Hallelujah, glory to God. What a tremendous song. I'm thankful tonight that He will have all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. My Bible tells me that He's the propitiation, not just for our own sins, but the Word of God says, for the sins of the whole world. And scripture says, when the Spirit has come, he will reprove the world of sin, righteousness, and of judgment of sin, because they believe not. I invite you this evening to turn, if you would, the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter number eight. Nehemiah eight, it said, joy and a privilege to be Back here at Calvary Baptist Church, I love your pastor and the staff and the spirit that's here. The good music, the exciting heart for the Lord Jesus Christ and what God is doing. I was here at the start of the building project, I believe, for Stewardship Month. And it was just a joy just to drive down the road and see that curb appeal of what God is doing here. And just exciting to see that start. And now here at the close and the finish, I believe just kind of polishing the things up. And I believe this message tonight is going to go right in hand for what God would have for us as you're finishing up this building project. Nehemiah chapter number eight, as we give the context of the book, the book of Nehemiah is one of two books that chronicle the return of the nation of Israel after they prophesied 70 year Babylonian captivity. It was Ezra that encouraged them first to rebuild the temple. And now Nehemiah notices the walls. And by the way, there's an application there. to build the temple first. God is more interested in what's on the inside than what's on the outside. The spiritual before the physical. But what follows that rebuilding of the inside is what comes on the outside. And so Nehemiah chapter number 4 verse 6, these people had the mind to work and the wall was completed in just 52 days. even with opposition from the enemy. There's another application there as well that you need to have a mind to work. We must expect opposition from the enemy when God calls us to do something. And it's amazing to see just in a short period of time here after a year what God has done here in this building project. We arrive at Nehemiah chapter 8. The mission is completed. The walls were finished. The job is done. What I like about the spirit here of the nation of Israel is although the task was completed, they weren't through. They wanted something else. They wanted the Word of God. The walls have been built for the people, but now the people getting ready to be built for the walls. Now they gather together, and they gather for a jubilee. They gather for a time of hearing the Word of God. And they're ready. They're downtrodden. They're drained. They're tired. They just completed this project. They're exhausted. They're out of energy. but they need to be reminded of something in verse number 10. There's a phrase that we're very familiar with, but we're gonna look at the entire chapter, but first this phrase. There's a reminder all of us need on a Monday, all of us need as we finish the projects God calls us to and through. And verse number 10 says this, the joy of the Lord is your strength. Here's what Nehemiah is saying, I know you're done, I know the project is over, I know you're tired and spent, but I remind you of this truth, the joy of the Lord is your strength. That word strength is translated force and fortress in your Bible. Here's what we're reminded of. Listen, it's not about the walls. The walls are not going to bring you that protection as much. They're not going to bring you that inner peace. You need something entirely different to sustain you and strengthen you. You need something that will bring you that power and that protection. And it's not the walls. It's the joy of the Lord that's your strength. You understand tonight that we need the joy of the Lord you see a Jubilee of El Hebrew the shout for joy and the whole reason why they were in captivity as they had neglected to celebrate those years of Jubilee those years of rest that were prescribed for them. They were in this position. They want to go back to that and they gather around the Word of God to get the joy be reminded about the joy of the Lord here this Jubilee. We need to be reminded about the joy of the Lord. You see, joy is not happiness. Happiness is what's happening to you. Joy is what's within you. Joy is all about Jesus. Every one of us tonight, I know what you're going through, I know what you're feeling or facing, but all of us tonight need the joy of the Lord as our strength. Romans 14, verse 17 says, The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. We need the joy of the Holy Ghost So I want to preach tonight a few moments in this subject finding the joy of the Lord and tomorrow now I'm gonna preach about Jesus. I want to preach about the Lord several years ago that we started at our church I came up with this I was counseling a lot of folks and I thought well I need to have accountability and have people counseling each other and mentoring one another we have a recovery program at our church and and counseling ministry, and so we started a three-fold cord ministry, and three men for three months. A three-fold cord is not easily broken, and so we put together these accountability groups, and there's 10 questions. You would ask each other these questions. The last one is, did you lie to us? And that's a good one. And I put all these things together, and then the thought came to me, and my wife asked me, are you gonna join those groups? And I was like, oh boy, I don't know. kind of thought about those men that gathered together and they were confessing their sins. And, you know, one man said, my sin is, you know, I'm struggling with lust. I'm really just having a real struggle with lust. And the other said, I lie all the time. I cheat my taxes. I'm a liar. And the third was silent. And they said, we shared our sins. What's yours? And he said, it's gossip. And I can't wait to get out of here. And I remember that illustration. I'm like, I don't know if I want to join those groups. But I went into one of the groups and a little bit nervous at first. I knew that last question was, did you lie to us? And so I didn't want to say yes to that one. And question number nine, just about every time preacher, I kept having to say, yes, yes. See, question number nine is this. Have you allowed, I haven't memorized, any person or circumstance to rob you of your joy? Have you had any person or circumstance to rob you of your joy? And I got number nine, I'm like, yeah. I know you think that preachers float down from the clouds and as they preach and they send back up to heaven afterwards and everything's just perfect and wonderful. But listen, friend, preachers and people and your pastor, we have the calls, we've got the criticisms, we got all the things that goes on, the counseling situations, the discontent, all that sort of situation. It's very easy for a preacher to lose their joy. And what it revealed in my life is where I was trying to find my joy to begin with. You see, if you try to find your joy in people or circumstances, it reveals what's been wrong with your joy all along. See, tonight, if you try to find your joy in your physical health, you'll be robbed of that joy. If you try to find your joy in your finances or your 401k, you'll be robbed of that joy. If you try to find your joy in your friendships or even your family, you could be robbed of that joy. But if you find your joy in the Lord, may I remind you a friend, it will remain. The Lord Jesus said in John 15, 11, These things I have spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. The Lord Jesus Christ wants us to link up to His joy. It may remain in us to learn of His joy and that our joy might be full. Hey, listen, tonight you can have joy, not just because you enjoy your work. not just because everything's going great in the weather or the traffic patterns were just perfect here, which is not true at all on the way here, but you can have joy tonight not just because everything is going great in your life. You can have joy tonight and unspeakable and full of glory because the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. You can have joy because of Jesus. Nehemiah 8.10, the joy of the Lord is your strength. Yevel, shout for joy. That's why there is a Jubilee. So we can rediscover our joy that's in the Lord. How do we find this joy? I believe as we look at Nehemiah 8 in its full context, we discover where to find the joy of the Lord. And it's amazing how the people knew where to go. They need to go to the Word of God. First of all, they found the joy of the Lord in the hearing of the Word of God. Look at verse number one, and Bible says, and all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water great. This wasn't a summoned service. They were united in this effort. They gathered together and were united in an effort to hear the Word of God. Do you have a devotion and a desirous, zealous passion for God's Word? That's where you're gonna find the joy of the Lord. David said in Psalm 119, verse 162, I rejoice at thy word as one that findeth great spoil. Oh, let me tell you a friend, you can find joy in the hearing of the Word of God. Notice the place. They went to the street that was in front of the Watergate, not Richard Nixon's, but this is Israel's, and they went to the Watergate. They went out in the public. Just imagine those 50-some thousand gathered there around the water gate by the wall nearest the well connecting the community to the brook Kidron. They wanted to be where the water flowed. Water is the symbol of the Word of God, the washing of the Word, and they wanted to be where their source of life was. It's very interesting, you can study the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah chapter three, they repaired the sheep gate, they repaired the fish gate, they repaired the old gate, the valley gate, even the dung gate, but the only gate that wasn't in need of repair was the water gate. Why? The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. I hold in my Bible a perfect, preserved, inspired, sufficient, inerrant. This is God's word. I even like the color of it, hallelujah. I brought a special tonight. I know I have a Duke Blue truck. If you come see me, don't doubt my allegiances. It's Duke Blue. I call it Pensacola Christian College Blue. It's the same thing, but my truck's gonna fade away, but you know, my Bible, you know, that's... Never gonna fade away, so that's Carolina Blue. All right, but God's Word remains. Psalm 118, 1989, forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. They went to the source of life. They went to the spot that was never in need of repair, and they wanted to hear God's Word. The people, the place, look at the preaching. And they spake, they called forth. this preacher, Ezra, the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord hath commanded to Israel. Ezra was an old man, but they wanted the man of God to preach the word of God. Hey, listen, friend, if you wanna find joy, you're not gonna find it in a feminine encourager trying to tell you about your best life now, where every day is a Friday. You're not gonna find it in some motivational speaker that's online. You're gonna find it from the man of God preaching the word of God. I think about my life growing up. I tell folks, you've probably heard of this. I was drugged to church, drugged to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. My dad owned a Christian bookstore in Burlington, North Carolina, and he would just kind of send us off to all the vacation Bible schools. We would go to all the revival services. I mean, it got on. But listen, I remember the greatest times and memories of my life We're in camp meetings, Billy Kelly's camp meeting in Alamance County. I remember going to different meetings and just the joy of the Lord and hearing the Word of God, the man of God preaching the Word of God brought joy. There's a reason for this jubilee tonight. It's for God's man to preach God's Word. Verse number two, Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation of both men and women and all that could hear with understanding and application of what you just saw, the nursery and the children's program. Upon the first day of the seventh month, this was the start of the Feast of Tabernacles, verse three. And he read, before the street that was before the water gate, from the morning till midday, before the men and women and those that could understand, in the ears of the people were attentive under the book of the law. And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, the people stood up. They're standing for six straight hours from morning until midday. And Ezra gets up and he announces his text. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They stood for the entire time. Some of us would have fallen out by Genesis 1 verse 5. Six hour long service. Wow. Wow, you want some joy? Get in the book. You want some joy? Go to a church service, don't put a time limit on it. Although tonight we are gonna get out before the game starts, hallelujah. You want some joy? Listen to some preaching. Bible preaching. I'm not saying it's wrong to have entertainment. We're gonna have a good time tonight. I'm not saying it's wrong to watch sports, but your joy is not gonna be in a sports game. It's not gonna be in some Netflix show or Prime or Disney Plus. I was preaching that to my kids, all right? But you go stand by the Watergate and hear the word of God. Oh, it's amazing to hear when heaven comes down and glory fills our soul. It's our bread. It's our water, the word of the living God. These people, as they begin to hear God's word, they have some joy. They know where to go to get, has there been a time in your life you're just downtrodden, you're out, it's not time to, it's time to get into the book. It's time to come more to the house of God, hear more preaching from God's word. This is where our joy is gonna come from. Hearing the word of God. Number two, honoring the God of the word. Look at verse number six. And Ezra, bless the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands. It's in the Bible. They bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Hey, that sounds like a worship service. That sounds like an altar call. That sounds like there's some people that are getting excited about Jesus Christ. They're worshiping Him in the beauty of holiness. They're surrendered. They're praising. This word blessing is the word barak. I don't often think about blessing when I hear that term. But the word barak means to kneel. It means to present. The idea is almost like a proposal of praise. And here Ezra, he steps back from the pulpit and he begins to barak and praise the Lord and lift up the Lord and magnify the Lord. And here's an old preacher that knows a thing or two about the Lord. And he begins to lift up God magnify God, and praise God, and bless God, and the people are responding. You know how they got the joy of the Lord? If you forget everything else, get this. They were asking for the word of God, and they were amening the word of God. They knew where to get joy. Oh, bring us the man of God to preach. And as that man began to praise and as that man began to worship, they got involved as well. They were lifting up their hands. They were shouting, amen and amen. They were believing the blessing. It got on. They began to praise the Lord and bow their heads to the ground and worship the Lord. Hey, listen, friend, our greatest danger in this day and age is not wildfire. It's no fire, as John R. Rice would say. It's time to bless the Lord. You can save all your shouting for Carolina versus Kansas, but it's time to bless the Lord. The people were excited about the Word of God, and they were honoring the God of the Word. Hey, listen, you want some joy? Get your mind off the world and plug it in to the Lord, the great God. He's the Lord, amen? He's the great God. He's the Lord. He is the holy God. He is the righteous God, amen? He is the just God, a jealous God, a zealous God, a loving God, a true God, an eternal God, a perfect God. He's omniscient. He knows all. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere at the same time. He can do all. He is immutable, unchanging. He is infinite. He is invisible. He is imminent. He is impassable. He is transcendent. He is sovereign. He is self-existent. Hey listen, it doesn't take long before you praise your way out of there, whatever storm or struggle you're going through. You just get out of this whole world. He wants some joy. You praise Him when you feel like it. You praise Him when you don't feel like it. And you praise Him until you feel like it. You want the joy of the Lord you listen to some preaching you begin to praise God and magnify the Lord just think about God and who he is What a great message on Sunday morning from dr. Beale and who God is and you'll get a case that I can't help it I'm not saying it has to be public or corporate your personality may be different than mine I don't know where it is and some of my greatest times of praise have been in my car at a gas station I'm getting ready for a service, and I'll just kind of put on some good old gospel music, and I'll begin to read the Bible, and I'll start praising the Lord, and the windows will start getting fogged up. I've had some folks go by and say, everything okay in there? I'm like, don't worry about it, I'm praising the Lord. Psalm 42, verse 11, why art thou cast down, O my soul? That word right there is depressed. And why art thou disquieted? The word is anxious within me. You understand that, Psalm 42? Why are you cast down, depressed? Why are you disquieted? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet what? Praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God. You study Psalm 42 out, it's a maskeel. The word maskeel has the, of singing praises with understanding. It's a how-to Psalm, and it's a how to get out of that pit of depression, how to get out of that anxiety, and it's your hope, it's your mind, and it's your mouth. Hope and praise are the key to get out of that pit. and get the joy of the Lord. Oh, there's praise, there's worship, there's a response to the Word of God. You may not lift your hands or fall to the ground, but you can worship, you can praise the Lord, you can nod your head at least. You want some joy, get it off the world and get it on the Lord, the great God. Oh, there was the hearing of the Word of God, there was the honoring of the God of the Word, and then there's the very careful handling of the Word of God, teaching and preaching of God's Word. Look at verse number seven, the Levites there. It's interesting, there are Levites that are mentioned in the first part. I believe it's like a sound system, a relay system. As he was reading the Bible and they were making sure everybody heard it, there were thousands that were there. And then not only that, now they're teaching and giving the distinction of the words and the understanding. Verse seven, they caused the people to understand the law. And the people stood in their place and they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading. Oh, it's amazing. As you begin to dive into the Word of God, the teaching, the preaching, the exposition of God's Word, the explanation, the application of God's Word, do you want some joy? Get into the word of God and let the word of God get into you. Oh, there's some amazing time. Don't take this book. It's not a glorified quote book, by the way. It's not just for Instagram and Facebook. It's not a fortune cookie. It's a revelation of who God is. And as you read, what about all these names? You say, well, I can understand Genesis getting going for God's, you know, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and a preacher down in Leviticus and down in Numbers and Deuteronomy. How in the world do they respond to that? It's a revelation of God and His holiness and His justice and all the systems and the prophecies and the pictures of Christ. And if you look at God's Word, not as something that's just kind of, you ask the questions, you find the answers, you make the applications, study the Word of God, study to show yourself a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. God's Word tonight is profitable. for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, every bit of it. Get into God's Word. Have a plan to systematically study, read, and study the Word of God, to hear God's Word preached, and hear God's Word taught. Hey, listen, they were tired. It was a difficult day. They had been through a project. They had put their all in, but they knew that the joy of the Lord was their strength. And notice thirdly, they're heeding the Word. They were responding, not just in praise, but as they fell down in worship and repentance, the people wept when they heard the word, the words of the law. You see later in the book of Nehemiah that they discovered that there were some things that they were doing that was wrong, they needed to get rid of. There were things that they weren't doing that they should be doing. And so they were weeping in response to their sin as the Word of God revealed it to them. And they wept. And listen, when's the last time you had a godly sorrow that worketh repentance? David said as he cried in repentance over his sin, He said, create in me a clean heart, oh God, and restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. And as they begin to mourn, as they begin to repent and have that time of crying out to the Lord, you understand that's not where the Lord wanted them to stay. The devil's gonna bring you down sometimes to keep you there, but the Holy Spirit will bring you down to lift you up, not even higher. And as they repent of their sin, Nehemiah says, stop, there's a day for that, the 10th day. But he says, here's what we're going to do right now. Here's the context of verse 10. He said, this is a time of feasting and celebration. He said unto them, verse number 10, go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet. Some of us, that's our life verse right there. But here's what he's saying. Celebrate the blessings of God. A reminder. The fad and the sweet was a reminder of the goodness of God. It's the goodness of God that leadeth men to repentance. I believe this refers to Deuteronomy 14, 26, when it uses that word shakar, drink the sweet. Psalm 19, verse 10 says, The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb. Job 23, verse 10 says, "...he knoweth the way that I take, and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." Here's what he says, he says, you want the joy of the Lord, you understand, experience it. Experience the blessings of God. God is good. Celebrate your blessings and he says contribute your blessings send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared For this day is holy under our Lord neither be sorry for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Hey, do you want some joy? Go find somebody that needs an encouragement encourage them Go find somebody need some help and help them go find somebody who's lost and give him the gospel and bear precious seeing the Bible says Doubtless you return bring your sheaves with you It's God-focused. It's others-focused. Hey, Jesus first. Yourself last. Others in between. That's joy. That's the formula. That's the recipe. You'll just go share and go talk about it. Go help somebody else. Go encourage somebody else. I see people often in counseling, they're so down, they're so depressed, they're so discouraged, they've got no joy, and I'm asking, who are you serving? Who are you encouraging? Who are you blessing? Because when you do that, you'll get some joy yourself. And they're going to contribute it to these others. And as they were celebrating the next day, they got back up. They went back to the beginning. They opened the Bible and began to read the Bible. It's a daily habit of getting in God's word. Daily habit, finding the joy of the Lord. And as this time, as they heard the word of God, you see in Nehemiah chapter eight, they heard in the law, verse 14, that they should dwell in Booth. They said, hey, listen, this is the feast of tabernacles. We're supposed to be camping out and cooking out all week long. We're supposed to be in a position to remind ourselves of where God has brought us from in those 40 years of wandering, and we've not done so. It's been a long time. Hey, how long has it been since you've been involved in what God has called you to do? How long has it been since you had family altar and prayer? How long has it been since you had Bible study? How long has it been? And they said, let's go and let's get involved in this. And they began to publish and proclaim their cities in the Jerusalem. Notice, "...go forth in the mount, fetch olive branches, and pine branches," verse 15, "...and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, and made booths, and tents, and tabernacles, as it is written, Verse 16, the people went forth and made themselves booths, every one of them, upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, in the courts of the house of God, in the street of the water gate, in the street of the gate of Ephraim. And the congregation of them that were come again out of captivity made booths, and sat under the booths. For since the days of Yeshua, the Son of Nun, unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness. What do you need to get back to doing that you've neglected for so long? And you're not living in joy, you're trying to find your joy in people and places and possessions, but finding it in the joy of the Lord in God's word. Verse 18, also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. Go back to the Bible. And they kept the feast seven days. And on the eighth day was a solemn assembly according to the manner." Here's how they had joy every day at that feast. They went back to the book. They heard the Word of God. They heard it taught, read. They heard it preached. They heard it taught and explained. They applied God's Word in repentance and rejoicing. And they went back to the Word of God. But the last day, the eighth day, was the solemn day. The eighth day there was to already be still. There was to be no shouting, just an assembly of the priests. And the priests would go down to the water gate, and they would quote Isaiah 12, verse 3, with joy, shall you draw from the wells of salvation. Cry aloud, O inhabitant of Zion. for the Holy One that is within you. The eighth day for hundreds of years, they would celebrate this, Isaiah 12, verse three. They were to celebrate and commemorate a time of quietness and stillness. They would say, cry aloud for the Holy One is here. Hold your place, turn to John chapter seven. John chapter seven. It's the last day of the feast. Jesus said, I'm not going up to the feast yet, but then he comes. And guess what day he shows up on? On the eighth day. He shows up on the day that this entire feast. Remember, they were finding the joy of the Lord. The Feast of Tabernacles was a feast of celebration. I love camping out. I love cooking out. That's what it was for an entire week. a time of joyous celebration in God's Word. But the last day was a quiet day. The last day, everybody got still and quiet, but they were told as they would pour that water from the water gate, there was coming one, a holy one of Israel. John chapter number seven. John chapter seven, verse number 37. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of blood. living water. Jesus came as the prophesied Messiah. That whole feast was a picture of where to find the joy of the Lord, and to find the joy of the Lord is in nobody other than Jesus Christ. And He stood up on that day of quietness, and that day of celebration, and that day of picturing of one who was to come. He stood up and He said, I'm here! Come to me, if any man thirst, I am the word of God. Come to me and drink, and all those that come to me out of their belly shall flow rivers of living water. And he was speaking of the spirit that would come as the verse goes on to say. Joy is all about Jesus. When you dig into this book, who do you find? Jesus. It's a quote reading Rainbow. Take a look. It's in the book. Jesus. Everywhere you turn Jesus, what's everything the Lord Jesus cry you want to find joy you find it in the Word of God the Word of God reveals Jesus and you come to Christ I'm gonna ask you today if you're saved you come to Christ What in the world are you doing? Acting all sad and sorrowful Have you allowed any person or circumstance to rob you of your joy? We ask that one more time. Have you allowed any person or circumstance to rob you of your joy. My joy is in Jesus. Why am I allowing a circumstance? Why am I allowing a person to rob me of my joy when Jesus Christ came to this earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross of Calvary and shed His blood and gave to me His Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit who's in me. I've got joy unspeakable and full of glory. If I'm saved, out of my belly should flow rivers of living water. I'm gonna ask you tonight as we close, what's flowing from you today? You have rivers, not just one river, rivers of living water? You have a river? Does it trickle down to a little stream? Do you have a stagnant pond? Eeyore Christianity? Good morning, if it is good morning. It don't have to be like Tigger. But if you're saved, you've got Jesus. Like that little girl, she got saved and she said, don't make no sense to me if Jesus is so big and I'm so little, how come he ain't poking out? Jesus is so big and we're so little, he ought to be poking out rivers. rivers of living water. May God forgive us for failing to get to the water gate to hear the Word of God preached and taught and applied. May God forgive us for not praising Him and worshiping Him. May God forgive us for not doing what He's told us to do. May God forgive us for failing to find the joy that's within us, a joy unspeakable and full of glory.