1
00:00:01,579 --> 00:00:07,289
It is a tremendous privilege for me to be here this morning.

2
00:00:07,289 --> 00:00:08,910
This is going to be kind of unusual.

3
00:00:08,910 --> 00:00:13,815
It's not going to be what you would
consider probably a Sunday sermon.

4
00:00:13,815 --> 00:00:16,719
It's going to be more like discipleship.

5
00:00:16,719 --> 00:00:20,584
We're going to look at some very, very simple

6
00:00:20,584 --> 00:00:23,476
but very important and foundational truths that--

7
00:00:23,476 --> 00:00:30,073
well, my purpose is this: I want to see you with more joy.

8
00:00:30,073 --> 00:00:33,480
I want to see you more greatly encouraged.

9
00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:37,025
Now, this is not going to be a sermon
that kind of stirs the emotions

10
00:00:37,025 --> 00:00:41,001
so that you walk out here with some kind of spiritual high.

11
00:00:41,001 --> 00:00:44,587
But it's going to teach you a few things

12
00:00:44,587 --> 00:00:52,303
that if you will live by them, it will increase your joy.

13
00:00:52,303 --> 00:00:57,814
And increasing your joy, it will increase everything else good

14
00:00:57,814 --> 00:01:00,444
that the Lord has put in your life.

15
00:01:00,444 --> 00:01:03,192
I want you to be encouraged.

16
00:01:03,192 --> 00:01:09,267
So often I look at God's people - I'm talking about God's people;

17
00:01:09,267 --> 00:01:13,641
people who show the fruit of salvation in their life -

18
00:01:13,641 --> 00:01:18,401
and yet so often they seem so downcast,

19
00:01:18,401 --> 00:01:24,956
so tight in their heart, so trodden down.

20
00:01:24,956 --> 00:01:26,130
I don't want that.

21
00:01:26,130 --> 00:01:29,148
That's not God's will for you.

22
00:01:29,148 --> 00:01:33,755
God's will for you is to recognize all that He is,

23
00:01:33,755 --> 00:01:39,012
all that He has done, all that He will do.

24
00:01:39,013 --> 00:01:44,116
For you to recognize that, grasp it,
and walk in the power of it. (P)

25
00:01:44,116 --> 00:01:47,000
Now I want to start off by saying something,

26
00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:53,889
that there are great biblical truths
that are absolutely necessary to live by.

27
00:01:53,889 --> 00:01:58,145
But oftentimes, in the heart and mind of a believer,

28
00:01:58,145 --> 00:02:01,356
they become nothing more than clichés.

29
00:02:01,356 --> 00:02:03,426
Because we can say them,

30
00:02:03,426 --> 00:02:06,997
we can even know that they're true to some degree,

31
00:02:06,997 --> 00:02:09,692
but we really can't articulate them.

32
00:02:09,693 --> 00:02:13,806
We really don't know what they mean.

33
00:02:13,806 --> 00:02:17,568
And if we use them often enough,
they'll end up in bittering our heart

34
00:02:17,568 --> 00:02:22,773
because we say things, and yet they
seem to have no power to change us.

35
00:02:22,774 --> 00:02:24,157
Let me give you an example.

36
00:02:24,157 --> 00:02:25,758
You're downcast and trodden.

37
00:02:25,758 --> 00:02:30,634
And someone comes up to you and says,
"You just need to trust in God."

38
00:02:30,634 --> 00:02:34,395
Yeah, but what do you mean?

39
00:02:34,395 --> 00:02:37,355
What does it really mean to trust in God?

40
00:02:37,355 --> 00:02:40,748
Or, "You just need to look to Christ."

41
00:02:40,748 --> 00:02:47,332
Where? Where do I look? What are you talking about?

42
00:02:47,332 --> 00:02:51,002
Or, "You just need to contemplate and meditate upon the gospel."

43
00:02:51,002 --> 00:02:55,393
Or, "You just need to savor and relish the gospel."

44
00:02:55,393 --> 00:02:59,670
Yes. But what does that mean?

45
00:02:59,671 --> 00:03:01,452
How do I do it?

46
00:03:01,452 --> 00:03:03,988
What are you really talking about?

47
00:03:03,988 --> 00:03:08,228
Or, "Hey, don't be downcast. The joy of the Lord is our strength."

48
00:03:08,228 --> 00:03:10,368
Yeah, I know. I read that in Nehemiah 2.

49
00:03:10,368 --> 00:03:13,261
But what does it mean?

50
00:03:13,261 --> 00:03:17,453
How can it really impact my life? (P)

51
00:03:17,453 --> 00:03:18,871
I was a brand new believer,

52
00:03:18,871 --> 00:03:22,844
well, probably about less than a year into the Christian faith.

53
00:03:22,844 --> 00:03:26,197
And I went to hear Leonard Ravenhill preach.

54
00:03:26,197 --> 00:03:29,097
But before he preached, a younger preacher got up and preached.

55
00:03:29,097 --> 00:03:33,911
And he preached about an hour and a half
on how we all needed to walk in the Spirit.

56
00:03:33,911 --> 00:03:35,245
It was powerful.

57
00:03:35,246 --> 00:03:38,366
I mean, he was yelling at us, he was rebuking us,

58
00:03:38,366 --> 00:03:42,556
he was admonishing us to walk in the Spirit.

59
00:03:42,556 --> 00:03:47,365
After the sermon, I went up to him and I said,
"I really appreciate that sermon.

60
00:03:47,365 --> 00:03:51,608
It was really good. I really want to walk in the Spirit.

61
00:03:51,608 --> 00:03:56,015
I just have one problem: I don't have a clue what that means.

62
00:03:56,015 --> 00:03:59,748
What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?"

63
00:03:59,748 --> 00:04:05,801
He looked at me, got very serious,
and then began to basically tell me off.

64
00:04:05,801 --> 00:04:08,668
But I was very fortunate, there was an older believer

65
00:04:08,668 --> 00:04:11,442
(a college student but at many more years in the faith.

66
00:04:11,442 --> 00:04:13,264
They were a senior, I think)

67
00:04:13,264 --> 00:04:15,547
who was standing behind me

68
00:04:15,547 --> 00:04:19,418
and put his hand on my shoulder
and pushed me out of the way.

69
00:04:19,418 --> 00:04:25,178
And he walked up to that preacher and said,
"Preacher, you didn't answer his question.

70
00:04:25,178 --> 00:04:27,735
You didn't tell him how to walk in the Spirit.

71
00:04:27,735 --> 00:04:30,526
You did not tell us how to do that in the sermon.

72
00:04:30,526 --> 00:04:33,228
You're not telling him how to do that now.

73
00:04:33,228 --> 00:04:38,391
Do you even know what it means to walk in the Spirit?"

74
00:04:38,391 --> 00:04:40,231
You want to ruin a lot of good sermons?

75
00:04:40,231 --> 00:04:45,634
Raise your hand and ask them what they're talking about. (P)

76
00:04:45,634 --> 00:04:50,885
The question is we hear all these great truths,

77
00:04:50,885 --> 00:04:54,460
but sometimes they just spin around in our heads.

78
00:04:54,460 --> 00:04:56,604
They spin around in our heads.

79
00:04:56,604 --> 00:05:01,063
You all know that there's a thing called Systematic Theology, right?

80
00:05:01,063 --> 00:05:04,727
Well, why is it called systematic theology?

81
00:05:04,727 --> 00:05:09,692
Because it's theology that's presented in a systematic way.

82
00:05:09,692 --> 00:05:11,061
Now why is that necessary?

83
00:05:11,061 --> 00:05:14,035
Because you and I, in our mind, we use categories.

84
00:05:14,035 --> 00:05:16,265
We do. We can't get away from it.

85
00:05:16,265 --> 00:05:24,710
We think, "This is a reality, and this is a reality, therefore this."

86
00:05:24,710 --> 00:05:30,804
Well, it's the same way sometimes when we study the Scriptures.

87
00:05:30,804 --> 00:05:35,154
How can I take all these truths that are swirling around

88
00:05:35,154 --> 00:05:43,596
and really put them in a category so that
I can actually do something with them?

89
00:05:43,597 --> 00:05:44,772
Okay?

90
00:05:44,772 --> 00:05:49,851
Now I want to give you a statement
that I wrote out in my mind

91
00:05:49,851 --> 00:05:56,066
at about 3:00 AM on Thanksgiving morning,
because I couldn't sleep.

92
00:05:56,066 --> 00:06:01,722
And it's this: I want to talk about the four pillars,

93
00:06:01,722 --> 00:06:08,279
just four simple pillars of, well, you can call it the Christian life.

94
00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:13,703
You can talk about four pillars of walking with God,

95
00:06:13,703 --> 00:06:16,235
four pillars of being encouraged,

96
00:06:16,235 --> 00:06:18,292
four pillars leading to obedience,

97
00:06:18,292 --> 00:06:19,798
I don't care what you call it. (P)

98
00:06:19,798 --> 00:06:24,911
But here are four things that I want to give you:

99
00:06:24,911 --> 00:06:30,352
Knowledge of the truth. That's the first one.

100
00:06:30,352 --> 00:06:32,776
Knowledge of the truth.

101
00:06:32,776 --> 00:06:34,875
And we're going to go through these separately.

102
00:06:34,875 --> 00:06:39,369
But knowledge of the truth is the beginning.

103
00:06:39,369 --> 00:06:44,838
"You will know the truth" about everything,

104
00:06:44,838 --> 00:06:49,742
about everything in the Scriptures,
about every aspect of the Christian life.

105
00:06:49,742 --> 00:06:52,612
It is important to know the truth.

106
00:06:52,612 --> 00:06:59,567
You must know truth and be able to discern
the difference between truth and a lie.

107
00:06:59,567 --> 00:07:01,355
That's essential.

108
00:07:01,355 --> 00:07:05,221
And that's the first pillar, the first foundation.

109
00:07:05,221 --> 00:07:12,624
Knowledge of the truth apprehended by faith.

110
00:07:12,624 --> 00:07:21,300
It's not enough to know these things but to actually believe them,

111
00:07:21,300 --> 00:07:26,454
so that although they are unseen, they are still greater,

112
00:07:26,454 --> 00:07:31,907
they can become even greater realities than that which is seen.

113
00:07:31,907 --> 00:07:35,131
So it's knowledge of the truth,

114
00:07:35,131 --> 00:07:46,304
and then it is you believing that truth
as opposed to believing a lie.

115
00:07:46,304 --> 00:07:52,496
Knowledge of the truth, faith in what is true,

116
00:07:52,496 --> 00:07:55,070
believing what is true,

117
00:07:55,070 --> 00:08:02,550
and, that, in the Christian life, will always lead to joy. (P)

118
00:08:02,550 --> 00:08:10,388
The more you apprehend the truth about who God is,

119
00:08:10,388 --> 00:08:13,514
about what God has decreed,

120
00:08:13,514 --> 00:08:18,926
about what God has done, and what God will do:

121
00:08:18,926 --> 00:08:23,183
and with each one of those, I could end it
"for you, for you, for you, for you."

122
00:08:23,183 --> 00:08:30,489
The more you grasp it and believe it, the greater your joy.

123
00:08:30,490 --> 00:08:40,357
And I cannot in any shape, form or fashion
overemphasize the importance of joy.

124
00:08:40,357 --> 00:08:47,331
I think it is the thing that energizes the Christian.

125
00:08:47,331 --> 00:08:49,107
Joy.

126
00:08:49,107 --> 00:08:54,787
And then the last pillar is obedience.

127
00:08:54,787 --> 00:08:57,536
Now I'm going to talk about this later,
but I want you to realize something.

128
00:08:57,536 --> 00:09:02,603
Joy comes before obedience rather than after.

129
00:09:02,603 --> 00:09:08,677
And if you don't understand that,
you will really be messed up all your days.

130
00:09:08,677 --> 00:09:12,096
Joy is not the result of obedience.

131
00:09:12,096 --> 00:09:17,231
Joy is the result of what God has done.

132
00:09:17,231 --> 00:09:22,458
So now your joy is fixed on a fixed and stable source.

133
00:09:22,458 --> 00:09:25,105
When your joy is based on your performance,

134
00:09:25,105 --> 00:09:29,707
it's going to be up and down like the wind,

135
00:09:29,707 --> 00:09:32,499
up and down like the raging sea,

136
00:09:32,499 --> 00:09:39,669
double-minded, mutable, changing constantly.

137
00:09:39,669 --> 00:09:42,465
You see that. (P)

138
00:09:44,474 --> 00:09:48,831
Now we're going to look at each one of these now,

139
00:09:48,831 --> 00:09:51,439
each one of these pillars, and there's four of them.

140
00:09:51,439 --> 00:09:54,129
Again, knowledge of the truth,

141
00:09:54,129 --> 00:10:02,167
faith in the truth leading to joy, which leads to obedience.

142
00:10:02,167 --> 00:10:03,469
Now let's go.

143
00:10:03,469 --> 00:10:07,110
First of all, knowledge. Knowledge of what?

144
00:10:07,110 --> 00:10:08,896
And I want you to use this.

145
00:10:08,896 --> 00:10:13,519
You can use this as a pattern (I do) for reading the Scriptures.

146
00:10:13,519 --> 00:10:18,623
When I read the Scriptures, what am I looking for primarily?

147
00:10:18,623 --> 00:10:21,535
Well, let me digress a little bit.

148
00:10:21,535 --> 00:10:25,914
This is what I'm looking for primarily when I read the Scriptures:

149
00:10:25,914 --> 00:10:30,104
Who is God? Who is God?

150
00:10:30,104 --> 00:10:33,289
That's my number one question when
I'm reading any passage of Scripture.

151
00:10:33,289 --> 00:10:36,078
What does it tell me about God?

152
00:10:36,078 --> 00:10:43,347
What does it tell me, not only about God, but about God for me?

153
00:10:43,347 --> 00:10:45,720
Yeah.

154
00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:52,892
And then what does it tell me about
what God has decreed for me?

155
00:10:52,892 --> 00:10:59,278
What has He decreed about me, about my life?

156
00:10:59,278 --> 00:11:03,237
What has God done?

157
00:11:03,237 --> 00:11:08,073
What has He done in history, in the world, in the gospel?

158
00:11:08,073 --> 00:11:12,905
What has He done for me also?

159
00:11:12,905 --> 00:11:16,619
And then, finally, what will He do? (P)

160
00:11:16,619 --> 00:11:20,017
But now let's just look: Knowledge of who God is.

161
00:11:20,017 --> 00:11:23,106
That's the first thing I'm looking for
when I'm studying the Scriptures.

162
00:11:23,106 --> 00:11:25,992
What does it tell me about God?

163
00:11:25,992 --> 00:11:32,223
Because if the Scriptures reveal to me
this wonderful, wonderful, wonderful God,

164
00:11:32,223 --> 00:11:34,005
it has a way of increasing my joy

165
00:11:34,005 --> 00:11:38,916
when I know that this wonderful Being
is in control of my life.

166
00:11:38,916 --> 00:11:41,237
Jeremiah says this, "Thus says the Lord,

167
00:11:41,237 --> 00:11:43,999
Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom,

168
00:11:43,999 --> 00:11:46,573
and let not the mighty man boast of his might,

169
00:11:46,573 --> 00:11:48,753
let not a rich man boast of his riches,

170
00:11:48,753 --> 00:11:51,401
but let him who boasts boast of this,

171
00:11:51,401 --> 00:11:53,533
that he understands and knows Me,

172
00:11:53,533 --> 00:11:59,608
that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness,
justice and righteousness on the earth,

173
00:11:59,608 --> 00:12:01,824
for I delight in these things, declares the Lord." (P)

174
00:12:01,824 --> 00:12:06,535
Now, saint, I've talked enough to enough of you

175
00:12:06,535 --> 00:12:11,596
to know that many times when you study the attributes of God,

176
00:12:11,596 --> 00:12:14,187
it is not an encouragement to you,

177
00:12:14,187 --> 00:12:17,769
because you're studying the moral attributes of God

178
00:12:17,769 --> 00:12:21,804
without doing it in light of the gospel.

179
00:12:21,804 --> 00:12:27,552
So when you hear God is holy, holy, holy, you kind of cringe,

180
00:12:27,553 --> 00:12:29,653
because you look in the mirror and see your own life

181
00:12:29,654 --> 00:12:31,895
and you recognize, "I'm not really that holy."

182
00:12:31,895 --> 00:12:35,055
And so, instead of it leading to hymns of praise,

183
00:12:35,055 --> 00:12:38,200
you write a song like this: "You are holy, and I am a worm.

184
00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:40,076
Step on me and watch me squirm."

185
00:12:40,076 --> 00:12:43,833
You do things like that.

186
00:12:43,833 --> 00:12:47,763
So you see, holiness is something to be afraid of - why? -

187
00:12:47,763 --> 00:12:51,691
because you see the reality of your sin
but you're not looking at the gospel. (P)

188
00:12:51,691 --> 00:12:55,221
Holiness now, for you, is wonderful !

189
00:12:55,221 --> 00:12:59,082
This God will never sin against me.

190
00:12:59,082 --> 00:13:01,405
He will never be common.

191
00:13:01,405 --> 00:13:03,940
He will never be profane.

192
00:13:03,940 --> 00:13:07,665
This God who is for me is holy.

193
00:13:07,665 --> 00:13:11,955
And then you hear about righteous -
He doeth all things in a right manner.

194
00:13:11,955 --> 00:13:14,610
He is wrong in nothing.

195
00:13:14,610 --> 00:13:18,726
Now if I see that apart from the gospel,
the only thing I can see is judgment.

196
00:13:18,726 --> 00:13:21,947
But if I see that in the gospel, I say this:

197
00:13:21,947 --> 00:13:26,862
"If God is for me, who can be against me?

198
00:13:26,862 --> 00:13:35,333
If God, not 25% for me,
not 75% for me, not 99% for me;

199
00:13:35,334 --> 00:13:40,044
this holy, righteous God is 100% for me,

200
00:13:40,044 --> 00:13:44,276
and 100% of His holiness,
and 100% of His righteousness,

201
00:13:44,276 --> 00:13:47,743
and 100% of His justice is for me.

202
00:13:47,744 --> 00:13:50,032
It's on my side."

203
00:13:50,032 --> 00:13:52,159
Do you see that?

204
00:13:52,159 --> 00:13:56,664
It's no longer against me.

205
00:13:56,664 --> 00:14:00,766
And so if I look at who God is in light of the gospel,

206
00:14:00,766 --> 00:14:06,913
then all these things that, when I was a sinner,
were a terror to me,

207
00:14:06,913 --> 00:14:09,295
they're now a joy to me.

208
00:14:09,295 --> 00:14:11,237
I'm not afraid of them.

209
00:14:11,238 --> 00:14:13,501
Not because I look in the mirror deluded

210
00:14:13,501 --> 00:14:17,233
and see some perfect person who's not there.

211
00:14:17,233 --> 00:14:20,184
No, but because I know the gospel.

212
00:14:20,184 --> 00:14:23,598
Everything has changed. (P)

213
00:14:23,598 --> 00:14:28,870
When Paul says, his argument in 2 Corinthians 5:17,

214
00:14:28,870 --> 00:14:33,350
"If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation.

215
00:14:33,350 --> 00:14:37,527
Old things pass away, new things have come."

216
00:14:37,528 --> 00:14:38,782
What is he saying?

217
00:14:38,782 --> 00:14:43,023
He's actually talking about
probably the last chapters in Isaiah

218
00:14:43,023 --> 00:14:44,883
when it talks about a new heaven and a new earth.

219
00:14:44,883 --> 00:14:48,300
You're the beginning. Do you realize that?

220
00:14:48,300 --> 00:14:56,799
You are the beginning of a new heaven and a new earth.

221
00:14:56,799 --> 00:14:59,862
And Paul's saying, if you look at it in the context,

222
00:14:59,862 --> 00:15:04,508
he's basically saying this:
"I look at Christ now completely different.

223
00:15:04,508 --> 00:15:08,872
And in the light of Christ,
I look at everything else completely different.

224
00:15:08,872 --> 00:15:15,688
Who I am before God, my past, my present,
my future, God's relationship with me,

225
00:15:15,688 --> 00:15:20,541
my relationship with God, it is completely changed."

226
00:15:20,541 --> 00:15:27,647
So now, in light of the gospel,
I don't hide myself from the Bible.

227
00:15:27,647 --> 00:15:31,595
I don't sit there and go,
"Oh, don't tell me He's holy. It scares me."

228
00:15:31,595 --> 00:15:36,653
It doesn't scare me anymore. Not at all.

229
00:15:36,654 --> 00:15:38,858
It's wonderful. Tell me more.

230
00:15:38,858 --> 00:15:43,736
Tell me more. Tell me more, please!

231
00:15:43,736 --> 00:15:50,361
Because this God who is holy and righteous
and just and everything else is for me.

232
00:15:50,361 --> 00:15:53,789
Do you see that?

233
00:15:55,718 --> 00:16:01,539
Okay. The people from Georgia, say, "Amen" [laughter].

234
00:16:01,539 --> 00:16:05,773
He's for me. Do you see that? (P)

235
00:16:05,773 --> 00:16:07,162
Now what else?

236
00:16:07,162 --> 00:16:13,901
Not only who is God, What has God decreed?

237
00:16:13,901 --> 00:16:18,108
I mean, before the foundation of the world,

238
00:16:18,108 --> 00:16:22,666
what did He write down with regard to
what He's going to do with you?

239
00:16:22,666 --> 00:16:24,700
It's amazing!

240
00:16:24,700 --> 00:16:29,607
Whenever you hear the word "foreknowledge",
realize that it also has within it God's sovereignty.

241
00:16:29,607 --> 00:16:36,005
But it also has this idea of His plan is not
something He just threw together.

242
00:16:36,005 --> 00:16:38,936
This is, if we can say such a thing,

243
00:16:38,936 --> 00:16:42,282
this is taking the full force of all His mental faculty.

244
00:16:42,282 --> 00:16:45,539
This is He's thought about this.

245
00:16:45,539 --> 00:16:48,618
Not only did He choose you
before the foundation of the world,

246
00:16:48,618 --> 00:16:52,357
before the foundation of the world He set forth a plan

247
00:16:52,357 --> 00:16:55,607
of what He's going to do with you.

248
00:16:55,607 --> 00:16:57,952
Just look for a minute at creation.

249
00:16:57,952 --> 00:17:04,058
Romans 8:21, "The creation itself also will be
set free from its slavery to corruption

250
00:17:04,058 --> 00:17:11,767
into the freedom of the glory of the children of God."

251
00:17:11,767 --> 00:17:13,728
Think about that.

252
00:17:13,729 --> 00:17:19,128
Everything in creation that moans
and groans, along with my bones,

253
00:17:19,130 --> 00:17:24,210
everything in creation that gets old and tears down

254
00:17:24,210 --> 00:17:27,128
and breaks and is ruined and is dirty,

255
00:17:27,128 --> 00:17:29,684
it's all going to be set free.

256
00:17:29,684 --> 00:17:31,436
He decreed it!

257
00:17:31,436 --> 00:17:38,246
Not only set free, but turned over to the children of God.

258
00:17:38,246 --> 00:17:42,961
That's enough to make me greatly happy. (P)

259
00:17:42,961 --> 00:17:50,085
2 Peter 3:13, "But according to His promise we
are looking for new heavens and a new earth,

260
00:17:50,085 --> 00:17:53,719
in which righteousness dwells."

261
00:17:53,719 --> 00:17:58,188
I do believe that back in the '70s,
there wasn't too much teaching

262
00:17:58,188 --> 00:18:00,143
(most of you weren't born in the '70s),

263
00:18:00,144 --> 00:18:02,626
but there wasn't too much teaching on eschatology.

264
00:18:02,626 --> 00:18:05,659
There was just a bunch of wrong teaching on eschatology.

265
00:18:05,659 --> 00:18:10,943
I want you to know that the study
and what the Bible reveals about the last things

266
00:18:10,944 --> 00:18:13,806
is absolutely wonderful and motivating.

267
00:18:13,806 --> 00:18:23,178
It lets me know that there are great things in store for me.

268
00:18:23,178 --> 00:18:28,499
All the wonder and all the mystery,

269
00:18:28,499 --> 00:18:33,910
the knowledge of God in the fullest way possible.

270
00:18:33,910 --> 00:18:36,504
The knowledge of His creation.
The knowledge of everything.

271
00:18:36,504 --> 00:18:40,354
I always get mad at those patriarchs who lived 900 years.

272
00:18:40,354 --> 00:18:42,852
I go, "God, why can't I live 900 years?

273
00:18:42,852 --> 00:18:45,107
Afterall, I really do want to know physics.

274
00:18:45,107 --> 00:18:47,242
I want to study this other thing too.

275
00:18:47,242 --> 00:18:50,860
There's so many things in life I want to know I can't know."

276
00:18:50,860 --> 00:18:54,078
One day, all of this is going to be set free from corruption,

277
00:18:54,078 --> 00:18:57,296
and I'm going to be basking in it,

278
00:18:57,296 --> 00:19:03,756
searching out the glory of God under every perfect stone. (P)

279
00:19:03,756 --> 00:19:05,728
He goes on.

280
00:19:05,728 --> 00:19:12,200
Not only what He's decreed for creation,
but what He's decreed for God's people.

281
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,705
For you.

282
00:19:15,848 --> 00:19:21,963
I know you look in the mirror of God's Word,

283
00:19:21,963 --> 00:19:25,788
and sometimes you're even disgusted with yourself.

284
00:19:25,788 --> 00:19:28,613
At least, I am.

285
00:19:31,053 --> 00:19:33,479
I have no hope.

286
00:19:33,479 --> 00:19:41,046
It brings no joy just looking in the mirror at myself.

287
00:19:41,046 --> 00:19:47,566
Listen to what He says, "For I know the plans
that I have for you, declares the Lord,

288
00:19:47,566 --> 00:19:53,368
plans for welfare and not for calamity,
to give you a future and a hope."

289
00:19:53,368 --> 00:19:56,282
Yes, I know that was stated to Israel through Jeremiah

290
00:19:56,282 --> 00:19:58,850
and it had to do with those in exile.

291
00:19:58,850 --> 00:20:05,655
But it applies to us. It applies to all of God's people.

292
00:20:05,655 --> 00:20:11,741
Do you honestly think He gave His only
begotten Son and did all these things,

293
00:20:11,741 --> 00:20:14,358
so that the first time you see Him in Heaven

294
00:20:14,358 --> 00:20:18,505
He will have a scowl on His face because of all your failure?

295
00:20:18,506 --> 00:20:23,171
Did He really do all that so He could do that later?

296
00:20:23,171 --> 00:20:25,076
No!

297
00:20:25,076 --> 00:20:29,408
He's fixed it. He's fixed it all.

298
00:20:29,408 --> 00:20:35,092
He's made it all good, and that's why we have joy. (P)

299
00:20:35,092 --> 00:20:36,813
And here's something else you need to see.

300
00:20:36,813 --> 00:20:40,576
It isn't like, "Okay, I'm going to do certain things in this life

301
00:20:40,576 --> 00:20:44,372
and then my eternity is fixed
when I get there after judgment.

302
00:20:44,373 --> 00:20:46,887
And who knows what's going to happen?
I've done so bad."

303
00:20:46,887 --> 00:20:52,041
Did He really spill the blood of His Son
so that you would live that way?

304
00:20:52,041 --> 00:20:56,304
Is that the great hope that He has given to
even the weakest of His children?

305
00:20:56,304 --> 00:20:58,896
Absolutely not!

306
00:20:59,754 --> 00:21:04,925
The whole thing about this glory
that God gets out of our salvation

307
00:21:04,925 --> 00:21:08,955
is that there's only one hero and it's God.

308
00:21:08,955 --> 00:21:12,106
No one else is a hero.

309
00:21:12,106 --> 00:21:14,874
Everyone else just fails.

310
00:21:14,874 --> 00:21:17,554
There's only one Covenant-Keeper.

311
00:21:17,554 --> 00:21:21,783
There's only one Servant of Yahweh.

312
00:21:21,783 --> 00:21:24,372
So when the Jehovah Witnesses come and visit my house,

313
00:21:24,373 --> 00:21:27,683
and they say, "We're Jehovah Witnesses," I say, "No, you're not.

314
00:21:27,683 --> 00:21:30,808
He's only had one Witness and you're not it.

315
00:21:30,808 --> 00:21:35,513
It's His Son. It's His Son." (P)

316
00:21:35,513 --> 00:21:42,342
Just like I point out sometimes whenever
I am in a discussion about literature,

317
00:21:42,342 --> 00:21:45,708
and I point out that the difference
between Tolkien and C.S Lewis,

318
00:21:45,708 --> 00:21:49,226
and the Chronicles of Narnia
and the Lord of the Rings is this:

319
00:21:49,226 --> 00:21:52,537
In the Lord of the Rings, there's all kinds of heroes.

320
00:21:52,537 --> 00:21:57,807
In the Chronicles of Narnia, everyone fails every time,

321
00:21:57,808 --> 00:21:59,745
and everything's a mess.

322
00:21:59,745 --> 00:22:02,685
And then Aslan shows up.

323
00:22:02,685 --> 00:22:05,717
That's Christianity.

324
00:22:06,154 --> 00:22:07,714
It's what He's decreed.

325
00:22:07,715 --> 00:22:10,018
You see, the whole idea of Him getting glory

326
00:22:10,018 --> 00:22:16,443
is He takes something like you were,
something like I was

327
00:22:16,443 --> 00:22:21,846
- rejected, reprobate, wrong in absolutely everything -

328
00:22:21,846 --> 00:22:27,787
and He takes that, and by Himself He makes it glorious.

329
00:22:27,787 --> 00:22:29,418
You're a recipient.

330
00:22:29,418 --> 00:22:34,232
If there is one thing that will be written
on our foreheads throughout all eternity,

331
00:22:34,232 --> 00:22:42,206
it will be "Recipient of Grace". (P)

332
00:22:42,207 --> 00:22:44,701
So we look at what He is, who He is.

333
00:22:44,701 --> 00:22:47,862
We look at what He's decreed.

334
00:22:47,862 --> 00:22:50,228
We look at what He's done.

335
00:22:50,228 --> 00:22:52,779
Why do we read the Old Testament?

336
00:22:52,779 --> 00:22:55,404
To see what He's done in history.

337
00:22:55,404 --> 00:22:57,778
Listen to what Paul says in Romans 15:4,

338
00:22:57,778 --> 00:23:01,571
"For whatever was written in earlier times
was written for our instruction,

339
00:23:01,571 --> 00:23:08,555
so that through perseverance and the
encouragement of the Scriptures,

340
00:23:08,555 --> 00:23:10,277
we might have hope."

341
00:23:10,278 --> 00:23:17,474
Many people read the Scriptures
only walking away thinking they're a failure.

342
00:23:17,474 --> 00:23:24,836
They should walk away thinking,
"Yeah, but God is a bigger Savior."

343
00:23:24,837 --> 00:23:29,506
He proved it every time,
every time, every time, every time.

344
00:23:29,506 --> 00:23:31,047
He never failed.

345
00:23:31,047 --> 00:23:35,415
And therefore, even when my sin is pointed out,

346
00:23:35,415 --> 00:23:39,932
though sadness may be for a morn, for an evening,

347
00:23:39,932 --> 00:23:42,732
the sun rises because I know who He is.

348
00:23:42,732 --> 00:23:44,464
I know who He is.

349
00:23:44,464 --> 00:23:49,488
Unless you are a self-righteous pharisaical legalist,

350
00:23:49,488 --> 00:23:55,032
you can never have joy by looking at
your own reflection in the mirror.

351
00:23:55,032 --> 00:23:58,491
Unless you're deluded.

352
00:23:58,491 --> 00:24:03,214
You have joy looking in the Scriptures to find God.

353
00:24:03,214 --> 00:24:06,457
Find out how wonderful He is throughout history.

354
00:24:06,457 --> 00:24:12,100
See the great sinners that He has
saved throughout history. (P)

355
00:24:12,100 --> 00:24:18,126
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, after reading the
two-volume biography by Ian Murray,

356
00:24:18,126 --> 00:24:21,137
which I recommend to every believer.

357
00:24:21,137 --> 00:24:24,049
They're really big books but for once in your life,

358
00:24:24,049 --> 00:24:28,567
you got to read at least one or two big books.

359
00:24:28,567 --> 00:24:36,038
At the end, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, everybody who visited him,

360
00:24:36,038 --> 00:24:39,150
he only had one thing to say,

361
00:24:39,150 --> 00:24:47,776
"I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior.

362
00:24:47,776 --> 00:24:52,144
I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior."

363
00:24:52,144 --> 00:24:54,161
Now if you're a lost carnal church member,

364
00:24:54,161 --> 00:24:59,583
you'll latch on to that and use it as an excuse for sin.

365
00:24:59,583 --> 00:25:04,844
But if you're truly converted, you'll go,
"This is wonderful. I want to be more holy."

366
00:25:04,844 --> 00:25:09,401
But now out of joy instead of fear. (P)

367
00:25:09,401 --> 00:25:13,386
What God has done in history;
what God has done in the gospel.

368
00:25:13,386 --> 00:25:15,503
Listen to this: Romans 8:32,

369
00:25:15,503 --> 00:25:21,209
"He who did not spare His own Son,
but delivered Him over for us all,

370
00:25:21,209 --> 00:25:25,147
how will He not also with Him
freely give us all things?"

371
00:25:25,147 --> 00:25:29,611
He spared not His Son for you.

372
00:25:29,611 --> 00:25:32,594
He spared not His Son for you.

373
00:25:32,594 --> 00:25:35,052
Why would He make such a deposit?

374
00:25:35,052 --> 00:25:41,516
Why would He give such an expense?
Why would He do it?

375
00:25:41,516 --> 00:25:44,930
So that He could withhold favor from you?

376
00:25:44,930 --> 00:25:50,930
So that He could keep you looking at how bad you are?

377
00:25:50,930 --> 00:25:53,578
So that He could get you all in heaven
and make you feel bad

378
00:25:53,578 --> 00:25:57,857
because all you've got is a little cabin
over in a swamp somewhere?

379
00:25:57,857 --> 00:26:00,348
Is that why He did it?

380
00:26:00,348 --> 00:26:06,326
He did it in order to lavish grace upon His people.

381
00:26:06,326 --> 00:26:17,151
To take the smallest, tiniest, most awkward saint,
and set them above seraphs.

382
00:26:17,151 --> 00:26:18,875
Do you see that?

383
00:26:18,875 --> 00:26:21,726
And this is where joy comes from.

384
00:26:21,726 --> 00:26:29,646
Who He is, what He's decreed, and what He has done,

385
00:26:29,646 --> 00:26:36,588
in history, in the gospel, but also in you, in you. (P)

386
00:26:36,588 --> 00:26:38,956
Sometimes believers, we really, really mess up,

387
00:26:38,956 --> 00:26:42,168
because we look at other believers
and we can see they really have fruit

388
00:26:42,168 --> 00:26:43,311
and they really are believers.

389
00:26:43,311 --> 00:26:49,663
And we do not recognize
how radical God has changed them.

390
00:26:49,664 --> 00:26:56,095
What a masterpiece they truly are
compared to what they were.

391
00:26:57,231 --> 00:27:07,169
Listen, Romans 5:1 should be enough to make us dance.

392
00:27:07,169 --> 00:27:10,851
"Therefore, having been justified by faith,

393
00:27:10,851 --> 00:27:17,656
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

394
00:27:17,656 --> 00:27:19,893
Temporary peace?

395
00:27:19,893 --> 00:27:23,251
Peace dependent upon some performance?

396
00:27:23,251 --> 00:27:28,527
No. Peace. Peace. God's peace. Eternal peace.

397
00:27:28,527 --> 00:27:33,759
Immutable peace. Covenantal peace.

398
00:27:33,759 --> 00:27:41,034
He who does not lie has promised you peace,
peace forever, peace always, peace now.

399
00:27:41,034 --> 00:27:42,873
You are justified.

400
00:27:42,873 --> 00:27:46,485
You have been legally declared right with Him.

401
00:27:46,485 --> 00:27:49,339
You have a perfect right-standing before Him.

402
00:27:49,339 --> 00:27:51,578
Even in your glorified body in heaven,

403
00:27:51,578 --> 00:27:56,694
you will not be more right with Him than you are now.

404
00:27:56,694 --> 00:27:59,351
And you've got to walk in that.

405
00:27:59,351 --> 00:28:01,762
Walk in what's unseen.

406
00:28:01,762 --> 00:28:04,938
Walk in the Word.

407
00:28:04,938 --> 00:28:06,327
Do you see that? (P)

408
00:28:06,327 --> 00:28:09,676
II Corinthians 5:21, "He made Him who knew no sin

409
00:28:09,676 --> 00:28:14,847
to be sin on our behalf, so that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him."

410
00:28:14,847 --> 00:28:17,508
The righteousness of God.

411
00:28:17,508 --> 00:28:20,341
I believe it was brother Jeff Shawver that said today

412
00:28:20,341 --> 00:28:23,017
that not even the angels are holy in His sight.

413
00:28:23,017 --> 00:28:26,086
Somebody prayed that.

414
00:28:26,086 --> 00:28:29,778
When it says that heaven is not even clean,

415
00:28:29,778 --> 00:28:31,405
it doesn't mean that heaven is dirty,

416
00:28:31,405 --> 00:28:33,294
and it doesn't mean that angels are sinful.

417
00:28:33,294 --> 00:28:38,131
What it means is that in comparison to God's holiness.

418
00:28:38,131 --> 00:28:43,860
And also, God's holiness is inherent
while all other holiness is derived.

419
00:28:43,860 --> 00:28:45,926
It flows from Him.

420
00:28:45,926 --> 00:28:51,325
But you have been given here, in Christ,
the righteousness of God.

421
00:28:51,326 --> 00:28:55,816
1st John 3:1, "See how great a love
the Father has bestowed on us,

422
00:28:55,816 --> 00:29:02,964
that we would be called the children of God;
and such we are." (P)

423
00:29:02,964 --> 00:29:05,520
I can use Jesus's Sermon on the Mount here

424
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,854
when we get to the point of "if you being evil".

425
00:29:08,854 --> 00:29:10,297
Remember the times Jesus said that?

426
00:29:10,297 --> 00:29:14,412
"If you being evil can do this for your children."

427
00:29:14,412 --> 00:29:18,763
Even in my child (any one of them),

428
00:29:18,763 --> 00:29:22,283
their worst moment of disobedience

429
00:29:22,283 --> 00:29:25,016
(and I can say this with a good conscience)--

430
00:29:25,016 --> 00:29:34,846
In their worst moment of disobedience,
I would die for them a torturous death.

431
00:29:36,925 --> 00:29:42,042
And if I being evil can say that,

432
00:29:42,042 --> 00:29:51,266
how much more does God love me,
does God love you? (P)

433
00:29:51,266 --> 00:29:58,066
Pastor Anthony is constantly
correcting us on low views of God.

434
00:29:58,067 --> 00:30:00,380
But here's a problem:

435
00:30:00,380 --> 00:30:02,493
A lot of you, when you hear "low views of God",

436
00:30:02,493 --> 00:30:05,941
you're only thinking, "What he's telling me is that God is big,

437
00:30:05,941 --> 00:30:07,924
and God is holy, and God is just."

438
00:30:07,924 --> 00:30:10,908
No. Low views of God's love also.

439
00:30:10,908 --> 00:30:12,499
Do you realize that?

440
00:30:12,499 --> 00:30:16,547
You talk about all the superficial Christians
and superficial churches,

441
00:30:16,554 --> 00:30:20,754
and how they have a low view of God's holiness
and a low view of God's justice.

442
00:30:20,754 --> 00:30:21,892
Let me ask you a question.

443
00:30:21,892 --> 00:30:23,881
Do you have a low view of God's love?

444
00:30:23,881 --> 00:30:27,390
Because if you're walking in condemnation as a believer,

445
00:30:27,390 --> 00:30:29,633
if your life is based on your performance,

446
00:30:29,633 --> 00:30:32,735
and your joy is based on what you do, guess what?

447
00:30:32,736 --> 00:30:39,126
You have a low view of God.

448
00:30:39,127 --> 00:30:42,217
It's not just with regard to holiness or righteousness.

449
00:30:42,217 --> 00:30:46,323
It's with regard to His love.

450
00:30:46,323 --> 00:30:49,010
Don't!

451
00:30:49,010 --> 00:30:53,577
You see, if you've entered into the kingdom,
you have finally walked through a door

452
00:30:53,578 --> 00:30:58,003
into a world that is hard to believe.

453
00:30:58,004 --> 00:31:03,758
His love is so great and so unconditional
that at times you want to correct Him.

454
00:31:03,758 --> 00:31:09,295
You want to even rebuke Him, "Lord, this is wrong.

455
00:31:09,295 --> 00:31:16,076
You shouldn't love me this way." (P)

456
00:31:17,417 --> 00:31:23,008
At that poem Michael Card wrote
many years ago about Gomer.

457
00:31:23,009 --> 00:31:30,656
Let's see: "The kindness of a father,
the passion of a child,

458
00:31:30,657 --> 00:31:34,377
the gentleness of a loving friend,
an understanding smile.

459
00:31:34,377 --> 00:31:38,606
All of this and so much more,
you lavished on a faithless whore.

460
00:31:38,606 --> 00:31:40,536
I've never seen love like this before.

461
00:31:40,536 --> 00:31:44,144
Hosea, you're a fool."

462
00:31:44,144 --> 00:31:45,776
That His love is so great.

463
00:31:45,776 --> 00:31:48,068
You're just like that. I'm just like that.

464
00:31:48,068 --> 00:31:51,753
"No, Lord, you don't know what I am."

465
00:31:51,753 --> 00:31:55,399
"Yes I do, before the foundation of the world.

466
00:31:55,399 --> 00:31:58,862
The problem is, Paul, you don't know what I paid.

467
00:31:58,862 --> 00:32:01,978
You don't know who I am."

468
00:32:01,978 --> 00:32:05,074
So don't run around here just because
you understand something of holiness

469
00:32:05,074 --> 00:32:09,772
and think you got a high view of God.

470
00:32:11,289 --> 00:32:14,200
Do you have a high view of God's love?

471
00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:20,047
So high that people would almost think
that your gospel is antinomianism?

472
00:32:20,047 --> 00:32:24,479
Because if your gospel is not accused of antinomianism ever,

473
00:32:24,479 --> 00:32:26,198
then you're probably preaching legalism,

474
00:32:26,198 --> 00:32:29,819
because Paul's gospel was accused
of antinomianism in Romans,

475
00:32:29,819 --> 00:32:34,276
the last part of chapter 5
and the beginning of chapter 6. (P)

476
00:32:34,276 --> 00:32:37,016
Now, again, the regenerate heart hears these things

477
00:32:37,016 --> 00:32:40,977
and wants to follow God's law.

478
00:32:40,977 --> 00:32:44,135
The unregenerate, religious person hears these things

479
00:32:44,135 --> 00:32:48,249
and wants to run from God's law because they hate it.

480
00:32:48,249 --> 00:32:50,613
Now let's go on.

481
00:32:50,613 --> 00:32:55,499
Not only who God is, what God has decreed,

482
00:32:55,499 --> 00:32:59,831
what God has done in history, in the gospel, and in you;

483
00:32:59,831 --> 00:33:02,614
but what God will do.

484
00:33:02,614 --> 00:33:07,724
This is something that I, as a Christian of over 30 years,

485
00:33:07,724 --> 00:33:12,735
if there's any truth that I have to remind myself of,

486
00:33:12,735 --> 00:33:16,490
it's this one more than any other truth.

487
00:33:16,490 --> 00:33:19,949
People will say, "This is the only life you get. You can't hit replay.

488
00:33:19,949 --> 00:33:22,066
You can't hit replay. This is the only life you get."

489
00:33:22,067 --> 00:33:25,168
That's true.

490
00:33:25,169 --> 00:33:30,685
But this is not as good as it gets.

491
00:33:30,686 --> 00:33:35,565
What is waiting for us, future grace.

492
00:33:35,565 --> 00:33:39,662
1st Corinthians 2:9, "Things which eye has not seen

493
00:33:39,662 --> 00:33:41,485
and ear has not heard,

494
00:33:41,485 --> 00:33:44,337
and which have not entered into the heart of man,

495
00:33:44,337 --> 00:33:50,566
all that God has prepared for those who love Him."

496
00:33:50,566 --> 00:33:53,777
And don't you, don't you dare!

497
00:33:53,777 --> 00:33:57,234
because I will come down there and I will whip you.

498
00:33:57,234 --> 00:34:01,177
Don't you say, "Ah, there's the key - for those who love Him.

499
00:34:01,177 --> 00:34:03,335
And I don't love Him perfectly."

500
00:34:03,336 --> 00:34:06,300
Will you just stop it? Stop it.

501
00:34:06,300 --> 00:34:09,643
Stop doing that!

502
00:34:09,643 --> 00:34:13,351
He doesn't love you because your love is perfect. (P)

503
00:34:13,351 --> 00:34:16,228
The tautology that we have in Deuteronomy 7,

504
00:34:16,228 --> 00:34:19,699
where basically it's set before Israel,
"Israel, why do I love you?

505
00:34:19,699 --> 00:34:25,886
Okay, I'll give you the answer.
Israel, I love you because I love you."

506
00:34:25,886 --> 00:34:28,918
And what He's saying is,
"It came from Me. It was my decision.

507
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:33,228
I elected it. I decided it.
I set my love on you. There it is.

508
00:34:33,228 --> 00:34:35,031
My love did not begin with you.

509
00:34:35,032 --> 00:34:37,616
It doesn't stand with you. It won't end with you.

510
00:34:37,617 --> 00:34:41,678
It began with Me, stands with Me, ends with Me. I love you."

511
00:34:41,678 --> 00:34:48,409
"But I don't deserve it." Would you shut up?! (P)

512
00:34:50,514 --> 00:34:54,112
See, Jamie, you don't have to be cultured
or intelligent to preach here.

513
00:34:54,112 --> 00:34:57,634
I'm evidence.

514
00:34:58,984 --> 00:35:02,030
Quit it.

515
00:35:04,053 --> 00:35:08,482
There's a funny thing on YouTube
my wife showed me the other day.

516
00:35:08,483 --> 00:35:11,526
And she loves it because the
person comes into this counselor,

517
00:35:11,526 --> 00:35:12,797
and they tell all the problems.

518
00:35:12,797 --> 00:35:15,527
And the counselor says,
"Well, I can answer this in two words.

519
00:35:15,527 --> 00:35:20,874
Stop it. Stop it."

520
00:35:24,196 --> 00:35:28,299
Ephesians 2:6-7, "And raised us up with Him,

521
00:35:28,299 --> 00:35:32,887
and seated us with Him in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

522
00:35:32,887 --> 00:35:37,007
so that in the ages to come," What?

523
00:35:37,007 --> 00:35:45,950
So that in the ages to come, you can have
a little cabin on a hillside somewhere? No.

524
00:35:45,951 --> 00:35:51,042
"So that in the ages to come,
He might show the surpassing riches

525
00:35:51,042 --> 00:35:56,446
of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus."

526
00:35:56,446 --> 00:36:01,819
God has saved you in order to demonstrate to all creation,

527
00:36:01,819 --> 00:36:04,748
including principalities, powers, mights, and dominions,

528
00:36:04,748 --> 00:36:07,226
how good He is.

529
00:36:07,226 --> 00:36:11,783
That's why He saved you.
And that's why He chose you.

530
00:36:11,783 --> 00:36:15,734
Not many noble. Not many wise.

531
00:36:15,734 --> 00:36:18,422
Not the big ones. Not the smart ones.

532
00:36:18,422 --> 00:36:22,375
Why did He choose the base ones, the weak ones,

533
00:36:22,375 --> 00:36:26,258
the ones that are not? Why?

534
00:36:26,258 --> 00:36:29,936
So that He could show how good He is.

535
00:36:29,936 --> 00:36:32,501
Lavishing the greatest blessings,

536
00:36:32,501 --> 00:36:41,406
turning over the inheritance of his own Son
to the worst humanity has to offer. (P)

537
00:36:42,599 --> 00:36:44,819
Imagine if someone was getting bad press,

538
00:36:44,819 --> 00:36:48,318
a billionaire was getting bad press that he wasn't charitable.

539
00:36:48,318 --> 00:36:52,363
And so he just picks you

540
00:36:52,363 --> 00:36:57,188
and says, "I'm going to use you for a special purpose.

541
00:36:57,188 --> 00:37:00,354
I'm going to lavish all my wealth upon you,

542
00:37:00,354 --> 00:37:02,569
so that every time someone looks at you,

543
00:37:02,569 --> 00:37:08,347
they understand how charitable, how good,
how loving and kind I am."

544
00:37:08,347 --> 00:37:11,782
How many of you would sign up for that?

545
00:37:11,782 --> 00:37:15,581
That's what God has done.

546
00:37:15,581 --> 00:37:23,188
Let me put it this way, that when you walk in to glory,

547
00:37:23,188 --> 00:37:29,388
it will be an object lesson for all creation,

548
00:37:29,388 --> 00:37:34,067
even creation that we don't even know or understand.

549
00:37:34,067 --> 00:37:40,947
And they will look at what you were, and what you are,

550
00:37:40,948 --> 00:37:46,132
what God has done, the grace He has poured out on you.

551
00:37:46,132 --> 00:37:50,941
And they will worship God in a way they
could have never worshiped him before,

552
00:37:50,941 --> 00:37:53,975
if he had not done this good thing for you.

553
00:37:53,975 --> 00:37:55,855
But then it doesn't stop there.

554
00:37:55,855 --> 00:38:00,590
If we could say that there is chronology,
or day after day in Heaven,

555
00:38:00,590 --> 00:38:03,694
if we could say such a thing so that our mind can comprehend it,

556
00:38:03,694 --> 00:38:07,636
every day, God would increase the grace

557
00:38:07,636 --> 00:38:11,188
and lavish more and more upon you each day,

558
00:38:11,188 --> 00:38:14,351
so that each day, all of creation will look at you

559
00:38:14,351 --> 00:38:16,824
and have a greater vision of how God is,

560
00:38:16,824 --> 00:38:20,449
and worship Him to a greater degree. (P)

561
00:38:20,450 --> 00:38:24,430
Folks! That's a great future!

562
00:38:24,430 --> 00:38:30,279
This is absolutely wonderful. It's wonderful.

563
00:38:30,279 --> 00:38:32,654
Sometimes when I'm working on a book on the gospel

564
00:38:32,654 --> 00:38:35,882
and I'll come in the office, and they'll say,
"What did you study yesterday?"

565
00:38:35,882 --> 00:38:40,280
"He's wonderful. He's wonderful."

566
00:38:41,273 --> 00:38:44,130
It doesn't matter what language I know, there's no word.

567
00:38:44,131 --> 00:38:48,007
It makes me so mad.

568
00:38:48,008 --> 00:38:53,084
What's waiting you is so wonderful.

569
00:38:53,084 --> 00:39:00,401
The One waiting you, His name is Wonderful. (P)

570
00:39:02,897 --> 00:39:06,437
Now what must you do? Here's what you do.

571
00:39:06,437 --> 00:39:10,165
First of all, why do we study Scripture?

572
00:39:10,165 --> 00:39:13,101
We study Scripture to know His will,
but that's another sermon.

573
00:39:13,101 --> 00:39:16,480
But I'm talking about you
and your joy and your encouragement.

574
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:18,018
Why do we study Scripture?

575
00:39:18,018 --> 00:39:19,585
To know who He is.

576
00:39:19,585 --> 00:39:21,416
And the more we know about who He is,

577
00:39:21,416 --> 00:39:25,789
the greater our joy if we see Him in light of the gospel,

578
00:39:25,789 --> 00:39:29,495
or our relationship with Him in the light of the gospel.

579
00:39:29,495 --> 00:39:31,148
What He's decreed for you.

580
00:39:31,148 --> 00:39:34,943
This is amazing.

581
00:39:34,944 --> 00:39:40,370
Tell me more. I want to know. What is it?

582
00:39:40,370 --> 00:39:43,418
I know some of you people are so spiritual
that that really doesn't matter.

583
00:39:43,418 --> 00:39:44,615
But to me, it really matters.

584
00:39:44,615 --> 00:39:46,778
I'm excited like a kid at Christmas.

585
00:39:46,778 --> 00:39:51,212
I want to know what's coming. This is so good.

586
00:39:51,212 --> 00:39:54,472
What has He decreed? What has He done?

587
00:39:54,473 --> 00:39:57,446
I'm free. I really am free.

588
00:39:57,446 --> 00:40:00,492
I don't have to move a quarter of an inch to the left or the right

589
00:40:00,492 --> 00:40:02,156
to be any more loved of God.

590
00:40:02,156 --> 00:40:05,516
I don't have to do anything,
do anything less, do anything more.

591
00:40:05,516 --> 00:40:14,631
I am loved of God, and He has decreed all these things for me.

592
00:40:14,631 --> 00:40:18,064
He's done all these things for me.

593
00:40:18,064 --> 00:40:22,740
He will do so much more for me and for you,

594
00:40:22,740 --> 00:40:28,426
that eye cannot even grasp it, mind cannot comprehend it.

595
00:40:28,426 --> 00:40:29,224
Do you see that? (P)

596
00:40:29,224 --> 00:40:32,621
Now what must we do? We must have faith.

597
00:40:32,621 --> 00:40:36,794
We must read the Word and believe it,

598
00:40:36,794 --> 00:40:42,694
believe what God says, not what you think.

599
00:40:42,694 --> 00:40:48,048
I'm so tired of your false humility getting in the way.

600
00:40:48,048 --> 00:40:50,430
It's not about what you think about yourself.

601
00:40:50,430 --> 00:40:52,954
It's what you think about God.

602
00:40:52,954 --> 00:40:59,849
And stop believing lies that rob you and kill your joy.

603
00:40:59,849 --> 00:41:01,954
Believe what God has said about Himself.

604
00:41:01,954 --> 00:41:03,212
Now what is faith?

605
00:41:03,212 --> 00:41:08,712
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for
and the conviction of things not seen.

606
00:41:08,712 --> 00:41:13,716
Now how is that kind of statement any different
from me jumping off this roof

607
00:41:13,716 --> 00:41:18,140
because I think I'm Peter Pan?

608
00:41:18,140 --> 00:41:24,236
How can you actually have assurance for something you hope for?

609
00:41:24,236 --> 00:41:25,657
You just hope for it.

610
00:41:25,657 --> 00:41:28,357
How can you have assurance that it's really going to happen?

611
00:41:28,357 --> 00:41:33,165
How can you have convictions that
something you've never seen actually exists?

612
00:41:33,165 --> 00:41:35,770
How? Because God has said it!

613
00:41:35,770 --> 00:41:38,838
Because God has said it in His Word.

614
00:41:38,838 --> 00:41:43,961
And you see, this is why faith is impossible apart from God's Word.

615
00:41:43,961 --> 00:41:47,721
And that is why faith is strengthened by God's Word.

616
00:41:47,721 --> 00:41:51,185
Now see, I just can't tell you you need to get into God's Word,

617
00:41:51,185 --> 00:41:53,650
because you'll get into God's Word and come out miserable

618
00:41:53,650 --> 00:41:56,762
because you're not understanding things properly.

619
00:41:56,762 --> 00:42:00,855
You have to get into God's Word in light of
what God's done in the gospel for you.

620
00:42:00,855 --> 00:42:05,233
Then you get in there, and it's wonderful.

621
00:42:05,233 --> 00:42:08,120
It's wonderful. (P)

622
00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:13,025
And you start searching out all these things,
and you believe them.

623
00:42:13,025 --> 00:42:20,386
The greatest illustration of faith,
other than our Lord in Gethsemane,

624
00:42:20,387 --> 00:42:24,906
the greatest illustration of faith is Abraham in Romans 4.

625
00:42:24,906 --> 00:42:27,025
It says, "Without becoming weak in faith,

626
00:42:27,025 --> 00:42:31,010
he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead,

627
00:42:31,010 --> 00:42:38,236
since he was about 100 years old,
and the deadness of Sarah's womb."

628
00:42:38,236 --> 00:42:42,224
He contemplated it.

629
00:42:46,009 --> 00:42:49,101
And it says, "Yet with respect to the promise of God,

630
00:42:49,101 --> 00:42:52,952
he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith,

631
00:42:52,952 --> 00:42:54,711
giving glory to God."

632
00:42:54,711 --> 00:42:59,294
How do we give glory to God? By believing Him.

633
00:42:59,294 --> 00:43:04,690
You want to start a fight? Call somebody a liar.

634
00:43:04,690 --> 00:43:12,799
You want to honor somebody?
Believe them. Believe them.

635
00:43:12,799 --> 00:43:19,434
And moping around with all your humility and self affliction,

636
00:43:19,434 --> 00:43:23,799
beating yourself and everything else, that doesn't glorify anybody.

637
00:43:23,799 --> 00:43:30,094
It really doesn't. Maybe yourself.

638
00:43:30,094 --> 00:43:32,714
"But grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,

639
00:43:32,714 --> 00:43:36,390
and being fully assured that what God had promised

640
00:43:36,390 --> 00:43:39,671
He was able also to perform."

641
00:43:39,671 --> 00:43:42,150
It's believing in the faithfulness of God.

642
00:43:42,157 --> 00:43:43,287
How do you have faith?

643
00:43:43,287 --> 00:43:45,943
You have faith because you believe God is faithful,

644
00:43:45,943 --> 00:43:52,039
and God is powerful, able to do everything He promised.

645
00:43:52,039 --> 00:43:53,612
He's never failed.

646
00:43:53,612 --> 00:43:55,963
I don't know if you've realized that or not.

647
00:43:55,963 --> 00:43:57,082
Never.

648
00:43:57,082 --> 00:44:02,317
He will not fail with you. (P)

649
00:44:08,730 --> 00:44:11,309
Something that has been said by Martyn Lloyd-Jones,

650
00:44:11,309 --> 00:44:13,771
has been said by many nouthetic counselors,

651
00:44:13,771 --> 00:44:16,882
has been said by many pastors, is this:

652
00:44:16,882 --> 00:44:24,054
"You need to preach the Scriptures to your heart
and stop letting your heart preach to you."

653
00:44:24,054 --> 00:44:26,419
You need to preach the Scriptures to your mind

654
00:44:26,419 --> 00:44:30,827
and stop letting the vain thoughts of your mind preach to you.

655
00:44:30,827 --> 00:44:33,789
You just need to stop it.

656
00:44:33,789 --> 00:44:36,271
How does Satan kill?

657
00:44:36,271 --> 00:44:40,222
He doesn't run around with a machete.

658
00:44:40,222 --> 00:44:41,440
He lies.

659
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:47,024
That's how he killed Adam, and Eve,
and everyone else he's ever killed.

660
00:44:47,024 --> 00:44:49,822
He lies.

661
00:44:49,822 --> 00:44:51,854
How do you walk with joy?

662
00:44:51,854 --> 00:44:55,920
You believe what God said and not what the enemy said.

663
00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:59,066
You believe it. You believe it.

664
00:44:59,066 --> 00:45:02,884
But you're renewing your mind in the 
Word of God to such a degree

665
00:45:02,884 --> 00:45:06,499
that what God says becomes a greater reality to you

666
00:45:06,499 --> 00:45:11,871
than what you see in the mirror 
or what you see around you.

667
00:45:11,871 --> 00:45:13,769
Preach the Scriptures to your heart.

668
00:45:13,769 --> 00:45:15,551
Tell your heart to shut up.

669
00:45:15,551 --> 00:45:17,611
That's why if I go to a church and the preacher says,

670
00:45:17,611 --> 00:45:20,209
"Today, I'm just going to share from what's in my heart,"

671
00:45:20,209 --> 00:45:23,115
I walk out. I don't care what's in his heart.

672
00:45:23,122 --> 00:45:24,835
I don't want to know what's in his heart.

673
00:45:24,835 --> 00:45:29,595
I want to know what God has said. (P)

674
00:45:30,778 --> 00:45:34,777
Now joy. Joy. Where does joy come from?

675
00:45:34,777 --> 00:45:38,273
From most people I talk to, whether they admit it or not,

676
00:45:38,273 --> 00:45:40,172
their joy comes from their performance.

677
00:45:40,172 --> 00:45:42,728
And that's why their joy is never strong,

678
00:45:42,728 --> 00:45:49,278
unless they're deluded, self-righteous, and pharisaical.

679
00:45:53,111 --> 00:45:56,800
Listen, I'm not teaching antinomianism here.

680
00:45:56,800 --> 00:45:59,551
I have been devoted to Christ, I have suffered for Christ,

681
00:45:59,551 --> 00:46:05,158
I've risked my life for Christ, and I've lost much for Christ.

682
00:46:05,158 --> 00:46:10,438
With my own life and with a clear conscience, I can say that.

683
00:46:10,454 --> 00:46:13,884
I'm not teaching antinomianism 
or that obedience is not important.

684
00:46:13,884 --> 00:46:17,656
I'm just telling you that joy does not come from obedience.

685
00:46:17,656 --> 00:46:22,183
After 30-some years in the Scriptures, I ought to understand that.

686
00:46:22,183 --> 00:46:27,887
Joy comes, not from my performance, but God's.

687
00:46:27,887 --> 00:46:37,235
And that joy of God's perfect, impeccable performance,

688
00:46:37,235 --> 00:46:43,029
that joy is what energizes obedience.

689
00:46:43,029 --> 00:46:49,158
Basking in who God is and what 
He's done for you, and how GOOD it is.

690
00:46:49,158 --> 00:46:53,038
I mean, this is good!

691
00:46:54,594 --> 00:46:57,842
THAT produces obedience. (P)

692
00:46:57,842 --> 00:46:58,529
Joy.

693
00:46:58,529 --> 00:47:01,894
I don't even know how to define that word,
except with some other words:

694
00:47:01,894 --> 00:47:07,993
Assurance. Confidence. Hope. Gladness of heart.

695
00:47:07,993 --> 00:47:12,414
Gladness of heart. Merriment of heart.

696
00:47:12,414 --> 00:47:20,278
But stronger than that: Confidence. Assurance. Peace.

697
00:47:20,278 --> 00:47:29,448
Now I've written here: "When all that God is, all that God has done,

698
00:47:29,448 --> 00:47:34,339
and all that God will do is apprehended by you,

699
00:47:34,339 --> 00:47:37,790
is comprehended by you, is believed by you,

700
00:47:37,790 --> 00:47:47,007
it will produce a joy in you that is
independent from everything but God."

701
00:47:47,007 --> 00:47:50,679
Your joy will not depend on circumstances.

702
00:47:50,679 --> 00:47:54,572
Your joy will not depend on performance.

703
00:47:54,572 --> 00:48:03,218
Your joy will depend on an immutable God,
who does all things perfectly.

704
00:48:03,218 --> 00:48:05,881
Do you see that?

705
00:48:05,881 --> 00:48:07,864
And that's where it must be.

706
00:48:07,864 --> 00:48:10,368
That's where it must come from.

707
00:48:10,368 --> 00:48:12,497
It must come from Him.

708
00:48:12,497 --> 00:48:20,376
Listen, Nehemiah 8:10, "Do not be grieved,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

709
00:48:20,376 --> 00:48:22,268
What does that mean?

710
00:48:22,268 --> 00:48:28,570
It's joy that comes from God.

711
00:48:28,570 --> 00:48:30,099
And I know what your brain is doing:

712
00:48:30,099 --> 00:48:32,953
"Yeah, it comes from God if you're obedient."

713
00:48:32,953 --> 00:48:43,748
No. It comes from who God is, what God has decreed,

714
00:48:43,748 --> 00:48:47,065
what He's done, what He will do.

715
00:48:47,065 --> 00:48:53,606
You grasp that, and it leads to joy. (P)

716
00:48:53,606 --> 00:48:56,137
Now another thing that I've written down here,

717
00:48:56,137 --> 00:49:04,430
"If our joy is the result of faith in 
who God is and precedes obedience,

718
00:49:04,430 --> 00:49:08,676
then our joy will not be based 
on our performance but on God's."

719
00:49:08,676 --> 00:49:10,634
You see the difference?

720
00:49:10,634 --> 00:49:13,466
Most people, in their categories,

721
00:49:13,466 --> 00:49:21,417
their joy comes after their performance and is based upon it.

722
00:49:21,417 --> 00:49:25,800
Now we all know that sin will bring sadness.

723
00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:27,531
I'm not saying it will not.

724
00:49:27,531 --> 00:49:30,589
And that obedience will bring joy.

725
00:49:30,589 --> 00:49:33,282
I'm not saying it does not.

726
00:49:33,282 --> 00:49:35,919
But what you have to understand is,

727
00:49:35,919 --> 00:49:40,158
the whole of who you are 
and the great foundation of your joy

728
00:49:40,158 --> 00:49:44,402
must be His performance and not yours;

729
00:49:44,402 --> 00:49:49,658
who He is, and not who you are. (P)

730
00:49:49,658 --> 00:49:54,335
Now I'm going to close by saying this.

731
00:49:54,335 --> 00:49:58,160
We'll talk for a moment about obedience.

732
00:49:58,160 --> 00:50:05,268
Joy energizes obedience.

733
00:50:05,269 --> 00:50:10,670
It strengthens us that we might be obedient.

734
00:50:10,670 --> 00:50:16,546
It encourages us.

735
00:50:16,547 --> 00:50:19,877
It's amazing, you can take a guy, an athlete,

736
00:50:19,877 --> 00:50:22,114
and he's training super super hard.

737
00:50:22,114 --> 00:50:27,204
And every day, he's getting more down
because he seems to be making less progress.

738
00:50:27,204 --> 00:50:30,046
He gets to the point where he doesn't think he's making any progress.

739
00:50:30,046 --> 00:50:31,452
He's not getting any faster.

740
00:50:31,452 --> 00:50:33,178
He's not getting any stronger.

741
00:50:33,178 --> 00:50:38,640
His joy is being robbed.

742
00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:40,853
And what happens? He just wants to give up.

743
00:50:40,853 --> 00:50:45,851
"It's no use. Why go on? Why try?"

744
00:50:45,851 --> 00:50:50,100
And then somebody just walks by and goes,
"Man, I've been noticing you lately.

745
00:50:50,100 --> 00:50:53,057
Man, you're a lot faster off the line.

746
00:50:53,057 --> 00:50:55,809
Man, the other day when you
flipped that guy, that was amazing.

747
00:50:55,809 --> 00:50:57,446
You're getting a lot stronger.

748
00:50:57,446 --> 00:51:02,435
Before, your weakness was in your legs,
but now, man, you're moving it."

749
00:51:02,435 --> 00:51:03,597
And what does he do?

750
00:51:03,597 --> 00:51:08,353
He hits the gym the next day, invigorated, doesn't he? (P)

751
00:51:08,353 --> 00:51:12,144
Now I'm going to teach you how this
comes from knowing God's promises.

752
00:51:12,144 --> 00:51:16,480
But let me just stop here.

753
00:51:17,996 --> 00:51:23,538
I was at a place that had cable last year, two years ago,

754
00:51:23,538 --> 00:51:29,510
and I turned on the TV, and there was Joel Osteen.

755
00:51:29,510 --> 00:51:36,980
And I listened to his sermon, and I was very convicted.

756
00:51:36,980 --> 00:51:42,187
Just let that sink in for a moment.

757
00:51:43,531 --> 00:51:52,383
I do believe that the things he was saying
were out of context and wrong

758
00:51:52,383 --> 00:51:55,032
because when he talked about all the great things

759
00:51:55,032 --> 00:51:58,986
that God had in store for the people,

760
00:51:58,986 --> 00:52:06,556
they were more material - houses, success, jobs, and all this.

761
00:52:06,556 --> 00:52:13,666
Where I was greatly rebuked was this:

762
00:52:13,666 --> 00:52:17,414
He was greatly encouraging with all his heart.

763
00:52:17,414 --> 00:52:18,520
He really was.

764
00:52:18,520 --> 00:52:24,257
He was encouraging people in the things of God,
all that God had for them.

765
00:52:24,257 --> 00:52:28,933
But he was wrong about what was important. Totally wrong.

766
00:52:28,933 --> 00:52:35,016
But I asked myself, how encouraging am I?

767
00:52:35,016 --> 00:52:41,528
How it is such a blessing to me when someone
comes up to me and encourages me.

768
00:52:41,528 --> 00:52:44,972
I mean, says, "Man, you're doing well.

769
00:52:44,972 --> 00:52:49,006
Man, that was great. You're progressing."

770
00:52:49,006 --> 00:52:52,433
How it just jump-starts me.

771
00:52:52,433 --> 00:52:57,651
And I have found out it jump-starts everyone else.

772
00:52:57,651 --> 00:53:03,809
To be encouraged, to encourage people by pointing out -

773
00:53:03,809 --> 00:53:08,218
are you ready for this? - the good in them.

774
00:53:08,218 --> 00:53:10,032
Yeah, that's biblical.

775
00:53:10,032 --> 00:53:12,876
God has worked good in His people.

776
00:53:12,876 --> 00:53:18,548
Paul was convinced of the goodness
of the people he was writing to.

777
00:53:18,548 --> 00:53:21,294
God's done something wonderful in you.

778
00:53:21,294 --> 00:53:24,725
I can see good things in you. (P)

779
00:53:24,725 --> 00:53:26,898
Look at the church in Corinth.

780
00:53:26,898 --> 00:53:31,388
They're having trouble with comprehending the resurrection.

781
00:53:31,388 --> 00:53:34,723
Some of them are denying physical resurrection.

782
00:53:34,723 --> 00:53:36,467
Every sort of other thing going on.

783
00:53:36,467 --> 00:53:39,826
But how does Paul start that letter in 1st Corinthians?

784
00:53:39,826 --> 00:53:43,276
Talking about all the good that he saw in them.

785
00:53:43,276 --> 00:53:45,186
All that the Lord had done.

786
00:53:45,186 --> 00:53:50,206
I just don't think, by and large, as the people of God,

787
00:53:50,206 --> 00:53:53,700
at least for myself, I don't do that enough.

788
00:53:53,700 --> 00:54:00,094
"Wow! Brother, sister, that was amazing.

789
00:54:00,095 --> 00:54:06,701
I'm so proud of God's grace in you. So happy.

790
00:54:06,701 --> 00:54:09,849
Keep going. Press on. Go on."

791
00:54:09,849 --> 00:54:11,924
To our children.

792
00:54:11,924 --> 00:54:14,091
A lot of times, the only time parents talk to their children

793
00:54:14,091 --> 00:54:16,571
is to tell them what they've done wrong.

794
00:54:16,571 --> 00:54:21,423
To encourage them, "Man, you're making progress.

795
00:54:21,423 --> 00:54:26,241
You're doing well. Keep going." (P)

796
00:54:26,242 --> 00:54:29,352
Listen to Hebrews 12:2 about joy energizing:

797
00:54:29,352 --> 00:54:32,852
"Fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of our faith,

798
00:54:32,852 --> 00:54:37,722
who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross."

799
00:54:37,722 --> 00:54:40,496
It motivated Him. It moved Him.

800
00:54:40,496 --> 00:54:45,677
Joy that would come after the darkness of that morning.

801
00:54:45,677 --> 00:54:52,111
The joy that would come. It invigorates. It energizes.

802
00:54:52,111 --> 00:54:57,815
Derek Kidder writes this, based on his Old Testament commentary.

803
00:54:57,815 --> 00:55:05,100
When Nehemiah says the joy of the Lord is our strength, he says,

804
00:55:05,100 --> 00:55:12,465
"Such a joy is invigorating, not escapist or evanescent."

805
00:55:12,472 --> 00:55:17,278
Now listen, Charles Simeon, who, if you can
get a hold of his commentaries, please do.

806
00:55:17,278 --> 00:55:20,274
His expository outlines. They're absolutely wonderful.

807
00:55:20,274 --> 00:55:23,606
But he wrote extensively on this issue,

808
00:55:23,606 --> 00:55:28,447
and I want to read him so you realize
I'm just not making something up.

809
00:55:28,447 --> 00:55:30,693
He said, "Two things about Joy.

810
00:55:30,693 --> 00:55:34,426
First, joy disposes for action.

811
00:55:34,426 --> 00:55:37,715
It makes us ready for action.

812
00:55:37,715 --> 00:55:42,813
Fear and sorrow depress and overwhelm the soul."

813
00:55:42,813 --> 00:55:45,244
Am I talking to anyone here?

814
00:55:45,244 --> 00:55:50,520
"Fear and sorrow depress and overwhelm the soul.

815
00:55:50,520 --> 00:55:53,012
They innervate and benumb.

816
00:55:53,012 --> 00:55:55,993
They make numb all our faculties.

817
00:55:55,993 --> 00:56:00,508
They keep us from attending to any encouraging considerations.

818
00:56:00,508 --> 00:56:05,695
They disable us from extending relief to others.

819
00:56:05,695 --> 00:56:09,481
They indispose us for the most necessary duties.

820
00:56:09,481 --> 00:56:14,714
We cannot pray, or speak, or do anything with pleasure.

821
00:56:14,714 --> 00:56:27,683
But on the contrary, a joyous frame of mind exhilarates the soul." (P)

822
00:56:27,683 --> 00:56:30,846
Now you can be a pie-in-the-sky person that says,

823
00:56:30,846 --> 00:56:32,052
"Everything's going horrible.

824
00:56:32,052 --> 00:56:36,765
Stick a cherry in your cap or whatever
and sunflower in your pocket or something,

825
00:56:36,765 --> 00:56:38,830
and just keep walking."

826
00:56:38,830 --> 00:56:40,915
That's not what I'm talking about.

827
00:56:40,915 --> 00:56:48,590
It's stop looking at those things,
and see them in the light of who God is,

828
00:56:48,590 --> 00:56:51,599
what God has decreed, what God has done,

829
00:56:51,599 --> 00:56:53,996
what God will do for you.

830
00:56:53,996 --> 00:56:58,780
He says, "That such a joy exhilarates the soul.

831
00:56:58,780 --> 00:57:01,705
David well knew the effect it would produce,

832
00:57:01,705 --> 00:57:05,067
and everyone may safely adopt his resolution."

833
00:57:05,067 --> 00:57:07,885
And listen to what he says in Psalms 119:32,

834
00:57:07,885 --> 00:57:15,109
"I will run the way of thy commandments
when Thou shalt enlarge my heart."

835
00:57:15,109 --> 00:57:18,745
Has your heart ever been enlarged with joy?

836
00:57:18,745 --> 00:57:24,530
I can see this so clearly because I'm such a weak person.

837
00:57:24,530 --> 00:57:27,388
What you think is so important.

838
00:57:27,388 --> 00:57:30,072
I can walk into the office and someone will say,

839
00:57:30,072 --> 00:57:33,431
"Man, they're killing you on the internet right now.

840
00:57:33,432 --> 00:57:36,385
They're attacking you. There's a guy that's just tearing you apart."

841
00:57:36,386 --> 00:57:39,912
And I go to my office just, you know, want to die.

842
00:57:39,912 --> 00:57:44,235
And then someone will walk in and go,
"Yeah, Paul, they're really tearing you up.

843
00:57:44,235 --> 00:57:46,654
You, MacArthur, and Piper, and Sproul."

844
00:57:46,654 --> 00:57:51,103
I go, "Okay. It's not for something crazy I did. I'm okay now."

845
00:57:51,103 --> 00:57:57,248
Just the change of the news, how it
changes my disposition and exhilarates me.

846
00:57:57,248 --> 00:57:59,934
When I hear the first news, I can't even work.

847
00:57:59,934 --> 00:58:01,413
I'm just sitting there numb.

848
00:58:01,413 --> 00:58:04,185
When I hear the second news, I'm ready to go again.

849
00:58:04,185 --> 00:58:10,278
Do you see how much we are affected
by what we think, what we believe? (P)

850
00:58:10,278 --> 00:58:16,159
Now he says this: "Secondly, joy qualifies for suffering.

851
00:58:16,159 --> 00:58:20,809
When the spirit is oppressed, the smallest trial is a burden.

852
00:58:20,809 --> 00:58:25,361
In those seasons, we are apt to fret
and murmur, both against God and man.

853
00:58:25,361 --> 00:58:33,740
We consider our trials as the effects of
divine wrath or overlooking God."

854
00:58:33,740 --> 00:58:37,008
That I'm suffering because of either God's wrath

855
00:58:37,008 --> 00:58:42,464
or He's looked upon something that I've done.

856
00:58:42,464 --> 00:58:45,936
"We consider trials as the effect of
divine wrath or overlooking God.

857
00:58:45,936 --> 00:58:49,529
We vent our indignation against the instruments He uses.

858
00:58:49,529 --> 00:58:53,469
But when the soul is joyous, afflictions appear light.

859
00:58:53,469 --> 00:58:56,649
How little did Paul and Silas regard their imprisonment!

860
00:58:56,649 --> 00:59:00,232
How willing was Paul to lay down his very life for Christ!

861
00:59:00,232 --> 00:59:05,462
This accords with the experience of every true Christian." (P)

862
00:59:05,462 --> 00:59:10,677
I am so sick and tired of people thinking
that Paul was willing to lay down his life

863
00:59:10,677 --> 00:59:17,125
because he was just so much more
spiritual than the rest of us.

864
00:59:17,125 --> 00:59:22,913
Stop it. Stop deifying men.

865
00:59:22,913 --> 00:59:27,186
He was willing to lay down his life
because he caught a glimpse

866
00:59:27,186 --> 00:59:31,467
of all the things that have been
given to us fully in Scripture:

867
00:59:31,467 --> 00:59:34,588
Who God is; what God has decreed;

868
00:59:34,588 --> 00:59:37,822
what God has done; what God will do.

869
00:59:37,822 --> 00:59:39,777
And that's why you need to get in the Scripture.

870
00:59:39,777 --> 00:59:43,221
You need to get in the Scripture and ask those questions. (P)

871
00:59:43,221 --> 00:59:46,711
Now, finally, obedience. And it's really quick.

872
00:59:46,711 --> 00:59:48,990
Obedience is founded upon faith.

873
00:59:48,990 --> 00:59:52,806
You need to understand that.

874
00:59:52,806 --> 00:59:56,162
If something is set for me to do,

875
00:59:56,162 --> 00:59:59,714
and it's something that, maybe, goes against the world,

876
00:59:59,714 --> 01:00:02,633
goes against the grain, goes against my personality;

877
01:00:02,633 --> 01:00:05,809
and the Scriptures say, "Do this,"

878
01:00:05,809 --> 01:00:11,682
and the devil and the world say, "Don't do that. Do this."

879
01:00:11,682 --> 01:00:16,166
You can't separate obedience from faith, do you realize that?

880
01:00:16,166 --> 01:00:18,639
In what way?

881
01:00:18,639 --> 01:00:24,170
Obedience occurs because I believe that God is right.

882
01:00:24,171 --> 01:00:28,502
That what He's telling me is right and it's the best for me.

883
01:00:28,503 --> 01:00:32,767
Whereas, this, I believe, is a lie.

884
01:00:32,767 --> 01:00:33,917
Do you see that?

885
01:00:33,917 --> 01:00:35,378
So it's by faith.

886
01:00:35,378 --> 01:00:40,237
I do it because I believe that God tells the truth.

887
01:00:40,237 --> 01:00:43,601
Disobedience begins with doubting God.

888
01:00:43,601 --> 01:00:47,275
"Has God said?" (P)

889
01:00:48,609 --> 01:00:49,929
Another thing.

890
01:00:49,929 --> 01:00:54,887
Obedience is energized by joy. I've already said that.

891
01:00:54,887 --> 01:01:01,081
Man, when my heart is joyful,
I mean, really joyful, you can't contain me.

892
01:01:01,081 --> 01:01:04,184
I'm ready to go fight hell with a water pistol.

893
01:01:04,184 --> 01:01:08,617
I'm willing to do anything.

894
01:01:10,204 --> 01:01:17,556
Obedience is not a burden but the way of security and peace and joy.

895
01:01:17,556 --> 01:01:20,062
It's like a circle.

896
01:01:20,062 --> 01:01:22,593
Why does obedience bring joy?

897
01:01:22,593 --> 01:01:24,888
Now listen to me, young people especially.

898
01:01:24,888 --> 01:01:32,486
Why does obedience come from joy and bring joy?

899
01:01:35,598 --> 01:01:39,710
I am 54 years old, and I've learned a lot.

900
01:01:39,710 --> 01:01:42,900
But if there's one thing I've learned,

901
01:01:42,900 --> 01:01:47,338
it's that the judgment of men is not to be trusted.

902
01:01:47,338 --> 01:01:52,231
My own judgment is not to be trusted.

903
01:01:52,231 --> 01:01:58,617
Now that means if what the Scriptures say is true,

904
01:01:58,617 --> 01:02:07,594
everything that I do in life has
great importance, will impact eternity.

905
01:02:07,594 --> 01:02:11,329
So this life of mine, as small and everything as it is,

906
01:02:11,329 --> 01:02:16,321
this life of mine, every moment of it is important.

907
01:02:16,321 --> 01:02:21,566
How fearful and insecure I would be if I had no map,

908
01:02:21,566 --> 01:02:27,492
if I had no compass, if I didn't know how to walk, what to do,

909
01:02:27,492 --> 01:02:31,099
if I didn't know what destroys and what gives life.

910
01:02:31,099 --> 01:02:36,329
I mean, really, how terrible that would be,

911
01:02:36,329 --> 01:02:43,343
knowing that this life matters
and I have not the judgment to walk in it.

912
01:02:43,343 --> 01:02:47,023
I have no security. I have no peace. I have nothing.

913
01:02:47,023 --> 01:02:51,938
I'm like, "Cut the rope, let the ship
just be tossed about on the sea."

914
01:02:51,938 --> 01:02:54,281
I don't have anything to hold on to.

915
01:02:54,281 --> 01:02:58,635
But if the commandments of God are a light unto my feet,

916
01:02:58,635 --> 01:03:03,892
if they're a path well-trodden by countless saints,

917
01:03:03,892 --> 01:03:07,274
who at the end affirm that every commandment is true

918
01:03:07,274 --> 01:03:10,490
and good and holy and just,

919
01:03:10,490 --> 01:03:14,428
boy, what a confidence that gives me. (P)

920
01:03:14,429 --> 01:03:18,871
I have a wife.

921
01:03:18,871 --> 01:03:24,944
Of all the things, what could be more tremendous

922
01:03:24,944 --> 01:03:29,209
than to be entrusted with a wife?

923
01:03:29,209 --> 01:03:34,538
If I did not know how to do that,

924
01:03:34,538 --> 01:03:40,520
if there was no omnipotent, omniscient
God, telling me, "Walk this way,"

925
01:03:40,520 --> 01:03:41,992
I would be terrified.

926
01:03:41,992 --> 01:03:44,584
Because I tell young men whenever I'm counseling in marriage,

927
01:03:44,584 --> 01:03:49,546
"Everything your body tells you to do, do not do it."

928
01:03:49,546 --> 01:03:52,048
Submit to the law of God.

929
01:03:52,048 --> 01:03:54,379
Know how to walk with this woman.

930
01:03:54,379 --> 01:04:02,281
My children. My own life. Everything.

931
01:04:02,281 --> 01:04:07,366
The way I work. Everything. I wouldn't know what to do.

932
01:04:07,366 --> 01:04:11,449
I can't trust me, I'm most certainly not going to trust you.

933
01:04:11,449 --> 01:04:16,940
I need something greater and higher.

934
01:04:16,940 --> 01:04:21,569
I'm not wandering aimlessly, but there's purpose. (P)

935
01:04:21,569 --> 01:04:23,028
Conclusion.

936
01:04:23,028 --> 01:04:28,289
What is the source of this knowledge and this faith

937
01:04:28,289 --> 01:04:32,236
that leads to joy and energizes obedience?

938
01:04:32,236 --> 01:04:34,230
What's the source of it?

939
01:04:34,230 --> 01:04:36,915
Now if you're expecting something magical here,

940
01:04:36,915 --> 01:04:39,456
you're not going to find it.

941
01:04:39,456 --> 01:04:44,826
Number one, renewing our mind in the Word.

942
01:04:44,826 --> 01:04:48,305
The Word is the only source of this true knowledge.

943
01:04:48,305 --> 01:04:52,040
But getting into the Word,
not like just a road map to life,

944
01:04:52,040 --> 01:04:56,104
or principles upon which you can build some security,

945
01:04:56,104 --> 01:05:01,883
getting in the Word with the
primary endeavor to know who God is,

946
01:05:01,883 --> 01:05:03,736
know what God has decreed,

947
01:05:03,736 --> 01:05:10,296
know what God has done,
and what He will do with you.

948
01:05:10,296 --> 01:05:19,464
Also, cultivating our relationship with God
and drawing upon strength through prayer.

949
01:05:19,464 --> 01:05:21,933
All the Bible study in the world without prayer

950
01:05:21,933 --> 01:05:27,324
is not going to be that helpful, I'm sorry.

951
01:05:27,324 --> 01:05:30,678
And I know your flesh hates praying
as much as mine does sometimes,

952
01:05:30,678 --> 01:05:37,610
but know this: And true Fellowship with God's people.

953
01:05:37,610 --> 01:05:42,563
When Romans 12:1-2 tells us to renew our mind,

954
01:05:42,563 --> 01:05:47,314
so many people automatically go to,
"Well, that's talking about Scripture."

955
01:05:47,314 --> 01:05:49,492
Well, Scripture's not mentioned there.

956
01:05:49,492 --> 01:05:54,498
I believe that renewing your mind
is done primarily through the Scriptures,

957
01:05:54,498 --> 01:05:56,911
but it's renewing your mind through prayer.

958
01:05:56,911 --> 01:05:59,501
It's renewing your mind through conversation,

959
01:05:59,501 --> 01:06:02,553
godly conversation, godly fellowship,

960
01:06:02,553 --> 01:06:05,987
through worship and music and everything around us,

961
01:06:05,987 --> 01:06:10,897
while we should be very careful about
our environment, our atmosphere. (P)

962
01:06:10,897 --> 01:06:13,613
But please, saints, please. I'm begging you.

963
01:06:13,613 --> 01:06:20,099
Look, don't live this life, don't continue on--

964
01:06:20,099 --> 01:06:27,321
If I could give you anything,
if I could pray one thing for you,

965
01:06:27,321 --> 01:06:30,260
I mean, above everything else.

966
01:06:30,260 --> 01:06:35,734
If you're truly a child of God, if I could give you one gift,

967
01:06:35,734 --> 01:06:41,284
it would be that you would comprehend
something of His love for you.

968
01:06:41,284 --> 01:06:47,233
It'd be that. Really.

969
01:06:47,233 --> 01:06:53,104
I'm tired of seeing you tired.
I'm tired of seeing me tired.

970
01:06:55,255 --> 01:07:00,432
I mean, if you just grasp that one thing.

971
01:07:00,432 --> 01:07:07,623
He loves me immutably. (P)

972
01:07:07,624 --> 01:07:11,519
I'll end with an illustration. I promise I'll end.

973
01:07:11,519 --> 01:07:16,736
When I was in Peru, my first years as a single missionary,

974
01:07:16,736 --> 01:07:21,514
practically from the moment I was converted--

975
01:07:21,514 --> 01:07:25,555
This is going to sound all psychobabble. 
I don't care, it's true.

976
01:07:25,555 --> 01:07:31,695
But when I was in school, I was never in the inner circle.

977
01:07:31,695 --> 01:07:35,107
Not the best athlete, not the best this, not the best that.

978
01:07:35,107 --> 01:07:37,475
And I determined that when I became a Christian--

979
01:07:37,475 --> 01:07:38,699
yeah, it was fleshly.

980
01:07:38,699 --> 01:07:40,949
You can do your diagnosis but please do it at home.

981
01:07:40,949 --> 01:07:43,932
Right now, just listen.

982
01:07:43,932 --> 01:07:48,195
I determined that would not happen to me in my Christian life.

983
01:07:48,195 --> 01:07:50,703
I determined that there wouldn't be this idea of

984
01:07:50,703 --> 01:07:52,597
there's Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones

985
01:07:52,597 --> 01:07:56,379
and all the inner circle, the guys that God really loves;

986
01:07:56,379 --> 01:07:58,886
and I'm outside somewhere.

987
01:07:58,886 --> 01:08:00,890
I determined that would not happen.

988
01:08:00,890 --> 01:08:07,051
And I worked 18 hours a day for years.

989
01:08:07,051 --> 01:08:12,085
And If I had a chance to go get martyred, I tried to do it.

990
01:08:12,086 --> 01:08:17,049
Until the point where-- I weigh like 225 right now.

991
01:08:17,049 --> 01:08:22,270
I weighed about 169 pounds.

992
01:08:22,272 --> 01:08:26,863
And I killed myself. I killed myself. (P)

993
01:08:26,863 --> 01:08:30,778
And one day, on the third floor of this old building,

994
01:08:30,779 --> 01:08:35,691
where we took care of street kids and we
had our church during the war in Peru.

995
01:08:35,691 --> 01:08:37,452
It was all bombed out and everything else.

996
01:08:37,452 --> 01:08:39,916
And I slept in a little room on the third floor.

997
01:08:39,917 --> 01:08:45,014
I was going up the last little flight of stairs, and I collapsed.

998
01:08:45,014 --> 01:08:48,228
And I said this, I cried out, I screamed it,

999
01:08:48,229 --> 01:08:54,237
"I don't want to go to hell because I am afraid of hell.

1000
01:08:54,238 --> 01:08:59,987
I don't want to go to heaven because I'm ashamed.

1001
01:08:59,988 --> 01:09:06,743
Just put me somewhere. Just put me somewhere."

1002
01:09:08,219 --> 01:09:14,125
It was at that moment that-- it was just a work of the Lord.

1003
01:09:14,125 --> 01:09:16,528
Scripture started coming to mind, different things.

1004
01:09:16,529 --> 01:09:21,514
I realized how fleshly everything had been, how wrong I was.

1005
01:09:21,514 --> 01:09:26,817
But here's the thing: I recognized God loved me, loved me.

1006
01:09:26,817 --> 01:09:30,441
That I didn't have to move to the left or the right.

1007
01:09:30,441 --> 01:09:31,810
That was the thing I thought that day.

1008
01:09:31,810 --> 01:09:33,568
I was sitting on the steps and I was looking at myself.

1009
01:09:33,569 --> 01:09:36,457
And I realized, "I don't have to move a quarter of an inch to the left

1010
01:09:36,457 --> 01:09:37,844
or a quarter of an inch to the right.

1011
01:09:37,845 --> 01:09:39,497
I don't have to be a great missionary.

1012
01:09:39,499 --> 01:09:40,893
I don't have to die as a martyr.

1013
01:09:40,893 --> 01:09:42,392
I don't have to be a great preacher.

1014
01:09:42,392 --> 01:09:45,568
I don't have to do anything because it is all in God.

1015
01:09:45,568 --> 01:09:48,057
It's God. It's in God. He did it all.

1016
01:09:48,057 --> 01:09:51,589
He made the decision. He carries it through.

1017
01:09:51,589 --> 01:09:56,012
He brings it to its end. I am Loved!"

1018
01:09:56,012 --> 01:10:00,224
What a wonderful release!

1019
01:10:00,224 --> 01:10:03,770
That it's just Him. It's Him. (P)

1020
01:10:03,770 --> 01:10:08,156
I'll take a Puritan statement and modernize it.

1021
01:10:08,156 --> 01:10:12,268
For every one glance you take at yourself in the mirror,

1022
01:10:12,268 --> 01:10:16,418
take ten long looks at God and His love.

1023
01:10:16,418 --> 01:10:17,822
You're loved.

1024
01:10:17,823 --> 01:10:20,961
You see, this is the terrible thing about being a preacher.

1025
01:10:20,961 --> 01:10:22,597
I'm trying to tell you something.

1026
01:10:22,597 --> 01:10:27,009
I'm trying to get something through your thick head.

1027
01:10:27,009 --> 01:10:33,420
And is this: GOD REALLY, REALLY, REALLY DOES LOVE YOU,

1028
01:10:33,420 --> 01:10:36,367
immutably so, perfectly so.

1029
01:10:36,367 --> 01:10:41,715
And it is all founded upon Him, His person, His decrees,

1030
01:10:41,715 --> 01:10:45,597
His work through Christ on your behalf. All of it.

1031
01:10:45,597 --> 01:10:49,529
It's done. It's done.

1032
01:10:49,530 --> 01:10:50,906
You've got to walk in that.

1033
01:10:50,906 --> 01:10:53,703
You've got to keep yourselves in the love of God.

1034
01:10:53,703 --> 01:10:57,171
You've got to keep thinking it, believing it, walking in it,

1035
01:10:57,171 --> 01:11:02,272
talking it, fighting to believe it if necessary.

1036
01:11:02,272 --> 01:11:04,961
Believe it. You're loved.

1037
01:11:04,961 --> 01:11:08,020
And if you're here today and you're not a Christian,

1038
01:11:08,021 --> 01:11:13,419
and all those things I said about the holiness of
God being a wonderful joy to the believer,

1039
01:11:13,419 --> 01:11:18,392
it's a terror to you. It's a terror.

1040
01:11:18,392 --> 01:11:21,207
The only way it changes is in Christ.

1041
01:11:21,207 --> 01:11:23,317
Come to Christ.

1042
01:11:23,317 --> 01:11:26,736
And some of you who are so storm-tossed, believers,

1043
01:11:26,736 --> 01:11:30,489
you're so storm-tossed and afflicted.

1044
01:11:30,489 --> 01:11:34,318
Oh, that God would use what's said here today

1045
01:11:34,318 --> 01:11:42,448
to prove to your heart and your mind
that you are deeply and dearly loved. (P)

1046
01:11:42,448 --> 01:11:44,496
Let's pray.

1047
01:11:45,370 --> 01:11:52,126
Father God, please, please, please,

1048
01:11:53,920 --> 01:11:55,933
break through, Lord, every wall,

1049
01:11:55,933 --> 01:12:02,288
that we would all have a greater and firmer grasp

1050
01:12:02,288 --> 01:12:08,937
on your settled, royal, covenantal love.

1051
01:12:08,937 --> 01:12:10,880
In Jesus' name, Amen.