There is a discussion among Bible commentators surrounding the book of Philippians. And that discussion is, what is the major theme of the book? Some commentators would say that the major theme of the book is unity, as Paul is seeking here to reunite a church that had become divided through the fallout of Urius and Syntyche. Others would say that the major theme of this book is joy, as he desires the increase and the continuance of joy among them. I don't believe that Paul is simply trying to deal with just one of these themes, or that he's writing with simply one motive in mind. But you can clearly see that throughout the entirety of this book, unity and joy are themes that arise constantly. In chapter number 4, both of these themes are set side by side. In the verses number 2 and 3 that we dealt with the last time we were in this book, Paul is writing and he's seeking to correct the fault or a problem that was in the church there between a fallout between Judas and Syntyche. But it's also as well interesting to note that joy is also another theme that is dominant right throughout this book. For interest today, I want you to see that this term joy or rejoicing is mentioned 18 times in the book of Philippians. It's actually, for this size of a book, a very prominent setting for a particular theme. If I could just step you through just some of those occurrences, bringing some of them together. In chapter 1 and verse 4, Paul prays with joy. Then chapter 1 and verse number 18, he rejoices that Christ is proclaimed. Chapter 1 verse 25, it says he is joyful because he will remain living on earth for the Philippians' joy in the faith. Chapter 2 and the verse number 2, he asks the Philippians to complete his joy. 2. 17-18 He is glad and rejoices with the Philippians. 28. He sends Epaphroditus, that the Philippians might rejoice. 29. He tells the Philippians to receive Epaphroditus with joy. 3. 1. He tells the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord. Chapter 4, verse 1, he tells the Philippians that they are his joy. Chapter 4, verse 4, he tells the Philippians twice to rejoice in the Lord. And then, verse 10, he rejoiced in the Lord at the Philippians' concern for him. And so you see here, time and time again, an emphasis is put upon the spiritual fruit of joy in Paul's life or in the believer's life. Now to recap what we have already been dealing with in the book, in chapter number three of the verse number one, Paul says, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. And Paul at this point, I think deviates somewhat, obviously under the influence of the Holy Ghost, but he warns them about the false teachers, false teachers that would come in, and lead the congregation away from Jesus Christ, and in leading them away from Jesus Christ, they would lead them away from the joy that they ought to have found in Christ and in Christ alone. Paul, in many ways, has circled back to chapter number 3 and to verse number 1 with the words that we find here in the verse 4 of chapter 4, because it's the same exhortation. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice." And this is the second of six instructions that Paul has been given to the church at Philippi. These positive instructions that Paul was giving are given because the implied negative of these instructions would weaken their stand in Christ. Disunity, that we looked at the last time, would weaken their stand in Christ. Joylessness, as we will consider today, would weaken their stand in Christ. But in the opposite, unity in the church would strengthen their commitment and their standing in Jesus Christ. Joyfulness in the life of a church would also enrich their stand in Christ as well. And so, we are dealing in many ways with the subject here of joyfulness or joy within the Christian's life. But how does a lack of joy in a congregation affect the congregation and their commitment to Christ and their stand in the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, first of all, a lack of joy in a congregation demonstrates a lack of resting in their union with Christ. A lack of resting in their union in Christ. As we will come to see today, our joy is directly connected with how much we are meditating and thinking upon the union as Christians, the relationship that we have with Jesus Christ. And if we enter into a period in our lives where we are not reading, not studying, not praying, not meditating, and so on, not walking close to the Lord, then we will display that in a lack of joyfulness. And so a congregation where they are not focusing upon Jesus Christ, and He is not being preached to them and to their souls, will display a lack of joy. Secondly, A congregation that is lacking in joy is demonstrating a lack of the Spirit's work in cultivating joy. Again, we'll come to see this in the following points, but Galatians 5 and 22, it teaches us there concerning the fruit of the Spirit. And if there is no joy in the Holy Ghost, if there's not joyfulness in a congregation, it's a sign that the Holy Ghost is not producing fruit. Our neighbor beside us recently got a beehive and I was fascinated by it, asking some questions about it. One of the things is whenever you bring a beehive into a certain area, that entire area begins to bloom. Unknown to us, even beyond what we could possibly see. The bees go everywhere, pollinating and so on. But you take away the bees, you take away the activities of those little tiny animals, insects and so on. What happens? Everything begins to die off. And so it is with the Holy Ghost. If there is no joy in the congregation, it's a sign that there is no activity of the Holy Spirit. But thirdly, A congregation that is lacking in joy is demonstrating a lack of consistency between believing in the gospel and living out the gospel. If we practice what we preach, there will be joy among us. The church of Jesus Christ is centered upon the truth of redemption. It is in the business of seeing the lost redeemed, of people being brought in from the lostness of their sin, brought into the family of God, and by the preaching of the Word and the working of the Spirit, being restored and edified and built up, overcoming sin and growing in holiness and so on. The entire church centers upon our redemption and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. What do we read in Luke chapter 15? Was the result of whenever the coin was found, the sheep was found, and the son was found, there was joy. There was joy. And so the outworking of that is that there is joy in heaven over a sinner that repents. But so it ought to be in the church as well. If there is not that joyfulness, is that an indication that there's not the growing among the Lord's people that there ought to be? That there is not the salvation of souls that we ought to long for and expect? I think it is. I think it is. So, for a congregation to lack in joy is a dangerous thing. A dangerous thing that is equally as dangerous as disunity. Again, if we go back to where Paul really began this, until he circled back in verse number 4 of chapter 4. But we read there in chapter 3 in verse number 1, And so he's writing to them about the necessity of joy in the congregation. And he's saying, this is a safety for you. that I would remind you of the need of joy. It's a safe thing for you to be conscious of the need for spiritual fruit among you. And so it is the same for us. It is a dangerous thing for a congregation, for a Christian to lack joy. And we must be reminded by the preaching of the Word of God to be exercising this fruit even among the saints. And so as we come to consider this exhortation today to rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice, I want you to see with me four things that I believe this text presents to us. First of all, I want you to see the command to rejoice. Then secondly, I want you to see the cause of our rejoicing. Then thirdly, I want you to see the consistency in our rejoicing. And then finally, the concern about our rejoicing. We break in here, first of all, with the command to rejoice. The command is very simple. Very straightforward. It's emphasized twice to us in this one verse. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Now, Paul presents that command to us as a present imperative. It is a command that we must obey to have joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is a present imperative. In other words, it's a command that must be obeyed now. Paul is saying, rejoice now. I'm commanding you at this very moment, go and find your joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. But as we think about this command, let's consider first of all, the definition of joy. How do we actually define joy? Well, as I was studying this word, I came to define it this way, and this is my own definition of the biblical usage of the term joy or rejoice in the different ways that it is translated. But it is a gladness that comes from a heart. Fixed upon God's grace. Joy is a gladness that comes from a heart fixed upon God's grace. Now, why would I give such a definition? Well, whenever you study the word joy, you will immediately notice that it is very closely related to another word in the Greek language, the Greek word for grace. And the two, in many ways, are inseparable. You open up any of the lexicons and so on, and they will show you the connection between these words. Joy and Greece go hand in hand. Now, though it is possible for people who have not been converted to experience joy, yet there is a full experience of joy that, because of God's grace, is unique to the believer. Yes, the unbeliever can experience something of joy in their life. The joy of having children, the joy of marriage, and so on. All of these rich blessings that even in themselves, to the ungodly, come from God. But the believer, those you're trusting in Christ, will have a unique, fuller experience of what joy is. Because that joy is firmly rooted within the grace of God. In everything in life, they have reason to be joyful because they are those who have hope in Jesus Christ, those who have union with Jesus Christ, and everything that would seek to take away that joy or rob the individual of that joy is answered and met in the person and in the work of Jesus Christ. Let me remind you this morning, dear believer, that anything that comes to rob your joy can be easily refuted and removed and defended by considering who Christ is and what Christ has done. And if you are joyless this morning, it is because you're not walking close enough with Christ. Let us go on to define this idea of joy, and let me say that joyfulness is not a giddiness. Sometimes people can, in our culture, come across and say, well that seems like a joyful person, but they're just giddy. They're a light individual. They're a frivolous individual. And that's just their personality and so on. They're always giddy, they're always jovial. That's not really the joy that we're talking about here. Also, joyfulness is not a lightness. Sometimes we would think to ourselves, well, it's the people who are just kind of zoned out or spaced out and don't really know what's going on in the world. Are the people that are most happy? No. Those who study the most of Scripture, those who would endeavor to actively cling close to Jesus Christ, those who would know the depth of the theology and doctrine of the Word of God are joyful. They're joyful. But also, joyfulness is not an ignorance of the world or the church's problems. Joyfulness is not an ignorance of the world or the church's problems. Again, it's not simply burying the head in the sand and thinking, well, there's nothing of trouble, there's nothing of worry in the church or in the world. There's nothing that could potentially remove my joy away from me. No. It was Christ Not all knowing? Did he not have that knowledge of even what was going on? The knowledge that Judas someday would betray him? The knowledge of what would happen to him when he went to the cross? And yet we see consistently throughout his life a man filled with joy. The book of Hebrews, quoting the Old Testament, would say that he was anointed with the oil of gladness. The oil, we could also say, of joyfulness above his fellows. Those higher critics against the Lord Jesus Christ in his day actually rebuked him for being too joyful. So we see in the life of Christ, a life that knew the problems and the difficulties of the world, a man still consumed with joy. And so a joyful Christian is one who is firmly rooted in Christ, who knows Christ and is resting upon Christ in all of his sufficiency and in all that Christ has done for them. And so, coming from that relationship, coming from that union that we have with him, comes forth the fruit of joy. In knowing the grace of God that has been given to us. But also, the duty of joy. As I've said, this is a command. It's an imperative. And we are commanded here to rejoice. Now, I find that very interesting. Because so often, we think about happiness or joy as passive emotions. Emotions that we have to wait for something to happen in order for them to rise up within us. So something happens outside of us that causes then a reaction inside of us, but it's not necessarily something that we can cultivate in our own hearts. And yet Paul tells us that this is a duty. He tells us that joy is something that we are to seek. And again, when we come back to this, where do we find this joy? Rejoice in the Lord. And so, we are to be joyful in pursuing after Christ, in feeding ourselves and feasting ourselves upon Him. Our lack of joy then, is not because of the circumstances around us. Not because of the difficulties around us. Not because of the trials that surround us. But because of our failure to rest upon Christ. And again, I'm going to emphasize that to you time and time again throughout this sermon. Because we live in a day when there is not joyfulness, or happiness, or contentment in our hearts. We blame the outside world. It's because this happened, or I didn't get this in life, or I wasn't granted this in life, or this worked out better for that person, but things did not work out for me. And we blame all of the circumstances round about us. And yet, my friend, we are to be active in pursuing joy and cultivating joy because the Christian's joy is rooted in grace. The Christian's joy is rooted in what Christ has done for them. And no matter if all the world changes and all the world goes against us, we still have an unending source of joy in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Thirdly, the difficulty of joy. We're commanded to rejoice. This is, as we're reminded, our duty. It's something that we can possess. It's something that we can cultivate in our hearts. But that doesn't mean it's not difficult. That does not mean that it's not a struggle, just as it is to produce these other fruits and to cultivate these other fruits in our hearts. It doesn't mean that it's going to be easy. But remember, where is Paul writing this very exhortation from? He's writing it from Rome. And he's not walking around Rome seeing the beauty of the sights at that time. He's walking around Rome, or sorry, he's in Rome and he's in prison. He's writing this exhortation, Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. And again, this teaches us that although it is difficult at times for us to pursue after our joy in Jesus Christ and to cultivate this virtue in our life, it teaches us that the Christian's joy is not dependent upon circumstances. Because the source of our joy is heavenly, not earthly. The source of our joy is permanent. Not temporary. The source of our joy is unchangeable. Not changeable. And in doing so, we have that constant supply of joy for our souls. But also it teaches us that although sorrow and grief may at times dominate the outward emotions we display, they are not incompatible with joy. Again, as I was thinking about this and I thought about Christ, the one who was anointed with the oil of gladness, the one who was rebuked for being too joyful by his enemies, the one who was the perfect man. As we read about in Psalm 1, that blessed man who is blessed of God, who is happy in God, who is full of joy. Was he joyful in Gethsemane? Was he joyful on the cross? Joy may not have been the dominant emotion that was displaying itself in that time, but I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ still had an inner joy. For it reminds us in Hebrews that for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despised the shame. That joy that may not have been in that moment, the outward manifestation of the first thing that we would have seen, but nonetheless, there was an inward joy in the redemptive work that He was carrying out. And so it is with the Christian. We're surrounded by sin, we're surrounded by sorrow, and we're surrounded by grief. And yet within our hearts, in the very most inner part of our being, there can still be a joy in the redemptive work that Christ is doing. Sorrow and grief, they're not incompatible. If I was to point you this morning to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 in the verse number 13, it says there, And so Paul is saying here that there is going to be sorrow. But the Christian's sorrow, the Christian's grief, is a modified sorrow. It's a different type of sorrow than the world. The world has no hope in their sorrow. The world has no hope in their grief. But the Christian does. The Christian does. And therein is still the joy that we can contain, because we know When those who know and love the Lord will die, and there is that heartbreak of separation from them, we have, yes, that grief, but we still have that joy that Christ will redeem their body from the grave and unite soul and body forever in heaven. Again, you're bringing yourself back to Christ. You're bringing yourself back to Him, focusing upon His redemptive work, which is the source of your joy. How else though can joy be difficult? How can we make this pursuit of joy difficult in our lives? Well, it can be difficult, first of all, because of our sinfulness. There's times in our lives where we can prefer misery. Perhaps when something doesn't go our way, and we turn away every type of consolation, we don't actually want happiness. We want to play the sad music. We want to sit out by ourselves all alone, and we want to mope in our misery. Well, at times we may feel that that is justified. But my friend, that is sin. It's sin to remove yourself away from the joy of Christ. It's sin, as some people prefer to do. They prefer a life full of drama and things falling apart and everything blowing about and so on. And they do it in a sense of pity me, pity me, pity me. But my friend, even that is sin in itself because they're robbing themselves of the joy that Christ can give. It can be difficult because of our laziness. We don't feed our souls the way that we ought to feed them. We're not nourishing ourselves the way we ought to be nourished upon the Word. We forsake the sacraments. We forsake the means of grace, the preaching of the Word. We forsake the prayer meeting. We forsake worship. And then we wonder why we have no joy. But also another difficulty is carelessness. Not being wise in what we take in. not being wise in certain things that would rob us of our joy. And let me say here, listen, if there is something that is robbing your joy in Christ, it has to go. If it's media and the news that you're bringing in, and it's robbing your joy in Jesus Christ, it has to go. You might think to yourself, well, I won't know what's going on in the world. Doesn't matter. If it's causing you to live in sin, if it's causing you to live in fear and worry and anxiety, it has to go. In order for you to give yourself to Christ in the study of His Word, in nourishing yourself in Him, it is our duty to seek joy in Christ, even though it can be difficult. But secondly, notice the cause of our rejoicing. In many ways, I've touched on so much of this already because it is the central point that I want to drive home to you this morning. But notice this exhortation. Rejoice in the Lord. That's why this joy is not a giddiness, it's not a lightness, it's not an ignorance about what's going on in the world. It is a conscientious focusing of our hearts and our affections and our minds upon the person and the work of Jesus Christ. And in focusing our minds and our hearts on Him, we are nourished by Him, spiritually strengthened by Him. And through understanding the union, the relationship that we have with Christ, joy wells up in our hearts. I could take you this morning back to John 15, and we're going to read the entirety of these opening 11 verses because, again, this is central to the joy that we are to have. In John 15, we have the analogy being used of the vine and the branches. Christ is the vine, we are the branches, and except we would abide in Him, there is no fruit. Let's read it, verse number one. I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me. and I in you." That's our union with Christ. That's dwelling in Him, meditating in Him, reading about Him, comprehending His person and His work, abiding in Christ. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye. except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. And men gather them, and cast them into fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you." My friend, you see there, the very closing verse that we just read, verse number 11. Christ was saying to all of us, abide in me so that I may abide in you. Be nourished for me just as a branch is nourished and strengthened as it is connected to the vine. And if you're not dwelling in me, you can have no fruit. But if you dwell in me, there will be fruit. And whenever you produce fruit, I'll purge you. I'll chasten you so that you bring forth more fruit. And what is the entire purpose of this union? What's the entire purpose of this relationship? What's the wonderful fruit of it? Joy. That the joy of Christ might be in our hearts. and that our joy might grow and grow and be improved upon, and that it may be full. Rejoice in the Lord. In the Lord. It is our union with Jesus Christ. that brings us to this joy, that brings us to this wonderful peace and happiness and contentment that can rule over our hearts, even in the most difficult of times. If I turn you again to another portion of scripture, 1 Peter, 1 Peter in the chapter number one, in the verse number eight and nine, it says, whom having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Again, although we have not seen Christ and we're awaiting the day when faith gives way to sight, even now we love Him. And our union with Him brings about this joy through faith and believing what Christ has done for us. Do you see again, my friend, that your joy is directly connected to the faith that you have in Jesus Christ, believing and trusting in what He has done upon that cross to save you. All of this world is answered by that very moment in history, by His work. There are those that would say, well, I have much in my life to discourage me. Is there anything that can come into your life to discourage you to such an extent that would remove your joy in Christ? Really, is there anything that through the person and the work of Christ, that the person and the work of Christ does not answer? You're worried about tomorrow. You're worried about your life falling away or some great calamity happening in you. Has Christ not promised that He would never leave you nor forsake you? Is that not a source of joy even in the uncertainty of the world? Perhaps you're worried about your own spiritual state. You're worried about falling away. You're aware of the temptations of the world. You go out into the world and you feel like the world is just grabbing a hold of your body and wanting to grab you and pull you into sin. And you're worried and concerned about your own spiritual future. Has Christ not promised that he would keep you? Has he not promised that he would take you and present you faultless before the throne with exceeding joy? Perhaps you're worried about the provisions of this world. Will I have enough? I've lost my job. How do I feed my family? Things are increasing. Inflation is all around us. Will I have my needs that are met? Again, has Christ not promised? that he will supply all your need according to his riches." My friend, time and time again, when we would bring the things that would rob us of our joy and lay them at the feet of our Savior, everything that would seek to rob us is done away with in light of what our Savior has done. Notice, thirdly, the consistency of our rejoicing Paul writes, by the Spirit of God, rejoice in the Lord always, always. How could this be? You could understand him writing there, rejoice in the Lord. Because then we would probably bring in the caveat, well, there's times when we wouldn't have joy. We would try to downplay the exhortation. But Paul, by the Spirit of God, does not leave any wiggle room for us to diminish the exhortation that is given to us by God himself. For we are to rejoice in the Lord always. You see, if we were to say this morning that there was ever a moment wherein we could not be joyful, again, I'm not talking here about joy being the dominant emotion that's being displayed. It's right at certain times that grief and sorrow would be displayed. But if we are ever saying that there is something that could come into our lives that would remove our joy completely, then we are denying the sufficiency of Jesus Christ himself. We're denying the wonder of what Christ can do even in our hearts. We believe that there is a deficiency in our Savior, that there is a deficiency in the redemptive work that he has done that is the very source of the grace of God and joy in our lives. And we know these things are not true. Therefore we are to rejoice in the Lord always." Always. Notice here the possibility of consistent joy. We can have joy even in persecution. Acts 15, when Peter and John returned back after having been persecuted and flogged for professing the name of Christ, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer with Him. We think even about the perils or the temptations that can come into our lives. But what does James write? My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptation or different trials. It's a joy when these things happen to you. Why? Because there is a Savior who will sustain you, who's purging you to bring forth more fruit. Again, my friend, everything that would come, that may diminish our joy is always answered in what Christ has done. He is the blessed man. Christ experienced the full range of human emotion. And although there were times when sorrow was dominantly displayed upon his emotions, yet he never lacked joy. Joy is the smile of the heart, even whenever there is a frown upon the face. And there can be in our Christian experience a constant source of joy. I remember in my home congregation in Macrafelt, there was a lady who suffered terribly from MS. And I kind of remember her when she was still had some sort of ability whenever I was a child. But certainly by the time that I was 11, 12 and 13 and so on, her body was basically uncontrollable. You would go and you would speak to her. And there would not be a lady that you would meet more full of joy than what she would be. Every conversation would revolve around Christ. She was consumed with His knowledge. She was learned in the Scriptures. When she was in the prayer meeting and she would begin to pray, she would always begin with thanksgiving. And here is a lady, as she would pray, struggling to keep her head up, and yet she's thanking God for all that He has done for her in Christ. What gave her that joy? It was Christ. It was knowing Him. It wasn't a superficial, light Christianity. It was a true union with Christ. It was knowing and understanding what it cost the Son of God to redeem her soul. And through all the difficulties of life, she knew that someday even her body would be redeemed. Even her body would be redeemed. As I was preparing the sermon, I read an excerpt from another sermon by a minister named McLaren. I want to read it to you. He said, "'Rejoice in the Lord always,' says Paul." That is a hard nut to crack. I can fancy a man saying, why is the use of giving me such exhortations as this? My gladness is largely a matter of temperament, and I cannot rule my moods. My gladness is largely a matter of circumstances, and I do not determine these. How vain it is to tell me when my heart is bleeding, or beating like a sledgehammer to be glad. Yes, temperament has a great deal to do with joy, and circumstances have a great deal to do with it, but it is not the mission of the gospel, sorry, but is it not the mission of the gospel to make us masters of temperament? and independent of circumstances, is not the possibility of living a life that has no dependence upon externals, and that may persist permanently through all varieties of mood, the very gift that Christ himself has come to bestow upon us, bringing us into communion with himself, and so making us lords of our own inward nature and of externals, so that, though the fig tree shall not blossom, and there be no fruit in the vine, yet we may rejoice in the Lord, and be glad in the God of our salvation. if a ship has plenty of water in its tanks, in its hold. It does not matter whether it is sailing through fresh water or salt. And if you and I have that union with Jesus Christ of which my text speaks, then we shall be, not wholly, but with indefinite increase of approximation towards that ideal, independent of circumstances and masters of our temperaments. And so it is possible, if not absolutely, to reach this fair achievement of an unbroken continuity of gladness, at least to bring the lucent point so close to one another as that the intervals of darkness shall be scarcely visible, and the whole will seem to form one continuous ring of light." Christ is able to lift you above your temperament. Christ and what he has done is able to lift you above the circumstances of this world, because you understand who he is, that he is Lord over all, and that every incidental thing that may happen in our life is not incidental, but comes by his hand of providence, is there for our good, and there for his glory. And it lifts us above being blown about with every change of wind. will happen in this world. It binds us to him and thereby binds us to the Christian source of joy. Finally, the concern about our rejoicing. The concern about our rejoicing. Paul writes, rejoice in the Lord always and again I say Rejoice. Three times in a very short space of time. Rejoice in the Lord. Chapter 3, verse 1. Rejoice in the Lord. Verse 4, chapter 4. Rejoice, he says again, in the very same verse. And he's emphasizing this. He's emphasizing it time and time again. There must, there ought to be joy in the Christian's life. Pray that you and I would not simply be dismissive of these things. For if we are truly those that are contemplating Christ, if we are truly those that understand our doctrine and understand what He has done, if we're truly those that are growing in our knowledge of the Word of God, we will grow in joyfulness. We will grow in that joy. What is the effect of this? This repeated emphasis, well, we ought to remove ourselves from things that would rob us of this joy. We ought to focus upon our union, even with Christ. Let me conclude with this. Are you miserable this morning? You're a Christian. You profess to know Christ, but you're miserable. In order to rightly deal with the problem, I think there needs to be a great degree of honesty. You go into your doctor and you begin to withhold information from your doctor about the physical conditions that you are feeling. The doctor will never be able to rightly diagnose you and give you the proper treatment. And so it is even with our souls. You're a Christian this morning. and you're miserable in your Christian experience, be honest with yourself. Are you full of worldliness? Are you carnal this morning? Have you more interest in the worldly things of this world than what you have in the things of Christ? Has Christianity become in your life merely a cosmetic? You have to put it on so you look good. But deep within, you know you're living a worldly life. You watch things that are filthy. You listen to music that would take you away from the work of Jesus Christ into a depressive state of soul, or lead you away into a carnal way of looking at the world and thinking about the world. You're consumed with your image. You're consumed with what people might think of you and so on, and you care less about what God would think of you. If you're joyless this morning, you need to be honest with yourself. You're not walking with Christ as you ought to walk. You're living a carnal life, a worldly life. You need to flee from it. You need to run from it. You need to desert it completely. Pray that you this morning would not simply cover yourself in some sort of, I'm okay, I'm okay. Something else must be wrong. It's nothing to do with what's going on in the world. That's not your problem. It's nothing that's going on in your home. That's not your problem. If you have no joy in your heart this morning, it's because of your relationship with Christ. It's because you're not walking with Him as you ought to walk. If you're miserable this morning, the best thing that you can do is to read your Bible, to pray. Conduct family worship regularly. And I pray, I hope the Bible is opened up regularly in all of our homes. I hope you have not forgotten that. Fathers, I hope you have not forgotten that. You're inviting misery into your home when you neglect to do your duty to bring the Word of God into your family's life. Are you sitting on to the preaching of the Word? Are you constantly bringing the Word of God to bear? Or are you starving yourself? Isn't that not one of the things that the doctor, well, hopefully would try to do when you go in and you say, I have this ailment or that ailment? The best place to start is with your diet! What are you taking in? What are you taking in? And if you're taking in rubbish and nonsense, if you're taking in Joyce Meyer, if you're taking in Osteen, Benny Hinn, these lighter ministers that are prominent in our culture and so on, you're never going to have joy. You're not going to have a true source of joy. It's like eating junk food. It tastes good. It's going to malnourish you. Feast yourselves upon the Word. Focus upon preaching that expounds the sufficiency of the person and the work of Jesus Christ. And nourish yourself in Him. Bring yourself back to Scripture, and joy will come. Joy will come. Again, I use the expression, as I so often do, look away from yourself. and look to your Savior and find in Him the unending source of joy for time and for eternity. May the Lord bless His word even to our hearts this morning.