Let's get into our sermon. For some reason my printer would not print, so I had no choice
but to bring my computer. I'll just get my notes up here.
Alright, so we read from 1 John 1. Now, the title of the sermon this evening is called
Be Filled with Joy. Now if you look at that, it's not a very long chapter. Was there
anything that we read that talks about being filled with joy or that your joy may be full?
If you have a look at that, that's in verse number 4. And these things write we unto you
that your joy may be full. And so the purpose, remember when we looked at the book of John
on Sunday and we looked at the purpose of why the book of John was written, it was so
the unbeliever would believe. Remember that? Well, 1 John, John's very good at giving
us his reasons for writing a book. And his purpose for us is that our joy would be full.
Now I was just out knocking doors this morning with Matthew from Brisbane and we knocked
on the door of a lady and I asked, you know, are you sure you're going to heaven? She said,
yep, 100% sure. Why? Oh, because of my faith in Jesus Christ. So it sounded really good.
But then as we got talking to her, she started talking about having a relationship with Jesus
Christ, having a relationship with Jesus Christ. Now this is where, look, first of
all, let me just point something out. The word relationship does not appear in your
Bible whatsoever, once. And whenever you're talking to someone about the Gospel, whenever
you're trying to preach the Word of God to them, or whenever you're trying to explain
your salvation to somebody, let me encourage you very strongly to use the words the Bible
uses, okay, because you can go back to the Word of God and show them why you believe
the way you do. You know, why is it just faith? Because the Bible says it's just faith. Why
does it believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Because the Bible says Lord Jesus Christ,
right? But the thing is, the Bible never says relationship, okay? Now I had a look when
I got home and looked up the definition of relationship, you know, in the dictionary.
There were two main definitions for relationship. Now, if I say, do we need to have a relationship
with God for us to be saved? There is some truth to that, okay? But it all comes down
to how you define relationship, okay? Because the word relationship has at least two main
definitions and maybe more, okay? But definition number one for a relationship is a connection
or association. A connection or an association. So if someone says you need to have a relationship
with God or a relationship with Jesus Christ to be saved, now, if they're saying by relationship,
they're saying you need to be associated with God, or associated or be connected with Jesus
Christ, is that how we get saved? No. I mean, there are people throughout this nation that
are somehow connected to a church, associated with a Christian religion, a Christian faith,
talk about Jesus Christ, are associated with Jesus Christ, but they're not trusting him
by faith. And so by that definition of relationship, no. Obviously, it's not an association. It's
not joining up with somebody that gets you saved, right? But the second definition of
relationship is a state of being related by blood or marriage, right? Because that's where
the word relationship comes from. It comes from the word relative. So when we talk about someone
that's a relative, we're talking about someone that we're related to by blood or by marriage,
right? So is it true that to be saved, we need to be related to God? That's true, right? Because
the moment you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, what does it say in John chapter 1 verse 12? But
as many as received him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name. So there is a truth to that. To be saved, you do have to have a relationship
or be related to God. And that's the moment you believe on Jesus Christ, and God becomes your
Father, and you become a son of God, a child of God. The blood that relates us to God is the blood
of Jesus Christ. The blood that is shed by Jesus Christ. You know, we're related, my children is
related to me by blood. They've got the family blood in them. And when you're related to God,
in that sense, you've got the blood of Jesus Christ. The reason why we're brothers and sisters
in Christ is because we share the same blood. That same blood is the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ that was shed for us. All right? So there is a truth to that. But you always need to, you
know, again, it just seems like every time someone wants to explain the gospel, using words that are
not in the Bible, there is a chance that it's going to get muddied up, it's going to get
confused. And it's going to add works. We spoke about Sunday salvation being not of works, but
just always seems to be about works. And yes, as we got speaking to this lady, she believes you
could lose your salvation. In order to remain saved, you had to keep the works, keep, you know,
fill that relationship with God, whatever. She couldn't really explain that to me. And then at
the end, she was like, it's not works. It's just your heart condition. Right? It's just God can
look at your heart. But the Bible says the heart is desperately wicked. Who can know it? I don't
want God to look at my heart as the basis of salvation. It's desperately wicked. So, you know,
I just want to show you how when people move away from the words of the Bible, they confuse the
gospel. All right? So let's understand the book of John. Now, often when people want to bring works
into the gospel, they will go to a book like 1 John. Okay? Because, you know, the Bible does
talk about salvation throughout many of its books. It's found throughout many scriptures. But the
Bible is not just about salvation. It's not just about salvation of the soul. It's got history.
It's got our walk with the Lord. It's got, you know, it's got so many things that may not be
related to. It's got, you know, what Jesus got up to, what he was busy doing while on his ministry
on this earth. It's not always about the salvation of the soul. And so quite often when people want
to bring works to the gospel, they will go to passages that are not about the gospel and not
about salvation and take things from that and say, see, salvation is of works as well when it
is not. So very clearly when we read the book of John on Sunday, I'll read it again. John chapter
20 verse 31, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you might have life through his name. So the book of John was written to the
non-believer to believe on Jesus Christ. It was to convince him to give him a record of what Jesus
Christ did for us so they would believe upon Jesus Christ and have eternal life. But 1 John
chapter 1 verse 4, what is the purpose of this book? Is the purpose for us to be saved? Is it to
believe on Christ? No. It says, and these things write we unto you that your joy may be full. So
this is written to a believer already and John is saying, hey, I want your joy to be full. It's not
how you need to get saved again because you lost it or something. No. You need to have a life of
joy. And if you're a believer today and you struggle with joy, you're always downcast,
you're always depressed, then this sermon is for you. This book is for you. Okay? Because you need,
you know, look, there's a time to mourn, there's a time to hate, there's a time to get angry,
but there's also a time to rejoice. There's also a time to be happy and enjoy the life that God
has given us. Another reason why the book of John is written, if you're there just look at chapter 2
verse number 1. Just that first part there, my little children. So who's John writing to? The
non-believer? No. To his little children. People that he got saved. He's writing to believers. He
calls them my little children. Okay? My little children, these things write I unto you that
ye sin not. So the second purpose for the book of John is not just to be full of joy but that
you would not sin. That you would be able to overcome sin in your life. Okay? Now don't be
mistaken to think you can ever get to a point of sinless perfection. In fact this book is very
clear that you cannot get to that point. Okay? But yes, as believers we ought to not sin. You know?
I would hate it if you never hear me preach against sin. I would hate it if you never hear
me say sin not. Hey, that's an important message of the Bible. But it's not for salvation. It's to
have our joy, to be filled with joy so we can have that right fellowship. That's the word the
Bible uses. Not relationship. Fellowship with the Lord. Okay? So let's start in verse number 1. Let's
have a look at this very quickly. How can we be joyful Christians? What's step number 1? Step
number 1, let's have a look here. Let's start in verse 4 again. And these things write we unto you
that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare
unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Okay? So we know that God is
light and in God there is no darkness. We can just take the word sin. You know in God there is no
sin. There is no darkness in him. He's perfect. He's holy. He's righteous. He's worthy of worship.
He's worthy of honor. He's an amazing God. He's not like us whatsoever. I couldn't even imagine
somebody who is without sin. It blows me away. If we were just in the presence of God in his
sinless perfection and in our state, in our flesh, the Bible says we'll just be destroyed. You know
we wouldn't be able to even look upon him in these bodies that we have. Okay? But God is light and in
him is no darkness at all. And look at verse number 6. If we say that we have fellowship with him,
do we need to have a fellowship with God to be saved? No. Okay? We need to be related to him,
yes, by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. But fellowship is having nice good communion with one
another. Having a good walk with one another. Right? When we fellowship together, we are spending
time together. We are speaking with one another. We are enjoying each other's company. Okay? So
this is how we have our joy to be full. We need to walk with the Lord. And he is a God that has
light. In him there is no darkness. And so if we... Sorry, what's my point there? Sorry. Yeah,
if we say we have fellowship with him, so if we say, yes, we have a sweet fellowship with God,
but we walk in darkness, we sin. Right? We don't do the things of God. We don't keep the commandments
of God. We do what's wrong. It says we lie. We're telling a lie. You know, you might say,
yeah, I'm having a great relationship with God, a great fellowship with the Lord, but then, you
know, you're in sin, you're in unconfessed sin in your life, then actually you're lying. You know,
you can't walk with God if you are still in darkness. And do not the truth, the Bible says
there. So this is the command in verse 7. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another. So if we want to have sweet fellowship with our Father,
we need to make sure we're walking in the light. Okay, this is a doing, this is works,
this is action, doing the things that God has asked us to do. Okay? And then it says this,
and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. Now the question is, this is where
people get confused, right? They're saying, hold on, didn't we, weren't we cleansed of all sin
when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? Isn't that when we were made right with God? Yes. Okay.
But what does the Bible tell us? We looked at this last Thursday, to study his word,
rightly dividing the word of truth. So when we read the Bible, we need to make sure we
rightly divide. What is about salvation? What is about our walk with God? You see,
there's two, our standards that we have. One is our position before God. We're made right with
God through Jesus Christ. That's our position before him. That's why we can enter into heaven,
because when God looks at us, he sees Jesus' righteousness imputed upon us. Okay? But then,
once you're a child of God, once you need, you know, God wants to have fellowship with you,
you need to walk in his ways. You need to walk in his path. And so you, in your walk,
can be full of sin and break that fellowship of the Lord, but he'll never cast you out. You know,
you're never going to lose your salvation, because that was a done deal in Jesus Christ.
Now, let me show you this. So how do we walk in the light? Go to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians 5
expands on this pretty well. Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 1 to 14. I'll just
read this quickly. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children. Okay? So is this being
written to the unbeliever or to God's children? To God's children, right? Be ye followers of God,
for being following God is doing the works as dear children, as his sons that are saved. And
walk in love as Christ also have loved us, and have given himself for us an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. Now, here's a list of things of darkness that we,
as believers, need to avoid to be right with God in his light. It says here,
but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named
among you, become of saints, neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting. Now, is it wrong
to tell jokes and have a laugh? No, but if we look at the context of this, it's, you know,
filthiness, foolish talking, covetousness, fornication and cleanness. This is dirty jokes,
telling dirty jokes like on the job, right? You hear dirty jokes and, you know, you shouldn't be
tempted even to laugh at those things, you know, if you work with a bunch of non-believers. Which
are not convenient, but rather giving off thanks. Verse 5. For this ye know that no whoremonger,
nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, have any inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God. So, we've been given this huge list of things that are just despicable to God.
You know, some of these are major sins as well, you know, whoremongering, fornication, even
covetousness. God hates covetousness, you know, but it's so easy to fall into that sin. But here
it says, hey, I don't want to confuse you. It says that people that do this will not inherit
the kingdom of Christ and of God. That's because it's the works of the flesh. It's our flesh that
sins and our flesh and blood. This body will never inherit the kingdom of God. Which is why
you need the new man, right? That's why when you're saved, the Spirit of God dwells in you. You're
born again. You have the new man. You have the Spirit. It's that man that will inherit the
kingdom of God, not this flesh. And God will give us a new body one day so we can bodily inherit the
kingdom of God as well. So please don't confuse this, as if you're someone that has committed
these sins, that somehow you're not going to inherit the kingdom of God, because it's not
of works. All right. Now, verse six, let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these
things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. But be not ye therefore partakers
with them. For ye were sometimes darkness. So here is that, now here's the darkness and the light
analogy. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of
light. So is it automatic that as soon as you become a believer, is it automatic that you're
going to walk in the light automatically? No. Because the command is to walk as children of
light, right? If it was automatic, it would be stupid to tell us to do it when it's automatic,
right? No. You walk in the light because there are times that you're not going to walk in the
light. You're going to be in darkness. And then verse nine says, for the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness and righteousness and truth. So it gives us some descriptions here of what is works
of the light, things that we can do in the light. That's where the fruit of the Spirit works in you,
goodness, righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. So anything you do
in your life, you should prove it and say, hey, is this acceptable to God? Is this acceptable to
the Lord? Anything that you do, right? And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather reprove them, okay? You need to learn not just to avoid the works of darkness, but to
reprove them as well. That's to call them out for what they are. So that way, that would help you
not to fall into that because if you're calling it out, you're taking a stand against those things,
you're less likely to fall into the sins that this list has here for us.
For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret,
but all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatsoever doth make manifest
is light. Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light. All right, so I just wanted to show you what it means to be in the light.
Basically it means don't do wrong, don't sin, do what's right, do what's righteous, do what's good,
right? Prove all things that you do and see whether these are acceptable to the Lord or not.
That's how you learn to walk in the light, that's how you learn to have fellowship with God,
and that's point number one as to how you can be full of joy, okay? Now you're gonna say to me,
go back to 1 John, back to 1 John, you might say to me, yeah, you know, we ought to walk in the
light, of course we ought to walk in the light, but we don't always do it, right? We fail. In fact,
every day, every day, if you're honest with yourself, you sin, all right? Every day. And go
back to 1 John, 1 John. So number one, to be full of joy is to walk in the light, okay? Overcome sin
in your life. But you know as well as I do that you're going to sin. So does that mean we don't
have the joy? We can't achieve that? No, because God gives us an answer as to when we do sin,
what do we do? Okay, verse number eight, verse number eight, if we say that we have no sin,
so if we get to a point where we're trying to walk in the light, and then we turn around and say,
hey, I've achieved it, I no longer sin. Okay, you say that, we deceive ourselves, you lie to
yourself, you're a liar, you're deceiving yourself, and the truth is not in us, okay? So the truth is,
doesn't matter how much you try to walk in the light, there'll always be sin in you, you're
always going to fail, you're always going to do wrong, and if you say you have no sin, the truth
is not in you, you're lying. Verse number nine, if we confess. So what's the solution when we sin?
It says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is
not in us, okay? So do we sin as believers? Yes, but when we sin, what's the step that we need to
do to make sure we maintain that fellowship with our Lord, to make sure that our joy may be full,
it's to confess our sins, all right? Now quite often when we talk about the Christian life,
we often say, hey, you know, what are the main things of the Christian life? It's read the Bible,
right? It's pray, it's go to church, it's go soul winning, but quite often people forget,
confess your sins, regularly, because you're sinning every day, and if you sin and you don't
confess that before the Lord, you're going to hurt your fellowship with the Lord, and it's
going to hurt your joy. Your joy is not going to be full. And I understand, you know, I fail all
the time, okay? It might be just wicked thoughts, okay? But I fail all the time, and there are many
times that the same sins I commit, I commit them over and over and over again, and I just get down
on myself, right? And sometimes I get so down on myself that I think I can't go to God with this.
Surely I can't go, I mean, I just spoke to him about this yesterday. I just confessed that
yesterday. I just asked him to forgive me yesterday, and I'm going to do it again today.
Surely God is sick of me, all right? I think we all go through those thoughts, because again,
made of the same flesh and blood, so if I think that, I'm sure you guys think that. But the
command is to confess our sins on a regular basis, okay? Now this is where, again, this is where
people get it confused. They say, well, you know, you've got to confess all your sins to be saved.
No, to be saved, to be saved, believe. But to have a good fellowship with the Lord, we need to make
sure when we sin, we confess those things to him. And if you sin every day, guess what? Confess them
every day. Keep a short account with God, okay? Because the more you rack up those sins in your
life, the further away you're going to get from fellowship with him, and you're going to be in
darkness, he's in light, he's going to be far from you, and you're not going to be full of joy. Now
go with me to the book of John chapter 13. John chapter 13. I want to show you a story here that
lines up with what we've just read. John chapter 13. There's a story of Jesus Christ washing the
feet of the disciples. You remember that before he was crucified. John chapter 13 verse 1. There's
a spiritual application to this story. And I want you to notice this in John chapter 13 verse 1.
Verse 1 to 11 I'm going to read. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his
hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which
were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, and the devil having now put
into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Jesus knowing that the Father had
given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God and went to God, he rises from
supper. So Jesus Christ after they have supper, he rises from supper, and laid aside his garments,
he took off his nice clothes, whatever clothes he was wearing, and took a towel and girded himself.
He got into a change of clothes, he took a towel with him. Okay. Then cometh he, sorry, after that
he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the
towel wherewith he was girded. Now how would you feel to have Jesus Christ, who you know is God,
God the Son, come and clean your feet? I'd be very uncomfortable with that, right? I mean,
I would, you know, John the Baptist says, hey, I'm not even worthy to tie your shoes. What is it?
So yeah, I'm not even worthy to even go to your feet. But here we have Jesus Christ
going to wash his disciples feet. And so I understand how Simon Peter responds to this.
Verse six, then cometh he to summon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
Are you seriously going to wash my feet, God? Are you really? Jesus answered and said unto him,
what I do thou knowest not now, but thou shall know hereafter. Now this is, I want you to pay
attention to these words. Now, does Peter know that Jesus is going to wash his feet? Yes,
he just washed all the other disciples feet. But look at what Jesus says. What I do, thou knowest
not now. You don't know what I'm doing right now. But thou shall know hereafter. You're going to
know later on. It's something you're going to go, you're going to know in the future, why I've done
this. And this is why it's not just a physical lesson of servitude. Yes, we can take this passage
and teach that we ought to serve one another. Okay, wash each other's feet as it were. Serve
one another. But Jesus Christ is making a point, there's something that you're going to know about
this afterward. There's a spiritual application to this. There's a much deeper lesson that I'm
teaching you than just washing each other's feet. Verse number eight, Peter saith unto him,
thou shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I wash thee not, thou has no part with me.
Remember what we read about 1st John? What was that? The fellowship that we need to have with
the Father. We can't be in darkness, right? We need to confess our sins. Remember that?
It's the same analogy here. Jesus saying, hey, if you don't let me wash your feet,
you can have no part with me. Not salvation, again, this fellowship with the Lord. Verse
number nine, something Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and
my head. Because Peter speaks before he thinks. You're going to learn that about Peter. That
makes him a really interesting character in the Bible. But he's like, God, you're not going to
wash my feet. You'll never wash my feet. And Jesus says, hey, look, I've got to do it. Otherwise,
you'll have no part with me. Now he's like the complete opposite. All right, not just my feet,
my head and my hands, my whole body. Wash it all then. But look what Jesus says in verse number
10. Jesus saith unto him, he that is washed needeth not. So if you're washed, you don't need
to be washed again. Save to wash his feet. But he's clean every whit, but ye are clean,
but not all. Wow. So this is now the spiritual application. Because Jesus got just done washing
all his disciples feet, except for Peter. But he says, but ye are clean. So he's telling Peter,
you are clean. Okay. There's a spiritual, he hasn't washed his feet yet, but you're clean.
And all these other disciples' feet that I wash, they're clean, but not all.
So who's he referring to? He's referring to Judas Iscariot. We just read about Satan, right?
Going into Judas Iscariot. So he's referring to Judas Iscariot. For he knew who would betray him,
there it is, therefore said he, ye are not all clean. So is this just about washing feet and
being a servant to one another? No, there's a spiritual application here, right? Now,
so point number one, not all the disciples were clean, right? We know that's talking about Judas
Iscariot. And we know later on that Satan enters into Judas Iscariot in verse 27. If you just look
quickly at verse 27, and after the sop, Satan entered into him, then said Jesus unto him,
that thou doest, that thou doest do quickly. So we see later on, that's where Satan enters into
Judas Iscariot, and Judas Iscariot goes and betrays Jesus Christ to the cross. All right,
so the reference is to Judas Iscariot who was unsaved. Judas Iscariot was not clean, okay?
Now, the foot washing, what does the foot washing represent? So back in those days,
they didn't have cars, they didn't have planes, they didn't have buses. To get around,
they wore their sandals, right? And they had to get around by foot. So quite often,
the practice was that when you travel by foot, that a servant would be there to wash your feet.
That was the practice, okay? That you'd get around in foot, and you need your feet to be washed.
And what Jesus is teaching here, what he's teaching Peter, if I don't wash your feet,
if your feet remain dirty, that it will break the fellowship he has with Jesus Christ.
Not his salvation. Remember, Judas says you're clean, okay? So when Judas says you're clean,
he's referring to the fact that you're saved. You're saved. So you don't need to be washed
again. You don't need to be saved again because you can't lose your salvation.
But I need to wash your feet because as you go day by day by day in your life,
you're going to get dirt on your feet, you're going to get sin in your life,
and you're going to need to constantly get those sins washed. You're going to constantly need your
feet washed, as it were, in this story. And so it's unconfessed sin that breaks fellowship
with God. Jesus says that Peter is already clean, okay? So once you're saved, once you're clean,
you don't need to be clean over and over again, top to bottom, no, you're saved, you're once for
all. But as you go through life, as you go and you try to walk in the light, but then you walk
in darkness, and you commit sin, guess what? You need to be cleansed again by your feet. You need
to confess those things. And when you refuse to confess your sins to God, you're like Peter,
you say, God, Jesus, you're not going to wash my feet. I can't accept, I can't allow you to do
that. But no, Jesus says, you've got to do it, Peter. You've got to do it to have part with me,
to have fellowship with me. And so this is another picture of, well, actually, I'll get to that in a
minute. But so Peter, how did Peter respond when Jesus says, hey, I've got to wash your feet? How
did he respond? Then not my feet only, but my head, my hands, everything, right? So this is
what happens. And this is why your joy needs to be full. And this is how you can lose your joy,
is when you go through life, and you commit sin every day, okay? And you don't confess them,
you don't seek forgiveness from God. You go to church, you read your Bible, but you never confess
those sins to God. You're going to get to a point where you're like, just like Peter,
I might need to be washed all over. Meaning, people that have unconfessed sin in their life,
believers that have unconfessed sin in their life, may get to a point in their life where they think,
I might not even be saved, because they've lost the fellowship of the Lord. They feel the Lord
is so distant in their life, right? So distant, and they feel so guilty about the sins they have,
and they get to a point in life, maybe I'm not even saved, because where is the presence of
the Lord? And that's what Peter did. Peter was like, hey, I need to get washed all over again.
No! You know? And are you still in 1 John? Go back to 1 John, chapter 5.
1 John, chapter 5. Let me show you this again. Sorry, 1 John, chapter 5. To me,
it's not a surprise then, 1 John, chapter 5. Remember, we said, why is this book written?
We said so we can have a full joy in the Lord, walk in fellowship with Him. Chapter 2 says that
we would sin not. But what does verse number 5 say? In chapter 5, sorry, verse number 13,
in chapter 5, it says, these things, so the third reason, these things have I written unto you that
believe in the name of the Son of God. So I'm writing to you that already believe, those of you
that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.
So he wants to reassure the believer that you have eternal life. It doesn't surprise me that
when you compare this passage with John and the cleansing of feet, where Peter says, hey,
I need to be washed all over again. He's doubting his salvation, where John is saying, hey, I'm
writing these things to you so you can confess your sins, be right with God, so you know,
you don't doubt anymore. You know you're saved, that you have eternal life. You see that in John.
And again, you know, I'm wrapping up now, but please, yes, you should be ashamed of your sins.
Yes, you should fear the Lord, but please never let that stop you from going to Him in prayer
and confessing your sins. Lamentations chapter 3, Lamentations chapter 3 verse 22 and 23 says this,
it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Wow, we should be consumed. We should
be destroyed, right, in the sight of God, but it says it is of the Lord's mercy. God's merciful
to us and it's because of His mercy that He doesn't destroy us or consume us, because His
compassion fails not. And then verse 23 says they are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.
Great is the faithfulness of God. Great is His mercy. Great is His compassion. Every morning
His mercies are new. He's not like us, right. If you do wrong to me, I might forgive you and be
merciful to you. You might do wrong to me tomorrow and I still might be merciful to you and forgive
you, right, but the nature of man, you keep doing wrong to me, I'm probably going to run out of
mercy. I'm going to say, you know what, I'm done with you. You've betrayed me so many times. Now
Jesus says forgive people, you know, seven times seven, but I'm just, let's be honest, right. If
someone wrongs you over and over again, you're going to run out of mercy. You're going to run
out of compassion. You're going to run out of faithfulness to that person, but God's mercies
are new every morning. Every day His mercies are new. Why? Because every day you need to go and
confess your sins to the Lord. Please, this is such an important part of your Christian life
and I don't know why, but it's often missed. You know, like I said, people, yep, pray, read the
Bible, go to church, go soul winning, but they forget, confess your sins. Such a major part to
make sure you have a good fellowship with the Lord, to make sure that your joy will be full.
Let's pray.