you're in to help you become stronger. And that's a decision that we have to make. Nobody can make that for us. But our trials, you know, sometimes those can take away joy. But what does the Bible say in James chapter one and verse two? My brethren, count it all joy. Count it all joy. Count it all joy when what? When we go through some trials and we go through some persecutions and we go through some sufferings in life. You say, man, I'm supposed to be happy I'm supposed to be happy about this stuff? Didn't say that. Listen, I didn't say we should be happy because we're having a hard time. What I am saying, and I think what the Bible's saying, is that in those moments, we can still have joy. Because what can I learn? How can I grow? What is there for me to do in this situation that'll make me a better person? What is it? The Bible doesn't say we have to be joyful about our problems, that we ought to be happy that we're going through a hard time. The Bible does say that we can have joy in it. We can have joy in it. Because joy is not man-made. It's given by God himself. Third thing, well, the next thing that steals joy, I'm not going to be able to finish tonight. The next thing that steals joy is this, the next thief is ourselves. Ourselves through what? How? Through our own pride. Our own pride. Not only but our own pride, but listen, our comparison of ourselves to other people takes away our joy. Because you know what we do? We'll look around at people and we'll say, man, I'll tell you what, They got it all together. Look at that smile on their face. Man, look at them, man. It looks like their life is put together. Man, they got this, they got this, they got that. Man, their husband's always got a smile on his face. His wife's always got a smile on his face. The kid's always got a smile on their face. Man, they do this and they do that. Man, these people got it together. I want to be like them. If you only knew. If you only knew. Because you see, you know what this is? You know what all of us sitting in here tonight is? You know what this is? This is the real Facebook. This is the real Facebook. This is the reality here tonight. This is what's real. But I don't know what's going on in your life. Not everything. I don't know all the issues and all the hard things, and I don't know all the spiritual battles that you face, and I don't know how the devil attacks you all the time. I don't know all of this stuff. This right here, man, we walk through the door, what do we do? Hey, how you doing? Shake hands, man, it's good for you to be here. It's glad to see you. I told nearly everybody in here that tonight. This is the real Facebook here. I have no idea what's going on in your life. And we can sit here and we can smile and deceive every person in this room. Every one of us. And if we'll be truthful, we do it all the time. Every service, you know, we just do it here. Do it when you go to the grocery store. You do it when you go everywhere else. Put on a smile. That's how it needs to be. People see our profile on Facebook. Do our hair. I don't do that. Because I ain't got none. I'm losing it daily. It's actually leaving here and growing out my ear. That's what's happening. That's what happens when you turn 27. That's what these things happen. But I'm just saying tonight, this is reality. This is what's real. And sometimes we compare ourselves to other people and then we begin to feel so bad about ourselves. Man, I'm not like them. I don't have what they got. You don't understand their struggles neither. You don't know everything they're going through. And we all have things that knock us to our knees. And I tell you what, it sure is good to have a brother and sister in Christ that's full of joy that can pick you up. Because sometimes we're not always full of joy. because we go through difficult times. We go through hard things, and it knocks us down to our knees, and we begin to wonder, how in the world am I gonna make it? And we can't lift up our eyes towards heaven, but we just think it's all over, and the devil's won, and our problems are sitting on the throne. But I tell you what, it sure is good when somebody will come along by your side, and it is filled with the Spirit of God, walking in the path that God has called them, and they are in the presence of God, and the fullness of joy is in their life, and it is pouring out of them, and they can share it with you. You're able to get up off the ground because of that. And encouragement and a blessing to people. Walker, man, you walk up to people and say, man, I tell you what, I'm not saying you be fake, but I'm just saying, listen, we keep so much stuff to ourselves. Listen, as a society in general, we have no problem spreading around all kinds of garbage. Why don't we decide to say, hey, you know what? I love you. Man, I tell you what, I am so thankful for you. I tell you, you was a blessing to me today. And man, when it's on your heart, let them know because maybe that's God trying to get you to tell them because they are depleted of joy. And maybe it is that the Holy Spirit of God is saying, listen, you're walking in the path, I'm filling you up with joy. Share that joy with somebody else. I'm telling you tonight. It's being real. We can be in the grip of gladness. There's so many thieves that are coming in to take it. And we just got to make sure that we don't let it happen to ourselves and to each other. Because all of us are too important to let the devil get victory in our lives. The devil don't need to. Let's pray. Father, we come to you tonight, we thank you, Lord, for your goodness. Lord, I pray this evening that you would use this message to speak to hearts. Lord, all of us, God, we all need it. Lord, I pray this evening that if there's anybody here tonight that's not saved, well, the very first step, the very first truth, the very foundational thing to receiving joy is salvation. Maybe there's somebody here tonight that doesn't know you as their savior. Maybe they don't know where to start. Lord, I pray that your spirit would speak to them tonight and help them to see that, listen, you sent your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross. The cross for every single one of us, for every single person in this room, for every single person that's in this world. And the God that you'd help us, Lord, to surrender our lives to you and to walk in your path Lord, help us to not settle for the things of this world, but God, to let your gladness take a grip onto our souls. If there's somebody here tonight, listen, nobody's looking but me and God. Maybe you're sitting here tonight and you're saying, you know what, preacher, I need the Lord in my life. I need to get saved. I'm not saved. If I died today, I don't think I'd go to heaven, or I know I wouldn't. but I sure would like to know. If there's anybody like that here tonight, you can just slip your hand up and say, you know what, preacher, I'm just not so sure. I'm doubting some things. I'm not saved, I'd like to get saved. Anybody like that here tonight? Slip your hand up so I can see you. Father, we come to this evening once again just to thank you for your blessings, Lord. I pray that you would just help us tonight to live in the fullness of joy. Help us, God, to get in your presence. Lord, help us to walk down the path you set before us and help us, God, to share our joy with other people, God, that are around us so, Lord, that they can experience fullness of joy themselves. Lord, I pray that you keep us all safe this week as we leave. Lord, I thank you for everything that came out tonight, all the visitors that are here, and Lord, I pray that you give us a good week. God, we love you and thank you for all that you do for us in this. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.