I want to read Romans 14. Romans chapter 14. Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yes, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord. And he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks. And he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died, Let not then your good be evil spoken of. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things whereof one may edify another. For meat destroy not the work of God, All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith, for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. May the Lord seal his great truth to our hearts for his namesake, and let's now ask him to help us, preacher and people alike, to speak to us today as we open his word. Let's pray. Oh, blessed Lord and gracious Father, we thank you today that Jesus Christ is our everything. Lord, we bless you today that there are no ranks in your church, that there's no one above another, that Father, we are all sinners saved by grace, that everything good in us comes from Jesus Christ. And we thank you today that therefore, as a group of people gathered in this house, that we just come humbly to you, Father. That we ask you that that spirit that you promised to send when Jesus rose from the dead, that he is here today and that he will be our help. And we ask for that help, Lord. I pray that you will give me grace today, that you will minister to me as I minister your word, that Father, you will open it to me and empower it in me and give me joy in hearing your truth and joy, oh Lord, in proclaiming it. And Father, I pray for everyone here today. Lord the devil's good at his work. There's so much that can hinder us from hearing and from believing and from Enjoying and rejoicing in all your blessed truth. And so I asked today thwart his work You said that Christ was manifest to destroy the works of the devil destroy them in this house today Destroy them in every heart here today And Father, we ask you that you will therefore open all our hearts to your word with power, with anointing, Lord, with that transforming work, Father, which just makes us go out of this place different than when we came in. This is what we ask for, Father, and it's not too much to ask. Lord, do the work that you have promised. You said your word would not go forth without its power, would not go forth and return to you void. You said that it would accomplish what you pleased and prosper where you send it. So today, Lord, let it do great things in us, we ask, from the youngest to the oldest of us, and let us know your presence in our hearts and in our midst, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, this chapter of scripture is a pretty significant chapter in God's Word for it deals with how we are to think and what we are to do when Christians don't agree with each other about things not expressly addressed in the Bible. You see, if Scripture does speak about a particular thing and tells us we are not to do it or tells us we are to do it, well, that matter's clear then. End of discussion, end of argument. And the only thing really that can come in that case and hinder is if we don't really trust our loving Heavenly Father who gave His Son, if we don't really trust Him to know what is good and bad for us. That's the only thing that can hinder us. And I'll talk more about that a little later. But believers don't always see eye to eye about what's right and wrong when the Bible does not specifically deal with a certain issue or practice. And in this chapter, Paul's preeminent example has to do with eating meat. And you say, well, why? What's the big deal about that? For one thing, Jewish believers were used to certain dietary restrictions that came from the Old Testament ceremonial law, and they were not sure in this New Covenant age if those were still appropriate or not, if they can eat those things or not eat those things. That was one of the reasons why he deals with this. In addition, there was another reason, and that was that meat that was sold in local marketplaces at that time had often actually come from pagan temples. And in those pagan temples, that meat was often offered up unto idols and when the sacrifice was over, they cleaned up the meat and they sent it off to the market to get a double blessing, so to speak. You know, to get it sold and get money out of it. And so, for believers, that was problematic. What do you do when you go to the market and you got all this meat and you don't know which came from the pagan temple and which didn't? How do you think about that? What do you do? Do you eat it? Do you not eat it? What do you do when you are invited to somebody's house and they serve you meat and you don't know where that came from? And so scripture in Corinthians and in Romans, it deals with this whole issue and that's kind of a backdrop to why he highlights meat as an example in this case. But every generation, every generation of the Christian church has had its own examples of questionable things where some believers don't believe that a particular practice or particular issue is problematic for their faith in Christ, but others do. So that has always been the case and here is a marvelous chapter God's Word has given to deal with that. What does it teach? What is it telling us about this subject? Well to begin with, I think the lesson under the lesson is really important and something we need to remember at all times and that lesson under the lesson is this. Never Lose sight of the Lord Jesus in all your thinking, in all your issues, in all your dealings. Never lose sight of Him. Never let your eye begin to be on who you're opposing and what you're thinking and what's going on. In other words, never take your gaze down from heaven unto men because it won't lead you correctly. It won't lead you rightly. That's a big lesson. And when we look at how he deals in this chapter, you just see this played out. Now, little parenthesis right here. Romans 14 is a big chapter. It's got a lot of argumentation. It deals with a lot of things. And I am flat out not going to have time today to deal with all those things, explain everything, and answer all of the questions. And maybe it's because I'm not sure I understand absolutely every part of it. but there is one driving point in the midst of this that I want to get to so if you'll just bear with having a a few loose questions in there that we can address some other time that will help but I do want you to see how he deals with this issue here he's talking about believers differences disagreements issues but underneath it is this constant returning to you and your heart before Jesus Christ Thinking of him, remembering him, letting him and his gospel work be the focus of everything we're doing. So let's trace that for a minute. So he opens the chapter and says, you're gonna have these disagreements. And look what he says in verse three. Let not the one who eats despise the one who doesn't eat. Let not him who doesn't eat despise the one who eats. For what? For God hath received him. In other words, do not forget he's Christ. Do not forget that He has a master and it's not you. It's Him. So don't let that ever leave your thinking. Well, He goes on, verse 4, Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? You're not in a position to sit in judgment on the servants of Jesus Christ. They're His, not yours. so leave that and so it says to his own master he stands or fall yea and he shall be holding up for God is able to make him stand he is standing before God and God is doing his sanctifying work in him just as he is in you so let God do it trust him to do it let God's timing in it be different than your timing perhaps but God knows what he's doing so let him do it Pastor Dave referred the other day to that passage in Peter where it speaks to the fact that we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time we're kept by the power of God he knows what he's doing so trust God with your brother whom you don't agree with but then he goes on verses 6 to 9 He that regards the day, well, he regards it to the Lord. This was another issue, the ceremonial days of the Old Testament. There was some wrangling about that. Do we still keep them? Do we not? What about the Sabbath, the Lord's Day? How do we view these things? What's appropriate? What's not appropriate? And so he says in verse 6, he who regards the day, well, wait a second. He regards it unto the Lord, and he who does not regard the day, it's unto the Lord that he does not regard it. It's part of his worship, part of his walking with his Lord. And so he let God be God in that case, let him work. And in verse 7, for none of us liveth to himself, no man dieth to himself. Whether we live, we live unto the Lord. Whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live therefore or die, we're the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living." You have one Lord. There's just one in Christ's church. So keep your eyes on Him. Trust Him. Live unto Him. Be ready to die unto Him. Trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, then he comes into verse 10 and so he gets back to the issue. So why are you judging? If this is true, why would you judge your brother? Because end of verse 10, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We shall all, verse 11, bow before Him. We shall all give account of ourselves to Him. And so let's not judge one another. We don't need to do that. Judge this thing rather. And here's what, in verse 13, kind of begins to put the lens of looking at Christ and keeping Him in mind, put that lens in front of us as we look at our brother. Because what does he say? But judge this rather, verse 13, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. What is the gospel going to teach you? The gospel is going to teach you, well, you only stand before God because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, because you are forgiven by Him. The same is true of your brother. And when you look at your brother with that lens, then you're for him, not against him. Then you don't want to do anything that's going to harm his soul. Anything, even as you disagree, that would trouble him and keep him from walking with and seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. And that really colors the rest of the chapter. Verse 14, what does he say? I know and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus. Okay? The Lord Jesus puts this all in focus. There's nothing unclean of itself. But if a person has trouble with a certain issue, their conscience is involved. So, let them be. Let them deal with that issue. And notice how the language he uses at the end of verse 15. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died. See, once again, the gospel's the lens. You know, don't do harm to the one who is loved by your Savior. He lived for him. He died for him. And if he lived for him and died for him, then he's got to be precious to the one who's precious to you. and must therefore be precious to you. And so that's his focus. And as he finishes out the chapter, He just continues to say, we are serving Christ in these issues, that's what must be in view. If you have faith, verse 22, have it before God, trust God with it, live unto Him, stand before Him and not before men. And then in verse 23, he ends with, he that doubts is damned if he eat, because he eats not of faith. For whatsoever is not of faith is sin. In other words, it's not an interaction, a transaction between him and his God. It's now horizontal. It's now, I don't know, what are people going to say if I do this or don't do this? Who am I going to disappoint or who am I going to offend? It's all horizontal. Stand before God and trust God and seek God with how you walk and how you live before the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the whole point. Don't you see how much happier everything would be if we just keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ? We start with this truth. The only reason we have any standing at all is because Jesus loved us while we were yet sinners and died for us. All our standing is because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, because of the sacrifice which removed our sins. How then do we walk before Him? We just keep our eyes on Him. We ask Him to guide us. We search His Word that we might know how we might walk. And we are convinced of this one great truth, that the one who lived for us and the one who died for us has died for a glorious existence for us. has died so that we would enjoy Jesus Christ every day and all day long, and that His way, by definition, is the best way to live. And so let us follow Him. And then what else does it do? When we look at our brothers and sisters with whom we may be disagreeing, same lens. He lived for them. He died for them. They are precious to Him whom we love and therefore they are precious to us. And we would not for the world offend them because our Savior loves them. And so you see, it just gives us a lens. It becomes the foundation on which and by which we look at everything. Now that's good to know because we're not going to escape these issues. You're going to constantly be dealing with, how do I walk? How do I live Jesus Christ out in my home, before my family, before others? So they're important things to think about and that one great driving truth important to keep before us. But that is not why I brought us to this passage. So pardon the long introduction. But I brought us to this passage because right in the middle of this chapter is one of those unique statements in Scripture that are much bigger than their context, much bigger than the issue here, where the Holy Spirit is giving us a key truth, something that is a great guide to how we think, how we feel, how we understand, how we follow Jesus Christ, and how we worship Him. And that truth is found in verses 17 and 18 in this passage. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. In other words, folks, if your experience of Christianity is this stuff, that's the dregs. If your experience of Jesus Christ is just whether you're right or not, You know? And that you can prove you're right? And are you better than everybody else in their brand of Christianity? And you just kind of wipe them and dismiss them out of the way? If that's the sum of your Christianity, you missed it. It's not it. The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink. But what? But righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And what does he follow it up with? For he that in these things serveth Christ? If you're living Christ and serving Christ with a heart full of this, what do you find? You're acceptable to God and you're approved of man. It is well with your soul if you are keeping Him and what He has given us in view. You see, this passage The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. It tells us what our Christianity can be like. It tells us how we can live it. This is what has been given us in and by Jesus Christ. And what are these three things? They are the fruit of the work of Jesus Christ. They're what he purchased for us and the price was high. The price was the shedding of His blood. The price was taking our hell on His head. The price was the wrath of His Father from whom He had never been separated in all eternity. The price was high. And yet it was worth it to purchase these things for us. To purchase this way of living and enjoying Jesus Christ our Redeemer and Lord. And so this is a way to live. The message today is simply this, live what you are in Christ. Live what you are in the Lord Jesus. Don't let it be theory. Enter in and enjoy it. And what I want to do in the remaining minutes of our meeting today is just to look at these three things and really think about what they mean. What they mean in us and what they mean to us. So what is the kingdom in us? Well, it's righteousness. It's righteousness. There was a book, I have it still in my library, by a man named Graham Scroggie called The Unfolding Drama of Redemption. And it was a book that just kind of gave an overview of what God did in coming into this world, creating it, and redeeming fallen sinners. Well, this next little bit, what I want us to see is the unfolding drama of righteousness. Because really, in many ways, that unfolding drama of redemption is the story of an unfolding drama of righteousness. So, let's build it from the ground up. What is righteousness? Well, the concept just means this, conformity to a standard. Okay? You can understand that. There is a standard. We meet it or we don't. And that's the gauge of our righteousness. So, conformity to a standard. But where does the standard come from? Well, it comes from the source of all things. It comes from the heart of God. It is, and it is reflective not of what he thought up on an idle day sometime, it is reflective of who he is. It's what he loves when you're looking at it positively, it's what he hates when you're looking at it negatively. It is a reflection of the living God. And so this law is from an infinitely wise, infinitely just, infinitely merciful, infinitely loving father. That's what it comes from, and that I think is something we can't afford to miss. You see, after we were fallen sinners, how does the law come to us? Well, it comes to us, thou shalt not. It's pretty tough. Thou shalt not. But of course it does that for a merciful purpose, because when it says, thou shalt not, and we see how many times we have done it, it drives us to see that we need a righteousness greater than what we can muster ourselves. It drives us to Christ. But still, it's not comfortable. Thou shalt not. But when God created Adam, before he had fallen, you know what that law looked like on his heart? It looked like this. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There wasn't any shred of negative in it. It was just love the Lord and everything he creates, love it too for his sake. It was pretty easy and pretty simple. It was the love of a father's heart being ministered to us in what he required. And again, we need to see that. Because you see, all God's commands proceed from a wise and a loving heart. He is always and only commanding what's best for you. You see that? That's important. He is never going to ask of you what is ultimately to your harm. Never. He is always loving you in what He requires. And that's what His law does, that's what it's there for. If He forbids something, it's because He knows it will ultimately harm you and ultimately destroy you. That's why when Moses, when he's rehearsing the law in Deuteronomy and he talks about the law and how God gave it and what He said, and then he says, for our good always. Everything he said in giving that law was for our good always without exception at all times And that's why I said earlier that our obedience to what God says So often boils down to whether we really believe That our loving Heavenly Father really knows what's best for us or not. I Because when we all of a sudden say, well I'm tempted by this and I want to gratify it in that instance, and in fact what we're saying is, that's what's best for me. I am just not sure God is going to cause me to enjoy life without this as much as I want to enjoy it with it. And you are doubting a loving Father who knows all things. You are doubting one who has a wild, passionate desire, so much that he would give his son, that the kingdom in you would be righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, that it would be the greatest existence conceivable. That's what he wants for his people. And it's never to be doubted. It's just, there's no reason to doubt what he wants. And I think it has another application, if you'll give me a little parenthesis, and that is in these days, folks, when there are so many people who want to reinterpret God's Word to make it okay, to do what He forbids. Is it really loving to excuse or to encourage people in what God said will harm them and destroy them? Does that really help them? And we say, well, love dictates that I be compassionate and understanding. Yes, compassionate and understanding the truth of the existence of the world in which we live, created by the living God. And therefore, God says, this isn't going to do you any good. It's for your harm. So our manner should always just be constantly loving, constantly encouraging. But we can't hedge the truth because we don't love them. When we hedge that truth, we're not loving, we're harming, just so they'll like us too many times. Oh, may God give us grace to see that everything God commands, it's because He loves us. It comes from the heart of a father. So how did we fare with God's standard, okay? It came from Him. How did we do? Well, you know the story. We didn't do very well. We blew it, and we still blow it, fairly constantly. We are not walking completely in the way that God has prescribed. So if that's so, then how in the world can this passage say that His kingdom in us is righteousness? Well, here's how. For he hath made him to be sin for us. 2 Corinthians 5. He hath made him to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's what he did. And I think about what that says. The most detestable thing, the very anti-God sentiment that sin represents, the very rebellion against all God is, was represented in Jesus Christ. God made him to be sin, the blackest thing in existence, for a purpose. Because so great was the love of both the Father and the Son who submitted to that. The love was so great for us that he wanted to make us the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. That's what he wanted for us and that's what we have. That is what he accomplished. The righteousness of God is now us, is now ours. our sin became his he completely paid for it it is gone and the Bible gives a whole array of images to try to show us you can search for it but you won't find it it's gone it is out of God's consciousness entirely his righteousness then became ours we get to keep it nobody can take it away from us nobody God has lodged that That's how He views me, as righteous as Jesus Christ, just in heart, soul, mind, and will, as completely obedient to everything that He has bid me live and be and do in His Word. Because Jesus Christ was that obedient, and He gave that to me. Now let's stop for just a minute and ask the question, how much do we believe that? I don't know about you, but I have a lightning quick trigger when it comes to condemning myself. And every time I do that, every time I turn my eyes off of Christ and condemn myself, I am in effect saying, Lord, I just don't believe what you did for me. And I'm saying, Lord Jesus Christ, well, it's not that big a deal. Oh, but it is. You have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When God sees Christ, He sees you. When He sees you, He sees Christ. And He's thrilled. He is pleased with all that He sees. And oh, that we would believe His deserving is our deserving because we have Christ. We are unconditionally loved and accepted and valued. He sings over us, Scripture says. I mean, think about that. He sings over us. And that's you. That's not us. That's you. You are loved with an everlasting love that nothing in heaven, earth, or hell can thwart or take away or diminish. You are loved. And it's through that purpose of love that everything that comes into your life is sent. It's because He loves you. Oh, that we would believe that this righteousness is ours. And you know, He doesn't finish there. Because not only does he declare that that's the case, end of story, imputed righteousness, they are righteous in my sight, their sins are paid for. But then, in the name of Christ and his righteousness, he goes to war against our sin and our daily lives. he goes to war against that because it hinders us and it drags us down and it robs us of joy and so he promises I will subdue their iniquities and so bit by bit and issue by issue and you know many many times the things that we we get some victory over something that was just harming us and dragging us down and then the Lord says alright here's a new one and we just we go on to the next thing and he's a he's intent on subduing them all he is going to deliver us and so folks when step back then step back then and think about this that he has said is true of us and this that he has said is the purpose a purpose in our lives and if you want to fight your sin Go learn more of Jesus Christ. Go look more at Him. Go think more about Him. Go talk more to Him. Go read about Him. Go worship Him. Keep your eyes on Him and enjoy Him in every sense of the word. And He is to be enjoyed. I mean, I'm telling you the truth about Jesus Christ and what you may experience of Him in your heart and in your life, it doesn't have a bottom. It does not have a bottom. It's infinite as He is infinite. You will never come to say, well, I know everything there is about Jesus Christ. That's not going to happen if you live 50 lifetimes. Go to Him. Love Him. Enjoy Him. Learn of Him. And oh, if we can see this. You see, God's righteous ways are not what we have to do. They're what, because of the finished work of the cross, we get to do. And if we can really see it even more than that, it's what we want to do. If you love your happiness, walk in Him. If you love joy, if you love peace, If you love an existence that is impervious to all the onslaughts around us, connect yourself to Jesus Christ and stay there. Enjoy Him. Jesus Christ is our Savior. So the kingdom in us is righteousness. But secondly, what is the kingdom in us? It's peace. Long ago I read a definition of peace that I have never forgotten. And it was simply this, peace is the absence of conflict. And when you try to peel it away, you can see, yeah, that makes some sense. Christ took away the conflict in every sphere on every realm for his people. Christ dealt with it. Christ delivered us from it. Now, you may look at that and say, but wait a second, you can say that, you're a pastor. Me? I have not been doing well. God is not happy with me. He's going to get me. I mean, He's going to get me. That's all I can really expect. And all I can say to you is, oh, believe the gospel. The gospel is for sinners. You are qualified just as I am. The gospel is for sinners. Believe it. Think of what he said. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we have. Just trusting Him, just believing His work. And again, if we see it, Do you know probably the best, the biggest, the only thing you can really say as you stand before God is, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And what does the Lord say? That man went home justified. That man went home forgiven. When you say that, He says, I am a redeemer of all those who make that testimony. That's what the Lord does. In Ephesians chapter 2, We are told that he uses the word peace in the compass of, I think it's four verses, three times. And he says this, he says, Jesus Christ made peace for you, he preaches peace to you, and he is your peace. The conflict is gone. That's the work that he does. But then you might say, well, there are just so many things in this life that disturb my peace. There are a thousand ways to get to me. A thousand ways to rob me of my equilibrium and my peace. But do you know what's true? He controls every one of them. Actively. On purpose. Intentionally when it comes to you. He is doing the best thing in the best way. Think about what Psalm 145 says. The Lord is good to all. And His tender mercies are over all His works. They're tender mercies over everything He's bringing into your life, everything He's working there. It says, All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee. In other words, we're going to see it someday and say, Jesus led me all the way. It was perfect. He knew exactly what He was doing. When I doubted Him most, He was doing the best thing for me. And we're going to rejoice in that. His saints shall praise Him. Romans 8, 28, so familiar that it doesn't mean anything sometimes to us, but so it does. All things work together for good to them that love the Lord, to them who are the called according to His purpose. You have to be God to make that true. You have to be able to control all things. You have to be omnipotent and omniscient and all wise. And he's all those things. And so he does it. He works it all for good. And then these words in Philippians 4, be anxious for nothing. Nope, not a thing. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Isn't it beautiful how plain the language is? You know, you don't have to come and have memorized 10 verses so that you dress it up. You don't have to do that. Let your requests be made known unto God. I was reading Charles Spurgeon and he says, he says, well, when you come to prayer and you're not quite sure what to pray, start with where you are. Start with what you're feeling now. Start with what you see as your greatest needs right now. Just start there. Just tell him that. What does this say? Let your requests be made known unto God. And what does it say? What does it promise? The peace of God, which surpasses understanding, which you won't believe that you can have peace in this hour, under this difficulty. The peace which passes understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. That will be what you have. I just mentioned Charles Spurgeon. One of my favorite quotes and one of the greatest things for me to help me at times when I'm just not sure what's going on here is this quote where he says this. He said, remember this. Had any other condition, condition of things, condition of life around you, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, in which you find yourself, divine love would have put you there. Where is God's love putting you? It is putting you right where you need to be. It's putting you right where He, where all the things that He is purposing to do in you and for you are best done. That's what He is working. So we need to rest that he knows best. He's got a perfect plan and all of this and we need to believe that he is he is loving us and everything we're facing loving you and everything you're facing. I heard a preacher recently say this and it was so good for my soul regret. is not believing Jesus Christ has dealt with our past. And anxiety is not believing Jesus Christ has dealt with our future. But He has dealt with both of those. He has guaranteed them by His finished work and all that He's promised us in the Gospel. He's guaranteed it. So regret, it's a non-entity. It just, it doesn't need to exist. And anxiety, it's wasted life, wasted time. Oh, but I guess there is one more thing that we ought to remember and that is When you cleared the other two, you know, but I'm not doing well and I'm not sure God is really for me, when you've cleared the fact that there are so many other things that may mess up your peace and disturb it, there's one other thing that comes, in some case it is, and that is you say, well, I can't trust Him for deliverance. I can't even ask Him for deliverance or that He'd take this conflict away because I got myself in this mess. Well, of course you did. Are you surprised? Don't be. He's not. That's the only thing we can ever contribute to the equation and we're good at it. But he is not surprised at that at all. Remember the occasion in Matthew chapter 16 where Christ and the disciples went on a journey? And the disciples flat forgot, dereliction of duty, flat forgot to bring bread. And so the Lord Jesus Christ starts talking about the leaven of the scribes and the Pharisees, leaven, bread. No, we forgot to bring bread. And so now they're not hearing a word he's saying, they're whispering to each other, you know, oh no, what are we going to do? And it says, which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, Don't you remember the five loaves of the 5,000 and how many baskets you took up? And the seven loaves of the 4,000 and how many baskets you took up? You know, can you not ask me? Yeah, but we're at fault. How can we ask you if we're at fault? Because I'm your Savior. I exist because of your faults. I am a deliverer of your faults and all the things your sin and waywardness and confusion cause in your life. That's what I do. And so because we're at fault doesn't mean we've forfeited the right to call on Him. It means we are eminently qualified to call on Him and He expects us to. He wants us to. Oh, may God give us grace to stop wasting time and strength and emotions with anxiety and worry. The kingdom in us is peace because He is our peace. And all the enemies of our peace are defeated. They're just paper tigers that have no bite. What is the kingdom in us finally? It's joy in the Holy Spirit. If peace is the absence of conflict, then joy is the positive mojo, if I can borrow that expression. It's the juice, positively, that fires our enjoyment of the Lord Jesus and our walking with Him. Scripture tells us the joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Are you weak right now? Are you struggling? Are you having difficulty? The joy of the Lord is your strength. We have to realize how massively important our joy is to God. It's important to Him. He has given it a preeminent place. He purposes our joy. He purchased our joy at great cost. And that's why in the Old Testament, at the time of the sacrifices and the feast days, He would say, you are to go to such and such a place. And He gave them all the directions for the preparations. And here's what He said, and you shall surely rejoice. That's what you're going for, is to rejoice. You will rejoice. Same thing in the New Testament. We are commanded to rejoice. We're commanded to joy in our God. It's not an optional thing. We need to remember who He is and what we have and what He's done for us. And so He doesn't let it be optional. Think of what the Lord Jesus Christ said. This is John 16, 24. He says, hitherto have you asked nothing in my name. Ask and you shall receive, and then this, that your joy may be full. Now that is powerful to me because that tells me that he wants my joy more than I do. That tells me that He purposes my joy. That tells me that He invites me to come and pray, and you take that language and pray over anything. He invites me to come and pray in order that He may make my joy full. He wants that. He gives me that in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, may God give us grace to enjoy Him. We need to enjoy Him. Our spiritual welfare depends on enjoying Him. And if we're finding Jesus Christ isn't enough for us, then we're not seeing Jesus Christ. We're not experiencing Him. Because He is enough. He's bottomless. There is no end to all the glory in Him that you may enjoy. All the friendship, all the comfort, all the encouragement, all the strengthening, all the uplifting, it's all in the Lord Jesus Christ for us to take and to receive. It is ours in Him. And so if we're not, if He's not enough, then we're splashing around with piddly things in this earth and we're missing the real gold, the real worth. But you might say, well, if this or that would change in my life, life would be golden. You know? If I could just get past this one thing or be delivered from this one thing, well, then I could enjoy the Lord. Then all would be well. Well, as my daughter says, no, honey. And she says that to me. No, honey. It's not true. It is not true. What is true is this, your circumstances are not what needs to change. Your heart, your thinking, your enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Christ, your believing, your remembering of all He is, that's what needs to change. If the Lord Jesus tells you to rejoice, it's because that's the reality of where things stand. Rejoice because that's truth. Rejoice, because that's where things from an eternal, cosmic, outside-this-earth, fully-in-control-as-King-of-Kings-and-Lord-of-Lords perspective, that's truth. Rejoice, because everything is worth rejoicing over. Rejoice, because all the enemies of your rejoicing are dealt with fully under my control and are being conquered as we speak. That is what the Lord Jesus Christ offers us. So may He give us grace to remember we're children of the King, to fight for joy, to preach truth to ourselves, and to counteract every single negative thought with the gospel. with who God is, with what Christ has done for us, with all that He's promised, because that's reality. And note that this is joy in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is going to help us in this. The Holy Spirit quickens us and reminds us of what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ and brings Him before our view. I don't know about you, but I want to be done with not enjoying the Lord as my all in all. That's what He is. Nothing is going to change that, but my enjoyment, when I put my eyes on everything else, on the waves below me, on the circumstances around me, on every distracting thing, that can be hindered. Oh, let me enjoy him. Let me put my eyes back there. Because he says the kingdom of God in us is joy in the Holy Ghost. And we may enjoy that. What a verse this is. Do you see what I mean when I say that it's bigger than its context? This is lenses to put on. with which to look at life, that His kingdom for you and for me is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. This is what our Christianity can look like. If you don't know the Lord Jesus, let me tell you today, this is what your life can look like. This is what you may experience no matter what your background. This is what He offers those who trust in Him. Take Him and trust Him. And for all of us, may God make this the testimony of our Christianity. May God make this what we're enjoying in our hearts, that His kingdom, that Jesus Christ is to us righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. May the Lord make it so. Let's all bow in prayer. Precious Lord and Heavenly Father, thank you today that you are so good to us. Oh, Lord, I praise you for all you have given us in the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank you, Father, that he is our all in all. And I thank you, Lord, that when we look at the particulars of all of these specific truths, we see why they are so. Because everything that would hinder us from them has been conquered by Jesus Christ. And so we thank you for him, Lord. Oh, give us hearts that worship him more. Father, let every hour of every day find Christ more in our thoughts than he's ever been before. Father, lead us to walk with him and to enjoy him. Grant us, Lord, to know your presence. Grant us, Father, to take everything that would seem to trouble us right to you. Grant us, Lord, to hear and understand what you have said in your word, all those precious promises that show us how you have dealt with everything that would harm us or hinder us. And Father, grant us to believe you as our gracious, loving, heavenly Father who gave your Son to prove that love. We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.