chapter 4, Philippians chapter 4. We're going to talk today about a very familiar verse that I'm sure is known to most of you, that undoubtedly at some point you memorized, and yet in many cases you find it very elusive, a thing called joy. What jumps into your brain or what enters your mind when you hear that term joy? If you personalize it, do you think of a happy occasion sometime in the past? Do you think of receiving what it is that you've been longing for for a long, long time and you finally receive it? Do you think of a time when you or a loved one trusted Christ as their Savior and had the assurance of everlasting life? Perhaps that special time with a family or loved one. Obviously, there's a number of things that might elicit the response of joy here this morning. On the other, perhaps you precisely don't know how to answer that question because you're not really sure how to define it. You know, if you look in the dictionary, this is how the American Heritage Dictionary defines joy. Intense or especially ecstatic or exultant happiness. See, cinema is a pleasure. The expression or manifestation of such a feeling, a source or object of pleasure or satisfaction. Their only child, for example, their pride and joy. You have joy, joys, joys, whatever. It means to take great pleasure, to rejoice, to fill with ecstatic happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction, or to enjoy. Now, frankly, I think that's a very good definition of joy. And if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I trust that you would affirm this definition. But I should also challenge you or ask you, would you qualify it in any way? Would you tell those who came up to you and gave you a survey that joy was a mental attitude produced by the Holy Spirit of God as the believer of Christ enjoys tremendous fellowship with the God of the universe and rests in His goodness regardless of temporal circumstances, all based on the blessings you possess by virtue of your position in Christ. Would you explain that the joy is centered in the one whom one day you will live in perfect harmony with for all eternity because of who this wonderful God is? and because of his faithful provision and the life and life for you because you are his blood-bought child who cannot love you any more than he already does. And as the song sang, the song we just sang says, we're never out of his care. Maybe you could add that since the believer in Christ is the object of God's infinite matchless love and because of his nature and character, you can rejoice in the fact that your every need is supplied according to the riches and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He does all things well. And spiritually speaking, that things could not be possibly better for you're in the hands of the Holy One, the One who does all things right. Is that your source of joy this morning? Is that the answer you would give? If you would give that second answer, I trust that you would give it because that's exactly what the Word of God, in fact, teaches. And are you experiencing that joy right now? See, realistically, if someone asks you as a believer in Christ, have you experienced joy, you can answer that question really in three different ways. I'm going to give you three hypothetical answers. You could answer it this way. You could say, well, no, thank you very much. I'm not enjoying life because I'm staring at my circumstances, which are dreadful. And since absolutely nothing ever seems to go right for me, I've drawn the conclusion that there's really no use. I've been shortchanged on several fronts, and frankly, I've chosen to take the mental posture of Job's wife, who in the face of pain and difficulty, told Job to curse God and die. For joy is not a reality of life. You know, it's possible for a believer in Christ, is blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places to actually make that statement because it is entirely possible for a believer to be bitter. This is why we're warned in the book of Hebrews not to be bitter. That's one way you could answer it. Another way is that, well, you could say things are going pretty good for me right now. I just got a raise. My boss is on vacation. The government gave me an extra $2,000 back in my tax return. The weather's been great. I got a chance to get out and enjoy it. My favorite sports team won the big game. My husband's been thoughtful for once. My neighbor's dog, who annoys me to death, just up and died yesterday. I've got no health issues. And obviously, the list I could make here would be exponential in length. And you could say, yeah, I'm really enjoying life right now. Or you could have option number three. Yes, I'm experiencing joy right now because I'm responding by faith to my wonderful Savior. absolutely assured rest because of his promises and precepts. He's given me these things freely in his word, and I know they will not fail. And because of my position in Christ, I've got all things that pertain to life and godliness, and my very own Savior, who loved me and gave himself for me, might come back in the clouds today to receive me unto himself and personally greet me, as I'll be spending eternity with him in perfect peace. So I'm rejoicing. Though my car broke again yesterday, and we're not sure we're going to do about that. My lupus has been tough lately. My allergies have flared up. My boss is completely unreasonable. My good friend has left me. My child is sick. And yet I know Jesus does all things well and in his plan he makes no mistake. Which option describes you today? You know, on any given day I can go through all three and perhaps you could as well. And it really is an issue of perspective. It's an issue of understanding who Christ is and what we possess in Him. But is your definition of joy the biblical definition of joy? There's some principles about joy that we can certainly look at this morning to the end that we can certainly enjoy what God has provided in love. If we look here at verse 4, Philippians chapter 4, it's very simple. It says, Rejoice in the Lord always and again I will say rejoice. This is a double command to rejoice in the Lord, a double command. In fact, both times you see that word rejoice, please recognize that this is a command. It's in the present tense command, it's in the active voice, and what that means is that you are to keep on rejoicing in the Lord. There's never to be a time that you're not rejoicing in Him. It's a Greek word karyo, it's a present imperative, it's to be an ongoing attitude of rejoicing that emanates from our will regardless of whatever circumstances or people in our lives or what we have to deal with. This is to be the internal attitude of every believer in Christ. You know, he doesn't tell us here it would be nice if we rejoiced. He's not suggesting we rejoice or that we should even take a seminar on how to rejoice or read a newspaper article about it. He commands us to rejoice in the Lord. And yet this is impossible in your own strength. In fact, he doesn't say just rejoice in the Lord, he throws that other word in there. Always. Always. Is it possible to rejoice always? I mean, what does that mean? You know, we need to see what that really doesn't mean as well. You know, the Bible is balanced, it's realistic. So we need to look at this verse in light of other scriptures. It's interesting that the shortest verse in the Greek New Testament is 1 Thessalonians 5.16, which tells us to rejoice evermore or rejoice always. And the shortest verse in our English Bible is John 11.35. It says, Jesus wept. And so you have rejoice and you have Jesus wept. Are they contradictory? No, they're not. It's possible to weep and yet have true joy. Hebrews 12.15 says, Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. It's possible to be weeping and yet at the same time internally rejoicing. In fact, Hebrews tells us in the context of chastisement for the believer, now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful. Nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are exercised thereby. And so as we think even of chastisement, It doesn't seem to be joyful but painful and yet the end result is this peaceable fruit of righteousness which corresponds to joy. Scripture acknowledges that trials and chastisement are not joyful and yet when we yield to what God seeks to accomplish in those things and we're willing to be exercised by them, we can have joy. And so we can conclude that rejoicing in the Lord always does not mean that you never feel sadness or grief. If you spent any time in the Psalms, you would recognize that the psalmist is oftentimes overwhelmed in despair and sadness, that he readily expresses his feelings to God. In fact, I don't see the psalmist denying the intensity of his trials and troubles with a grin and bear it happy face. But I do see a particular psalm unfolds that through the process of crying out to God for help and refocusing on the Lord that the psalmist oftentimes is rejoicing at the end of the psalm even though there's no change in his circumstances. And that's what it is. It's an internal attitude that the spirit of God himself produces and it's not based on circumstances. And so what this verse is telling us here in Philippians 4 and verse 4 is that rejoicing should be the normal course of the believer's life. That should be the normal course of your life and mine. We should We should view rejoicing the same way as we view the instructions to love one another, to tell the truth, to refrain from gossip, to be filled with the Spirit. This is a present tense command, this is how God wants, this is the will of God for you and for me. And it really doesn't necessarily mean a cheerful disposition. We need to keep in mind that rejoicing the Lord requires, does all the fulfilling of the New Testament commands, the Holy Spirit. Notice the Holy Spirit is the one who produces joy. Galatians 5 says the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and long-suffering and kindness and goodness and faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It's the Spirit of God who produces joy. And specifically here you are to rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. The sphere of rejoicing is in the Lord. It's not in your circumstances. It is in the Lord. It's who you are in Him. It's who He is in terms of His character. That's to be the foundation of your rejoicing. Christ is the source and He is the reason for your rejoicing. It's the blessings that are yours in Him. That's the real reality. That's to be the source of rejoicing because frankly circumstances aren't going to get it done. So let's consider a few principles about joy here to help clarify what this all means. And if you're following me on your handout here, God's joy is produced by the Holy Spirit, signifies inner emotional harmony and peace, and is always based on recognizing and resting in, and I underscore this, spiritual realities. And these aren't spiritual theories, these are spiritual realities. That's what gives joy, the real reality. And we need to recognize as well that God's joy does not come from a favorable set of human circumstances. It can actually be enjoyed in severe circumstances that are negative. Now, does that mean it's wrong to rejoice in good human circumstances? Absolutely not. Does it mean it's wrong to rejoice when someone's doing well spiritually and for all the things that we consider positive? Absolutely not. No, we are to rejoice in those things, and I'll clarify that even in a minute. But God's joy is the result of believing, and that's a very key thing here, that the promises and purposes of God are right and will not fail. The promises and purposes of God are right and will not fail. They won't. It's impossible. And that's really another way of saying this is principle number four. God's joy is based on the concept of hope and the hope we have in Christ. And this is brought to our attention in Romans chapter 5 verses 1 and 2. It says, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And notice, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. We rejoice in hope or the glory of God. See, in order for you to experience joy, you need to have the hope which comes through Christ, which means you first of all need to be justified by faith. You cannot have God's joy apart from hope and you don't have hope without being justified. And hope is not some, you know, I hope it doesn't rain this afternoon kind of iffy thing. A hope in the Bible is a confident expectation and assurance of something that's guaranteed to come to pass in the future because of the integrity of the one who's promised it. And so, every unbeliever really is struggling when it comes to joy because their joy is based on everything outside of what we have in Christ. In fact, notice even how Verses throughout scripture communicate this. Job says this, for what is the hope of the hypocrite? And the hypocrite here is a description of the unsaved. Though he may gain much, if God takes away his life. What does he really have? He has nothing. Proverbs 10.28 says, the hope of the righteous will be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish. The unsaved have got nothing to hope in. They've got nothing to look forward to. Zilch, Proverbs 11, 7, When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, and the hope of the unjust perishes. There's nothing to hope for beyond this life. And this is why Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, brought this very clearly to our attention by saying that they have no hope. Talking to Ephesians prior to salvation, he said, at that time, prior to salvation, you were without Christ. You were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. You were strangers from the covenant of promise. Notice you had how much hope? No hope. You were without God and the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you were once where far off, had been brought near by the blood of Christ. If we look at verse 12, we realize that you were separated from God. That was your position in Adam. You were without Christ, you were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel. You were strangers to the covenants and promise. Notice, having zero hope and without God in the world. That's the worst place that you can be as a human being. Having no hope and without God in the world. And so without Christ, you're without God in the world and you have no hope. Because you're an Adam. Everyone is born in Adam, they're born outside of God, they're born separated from God, and they have no hope. In fact, you were dead to God, it says in the beginning of Ephesians 2, in trespasses and sins. You were separated from Him because of your position, and you were without God and the world. And because you're dead in trespasses and sins, what you deserve from God was not life, but death, which manifests itself in His wrath for all eternity in an unthinkable place called Hell. This is what you and I have by virtue of position or an atom. Every unsaved person falls into this circle here. They are stuck. They need Jesus Christ. In fact, what's the bill? The bill is death. Separation for all eternity in the lake of fire. Romans 6.23 makes this clear. The wages of sin is death. Ezekiel 18.20 says the soul who sins shall die. This is the expectation of every unsaved individual. And so what we needed was a righteous substitute who was willing and able to pay for our sin so they could be canceled forever. This is what the Old Testament folks did in the nation of Israel. They brought an innocent lamb that would die in their place. And when the Lord Jesus Christ came, John the Baptist said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus Christ, God, became a man. to become a Lamb of God to take away our sin. And so on the cross of Calvary, that's exactly what took place. Hebrews tells us that this man, Jesus Christ, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. From that time, waiting until his enemies had made his footstool, for by notice one offering, he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God who once and for all took care of the sin question and problem. So there on the cross of Calvary every individual's past sins, present sins, and future sins were poured out on him. The wrath of God that you and I deserve to take for rebelling against the Holy God was poured out on him. And God was propitiated. God was satisfied. His justice was satisfied. And to prove it, Christ rose from the dead. And because Christ rose from the dead, And now, let's forevermore, what that means is that anybody, and I mean anybody, can receive eternal life or become born again for free. And they can escape the horrors of hell, which they deserve, but it's on one condition. They need to accept that payment. They need to put 100% of their trust in Christ and His death for their sins. And the result is, is you get hope. You get everlasting life. And the average individual stands today rejecting that offer, just like the Jews did when Christ came. John 1.11 says He came to His own creation and His own people did not receive Him. But, verse 12 goes on to say, as many as do receive Him, to them God gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in His name, who are born again, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. You get life. You get life from God, eternal life, that lasts forever, which means you now have hope. You have the absolute assurance that you will spend eternity with Christ You'll be ushered immediately into heaven when you die. And that is the hope and foundation for rejoicing. In fact, your salvation should always cause you to rejoice daily. I always like going to Acts 16, 31. When the jailer asked Paul and Silas, what must I do to be saved? They said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. You and your household even. And then they spoke to him the word of the Lord to him. They explained to him the gospel of grace and to those who were in his house. And so the jailer took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and immediately he and all his family were baptized. They trusted in Christ. Now when he brought them out of his house, he said before them, and what? The jailer rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. There's no greater joy than to watch someone come to Christ or to come to Christ yourself. That's the most exciting thing there is. That's how you begin your new life in Christ. I know that I rejoiced immensely when I got saved and I was thrilled knowing I was completely accepted by God and the burden of my sin was lifted for all eternity. And it's actually God's will for the believer in Christ to just begin his eternal life with joy and have it actually grow over time as he grows in grace and knowledge of the Savior. You know, you think about the fruit of the Spirit as love and joy and peace. As you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior, your capacity to enjoy and exhibit those things should increase as you grow. And so, your capacity for joy today should be greater than it was when you got saved. Is that true of you? Are you rejoicing the Lord more now today than you were when you got saved? You should be overflowing with joy. And yet, too often, the believer grows sour as he grows older. Because instead of enjoying that relationship with Jesus Christ, the things of life to get in the way and they become bitter and they actually wilt on the vine spiritually instead of growing. But it's your hope in Christ that's the foundation for rejoicing. Paul here says, therefore, having been justified by faith, that means declared righteous, getting saved, you have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom you have access by faith, that's permanent access, into this grace in which you perfectly stand. And you rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. That's the foundation of the Christian life. And not only that, but we also glory or rejoice in tribulations. That's a little odd. Why do we do that? Knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character more hope. And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us as a free gift. You know, part of life down here includes tribulations. And God sees those as character-building opportunities. He wants to build character in your life. And character is built in the believer over time through the resistance of tribulation. And you are to rejoice in that, regardless of what that tribulation is. Because you know that the glory of God is coming. That's your hope. That's my hope. We're to rejoice in that hope. This is how God wants you and I to think. And so you can expect trials and difficulties and injustice. But that's where the spiritual realities enter in. This is why Paul told the Thessalonians, you are to sorrow, but not like those who don't have any hope. Because you've got a hope in Christ. We're to rejoice in that hope that we have. Have you ever thought about or asked yourself why Paul did not say rejoice in the Lord most of the time? or when you feel like it, or when your circumstances are worthy of it, you are to rejoice in the Lord always. Thank you very much. Always. Let's all say it together. Always. Yes, always. See, if it's not always, that opens the door for you to not rejoice when you don't think you should. And what you're actually doing is you're impugning the integrity of God. And you don't want to be doing that. I mean, how often does the believer duplicate the thinking of the unbeliever in terms of how they rejoice? They look for joy just like the unbeliever does. And yet, knowing the character of God and that all aspects of this life, as it pertains to you personally, can be viewed in light of eternity, you can rejoice always. Because you're a pilgrim and a stranger passing through. You need to set your hope fully, Peter tells us, on the grace that's going to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. See, God is good. God is sovereign. Therefore, all is well. He knows the end from the beginning. He's working all things together for good. He can never act in a way that violates His everlasting love for you. And so you're to rejoice in Him, especially knowing that you're an heir with Christ. and you're seated in the heavens with him positionally, and one day that will be the greatest reality that will last for all eternity. Now it's helpful to recognize there are two types of joy in the scriptures. There's a joy that the natural manner of the unsaved person experiences. See, the unsaved person can have joy, but the scriptures qualify that joy. Because the joy of the unbeliever is always associated with favorable circumstances or relations. That's all the unbeliever can know. He can see and evaluate his circumstances, and he can perceive and classify them as either typically good or bad. And when they're favorable, he can have joy. I mean, Christ mentioned this when he walked on the planet. In John 16.21, it says, A woman, when she is in labor, has sobbed because her hour has come. But as soon as she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the anguish. for the joy that a human being has been born into the world. And that's true in all kinds of realms. The birth of a baby brings joy. There's countless examples we can give that'll bring joy on a human level. And there's nothing wrong with that. God gives us good things to enjoy. There's nothing wrong with that at all. But here's the downside of it. The joy of the unbeliever is always temporal. It's always temporal. It lasts for a while, but it's fleeting. There's something around the corner waiting to steal your joy. I'll never forget Rod Carbin. He was a great man. We were out fishing together. He had a brand new motor. He was just thrilled to pieces. First maiden voyage, goes around the corner, hits a rock and knocks his lower unit off. The joy turned to sorrow right then and there because what he was getting his joy out of was fleeting, and it fleeted faster than he wanted. But it will only last as long as the circumstances remain favorable. And Job communicated this truth. Do you not know this of all, since man was placed on earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short? The joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment. You know, you win the big one, but then the next day, so what? That's just how it is. Temporal joy is related to circumstances. It's up, it's down, it's in, it's out. It can't last. It can only fade. There is no hope for the unbeliever. Because again, hope is a confident and assured expectation of joy in the future. And the unbeliever can't have it. That's why he's trying to squeeze everything he can out of this temporal world. And the carnal believer is trying to do the same thing, but he's coming up short. The unbeliever has no hope. There will be a time in which his joy will fade and one day ultimately will be replaced with despair as he spends eternity separated from God in a lake of fire. Now, your joy and my joy should be different because we can enjoy eternal supernatural joy. Notice Psalm 1611. You will show me the path of life Where is fullness of joy? Let's all say it together. In your presence is fullness of joy. Do you believe that? At your right hand there are pleasures for evermore. No, I don't, thank you, and that's why I'm trying to find it everywhere else. This is something you're going to enjoy for all eternity. Being with God is the place of perfect joy, but the thing of it is you can enjoy that now, on earth. And this is why we need to be reminded that joy is a choice. Rejoicing in the Lord is a choice. It's a choice. You're going to choose to have joy or not. The ball is fully and firmly in your court as a believer. And though it's the fruit of the Spirit, you are to choose it. It has nothing to do with favorable circumstances. It's an inner harmony or delight. And you know, God gives joy freely just like He gives salvation freely. You can take God's joy by faith in the same way you took His salvation by faith. God's joy is free for the taking. But you need to make a choice to receive it, just like you had to make a choice to receive salvation. And there's so much at the believer's disposal. Joy is a blessing that is yours by faith, because you've received every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. And this is one you can take by faith. And yet, we also know it's the result of the working of God, the Holy Spirit, into the heart and mind of the believer as he responds to the grace of God. Grace is undeserved kindness. Because you have a perfect and permanent standing in grace, God has bestowed upon you all the provisions necessary for you to have joy. Everything. talking to a pastor some time ago, and we talked about the fact that we can only present the Word of God as clearly as God is able to make it up to us, and how that each hearer of the Word of God has to choose to accept it by faith, and through, by God's grace and through the power of the Spirit of God, appropriate it in their lives. I mean, I can pray for you, I can jump up and down, I can perhaps challenge you, but the application of God's Word is all yours. I cannot have joy for you. You've got to make it yourself, like you've got to make every other principle of the Word of God, you've got to make it your own. And I'm sure there's some sitting in a chair today saying, you know what, I'm not going to rejoice in the Lord, because my life stinks and I don't like it. So I'm not going to do it. And I can't make you happy, no one else can make you happy. You're responsible for your own happiness. I can direct you to the truth of the Word of God, but you've got to say, OK, that's your baby. And the Word of God says you can have joy, but it's a choice. Over 17 times in the New Testament, you are commanded to have joy or to be joyful, to rejoice. This is God's will for you. You don't have to sit and wonder and ask the question, does God want me to have joy this morning? In fact, what does he say here if you turn over a page, or at least in my Bible, chapter 3 verse 1? Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. What do you know? What does 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 say? Rejoice once in a while. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing and everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. That's it. It doesn't say rejoice on Tuesdays or when you feel like it or when everything is just rosy. God has a different opinion? Always, always, always, always. And since God's calling is God's enabling, His commands are not unreasonable. Is it unreasonable for God to expect you to rejoice always? Isn't it consistent with who He is and what He's provided in grace? But you say, well, wait a minute. You don't know my circumstances. I might not. But I know God does, and so put a mark here, what did he say about it? Go to James 1. James chapter 1. Right out of the gate, after his introduction, the first command in James chapter 1 is in verse 2. My brethren, written to you and to me, count it all joy He didn't say count it joy, but count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Why? Knowing the testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Count it all joy. The word count is an aorist verb. It's called by Greek scholars a result of aorist. It's a verb of meditation, just to give you an example of what a result of Arist is in Saul. Acts 27, but the centurion wanted to say Paul kept them from their purpose. The result of Arist, he kept it to completion. Acts 7.36, he brought them out after he had shown the wonders and signs of land in Egypt and the Red Sea and the wilderness. He brought them out. There was an action brought to completion. Matthew 27, but the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. Again, and so what that means in this context is you are to successfully count this all joy, knowing the outcome. Make the mental effort necessary to perceive that this is something to rejoice in, because of the spiritual reality associated with the trial. That's how God wants it. Otherwise, how can you have joy? God says, you can count it all joy because the net outcome is going to be maturity and growth. It's not arbitrary. It's not without purpose. You know, James, well, Peter said the same thing. Turn over a couple of pages to your right. Notice verse 5. It says, you're kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice. Again, the spiritual reality. Though, now for a little while, if need be, you're grieved by various trials. So on one side of the coin you're rejoicing, the other side is you're grieved because the trials are difficult. But notice the outcome, verse 7. The genuineness or approval of your faith being much more precious than gold which perishes, though it's tested by fire, it may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's the outcome. You're rejoicing it. The outcome. It's the spiritual reality. The uterine outcome. And so, there's sorrow and grief, but there's also rejoicing. This was true of the Apostle Paul. In Corinthians he said, we give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed, but in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God in much patience and tribulation and needs and distresses and stripes imprisonments and tumults and labors and sleepinesses. There's nothing positive here. By purity, by knowledge and long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well-known, as dying and behold we live, as chastened and yet we're not killed, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing. as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things." Notice the perspective there. There's all kinds of things to sorrow about. There's no end to that. And yet through that all, because of Christ winning the victory and your hope in Him, there's to be rejoicing. The Hebrews who are bailing on their Savior, where he says, the writer says, we're to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. We're to have the same mindset. For the joy that is set before us, we have to endure what God has set before us. We are to consider Him who has endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. That's why life is a matter of perspective. I mean, if you're sitting around waiting for your circumstances to get better, you're going to waste your life. You're just going to waste it. There's so many things that can cause sorrow in our lives, and even deep sorrow. We live in a sin-cursed world. Disappointment and trouble and difficulty and pain and despair are guaranteed. And that's why we need the spiritual realities to enter in. This is why we don't sorrow again, like I already said, like those who don't have any hope, but we rejoice in Christ. And so Peter tells us to rejoice. Indirectly, James and Paul command us to rejoice, because by nature we want to get our joy the same way the world does, by arranging our life in such a way so that we can then have joy. And you know, that's such a trap. It is such a trap. Because when you're thinking like that, who are you thinking about? You're thinking about you. and you think you're the center of your universe, and you're not considering Christ at all, you're considering, God, you exist for me to make me happy, and you're not doing a real good job here, so I've got to take the bull by the horns and go do it myself. When God says, will you rejoice in me, and then think about someone else? See, actually, when your circumstances are good, that's sometimes the worst thing that can happen to you. Because of your heart condition, everything's rosy, you just drift farther from the Lord. Because it's all about you anyway. It actually breeds more selfishness. In fact, you'll be sucked into the same trap of the unsaved. The unsaved is constantly looking for something else to find joy in. And since you're thinking the same way, you're going to keep doing it and doing it and doing it. And you're not going to think about serving Christ. You're not going to think about meeting others' needs. If you're getting your joy from Jesus Christ, your circumstances are always backseat, because you're more concerned about Him and how you can even be used to minister to others, and ministering to others is the place of pure joy. This is why you need to be having a love affair with your Savior. That's why Paul had that battle in Romans 7. I mean, if I'm supposed to rejoice in the Lord, why am I so miserable, right? That's Romans 7. Paul says, the things I want to do, I don't do. The things I don't want to do, I do. I can't stand it. Finally gets into Romans 8. You need the Spirit of God to get her done. And so to experience full joy and the supernatural joy that God has procured for you in Christ, there's some components you need to be aware of. First of all, rejoicing the Lord is an attitude. It's an attitude. It's a way of thinking. And so what do we need there? Well, if you're going to enjoy the Lord and rejoice like He wants you to, what are some key components? Being rightly related to God through His Word. Being rightly related to God through His Word. Notice Jeremiah, who had, by the way, horrible circumstances. He said, Your words were found and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. A joy rejoicing my heart. In other words, the word of God came and he said he looked at it. No, he ate it. That's an idiom that means he was consumed with it. He chewed it over and over and over. Every last morsel of it because it was so tasty. And he digested it. And it became part of him. And therefore the result was joy. I've used this illustration in the past like eating one of Claudius' pies. You know, I've been known to wolf down my food, but occasionally when I get something as tasty as that in my mouth, I actually try to enjoy it for like more than three seconds. Because it's so good, I don't want to wolf it down, I want to savor the flavor, if you will. And that's what the Word of God is designed to do. As you savor the flavor of the Word of God, it's going to be joy, it's going to be the joy and rejoicing of your heart. There is a correlation between knowing in and resting in the truths of Scripture that produce joy in the believer's heart. And people don't spend time with their Savior, they don't spend time with the Word of God, and they wonder, where's the joy in my life? And if they took ten minutes out to allow the Word of God to change their perspective, boom! It's amazing how it changes. But they won't do it. And so they're miserable. Psalm 119.11, Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart." Someone came up with the five L's of the Word of God that equal joy. Learn it, lay hold of it, linger over it, that means meditate, love it, and then live it by faith and you will have joy. I'm sure you couldn't get those down, but that's okay. And you're a believer, say, well, no, you know, frankly, I don't get joy from that. I get joy of doing my own thing, out of the will of God. I want things on my terms. And you know what? It works for me. Well, it might for a while, as there's pleasure in sin for a season, maybe, but you never do it without paying a price. And it always costs more than you want to pay. It'll bring guilt or contribute to a hard heart, and ultimately, Trying to find pleasure outside of God's will promises something it will not ultimately deliver. It will always disappoint and one day you'll regret it. You know, when you allow your sin nature to convince you that doing your own thing is better than God's will for your life, it's a reflection of a deceived heart and you will reap corruption because God says, I will not be made a fool of. If you sow to that flesh, you will of that flesh reap corruption. Don't kid yourself. What's the next way to experience joy? Abiding in Christ. Go with me to John 11. No, John 15. John 15. These are the words of Christ. Now I think you understand that Christ knows what he's talking about. He said in verse 1, I'm the true vine, my father's the vinedresser. Every branch of me that does not bear fruit he takes away or lifts up. In every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered. and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they're burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you'll be my disciples. As the Fathers love me, I also love you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I keep my Father's commandments, have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things I've spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." What's the key to full joy? Abiding in Christ and abiding in His love. That's it. In fact, he says, I've spoken, that's in the perfect tense in the Greek. It's like pulling a tooth. You pull a tooth, it remains pulled. And he's saying here, I've said it, if you abide in me, if you allow my words to abide in you, if you abide in my love, I guarantee you this, Christ says, you'll have full joy. You'll have my joy. Really? No, I'd rather get it in the twins. That's a miserable way to live, right? Notice the connection between the word of God and a relationship with Christ and joy. How about being rightly related to God through prayer? Christ made this promise here in the next chapter. In that day you will ask me nothing, but most assuredly I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, you will receive, that your joy may be full." That abiding relationship that results in prayer and asking results in full joy. And what you're going to receive here is an answer, is the idea. Not necessarily what you ask for, if you're praying for the Powerball numbers or whatever. No, God says, I'm going to ask and you receive. And when the answer is yes, you're going to rejoice. What about, what if you don't have, what if you don't get an answer on your timetable? Well, that means you rejoice knowing that Jesus does all things well and you wait upon him. And you rejoice that he is going to answer it appropriately. Well, what about the answer? What if the answer is no? You want me to rejoice in that? Well, let's look at what Paul did. Go to 2 Corinthians 12. Very familiar passage. Verse 7 says that Paul received a messenger of Satan to buffet him, to beat him up, a thorn in the flesh. Verse 8, concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times and it might depart from me. Verse 9, he said no. But he did say, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. So Paul says, well, I'm picking up my marbles and going home. No, he says, therefore most gladly. I would rather boast of my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I take pleasure in infirmities and reproaches and needs and persecutions, distresses for Christ's sake. For when I'm weak, then I'm strong." He rejoiced in a no answer because of the consolation that was given to him in Christ that God's grace would be sufficient. You know, God said, Yes to the intent, but no to the specific way. He said, I'm not going to take it away, Paul, because I know what's best for you and I love you, but I'm going to give you something better, that my grace will not fail you. And you know what that tells me? It tells me that the thorn in the flesh is never the issue. You know, sometimes, God, if you take this thing away, if you just take this person out of my life that's making my life miserable, no, No, no, I got something better. My grace is sufficient. And you can learn patience, and you can learn kindness, and you can learn to love the unlovely. And that's much better than having the thorn removed. Because if the goal is to have an easy life, it's just not going to happen. That's the wrong goal. It's the wrong goal. And this is why God in His mercy, the Spirit of God, takes our selfish prayers and turns them into something useful. Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Isn't that wonderful? God knows we don't know our left hand from our right, so the Spirit comes along and says, let me take this prayer and just fix her up a little bit here. And that's what He does. And Paul says, well, okay, God. No, he says, most gladly. What a half-hearted response. See, he wanted God's glory. He wanted the Lord's will. You know, do you believe that God has what's best for you 100% of the time? And because of that, you're walking in the light, enjoying fellowship with him? Knowing that since he always does what's right, whatever answer you get is best? You know, where we bog down, and this is a perpetual battle in the life of the believer, is that we think it's about us. It's not about us. When am I miserable? I am miserable when I think it's about me. When am I not miserable? When I remember it's about the Lord. It's about Christ. It's about Him doing whatever He needs to do to conform me to the image of Jesus Christ. This is why I can be thankful. This is why I can rejoice. This is why I pray and leave it in His hands. This is why as I abide in Him, I can actually be used of Him to bear fruit, because that's why He left me here, and as I bear fruit, I can have full joy. Do you think like that? The world tells you if you serve others, you're going to be miserable. Christ says if you serve others in love, you're going to be joy. What do we believe nine times out of ten? But they'll walk all over me. So? They walked all over Christ. Who cares? That means you're getting your joy based on how someone responds to you. I can guarantee if you want to be miserable, get all your joy based on how someone's going to respond to you, especially in your marriage. That's a good way to be miserable. It ain't going to happen. I better get going. Being rightly related to God through fellowship. We won't go there, but 1 John One, three, and four says that which we've seen and heard declare to you that we may have, you also may have fellowship with us. Who's our fellowship with? It's with the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ. In the book of First John, this is the purpose statement. These things we write unto you that your joy may be full. You know where full joy is found? Walking in fellowship with your Savior regardless of your circumstances. And since joy is based on spiritual realities, What are some spiritual realities that you can rejoice in today? Well, how about suffering for your Savior? What did 1 Peter 4 say? Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing is happening to you. But rejoice to the extent that you are a partaker of Christ's sufferings. Notice the future hope here. When His glory is revealed, you're going to be glad with what? Exceeding joy. Joy is based on our hope in Christ and what the future holds. If you take it in the neck for Christ, you're blessed for the spirit of glory and that God rests upon you. On their part, he's blessed and on your part, he's glorified. If your goal is to glorify God and you're rejected by your friend because you want to honor him, you can say, thank you, Lord. I want to just glorify you. I know that you're going to meet my needs. And though this is painful right now, I know that it's all about you and not about me. You know, frankly, when you think of the situation that happened to Lynn Oberg, you've got to have this perspective. Around every corner there's a tragedy and difficulty waiting to happen that just plain stinks. And you sit there and you go, wow, another thing. And so you've got to get your joy in the Lord. That's it. Next thing on your list, we don't have time to go through, but Paul's in jail, Philippians chapter 1, and he says whether in pretenses there's people trying to preach the gospel to get him in more hot water, to make his life miserable, and he says, you know what, whether the right motive or the wrong motive, if Christ is preached, I'm going to rejoice, and that's what I'm going to do, because the gospel's being preached. Do you rejoice when the gospel's being preached? Accurately? Thrills my heart. Thrills my heart. How about when someone gets saved? I don't know if I have that up there or not. No. Acts 8.39, Philip the evangelist hitches up to the Ethiopian eunuch. The Ethiopian eunuch gets saved and it says he went on his way rejoicing. Frankly, if you hear that someone gets saved and you're whole humming, all right, so what? That just shows you where your heart's at. That should thrill your soul like there's no tomorrow. That's eternal life. Someone just passed from death unto life. There's nothing more thrilling on the planet. But, if you hum the whole thing, it just shows you that spiritual realities aren't tripping your trigger. And you're looking for some kind of joy in something else and ain't going to get it done. So you're going to continue to be miserable. How about when believers are grounded and stabilized in the truth? Paul, these Colossians who were on the verge of getting roped into this Gnostic heresy, He says, Though I am absent in the flesh, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and steadfastness of your faith in Christ. Nothing thrilled him more than to know that believers were being established in the truths of Scripture. How about the privilege of ministering to others? This is Paul's heart right here. Therefore, we wanted to come to you. I, even Paul, time and again, I love you guys so much, but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing? Isn't it you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ that is coming? You're our glory and our joy. Nothing thrilled Paul more than to be used to minister to saints and watch their faith build up. Does that thrill you? Does it thrill you to watch someone grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior, or do you ho-hum that too? Nah, he'll get over it. It's an old man. Said what? I don't have that on there. It says in 3 John verses 3 and 4, he says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. No greater joy. You know, if you're enjoying Jesus Christ and He's your joy, the things that thrill Him are going to be the things that thrill you. Because you're abiding in Him. That's how it works. You know, when believers comfort one another, Paul was concerned about these Corinthians that were bad-mouthing him all over the place. Nevertheless, God, who comforts the downcast, Paul's down, even though he's rejoicing, he comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you. When he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, I rejoiced even more. What is important? to Paul, where's the source of his joy? It's spiritual realities. We bog down so often in the negativity of life, in the negativity of circumstances, and we allow that to steal our joy. You know, I told someone here recently, I mentioned it at camp, the longer I'm saved, the more I thank God for his mercy about stuff that I used to take for granted. My health, The fact that I've got a car that works, I've got wood to heat my house with, the water turns on, things that I just never even thank God for because I know at any point in time that could change. And I'm entitled to none of it. And it keeps me humble saying, you know what, Lord, thank you. Thank you, thank you. You know, later, a few verses later, he says, therefore we have been comforted in your comfort And we rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all." What trips your trigger? What do you get joy? I hope you're not paralleling what the world's trying to squeeze joy out of. You know, Paul said, he says, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now that last year care for me has flourished again. Though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. And he goes on to explain he wasn't rejoicing that he actually was cared for, he was rejoicing because they ministered and he knew that that fruit would abound to their account when they stood before Christ. He didn't care about himself, he knew God was going to take care of him. He was so thankful that they were willing to minister because when they stand before Christ, God's going to reward them for it. That's what thrilled his soul. Spiritual realities. Paul says, yes, if I'm poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, this is what I'm living for. If you're not living for Christ, that means you've got to find your joy in something else and it ain't going to last. It ain't going to last. Good English there. It ain't going to last. What makes you tick? The fleeting pleasures of this world? or the spiritual realities that you have in Christ? What is the source of your joy? If you're going to try and find it out of the world, you're going to be miserable because it never delivers what it promises. And yet the promise from God's word is even when your world is unraveling, you can have joy, even in sorrow. Do you have joy this morning? How do you define joy? This is why faith is such a critical thing. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy. What does he want to do? He wants to fill you with all joy and peace. How? In believing. Some people refuse to be ministered to. They refuse to accept God's joy in their carnality. They're stubborn. They're their own worst enemy. They're bitter and they blame everyone else from their trials. And God says, I've got some joy here for you, man. Some pure unadulterated joy. No, I will not have that. Thank you very much. I'm going to wallow in my mire and don't you screw it up for me. It says right here, baby. Believe. God is who he is. His word is true. He loves you with an everlasting love. Bask in His joy. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let's pray. Father, we are so amazed that you love us enough to give us full joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to understand the key to this whole thing is to rejoice in Christ Jesus, to rejoice in the Lord. We know the world is a mess. We know that it's spinning out of control. We know the circumstances can change in a heartbeat. We know there's a lot of heartache and difficulty abounding in our world. And yet, through it all, the joy of the Lord is our strength. And I pray for those that are suffering, and those that are sorrowful, and those that are having difficulties. I think of Lynn and her situation in particular, and Elizabeth Offolkman, and Kathy Castanaway, and others that are fighting physical issues, others that have other difficulties. And we know there's much hardship. Thank you that through thick and thin, we can have joy. And I pray that we would embrace this with our whole heart. And we'd be like Jeremiah who, in the height of difficulty, ate your words and they were found to him to be the joy and rejoicing of your heart. So thank you for these precious truths. And may they encourage our hearts to the end that you'd be honored and glorified. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.