["Pomp and Circumstance"]
If you open up your bulletin on the inside there we have our service times every Sunday at 10 30 a.m.
Again at 5 30 p.m. Thursdays at 7. We'll be in 2 Kings 13 this week. We've got the Churchwide Soul
Winning, the Salvations, Baptisms, and Offering totals below that as well as the attendance.
And of course happy birthday to everyone celebrating in the month of December.
As far as I know it's just myself and my youngest celebrating so happy birthday to us and
that's who the donuts are for but you freely you you may receive uh I'll impart that under you
so it looks like all it got left for me was glazed so but uh anyways that's my own fault for not
taking first pick you should get first pick on your on your birthday month and if you don't take
first pick well it's your own fault anyway uh if your birthday or anniversary is not listed in the
bulletins because I don't have that information and or lost it so if you want to get that to me
I'll make sure we have those in there month by month and also below that the Christmas
CDs are available so I put those out there on the shelf in the back so you can hand those out
liberally when soul winning but the digital packs are preserved for personal use and as gifts so
if you look at them you say what's the difference one between the other well if you just look at
them straight like that it's going to be hard to tell but if you just turn them like this right
then it becomes very apparent which one is which so the thin ones these are the sleeved ones
just hand these out as much as you want when you're out soul winning probably um if it you
know just just give it to people that actually answer the door maybe you know we are kind of
limited on these this year so just kind of maybe when you're out soul winning if you talk to
somebody you know not even if you give them the gospel they just come to the door just hey we're
handing these out and we'll just hand these out through probably maybe even close to the new year
but just hand these out when you're out soul winning to those that answer the door
don't leave them behind maybe you know when if nobody's home
but then these ones the thicker ones the digipaks these are explicitly for just either your own
personal use if you want one or if you want to give one as a gift to somebody you you know you
can go ahead and do that as well um there these are a little bit more limited but uh so that's
why we're trying to reserve those they're a little more a little more expensive so those are in and
then the christmas invites for the candlelight service are those still in this week so we'll
have those uh for you to hand out soul winning in the next by thursday so we'll have those by
thursday for sure so we'll have also those to hand out for the christmas eve candlelight service
which is the next announcement there saturday december 24th at 7 p.m so you all know the story
there there's gonna that's just a brief reading of the christmas story and the singing of the carols
when we write those candles it's always a special service so come on out invite folks out
on the back the homeschool field trip to the arizona deserts museum is coming up quick so
if you're going to participate in this meaning you're a homeschooling parent or you have school
aged children just kind of observe the the the caveat there one parent for families with five
children or less two parents for six children or more if you're planning on coming though and you
haven't signed up please do that asap and then below that these next two announcements these
are actually uh events that are taking place in tempe but i did want to put it in here just so
you know you would have if it's something you want to do you're more than welcome to attend you just
need to let me know so there's first of all the ladies christmas craft evening i think they're
making yeah christmas tree ornaments this year so all the ladies and teen girls are invited however
there is a strictly no children policy except if you're you have a nursing child meaning it's a
child you have to kind of keep you know in your lap in your arms uh just because i think there's
a lot of scissors and needles and other things we don't want kids running around or moms to have to
worry about that so that is the one rule there and then also there's some christmas caroline going on
up there on tuesday december 20th i know my family's planning on being there for that and
basically you go out for an hour they break up into like groups of 20 or so go out and go to
some nicer you know some some neighborhoods where people are you know decorating for the holidays
it's always really i've done it three or four times now it's always a fun time it's worth the
trip up there if you want to go i might have a couple seats available in the van if anyone wants
to go with me and my family we'd be more than happy to take you up there and then so we go out
for about an hour you know so again this is in tempe don't show up here on tuesday december 20th
expect to go caroline because you're going to end up going singing a solo all right and maybe you're
into that okay but uh and you're by all means feel free but we're gonna we're gonna be in tempe
again you go out for about an hour and then we come back and have some hot cocoa so you want to
go just let me know and i'll get you up there or or you could just show up and we've also got the
song service listed there below that for the upcoming week so take note of that but that's
going to do it for announcements we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we get into preaching
this morning
sound number 429
is
plate as it goes around you can follow along with me as you read from exodus chapter number 20 this
morning it's going to be exodus chapter number 20
in exodus chapter number 20 the bible reads and god spake all these words saying
i am lord thy god which hath brought thee out of the land of egypt out of the house of bondage
thou shall have no other gods before me thou shall not make unto any graven image or any likeness of
anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under
the earth thou shall not bow down thyself to them nor serve them for i the lord thy god am a jealous
god visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children under the third and fourth generation of
them that hate me and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments
thou shall not take the name of the lord thy god in vain for the lord will not hold him guiltless
that taketh his name in vain remember the sabbath day to keep it holy six days shalt thou labor to
do all thy work but the seventh day is the sabbath day sabbath of the lord thy god in it thou shall
do not do any work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter thy manservant nor thy maidservant
nor thy cattle nor thy stranger that is within thy gates for in six days lord god made heaven
and earth and the sea and all that in them is and rested on the seventh day wherefore the lord
blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be
long upon the land which the lord thy god giveth thee thou shalt not kill thou shalt not commit
adultery thou shalt not steal thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor thou shalt not
covet thy neighbor's house thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife nor his manservant nor his
maidservant nor his ox nor his ass nor anything that is thy neighbors and all the people saw the
thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and the
people saw it they removed and stood afar off and they said unto moses speak down with us and we will
hear but let not god speak with us lest we die moses said unto the people fear not for god has
come to prove you that he his fear may be before your faces that you sin not and the people stood
afar off and moses drew near unto thick darkness where god was and the lord said unto moses thus
thou shalt say unto the children of israel you have seen that i have talked with you from heaven
you shall not make with me any excuse me you shall not make with me gods of silver neither
shall you make unto you gods of gold an altar of earth thou shalt make unto me and shalt sacrifice
there on thy burnt offerings and thy peace offerings thy sheep and my oxen and all places
where i record my name i will come unto thee and i will bless thee if thou will make an altar of
stone thou shalt not build it of hewn stone for if thou lift up thy tool upon it thou hast polluted
it neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar that thy nakedness not be discovered there
on let's go and pray dear lord again thank you for this time we have to come together and lord
i pray you just meet with us again tonight or this morning and lord that you would help me
to preach your word i ask in christ's name amen so i'm going to take a break from the series i've
been preaching the last uh several weeks and i'm going to preach a sermon called joy so i want to
preach a sermon called joy and basically we're you know we're going to uh just look at it you
know each one of those letters that make up that word this isn't anything new this is probably
something you might have heard in the past how you spell joy and those are going to be the three
points you know because as has been expressed elsewhere is that you know to have joy in your
life is to put jesus others and yourself in that order and that's how you have joy and i think this
is an important topic especially this time of year because you know obviously this is a very joyful
time of year at least it ought to be christmas is always uh you know we always think about having
joy and peace and those things around the christmas time but you know honestly almost
ironically uh for a lot of people this can be a very difficult time of year as well a lot of times
people end up just reflecting on how you know christmases in the past or the seasons at this
time in the past uh you know were better than they are now they may be thinking about somebody that
they've lost or relationships that are no longer there you know that is the case for a lot of
people you know that's why even around a very joyful time of year where we're celebrating the
birth of christ we're celebrating glad tidings unto good men unto men and peace the earth you
know that could still be a very depressing time for some people and it's unfortunate and it's
understandable it's not the fault anybody you know that's just kind of human nature that's just kind
of how life goes sometimes you know some people are going to be more joyful than others but you
know if we are kind of suffering in that area whether it be you know this time of year or really
any time of year when we're going through times where we don't feel like we have joy you know
there is a recipe so to speak for joy that we can have if we'll put things in their proper order if
we'll have the right priorities in our life we'll put ourselves and others and god in the in the
right places in their respective places you know we will have joy in our lives i believe i'm not
saying we're never going to have a trial again we're never going to have difficulty we're never
going to be sad we're never going to experience grief or loneliness or any of those things
but through all those things in those temptations we could still go through them having joy in our
lives and and living a blessed life so that first letter of course in joy is the letter j right and
we that stands for jesus you know if you want to have joy in your life you need to learn to
put jesus first in your life okay and this is actually something that is commanded in scripture
that we are to put god first in our lives you might have noticed it there in exodus chapter 20
where he's laying out the 10 commandments right he's saying i am the lord thy god which had
brought thee out of the land of egypt out of the house of bondage thou shalt have no other gods
before me not that there are other gods but god is saying you're not he goes on explains look you're
not going to have any graven image you're not going to make anything of the likeness that is
in heaven or in the earth beneath you know you're not going to bow down to these things you're not
going to serve these things why he says in verse and verse five there for i the the lord thy god
am a jealous god you know god is jealous for our affection god wants us to worship him and him only
god wants us to put him first in our lives you know this is something that is actually commanded
you know this is something that we are supposed to be doing in our lives is putting god first
you know god should be the priority in our lives and if we're you know if joy is not something
we're you know feeling or experiencing in our lives is that something that's you know absent
in our lives you know it might just be because we're not putting god first you know true joy
comes from knowing and walking with the lord you know a lot of other things can go wrong in life
a lot of we can have a lot of other difficulties and trials we can go through a lot of other things
in life and we can go through those things you know kind of with a smile on our face so to speak
if we put god first you know god is that source of joy that's why it's so important to put him
first in all things and not to kind of just get around to you know the lord when it's convenient
you know god ought to be front and center in our lives he ought to be the first and foremost thing
in our lives he commands it i mean it's something he's right out of the gate here with the children
of israel you know he's coming down on this pillar of fire and smoke and and he's one of the first
thing he's saying to them look right out of the gate the first commandment is thou shall have no
other gods before me put me first is what god is saying you must put god first and if we'll do that
we will have joy like you can't put god at the end right because that that's not going to spell joy
it's going to spell oh yeah right which is not even a word right so you got to put god first
if you want to make joy in your life if you want to have that in your life god has to come first
put jesus first and he goes on here in verse 7 he says thou shall not take the name of the lord thy
god in vain verse 7 for then i will hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain
remember the sabbath day to keep it holy six days shalt that labor do all thy work
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord thy god in it thou shalt not do any work thou
nor thy son nor thy daughter and thy manservant nor thy maidservant nor they cattle nor thy
strangers in thy gates for in six days the lord god made heaven and the sea and all that in them
is and rest on the seventh day wherefore the lord blessed the sabbath day and how it obviously we
don't observe the sabbath day we don't have to you know we don't uh aren't in bondage to these
things these ordinances that are contained in the law these have been done away in christ the point
of reading this is to show you that god puts an emphasis you know these first four commandments
is just it's about me now no other gods don't take my name in vain remember the sabbath day to keep
it holy he's like he's just drilling this into them god comes first you know when we ask people
about the ten commandments probably the first ones that might come to mind are you know don't murder
don't kill don't commit adultery don't steal don't lie these things but you know that's the
latter half of the ten commandments the first things that god wants us to get into our head
is to put him first and not let uh him be put on the back burner in our lives god has to be
a centerpiece in our lives if we do that we'll have joy go over to jeremiah chapter 44
jeremiah chapter 44 obviously this is a commandment in scripture he goes on in
exodus 23 and says and in all these things i have said unto you be circumspect and make no mention
of the name of other gods neither let it be heard out of thy mouth god doesn't want to even hear the
name of other gods coming out of their mouth god wants all of their attention to be put on him
right and that's a commandment you know that's something we should just do out of duty
and if we fail to do that you know there are consequences you know it's not just like and
it's not just the absence of joy there will be other consequences in our lives i mean what if
we disregarded the other ten commandments what if other people you know even the world who doesn't
even believe the bible has enough sense to at least observe that latter half they might not
care about god or the bible or any of those things that you know they could just they'll take them out
of every part of the public square that they can they'll take them out of the courthouses and the
public schools they'll blaspheme his name in the media they'll you know they'll and ungodly
entertainment will just drag the name of jesus christ you know through the mud and and just
mock the things of god you know they'll do that right but you know they at least have enough sense
to observe that latter half right they all know what's not going on just you know committing
murder you know they have laws against those things right so they observe those things right
but is the world really are the people out in the world some of the more joyful people that you've
met i mean the world even the most people you would think would have the most joy the most
successful the most well-off people often are still very miserable people and it's you know
why is that it's because they haven't put god first right we should put god first it's a
commandment just as much as you know not killing is a commandment just as much as not stealing is
a commandment just as much as that all those things that pertain to you know you and i getting
along here in this earth just as important as those are none of us would ever dream of breaking
those commandments you know but what about putting god first what about making sure there's
no other gods making sure that we're putting god first in our lives is that as important to us
as it should be right if not you know well there's not going to be any joy okay
look at uh jeremiah chapter 44 verse 1 if we don't put god first you know we don't observe
these things there will be consequences god commanded exodus 20 early on to the children
of israel before they even got in the promised land where they're fresh out of egypt
he's commanding them to do these things we all know the story they failed miserably they did
not observe these things like they should we get to jeremiah chapter 44 verse 1 it says the word
that came to jeremiah concerning the jews which dwell in the land of egypt which dwell at nigdal
and at tapanese and at nath in the country of pathros saying thus saith the lord of hosts the
god of israel he has seen all the evil that i brought upon jerusalem right and upon the cities
of judah and behold this day there are they are a jest desolation and no man dwelleth therein god
saying look you've seen how much i've dwelt or excuse me how much i've uh condemned with uh
jerusalem and judah i'm judging them harshly right no man dwelleth therein this day they are a
desolation i mean god has severely punished jerusalem why is that well verse three what is
it that they did that made god so mad where he made them a desolation that no man dwelleth therein
verse three because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger in that they
went to burn incense and to serve other gods i mean what is it that made god so upset is that
they went to serve other gods they forsook the lord god of israel and broke those commandments
and you know made their graven images and uh offered things unto idols and and and you know
and as a result you know god judged them harshly you know so we can't just say well you know i'll
find joy in other places in my life you know i really don't need to make god a priority i really
don't need to you know i know i'm saved i'm on my way to heaven but it doesn't really matter to me
whether or not you know i read my bible or pray or go soul winning or you know i go to church or
you know if i have any kind of a relationship with god you know god's just kind of there in
the background you know i can still go out and i can still do my thing and have my fun and you
know and you will probably have you know some level of enjoyment out of those things but what
you won't have in all likelihood is the contentment the peace and the joy that will actually see you
through difficult and hard times in life that we're all going to go through we're all going
to go through pain hardship sorrow you know and and and people can start taking their pills and
everything else and seeing their doctors and trying all these different things to try to
deal with those things but you know the answer to joy is in putting god first and look we can
we can go ahead and ignore god and say well i i'll have my fun elsewhere you know i'll get my
sense of joy from other things but here's the thing there's consequences for not putting god
first it's not just well it's optional you know i can either enjoy the benefits of putting god
first and have joy in my life or not i can it's not take it or leave it it's either yeah you can
obey the commandment and have the joy or you can disobey the commandment to put god first
and not only have absence of joy real true lasting joy in your life but then you can also enjoy
you know the punishment and chastisement of god in your life so you know it is a commandment and
just like israel here when they chose to ignore the lord when they chose to go and burn incensed
and serve other gods whom they know not nor their fathers god punished them verse four he says how
be it i sent unto you all the servants my my servants the prophets rising early and sending
them saying oh do not this abominable thing that i hate he's like don't do this i hate this it's
an abomination to me so even then god is trying to bring them back warn them say hey turn from
these these false gods come back to the truth and uh the truth and living god you know and really
that's all i'm trying to do this morning you know if you're one who has you know strayed from the
lord has not been putting god first you know i'm just doing as the servants of the prophets back
then you know trying to tell you come back you know put god first in your life you know make god
a priority in your life you'll have joy and you know you'll at least have the joy of not being
uh punished verse five but they harken not nor incline their ear to turn from their wickedness
to burn no incense unto other gods wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth and was
kindled in the cities of judah and in the streets of jerusalem and they are wasted and desolate as
this day so you know had putting jesus first having joy in our life it's a commandment you
know it's not just something hey if you want to have joy it's there for you it's an option
no it's a commandment now the good news is is that if we do put god first and if you would go
to psalms 37 not only are we going to avoid you know god pouring forth his anger in our lives
but we'll also have you know a joy a peace that the world cannot offer you know you think you're
going to find those things out there and some whatever all these things that are out there
all these things to entertain and distract us and to numb us all those things that the world
offers up to try and fill some void in our life you think you're going to find it there you're
not it's not there it might be you know there is the pleasure of sin for a season you know but sin
bringeth forth death in our life the bible says you know you think you're going to have it you
might experience a little bit of numbness you might experience a little bit of a high or
whatever it is that it you're pursuing is going to give you but you know it's going to be fleeting
it's not going to last and eventually it's going to get old it all gets old
anybody who's ever had you know pursued different hobbies and things like that they probably all
have come to the point or they will or at some point where it's just going to be kind of old
it's just kind of this is just kind of gotten old and then it's on to the next thing you got
to find something else you know not so with the lord not so with the bible the bible just gets
deeper fuller our walk with god just gets richer and there's just more joy there and it's a joy
that is going to see us through the hard times in our lives that's what true joy is and it's
not a numbing it's not it's not what the world offers here drink this take this pill escape
you know through whatever form of entertainment you want that's not that's not real joy friend
real joy allows you to go through those things uh and endure and understand and still have peace
i mean this is a commandment to to put god first this is something that you know if we remember
i'll just read you from matthew chapter four when jesus is being tempted in wilderness
you know the devil take took him up into an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all
the kingdoms of the world and all the glory of them he's offering him the world right and he's
saying just bow down and worship me and i'll give you all of this that the world has to offer
and jesus said get the hint satan for it is written thou shalt worship the lord thy god
and him only shalt thou serve now that's the example that christ has set for us to put
god first you know which would mean to put the world last you know jesus obviously none of us
is going to be offered all the kingdoms of the world in a moment you know we're not going to we're
not going to be given that but you know the world does bring its offerings doesn't it the world has
its allure the world's always trying to woo us and to win us to itself you know and there are
a lot of things that if we weren't aren't careful could steal our hearts away from you know serving
god could steal our hearts away from putting god first you know but we have to understand is that
when we do that we're not just forsaking our opportunity to have joy in our life we're actually
breaking a commandment you know the first commandment thou shall have no other gods
before me right so it is a command but you know here's the great thing about putting god first
you know of putting that j in the front of joy is that not only are you fulfilling the commandment
but you know there is a there is a positive result just as much as there's a negative result for
ignoring it for not doing so there is the positive result when you do it and what is the positive
result it's the comfort it's comfort you know often we think might think of joy to mean different
things to us you know but joy you know it can be a very comforting thing you know i think that's
it's a very joyful thing to have comfort in your life you know and we're all going to need that
because we're all going to have times in our life you know where we're hurt where we're going
through some difficulty some trial it's going to touch every one of us we'll need comfort look at
psalms 37 verse 1 it says there in verse 1 of psalm 37 fret not thyself because of evildoers
neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity you see why would anyone envy the workers
of iniquity because as i mentioned a moment ago there is pleasure and sin for a season
you know the the christian even can look at the world can look at the workers of iniquity and
actually begin to envy what they have and desire it for themselves and say that's what i want
for myself you know i wish i could do what they do i wish i could get involved in the sin
that they get involved in because we all have the flesh god's and we're being warned here in the
word of god to not fret ourselves to not sit there and go man i wonder what i'm missing out on
by living the christian life well you're you know you're you're missing out a lot of heartache
you're missing out on a lot of other things that are very negative that the world doesn't put out
their front and center that they don't tell you about right and he's saying look neither be
envious against the workers of iniquity the world that prospers you know verse 2 shall soon be cut
down like the grass and wither as the green herb trust in the lord and do good so thou shalt dwell
the land and verily thou shalt be fed delight thyself also in the lord and he shall give thee
the desires of thine heart i mean think about what he's saying right there that if you would
delight yourself in the lord he would give you the desires of your heart you know it's almost
kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy there right but you know if we had our priorities right if
if god was our delight you know we would have the desires of our heart you know instead of desiring
everything that the world has to offer and constantly just desiring the next gadget or gizmo
or wealth or just desiring everything that the has the world has to offer and constantly chasing
our tail out there for those things having no joy if we would just instead delight ourselves in the
lord you know and simple things like reading our bibles like memorizing scripture if we'd fall in
love with these things if we would delight ourselves also in the lord then we would have
the desires of our heart the problem is is that our desires often aren't lined up with god we end
up just fretting over the workers of iniquity desiring what they have and and and not having
joy in our life but if we would delight ourselves in the lord he would give us the desires of our
heart he says in verse five commit thy way unto the lord trust also in him and he shall bring it
to pass and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as thy light as the light and thy judgment as the
noon day rest in the lord and wait patiently for him fret not thyself because of him who
prospereth in his way because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass you know we
shouldn't fret about the wicked we have this comfort that's being offered to us that god is
going to you know bring forth our righteousness as the light and our judgment as the noon day
you know if you're if we're reading our bibles if we understand what is to come in in the next
world when when christ returns the resurrection that we shall we shall be as he is that we'll
have that new body that we will rule and reign with christ you know what in the what does the
world have to offer that's going to compare to that what does nothing even comes close i mean
what could even begin to scratch the surface could even begin to approach
unto the inheritance that we have in christ to be fellow heirs with the lord so what are you
talking about well see that that's why we have to put god first to know these things to understand
these things and to believe them and to know them to have them you know that's part of the ministry
of the holy spirit we go from just believing these things to knowing these things to being assured of
these things you know that's that's the witness of the spirit that we have that the world doesn't
that we we know we don't just believe but we go to a place where we know that we are going to be uh
you know when that in the moment in the twinkling of eye we shall all be raised we're gonna we're
gonna be with christ in the clouds for so shall we ever be with the lord we understand the things
that are to come you know that gives us great peace that gives us great joy but you know what
if we're not delighting ourselves in the lord if that if that doesn't isn't what thrills us if
we're ignorant of those things if we if we just kind of know that's maybe just some baptist
fairy tale that we heard once you know then you know what we're probably not going to have the joy
you know then we're not going to have that we're going to be seeking it elsewhere
and not finding it but if if we understood those things you know we would have uh you know we would
have godliness and contentment which is great gain the bible says so rest in the lord verse
seven wait patiently for him fret not thyself because of him who bring who prosper within his
way go over to uh uh galatians chapter number five galatians chapter number five so again we're
talking about having joy this morning right j-o-y jesus others you know that's a very important
simple thing to keep in mind you know it's a very uh simple acronym to to keep in mind you know
throughout our whole lives and obviously you know when we divide that up into jesus others yourself
you know we're emphasizing jesus we're putting emphasis on that first letter right j and i'm
spending most of my sermon this morning talking about that aspect of it because that's the most
important part and the and the world is completely backwards you know they put y first they want to
put themselves first they want to it's it's very selfish it's all about them it's all about me
it's all about what i want what i can get what benefits me me me me that's how the world works
that's the philosophy that they have that's what they tell you to do that's what the world want
they just want you to get involved in that and then if you have time make time for others
right maybe and then you know if you're one of those religious types that you can go ahead and
put god in there at the end you can have jesus too but you don't really need that they have it
completely backwards and you know they're as a result they are often some of the most miserable
people that you'll meet honestly and i don't say that in a way in a deriding way i i pity that i
feel sorry for that you know any of any of us that have had experienced that no that's true
you know that before we got saved in all likelihood we were probably you know we are very
discontent and maybe even sad miserable we didn't have the joy that we have now
you know even my lowest points as a christian are you know nowhere near as my lowest points as an
unsaved heathen and today like boggles the mind to think how anybody can live this life without
knowing who god is so where they're going to go and they die like how do you well how do they do
that well they just numb themselves they distract themselves they put it as far out of their mind
as they can they get god as they turn that joy around and they put themselves first and they
try not to think about god so they can just make it through this life with some kind of false sense
of joy you know we need to put god first this is something that is just commanded over and over
again jesus said seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things
shall be added unto you take no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the
things of itself sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof the psalmist said as for me i will
call upon god the lord shall save me evening morning and at noon i will pray and cry alone
and he shall hear my voice i mean he's crying out evening morning and at noon he's crying out to
god that sounds like somebody who's putting god first in their life look at galatians chapter 5
verse 22 but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long suffering gentleness goodness faith
meekness temperance against such there is no law now it's important to point out that this is the
fruit of the spirit and it's not fruits you know this is the fruit of the spirit meaning the fruit
of the spirit is all of these things it's not you know i'm going to have a little bit of love
and and a little bit of peace but i'm going to skip on the joy i'll pass on that you know it's
not like you pick this isn't you know the the buffet line or something this is the whole
enchilada right you get all of this and that's not like a good deal to have all of these things
you have the love the joy the peace the long suffering the gentleness the ability to to love
other people and and put up with other people and be patient with other people and not get uh you
know aggravated with other people and have people do the same for us you know when we when we get
out of line when we when we're being contented but we're having a bad day you know they could do the
same for us to have goodness to have faith to have meekness temperance you know these are things that
are come that come of the spirit right these are the fruits of that this is the fruit of the spirit
that god bears in our lives this isn't something you can just go pick up you know this isn't just
something that you can just turn off and on if you want these things in your life you know the
spirit is the one that has to bring them to fruition in your life meaning that you have to
put god first you have to make god the priority in your life to have these things and if you don't
then you're not going to have these things it goes on and says in verse 24 and they that are christ
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts that's part of that process you want to have
the fruit of the spirit you're going to have to do as paul said and mortify your members in the
flesh paul said i die daily i mean think about all the things the apostle paul went through all the
trials and the hardship all the temperance he had to have all the long suffering he had to have with
people who mistreated him you know the unsaved the persecution everything how did he manage to
go through all that with joy i mean i have no doubt in my mind that paul was you know it was
paul who said rejoice and again i say rejoice you know paul is the one that is reminding us to be
to to to be joyful people i have no doubt that despite everything that paul went through
he was probably a very joyful person he was probably a very pleasant person to be around
he was probably had a lot of joy in his life paul no doubt the author of galatians knew what it was
to have the fruit of the spirit in his life how did he get it because he did what crucified the
flesh he mortified his member he said i die daily and he said if we live in the spirit verse 25 let
us also walk in the spirit it's one thing to live in the spirit to have eternal life to be sealed
under the day of our redemption right but it's another thing to walk in the spirit until that day
verse 26 let us not be desirous of vain glory provoking one another envying one another if
you would go back to leviticus chapter 19 leviticus chapter 19 don't get too excited
not going the direction you probably might be thinking you know it's it's kind of it's funny
you know like if we're saved and we're going to go to heaven and we're going to be in the presence
of god i don't think anyone in the room would argue that there's going to be fullness of joy
there's going to be fullness of joy that's going to be a full it's going to be a very joyful thing
to stand before the lord to be in the presence of god i don't think any of us are going to go
in heaven you know none of us is going to be nodding off in heaven
we're going to be wide-eyed and alert and awake and trying to take it all in in heaven
you know we're going we're not going to want to miss a moment of it there's going to be fullness
of joy in the presence of god but here's the thing if we live in the spirit let us walk in
the spirit you know we have we can have that even now we can have maybe not to the obvious extent
you know we're going to have in heaven but we can still have that same we can be in god's presence
even now and in a sense we already are but we can have a deeper understanding a deeper sense of
being in that presence that will bring joy into our life maybe not the fullness that we'll have
in heaven but you know if if if we go in the path of life that god lays out in his word we will have
fullness of joy he said at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore at thy right hand are
pleasures forevermore you know god wants to bless us god wants to bring good things into our life
god wants to give us a blessed life it's just that we so often say no thank you and then we wonder
why you know our life is going the way it is why we don't have the presence of god why we don't have
the the joy that we others might have so that's that's the first letter and again i put a lot of
emphasis on that because that's what you got to do if you want to have joy that's where the emphasis
needs to be in your life is on jesus on god on the bible okay but after that is the o j o right which
would be others you know we need to put learn to put other people ahead of ourselves okay if you
look at leviticus chapter 19 look at verse 15 he said he shall do on no one righteousness and
judgment leviticus 19 15 but thou shalt not respect the person of the poor nor honor the
person of the mighty but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor so he's saying look don't
be partial in judgment right he's saying be careful how you treat other people and don't treat to give
them preference based upon social status or or wealth or anything verse 16 thou shalt not go up
and down as a tail bearer among thy people neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor
excuse me i am the lord thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart thou shall not in any wise
rebuke thy neighbor excuse me thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor and shall not suffer
sin upon me saying don't basically say don't bear a grudge you know if your brother offend you go to
him and tell him you know and if you repent forgive him right that's what he's saying here
thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart thou shalt any wise rebuke thy neighbor you know
and not suffer sin upon him right don't allow him to to sin against you rebuke him get it right okay
but you can see how the these verses they're talking about you know our interpersonal
relationships how we treat other people okay and this is a big part of having joy in your life
you think about people who don't have joy are they type of people that you want to be around
typically not they're typically people who are very hard to be around they're people like you're
just waiting like man what can i get you're trying to make it an excuse like i think i left the oven
on i mean it's something you know you're trying to get away from that that situation just because
you don't want to be around this person and what are those people typically like very self-centered
very selfish people and those are the people that don't have joy they're not thinking about you
what's in your best interest i mean they'll even step on your head to get ahead in life they'll
use you like a ladder to get ahead i mean they'll use you and and treat you poorly because they put
themselves before other people but you know and consequently they don't have any joy either what
a coincidence but the people that seem to have the most joy are the people that seem to consider
other people and consider the feelings of other how they treat other people verse 18 thou shall
not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people but thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself i am the lord that's a commandment again you know jesus said that is
the second and greatest commandment it is like unto the first that thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself upon this the all the law and the prophets hang and i'm kind of paraphrasing there
i know but he's saying that's how important it is lord which is the greatest of commandments
love that love the lord thy god and the second is like unto it thou shalt love thy neighbor and
thyself upon these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets it can all be summed up in
this as saying love thy neighbor as a self as thyself how are we going to fulfill the law
how are we going to do all these things by loving our neighbors as our as ourselves as we you know
do unto others as you would have them to do unto you the golden rule and even the world teaches
that even unsaved heathen understands that if you want to be treated well you need to treat others
well that's another part of having joy in your life go to matthew chapter 19 matthew chapter 19
look if we put god first if we put the emphasis on jesus we put obeying god's commandments
and and walking in the spirit if we put those things first then obviously very quickly we're
going to learn that we need to love our neighbors as ourselves you know we're going to we're going
to endeavor to treat others well we're going to care about other people you know and that's that's
just it's just going to be the natural consequence of putting jesus first so when you fail to do that
when you fail to put jesus first you can see how everything else just kind of gets out of order
everything else when you just don't put god first everything else just falls apart
everything else is out of balance you have to put god first jesus then others and then you it has to
be in this order matthew 19 he says in verse 16 matthew 19 16 and behold one came unto him
saying good master what good thing shall i do that i may have eternal life and he said unto
him why callest thou me good there is done good but one that is god but if thou will enter into
life keep the commandments he saith unto unto him which jesus said thou shalt do no murder thou
shall not commit adultery thou shalt not steal thou shalt bear false witness honor thy father
and thy mother thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself and the young man saith unto him all
these things have i kept for my youth up what lack i yet jesus say it unto him if thou will be perfect
go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor and now and thou shall have a treasure in heaven
and come and follow me now notice what he's saying there he's saying put me first come follow me
right it's great that you've done all these things you know i i seriously question whether you know
he's i mean obviously he hasn't probably could have kept a lot of those things but that's that's
the world what they world though i haven't killed anybody i've been committed adultery i'm a pretty
good person right jesus said you know if you've done these things in your heart you know you've
already broken these commandments but notice here that that's not what i want to go off on but jesus
is making the point hey look you need to put me first but notice what's part of that equation as
well sell all that has and give it to the poor it's me and others me follow me and give to the
poor come follow me come come with me and we'll minister to other people we'll go preach the gospel
verse 22 but the young man heard that saying and went away perfectly content to live his life his
life as it was he went away with great peace in his life he went away and had great joy is that
what it says no it says when he heard that saying he went away sorrowful sorrowful for he had great
possessions he had everything the world had to offer and yet he went away sorrowful why because
he was refused he could not put jesus first he was more concerned about himself he couldn't put
jesus first he didn't want to put others first as a result he went away sorrowful and look if that's
what we do in our life if we say we say put ourselves ahead of jesus we put ourselves ahead
of others you know what just be prepared to go away sorrowful at one point or another you might
even attain all the world that has to has to offer and get to the end of your life and find out
it's all vanity that it's all empty and meaningless that no one's going to remember any of it and that
the only thing that matters is what we do for eternity and when we if we could understand that
now you know if he had just sold what he had and gave to the poor and followed jesus he would have
gone away with great joy he would have been rejoicing to been in the presence of god but
instead you know he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions he was just more about
concerned about what he could possess and achieve in this life you need to put others before
ourselves obviously i've just spent the vast majority of sermon already on putting jesus first
putting god first but also after that you know a natural consequence of that will be to put others
first go to james chapter 2 in james chapter 2 i'll read you from galatians 5 for brethren you
have been called unto liberty only not use this liberty for an occasion to the flesh but by love
serve one another that's a commandment to serve one another for all the law is fulfilled in one
word even in this thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself but if you bite and devour one another
take heed that you be not consumed one of another james chapter 2 verse 1 my brethren have not the
lord of faith of our lord jesus christ the lord of glory with respect of persons if there come
one unto your assembly a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel and there come with another
and also a poor man in vile raiment and you say you have respect unto him that weareth the gay
clothing and say unto him sit thou here in a good place and say to the poor stand out there or sit
here under my footstool are you not then partial in yourselves and become judges of evil thoughts
harken my beloved brethren hath not god chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of
the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him but you have despised the poor do not
rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats do they not blaspheme that worthy
name by which you are called if you fulfill the royal law according to scripture thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself ye do well he's saying look these these rich men that oppress us
these people that blaspheme that worthy name you know why would we have more respect unto them
than unto the poor of this world that are rich in faith thou shalt love thy neighbor as if you do
well but verse 9 if you have respect to persons you commit sin and are convinced of the law as
transgressors for whosoever shall keep the whole law yet offend at one point he is guilty of all
you know we often quote that verse 10 out there soul winning trying to make the point hey we're
all sinners it's interesting that it's in this context that you know if we don't love our
neighbor as ourself you know we've broken that we might have broken all the commandments right
so how do i love others you know how do i do that you know obviously something we emphasize here is
soul winning soul winning and it's always amazing to me how soul winning changes people's attitudes
you know self-included you know often you know i i'll go ahead and just admit confess my fault
to you right now you know sometimes i show up at a soul winning time and i'm not real excited to
go soul winning sometimes i show up and i wonder maybe nobody else will come and then i can do
something else oh i'm not the only one oh it's not funny what do you know people go soul winning
consistently it's not they don't show up every time you know just just beaming and radiating
to go out there and have people not be not interested or whatever you know often we get
we still get into good neighborhoods and stuff like that but you know what's funny to me is
even if we get together and we go out there even if it's not a receptive neighborhood by the time
i'm done i'm like what was my problem you say how do you know i have joy whether i get people saved
or not if i preach the gospel and i come back i have joy i mean good night we got we went out
soul winning yesterday you know raining and and everybody at the end of the soul winning time was
smiling and happy and maybe their happy was over i don't know but you know everyone seemed in a
very pleasant mood and we were going out in the rain you know we went to an apartment complex
we had some cover you know there we'll have the rainy day maps you know but we had joy you know
and and honestly some people might have come yesterday kind of just doing that just out of
a sense of duty just i just got to be there rain or shine we're gonna go don't really want to be
here you know but it's funny that even when the sun you know went out of the you know with the
five days of the uh out of the year that actually the sun it can't be seen here in arizona you know
even then we went out and we had joy in our heart why because we put other people first
you know if you want to have joy in your life do things for other people go to uh
ephesians five we'll close there ephesians chapter number five
you know it's it's funny if we just do don't you ever don't you ever feel good when you do
something for the west and not even talking about soul winning obviously that's the greatest good we
could do for somebody to go out and preach them the gospel and get them saved you know that's
that brings great joy into our hearts but what if we just help people generally in life what if
we're just trying to help other people you know that's what i found people that seem to be the
most helpful that are willing to volunteer and help other people you know they generally are
pleasant people to be around i'm not saying always but you know they're they have their
we all have our bad days i get that you know but generally speaking you know people that
try to be helpful and are considerate of others are typically very joyful people pleasant people
to be around right if that if that's the type of person we want to be that's what we have to do
you know if we're selfish self-centered people you know you know our sphere of friends is probably
going to shrink you know we're probably going to find people not wanting to spend a lot of time
with us okay you know and i'll close on this thought you know this is a very important concept
when it comes to marriage to put other you want to have a joyful marriage you want to have peace
and joy in your marriage stop asking you know what you can get out of your spouse what they're going
to do for you and start doing things for them think about how you can love them i mean that's
how it's supposed to work husband you know verse verse 25 ephesians 5 husbands love your wives
husbands love yourselves and make sure your wife you know does everything you want
just the way you want it and just panders to your every wish and desire no he's saying love your
wives even as christ also loved the church and gave himself for it how should a husband love his
wife just like christ loved the church and gave himself for it sacrificing himself by not you
know it's the complete opposite of being selfish you want to you want to be a happy person stop
being a selfish person and do things for other people you want to have a joyful marriage you
know do things for your spouse husbands do things for your wives well she's there to serve me i know
i get that she's supposed to keep the house and do all the duties and things like that but you
know what they have things that they need to you know we have to sacrifice for them and do things
for them and provide for them and everything we have our own duties let's make sure we're doing it
just like christ loved the church verse 26 that he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing
the word water by the word that he might present to himself a glorious church not having spot or
wrinkle nor any such thing that should be holy and without blemish blemish so all men to love
their wives even as their own bodies he that loveth his wife loveth himself for no man ever
yet hated his own flesh but nourisheth it and this is where this is my last point i'm going
to close and just you say what about you what about what about me you know what about the why
there well let's just spend like two minutes on you right because what i mean that's by design
folks in the sermon jesus big part of the sermon others than you looking if we make ourselves
the you know small you know if we focus on ourselves less and others and god more we'll
have more joy in our life instead of just worrying all the time about what we can get
out of life what we can get out of other people you know we ought to be focused on what we can
do for others what we can do to serve god and put ourselves last he says there he said verse 29 for
no man ever yet hated his own flesh but nourished and cherished it well what how can you love
yourself take care of yourself there that's you can say well how what am i supposed to do to love
myself take care of yourself you know that's something we probably most of us a lot of us
don't figure out until we're you know well into our 30s and by then we just know we should right
and then hopefully by the time we're 40 we actually start trying to do it right you know
we can go ahead and start that any time in our life you know the sooner the better you know take
that's it you say what do you mean uh you know just take care of yourself take care of your
physical being don't let yourself fall apart take care of yourself that you know you want to learn
how to what what can you get it for you what's for you this morning that's it that's all i got
take care of yourself brush your teeth and get some sleep try not to eat too much sugar all
right there and then just spend the rest of everything else caring about other people
caring about jesus and all those things you know and put those things first and then we'll worry
about you but we don't want to develop this other attitude where it's like well i'm not important at
all no you're still worth taking care of you still need to to watch out for yourself and and devote
time to yourself i'm not saying we want to become some you know some kind of a bunk some you know
self-flatulating bums we're just beating ourselves over here we still want to take care of ourselves
he says here for this cause shall a man leave his brother his wife and shall be joined on his
wife and they too shall be one flesh this is a great mystery by speak concerning christ the
church nevertheless let everyone so particular love his wife even as himself and the wife
see that she reverence her husband so here's the thing you know take care of yourself why because
if you don't take care of yourself can you really take care of other people you know if we don't
look out for ourselves to some degree you know all these other areas are going to kind of fall apart
obviously those are the most important areas if we want to join our lives but you know if we if
we neglect ourselves too much you know we're going to fall apart so it's you know this idea of loving
yourself it's not a matter of neglect it's a matter of priority when it comes to joy if that
makes sense okay it's not about neglecting yourself to the exclusion of everything else
you know or to you know to for the sake of everything else rather you know it's a matter
of priority obviously take care of yourself but make sure we're putting jesus and others before
yourself and you will have joy let's go and pray dear lord again thank you for the opportunity that
we have in this life lord to have great joy lord to have joy unspeakable and full of glory
and lord i pray you'd help us to consider the the joy that is to come in heaven with you and
lord that you would help us to to serve you in this life and to serve others and and lord to
and to uh not neglect this temple this this this vessel that you've given us uh to do so with lord
i pray you just bless um the rest of this day we ask in christ name amen all right we'll go ahead
and sing one more song before we go
is
me
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