Unsinkable Joy, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council rejoicing that a great guy knew what he was doing this he may want to waive the presence of the Council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name and every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus see you couldn't have a bad day and pick their joy away once see when you have the joy of the Lord. It's unsinkable is not tied to bad circumstance joining us today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt Fellowship in the Words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana Pastor Bill Gebhardt now again he shows us how God's word meets our work this past week I was reading an article about the Dead Sea entitled the world's most desolate Lake fishing no fish no waterskiing. Gotta be careful not to splash water into your eyes and of course the blistering heat and yet it's one of the most therapeutic destinations on earth. Speeches are filled with bathers, caking themselves with the mud from the Dead Sea. By the way it works. We had some friends that went there and brought some mud back in. It works the Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on earth 1400 feet below sea level. The Jordan River flows in, but no water flows out and so the only way water is lost through evaporation. As a result there's an extremely heavy layer via Celine and mineral content in the lake or the sea. It's 10 times saltier than the ocean is what's most interesting to me is it's denser then your body and so what that means is if you're in the Dead Sea.

You cannot sink the picture by the way what the article was a man who was reading a magazine sitting on the water in the Dead Sea just reading a magazine. In that hostile environment and all that he did all those minerals a guy totally relaxed reading a magazine. You see the Dead Sea will render you on syncopal.

I was thinking about that and couple weeks ago I was reading Jeremiah and Jeremiah said this, he said the waters closed in over my head and I thought I was going to perish, and he also wrote in a different place. He said this. Your words were found, and I ate them any setting your work was to me the joy in the rejoicing of my heart. He went from total despair to joy. So putting the two together. I thought about it this way, you and I can have on syncopal joy. Or put another way, joyful Christians are unsinkable.

Maybe most importantly, we have to learn to float in the water of God's joy. I know how hard that is for many of you Christians if we have a reputation and national reputation and we asked people to check the box. I don't think joyful is going to come anywhere near the top for some of you it's your whole life. You condition yourself to be pessimistic or melancholy or just discouraged but because of who God is and because of what Jesus Christ has done, we can determine to be joyful people. We can actually choose the attitude of gladness we can bathe in God's joy and discover the secret of unsinkable. I've been interested in joy for many many years. Many years ago I read the book desiring God by John Piper and it was a book that had a profound effect on my life and ever since then I've been trying to sort of get a handle on and really understand from the Bible's point of view. This idea of joy. It is astounding when you study at the concept of joy. The word joy or some of the synonyms occurs over 700 times in Scripture is astounding what the Bible says about joy in the expectation of the Bible is that the people of God will be known by their joy and that is always been difficult for me because there's a lot of things that I see in the people of God but prevailing joy is not one of them. So what I want to look at the dais, lets us look at a few of the things that the Bible says about joy, how to be appropriate. This in our lives. The first one is defined in Zephaniah. That's right. Zephaniah chapter 3 Zephaniah Haggai, Zechariah, defined as see you around it.

Zephaniah chapter 3 and the first thing I want to say about joy if you think about it may be startling to you.

He is a God of joy. Now when you think of the concept of God is joy. What you think of using. But he is a God of joy joy.

This know what Zephaniah writes verse 17 of chapter 3. He said the Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, he will be quiet in his love, he will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Now that's typical Hebrew three times. Joy is introduced in verse date is that it is!

They repeat and it says here that he will rejoice over you with shouts of joy that works shouts is the Hebrew word Rena and I wish they would've translated it may be a little more accurately, it doesn't cut it is shouting but it's it's shouting and singing in the same time. In other words it singing loudly now. Think of this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Zephaniah says that God will rejoice over you and he will single loudly with joy about you. How many of you ever thought about God singing about you see, that's amazing, and joyfully singing about you is astounding but not surprising. God radiates joy like the sun radiates light the joy of the Lord your Hill expression all the time. The joy of the Lord is not just something that he gives to you the joy of the Lord is something the Lord possesses. He is a God of joy Jesus picks up on that and the great intercessory prayer in John 17 and he sprang to the father explain about us and he says this I speak these things so that they may have my joy made full and themselves.

Jesus prays that we would have his joy. What he already has made full in us. He is a God of joy. Not surprising, then the second point would be this God's home is a joyful place. Turn with me now to the book of Psalms Psalm 16 Psalm 16 a great Psalm of David. Last two verses.

Verses 1011 and David says this piece is for you will not abandon my soul to she'll to the grave.

He's praising God for not abandoning his sources look when I go to the grave. My soul will be there.

He says you will not abandon my soul to the grave meeting we allow your holy one to undergo decay he speaking only of himself but prophetically about the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. A thousand years later, and then he says this you will make known to me the path of life is another reason for praising God you would show me how to live. That's one of the great things about having a personal relationship with God you actually know how to live. And then he says this in your presence is the fullness of joy uses in your right hand are pleasures forever.

God's home is a joyful place in first Chronicles 16. The writer Chronicle said strength and joy are in his dwelling place joy floods our eternal home. Now that something I think we do expect.

I mean, we certainly think that having to be a joyful place but unlawfully understand just how joyful it is in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus is giving some parables concerning the second coming is judgment little curly has these parables of the talents and he sends out people to do something in a couple of them do it well and others not so well. And Jesus says something to them, but I would imagine every single one of you heard but we always stop after the first line of what he says and never think about the second line. The very first line that Jesus says to these two who have this responsibility and serve the Lord.

Well, Jesus says to them. Well done good and faithful servant and you hear all the time people say and that's the words I want to hear when I go to the judgment seat of Christ. If there's one thing the Lord would say to me that would be more pleasing than anything else would be well done good and faithful servant.

And everybody seems to remember that part of the verse, but hardly anyone remembers the second part he says now enter into the joy of your master enter into the joy of your master God's home is a joyful place you think would be like you ever see how teams whether the be high school, college teams or professional teams when they win the championship. How they act. I mean, you know, we just want to NHL and NBA and then you have the Super Bowl and there it was in the locker room after they win a championship. This is nothing sure joy just joy not want to offend anybody here. What did you win, I mean really what to do when we got this trophy were number one till next year.

I mean, but the whole point is it's just a game but notice how we celebrate, we just celebrate it euphoric.

Just imagine what it's like when you have something worth celebrating victory over sin and death. Just imagine what that locker rooms like S joy. You see, that's just speeders is unspeakable joy. I can imagine how many high-fives will be in heaven. You know the whole idea of it as it is extremely joyful place. He is a God of joy. God's home was a joyful place. There's more though joy is woven into God's creation turned a few pages you left the Job 38 Job chapter 38, a famous chapter in the book of Job. Even if you're not familiar have read the book for yourself. You all know about the story of Job and all the suffering went through. Probably more than anybody ever in the theme of the book the whole way through his Job has friends who come to him and keep telling him why he suffered almost always at the same thing you did something bad in God's getting euphoric a lot like our friends would tell us.

Job knows that he hasn't done something really bad so Joe keep saying the horror through the book look all I want is five minutes with you all. I want us to stand in your presence and just say my case and say hey what happened just now from our point of view, this sounds like a really perfectly legitimate request. Not exactly from God's point of view in chapter 38 Job actually gets the Lord grant the request. Beginning in verse one it says then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and he said who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge, gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you and you instruct me where you were you when I laid the foundation of the earth.

Tell me if you have understanding who set its measurements since you know or who stretched the line on it on what were its bases sunk, or who has laid its cornerstone to cut basically says the Job like okay you to question me.

Now let's get this straight. I know I am.

I'm God now who you what. Tell me about your infinite knowledge that you you have kind of interesting but then he says something quite fascinating about creation. Verse seven when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy when the physical universe was created. The angelic world saying and shouted for joy. It was God's intention that creation be a joyful experience joy is even woven into the very fabric of God's creation. The Bible says us all the way through the first Chronicles and in Psalm 96 it says let the trees of the forest sitting and let them sing for joy before the Lord. Everything should sing that was created. Creation is a joyful thing with me to Psalm 98, some kind of dedicated to that Psalm 98 after simply read. It's a very short song.

Psalmist writes, oh, sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wonderful things.

His right hand and his holy arm have gained the victory for him. The Lord is made known his salvation he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of nations he has remembered his lovingkindness and his faithfulness to the house of Israel all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth bring forth and sing joy sing praises. He says sing praises to the Lord with the lyre and he said, with a lower sign of melody, he said with trumpets and the sound of the horn shout joyfully before the king, the Lord C war and all it contains the world and those who dwell in it.

Let the rivers clap their hands, let them out sing together for joy before the Lord for he is coming to judge the earth, and he will judge with righteousness, and the people with equity psalmist is a simply saying joy is the natural state of creation is an only dangerous thing man should say mountain sits thing trees should sing the rivers clap your hands in other words, the whole idea of the physical creation was joy. He did it for the joy of it because we know that even under the curse creation still vibrates with Joyce Byrd still sing, but there is a curse.

It's a tarnished joy seeing this sort of because the shorter run through the universe, but there's something in this Psalm, it says got us all that verse two the Lord is made known his salvation is revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations even though sin brought death.

God says but I can still retrieve the joy through salvation. You see, I can still reconcile the creation to me. I can still redeem this world.

You see, that's exactly why Jesus came. Isaiah 61, three says Messiah will give us the oil of joy instead of morning. That's what Jesus Christ is done so the fourth point is this Jesus came to reinstate joy terms made a famous passage, Luke, chapter 2, Luke chapter 2. This is the chapter we usually read on Christmas Eve service reborn early this year. Luke chapter 2, the shepherds are in the field. Verse eight in the same region.

There were some shepherds staying out the fields and they were keeping over their flock night and an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good news, and then these words of great joy which will be for all the people we always talk about the good news. The good news of Jesus Christ and is good news. But notice what he says. The angel says it's good news that's right, of great joy. You see this is going to be so joyful this great inner sense of well-being, joy should mark the people of God. She joy should Marcus at church like art. We should be a village of joy.

That's we should be. We should be joyful people. But if you stood where I stand every week. You really wonder, it really wonder now I won't go as far as Chuck's.

When doll said many years ago I her judgment all and he actually said this to his church but he so when I stand and look at my church all the time. I think that how many of these people look like they were baptized in dill pickle juice and I think what he was just reading with our faces will be a community of joy. You see, that's the whole point is a God of joy. His home is a joyful place as well, enjoying the creation and Jesus came to reinstate joy and I want you to see how he did it turn with me now. The book of acts the beginning of the church in chapter 2, the book of acts and look at some early Christians in verse 46. A description of the early church, he said.

Luke wrote this, he said. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together and it says in the new American Standard with gladness and sincerity of heart that were gladness is Argyle losses kind of a compound long Greek word almost always translated joy and they were taking their meals together with joy and sincerity of heart, the church began and it was so joyful and you say well yeah that's her like liking the price that was a great day and I was really joyful that day to but he continues turn with me now in the book of acts. The chapter 5 in verse 40 in the early church has enemies, real enemies.

These are enemies that eventually will martyr.

Almost all of the disciples.

It says in verse 40 that they took his advice and after calling the apostles in they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and then he released now.

I think all of us would do this but I would call a flogging day a bad day.

If you were taken by the authorities in that world and you were flogged.

That's a really bad day. In fact, for many of us, and remember happiness and joy are two different things.

Happiness is circumstantially driven joy is internal well-being. Notice the response then and so they went on their way from the presence of the Council rejoicing.

Wasn't that a great flogging, like I knew what he was doing. You see, they want on their way to the presence of the Council rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name and every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus the Christ. See, you couldn't have a bad day and take their joy away. You know why because actually makes one sick see when you have the joy of the Lord.

It's unsinkable is not high to bad circumstances after the on the radio ministry of fellowship Lord, if you ever missed one of our broadcasting or maybe you just like to listen to the message one more time. Remember that you can do a great website called in one place.com that's one place.com and you can listen the fellowship and the word online event website you will find on today's broadcast but also many of our previous audio programs as well have Fellowship in the Word. We are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help his radio ministry continuous broadcast on this radio station by supporting a monthly fourth is the one time gift support for ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word. 4600 Clearview Pkwy., Metairie, LA 7006 if you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format that is is a sermon, the pastor will deliver during a Sunday morning service of fellowship monitored visit our website SBC Nola.org that SBC and LA..org website you will find hundreds pastor Bill sermon you can browse through our sermon archives defined sermon series are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the messenger looking for. You can listen online or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listening.

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