The Quest for Today's Church, Part 8

Pray with me, would you please? Father, we thank you Lord for the reminder that you're coming again. We realize that at this time of the year, we celebrate your first coming, but allows us to live in anticipation of your coming again.

And we ask that Lord, as we examine your word today, that you would open our hearts and minds to be able to see you for who you are and be able to experience the joy that Lord comes only from you. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. This morning, I want to talk to you about joy. I want to follow up from what I began talking to you about on Wednesday night, because it ties into our series about the quest for today's church. It really is a seventh point in our outline. If you have your notes in front of you, you know that there are six points we've already covered.

So the seventh point would be this, that joy is that one thing that portrays our citizenship. Joy is that which portrays our citizenship. In other words, we are children of the King and we are citizens of the kingdom of God. And that alone breeds all kinds of joy in the hearts of those who are children of the living God. So I'm going to review for you what we covered on Wednesday very briefly, but I'm going to begin by saying this, and this is point number one, and that is saints, the saints possess joy.

Every believer possesses joy. Now, how do we know that? We know that because the Bible tells us that the kingdom of God, Romans 14, 17, is not about eating and drinking. It's about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy spirit. So the kingdom of God is about God's righteousness imputed to his children, that they might experience his peace because they're no longer his enemies. And therefore, because they're at peace with God, they have the joy of God. And so joy is that which best portrays our citizenship in heaven, that we truly are children of the living God.

So important to understand that. That's why the Bible says the fruit of the spirit is love and joy because the spirit of God indwells us.

The Bible speaks about God being the God of joy in Romans, I'm sorry, John 15 and John 16 and John 17. Christ said, I want my joy to be made full in them. Well, if we are partakers of the divine nature of God, which we are according to Peter's epistle, then we are partakers of his divine joy. So all saints possess joy. In fact, the Bible says this over in the book of Psalm 32, verse number 11, be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous ones and shout for joy.

All you who are upright in heart, the righteous ones are the only ones who can rejoice. And we are to shout for joy because we are upright in heart. If you go on to Psalm 33, verse number one, it says, sing for joy in the Lord.

Oh, you righteous ones for praise is becoming to the upright. Praise is becoming to the upright. When God would prophesy concerning the millennial reign of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord in Zephaniah chapter three, verse number 14, the Lord God says this, shout for joy.

Oh, daughter of Zion, shout and triumph. Oh, Israel, rejoice and exalt with all your heart. Oh, daughter of Jerusalem, for the Lord has taken away his judgments against you. He has cleared away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord is in your midst. When the prophet Zephaniah spoke about the millennial reign of Christ, he talks about the fact that they will rejoice because they are the redeemed ones. They are no longer to be judged because the king of Israel is in their midst. Well, we live in that realm because the king of Israel is in our midst.

He dwells in us. And therefore all saints possess joy because we are partakers of the king's nature. Therefore joy resides within us. And so therefore of all the people who ever live, those who are the righteous ones, the godly ones, we are to exhibit that joy. And so joy should permeate our lives, every aspect of our lives. And so we talked about on Wednesday night that not only do the saints possess joy, they possess joy simply because the savior promised joy. The savior promised joy. Matthew chapter five, he talked about those who are blessed and they experience the great contentment, the inner contentment, because the Bible says we are to rejoice in the Lord always.

Now we might not rejoice necessarily in all the circumstances that are happening to us, but we can always rejoice in the Lord who is the controller of all things that happen to us. And our Lord promised joy. He was the one who came and said, blessed are those who are poor in spirit. Blessed are those who are broken over their sin. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are those who are pure at heart for they shall see God. So he speaks of the of the blessing and the joy that those who come into the kingdom of God experience.

So the saints possess joy because the savior promised joy and the savior promised joy. Therefore salvation, point number three, produces joy.

Salvation is that which produces joy. That's why the angel said in Luke 10, we bring you good news of great joy for unto you this day in the city of David has been born a savior for you. Mary said in Luke 1 47, that she rejoiced in God, her savior, her joy came because of the salvation she experienced through the God who promised joy. So saints possess joy because the savior promised joy. The savior promised joy. Therefore salvation produces joy. Point number four, the spirit pledges joy. The spirit is that which pledges joy.

Ephesians 1 13 and 14, the spirit of God is our down payment, is our guarantee of our eternal inheritance. Therefore the spirit pledges to us that great joy that's going to happen when we enter into glory. But on top of that, the fruit of the spirit is joy. In Luke 11, Christ says, how much will your father give to you?

Even the Holy spirit of God, if you even ask him, meaning that you had the spirit of God, which is the source of all comfort, the source of all truth, the source of all guidance, the source of all power, the source of all discipline, all those things given to you by the spirit of God, because the spirit of God pledges joy. So the saints possess joy simply because the savior promised joy. If the savior promises joy, salvation produces joy. If salvation produces joy, the spirit pledges joy. And people will say, well, then why don't I experience joy?

Well, that's where the next point comes in. And that is simply this, that it's the scriptures that promote joy. The scriptures promote joy. Without the word of God, you won't experience the joy of God. Why? Because the word of God works in conjunction with the spirit of God. And that's why the Psalmist said very clearly in Psalm 43, these words, oh, send out your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy. It's the word of God that leads us into joy.

Remember after the resurrection and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, how downcast they were, how depressed they were and Jesus joins them. And they don't know that it's Jesus because he concealed himself from them. Now he was in his glorified resurrected body, but he would walk with his, his, these two disciples on the road to Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were all downcast. And Christ asked to them, why are you troubled in heart? And they said to him, don't you know, where have you been?

Are you the only one in Jerusalem who has no idea about the events that have just taken place? And Jesus says, what events?

Now he knows because he experienced them. He also prophesied about them, but yet he asked him, what are you talking about? What events? And they began to explain to Jesus everything that had taken place. And then what did Jesus say to the disciples on the road to Emmaus? He said these words, Oh, foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory. Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures.

Now, can you imagine the conversation between Jesus and these two men on the road to Emmaus as Jesus explains to these men about himself? They don't know it's Jesus and how everything in scripture pointed to the events that had taken place in Jerusalem that day. And they were just overwhelmed. And so when they came to their village, Jesus was going to leave them and they compelled him to eat with them. They compelled him to stay with them for a while. And so he did. And so the Bible says when he had reclined at the table with them, he took the bread and blessed it and breaking it, he began giving it to them.

Then their eyes were open and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight. Then they said to one another, were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us. It was something about the way that Jesus explained the scriptures to them. Now, remember, they did not know it was Jesus explaining the scriptures. All they knew it was that it was some stranger that came along, walk with them and began to illuminate their hearts and minds to the things of God's word.

And so the joy and the excitement and the burning in their heart and the burning in the heart is not a negative thing. It's a positive thing because they recognize that all that had taken place during the events of that week were all prophesied. It was all a planned event. And then when their eyes were open, that was that Jesus was before them and he vanished from their sight. They immediately left that night, went back to Jerusalem in the middle of the night while it was dark, no streetlights. And they went back to Jerusalem to explain to the other disciples what had taken place.

And as Jesus was ascending into glory later on, it says in verse 50 of Luke 24, he led them out as far as Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Why with great joy? Because for 40 days prior to that event, he explained to them things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So he spoke to them the words of God. And so everything about their lives was centered on the joy that came because they heard and understood the word of the Lord.

That's why we rejoice in the Lord. God's word brings joy. God's word, the scriptures, is that one element of our lives that truly promotes joy in our hearts. That's why we tell you to read the word of God, to memorize the word of God, to study the word of God, because it opens to you the identity and the ministry of the God you serve. And the more you read and understand the word of God, the more you understand who God is, and you're able to rejoice in who he is. If you read Psalm 119, the psalmist was completely enthralled with the glory of his God and rejoiced at the law of God, the testimony of God, the words of God.

So we talked about that on Wednesday evening. So saints possess joy. If you're a believer today, you possess joy. And joy is that which portrays your citizenship more than anything else, because you radiate with the joy of Christ. So saints possess joy because the Savior promised joy. The Savior promised joy because salvation produces joy. If salvation produces joy, the Spirit pledges joy. And some might say, well, I have no joy. That's because the scriptures is that which simply promotes joy. And then we talked about sacrifice because sacrifice is that which prompts joy.

Hebrews 12 verse number two says that Christ endured hostility because of the joy that was set before him.

Sacrifice is that which truly prompts our joy. And so we challenge you on Wednesday evening to think about how you can sacrifice yourself for someone else so that joy would be prompted in your life because sacrifice is that which prompts joy. People don't experience much joy because they're not willing to sacrifice for anybody else. But Christ, who took on the form of a man who gave up everything in glory to die for you and for me, to sacrifice his life, did so for the joy that was set before him.

So sacrifice is that which prompts joy. Next point is this. Service is that which produces joy. Service is that which produces joy. In other words, Christ was the ultimate servant and he wants us to be his servants. And so in Luke chapter 10 verse number 17, it says, 70 returned with joy. Why? Because the Lord had commissioned the 70 to serve him. And when he commissioned them to serve him, they went out and served their God and they returned with joy. Listen, if you don't experience joy, ask yourself, where are you actively serving the living God?

Because whenever you serve him, there is joy. There is always joy in serving Jesus. There's no joy in serving yourself, but there's great joy in serving Jesus. The 70 were commissioned. They were sent out by the Lord Jesus. And because they were sent out by him, they saw great things happen because the spirit of God empowered them and they were used by the living God. And they came back with joy. They were so excited. The 70 returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.

This is so amazing to be involved in kingdom ministry. But so many people don't experience joy because they're not willing to serve in the kingdom of God. If sacrifice is that which truly prompts our joy, service is that which produces joy. It certainly does produce joy. Therefore, we understand that in Matthew 5, 11 and 12, Christ says in verse 10, he says, blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you saying that if you live the blessed life, if you live the kingdom life as outlined in verses one to nine, if you're living that kind of life, what's going to happen is that you'll be persecuted for my name's sake, but rejoice and be glad because your service is which matches the prophets who went before you.

Rejoice and be glad. Joy truly is produced because of our service. So let's review. The saints possess joy. The savior promises joy. Salvation is that which provides joy. The spirit pledges joy. The scripture prompts joy or promotes joy. Our sacrifice prompts joy and our service produces joy and our submission propels joy. Our submission propels joy. In other words, if scripture is that which promotes joy, our submission to that scripture propels joy. Do you think that being disobedient to the scripture is going to make you joyful?

Don't think so. But obedience to the word of God, submission to the word of God does produce joy. It propels joy. Let me give you an illustration.

Turn back with me if you would to the book of Nehemiah, the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah chapter eight. In Nehemiah chapter eight, the wall was complete. The people gathered. The word of the Lord was read. And when the word of the Lord was read, everybody stood up and they stood up all day in the hot sun, never sitting down because they so revered the word of God. And when the word of God was read, they realized all the things that they did not do. And they began to mourn and they began to weep and they began to cry because the reading of the word of God in and of itself is powerful enough to convict the soul that has sinned against God.

And so the people began to grieve and to mourn. And it says in verse nine, the Nehemiah, who was the governor and Ezra, the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, this day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep for all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law. And then he said to them, go eat of the fat drink of the sweet and send portions to him who has nothing prepared for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

So the Levites calmed all the people saying, be still for the day is holy. Do not be grieved. All the people went away to eat to drink, to send portions and to celebrate a great festival because he understood the words, which had been made known to them. Then on the second day, the heads of the father's households of all the people, the priests and the Levites were gathered to Ezra, the scribe, that they might gain insight into the words of the law.

They found a written in the law, how the Lord had commanded through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in booths during the feast of the seventh month. So they proclaimed and circulated a proclamation in all the cities and in Jerusalem saying, go out to the hills and bring all the branches and wild, all the branches, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of other leafy trees to make booths as it is written. So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God and in the square of the water gate and in the square of the gate of Ephraim, the entire assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in them.

The sons of Israel had indeed not done so from the days of Joshua, the son of none to that day. And there was great rejoicing. Why, why was there great rejoicing? Because they realized that they had not celebrated the feast of tabernacles since the days of Moses. So what do they do? They realized that when the word of God was read, they had stopped doing that. So when they submitted to the word of God and they went out and fulfilled the word of God, because the, the, the, the feast of tabernacles or the feast of booths is a celebration of how God would provide for the people in the wilderness, looking in anticipation to the day in which the Messiah would come and build his kingdom.

And they would celebrate the presence of God among them forever. And they lived in anticipation of that when they realized they hadn't done that. So they began to go out and cut down the, the leafy branches, go out and cut down the palm branches and to live in those, in those, uh, those booths, those tabernacles, because they had disobeyed the word of the Lord. But when they obeyed, there was great rejoicing. You see, whenever you submit yourself to the word of God, you will always find joy. When you don't submit yourself to the word of God, you'll be miserable, absolutely miserable.

There's always joy in submission. So we realize that submission to the scriptures propels our joy. Next, know this, that suffering perfects joy. Suffering perfects joy. Listen to what the Bible says in John chapter 16, verse 24, until now you have asked for nothing in my name, ask and you will receive so that your joy may be made full.

He says, he says earlier in John 16, these words, verse 20 and 21, truly, truly. I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. James says, James one considered all joy. And my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result. So you may perfect, maybe perfect and complete lacking in nothing. Peter says it this way. First Peter one, first number six in this, you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while of necessary, you have been distressed by various trials so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable.

Even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, Peter and James and Christ understand that it's joy or it's suffering that perfects our joy. Why? Because there's so much nasty, ugly dross in our life that needs to be taken away. That only happens through suffering. And when it's removed, Christ sees himself in us. And therefore we better reflect our Christ, thus reflecting his joy through our lives. It was the apostle Paul who understood that through all of his persecutions, all of his difficulties, all of his hardships, all of his shipwrecks, there was a greater thing happening to him.

And it was the perfection of his life that he might reflect the joy of the Lord. It was Job who said, oh, I have heard of you with the hearing of my ear. But now for the first time, I have seen you and I repent in dust and ashes simply because suffering perfected his joy.

That's what suffering does. Suffering helps us understand the value of those things that truly matter. And therefore Peter says in this, you greatly rejoice if need be, because you are suffering various kinds of trials. And why do you rejoice? Because of what it's producing in your life. It's producing for you something that's permanent, something that's joyous. Suffering perfects joy. Our songs, our songs portray joy. Our songs portray joy. Listen to Psalm 5 verse number 11. But let all who take refuge in you be glad.

Let them sing, ever sing for joy. And may you shelter them that those who love your name may exalt in you. For it is you who blesses the righteous man, O Lord. You surround him with favor as with a shield. The Bible says in Psalm 13, Psalm 13 verse number 5, but I have trusted in your loving kindness.

My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 63, 63 verse number 6, when I remember you on my bed, I meditate on you in the night watches for you have been my help. And in the shadow of your wings, I sing for joy. My soul clings to you. Your right hand upholds me. Psalm 59 verse number 16. But as for you, I shall sing of your strength. Yes, I shall joyfully sing of your loving kindness in the morning for you have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress.

Oh, my strength, I will sing praises to you. And then over in Psalm 95, Psalm 95 verse number 1, the Psalmist says this, Oh, come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms for the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. If, if as saints, we possess joy, all of our songs will portray joy because we sing of the greatness of our God, that he is the king of kings.

He is the Lord of Lords. Now, having said all that, talking about how saints possess joy, how it is that our Savior promises joy, that salvation is that which provides joy. The spirit pledges joy. The scripture promotes joy. Our sacrifice prompts joy. Our service produces joy. Our submission propels joy. Our suffering perfects joy. Our songs portray joy. Some might still say, I have no joy. And that's because sin poisons joy. Sin poisons joy. If you have no joy, ask yourself why or where is my heart?

Am I sinning against God? That's why David said in Psalm 51, very familiar words. He says, created me a clean heart, O God. And we knew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Why did David say that? Because he had sinned. He had sinned with Bathsheba. He'd committed adultery with Bathsheba. He then murdered her husband. He lied to everybody around him. He broke every commandment that God had given in that whole scenario with Bathsheba and Uriah.

And yet, and yet he realized he had no joy. See, he thought his sin would bring him joy. It doesn't. Sin poisons joy, which on the heels of that, you must understand this, if sin poisons joy, sinners pretend joy. They pretend joy. They don't have true joy. They pretend. David thought that in a sin he'd have joy. He did not. He enjoyed the passing pleasures of sin for a season. He was 1125. He enjoyed the passing pleasures of sin for a season. So he pretended to have joy with Bathsheba, only to realize there was no joy.

There was heartache, pain, stress, turmoil, hardship, broken families, everything. So he goes to God, he prays, he begs forgiveness, asks God to create a clean heart in him, that he might renew a steadfast spirit within him and say, Lord, restore to me the joy of thy salvation because he had no joy. Now, was he a saint? Did he possess joy? Yes. Did he know that the scriptures are that which promote joy? Yes. Did he sing the songs that truly portray joy? Yes, he did. He did all that. Was he saved?

Yes, because salvation provides joy. Do you know what the Savior promised joy? Absolutely. He knew all that, but he lost his joy because of a sin. Sin poisons joy. So what did he do? He went back to his God, prayed and begged forgiveness, and God forgave him, and the joy was restored. Listen to this, same Psalm, Psalm 51. He says this, restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will be converted to you. Sinners will be converted to you.

Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation. Then my tongue will joyfully sing of your righteousness. He could not joyfully sing of the righteousness of God because his sin had so encompassed him. He was a slave to a sin. For nine months, Psalm 32 says, all during Bathsheba's pregnancy, for nine months, God's hand was heavy upon him. Psalm 32 says he drenched his couch with tears. Was it worth it? Was the 20 minutes of pleasure worth drenching your couch with tears? And losing the joy of your salvation?

Was it worth it to be able to understand that for the rest of his life, the sword would never depart from his house? Was it worth it? David would tell you it wasn't worth it. But in that brief moment, when temptation ruled in his heart, he succumbed to it. He thought for just that brief moment, he would experience joy. But it was a pretend joy. Sinners pretend joy. They had no joy. The unbelieving world has no joy. They think that the new Lexus their wife is going to buy them because it's a December to remember event, is going to bring them joy.

It does not. It does not. We think that having family with us over the holidays is going to bring us joy. It does not. It does not. It might make you happy for a while, but true joy, inner contentment of the soul, when there's turmoil all around you, to be at peace with God, to know that you're a citizen of his kingdom, to rest in his sovereignty, to experience that kind of rest in your soul, to be able to rejoice in his presence. No, only God does that. Only God does that. So ask yourself, if you're a saint, you possess joy because the Bible says you do because you're a partaker of the divine nature and the Savior has promised you joy and salvation is that which provided you with joy and the spirit pledged joy.

Ask yourself, are you in the scriptures? Because the scriptures are that which promote joy. See, they do. But sin will always poison joy. Sinners pretend joy and here's the next point, Satan plunders joy. He is the joy killer. Oh, he promises all kinds of things. He promised Eve, oh, you'll be like God and God doesn't want you like him. So you, you partake of the apple. You eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. You'll be like God. Oh, he promises joy. He promises you joy. So many things that never come true because Satan wants to plunder joy and Adam and Eve would partake of the tree and the sin nature was passed down to every man, every woman who's ever been born.

Satan rejoices in that. That's why the Bible says that when Christ came, 1 John 3, 8, he came to destroy the works of the devil.

What are the works of the devil? The works of the devil are to keep you from experiencing the joy that comes to being a citizen of the kingdom of God. And he will stop at nothing to keep you out of the kingdom. And once you're in the kingdom, he'll stop at nothing so that you experience hardship and heartache. That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12, the thorn of the flesh that was given to him was the messenger of Satan. To rob him of everything that God gave him. But his joy came because God's grace was sufficient for him.

And so he rejoiced in his weaknesses because through his weaknesses, he was made strong. Satan plunders joy. Don't let him do that to you. 1 Peter 5, 8, he goes about like a roaring lion seeking who may devour. He wants to eat you up. He wants to eat up your attitude. He wants to keep you focused on the negative, not the positive. He wants to turn your back on God, turn away from him. His promises aren't real. God's not going to do what he said. You're going to be miserable the rest of your life.

You'll be in this physical condition. You'll be single forever. You'll never have any children. Your marriage will be horrible. He's going to sell you right down the river thinking there's another marriage that's better. There's another way of life that's better because he wants to plunder your joy. Don't succumb to his temptation. Joy only comes to serving Jesus, only comes to sacrificing for Jesus, only comes to the scriptures that he gives, and only comes through submission to those scriptures because you're willing to do what he says no matter what.

And Christ said in John 13, 17, if you do what I've said for you to do, you will be blessed. He promises that. You will be blessed. So what have we said? We've said the saints possess joy. The saints possess joy because the Savior promises joy. Savior promises joy, therefore his salvation provides joy. His salvation provides joy, therefore the Spirit pledges joy. The scriptures promote joy, our sacrifice prompts joy, our service produces joy, our submission will always propel joy, our suffering perfects joy, our songs portray joy, yet sin will always poison joy.

Sinners will always pretend to have joy because Satan seeks to plunder all joy. One more thing, and that's this, God's sovereignty preserves our joy. God's sovereignty preserves our joy. Remember Habakkuk was so upset with the Lord God of Israel because God had told him that he would send the wicked Chaldeans to captivate his people. And Habakkuk wondered why God would do that. Why would you use the wicked to punish the righteous? Why would you use the wicked pagans to come against God's chosen people?

Why would you do that? As if Habakkuk had any right to question the sovereignty of Almighty God, but he did. He did. So God spoke to him. God gave him his word and began to explain to him all that he is. In Habakkuk chapter 2 verse number 20, he said very simply to Habakkuk, the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him. Don't say anything. I'm in my temple. In other words, I reign, I'm the king, I rule. I'm in my holy temple and therefore because I rule, be quiet. But we don't want to be quiet because we think that God's plan is haywire.

It's gone off kilter. Something's wrong with God's plan because my life isn't working out as it should or as I think it should. And so we question God's sovereignty. We question God's plan. We question God's direction. And God says simply, I'm in my holy temple.

Be quiet. And when Habakkuk realized all that God was doing, he said these words in verse 16, I heard in my inward parts trembled. I heard God speak and I trembled. The sound, my lips quivered, decay enters my bones and in my place I tremble because I must quietly, I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us. I must be quiet until God does what he said he was going to do. I must stand by and wait for the wicked Chaldeans to come and to arise against God's people and to invade us.

And then he says, though the fig tree should not blossom and there'd be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no fruit, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there'd be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. I will rejoice. The Lord God is my strength and he has made my feet like Heinz feet and makes me walk on my high places. Though everything around me crumbles and it's going to, I still will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

Why? Because his sovereignty is the one thing that preserves our joy. There's one thing that keeps us with the proper perspective. God is in his throne, honest throne. God rules. He's in charge. He's got a plan. It's running on course. There's no plan B, only plan A in God's, in God's decree. And everything is right on schedule. And when Habakkuk realized that he could rejoice in the God of his salvation because God's sovereignty is that which preserves our joy from day after day, no matter the circumstance, no matter the situation, no matter the turmoil, no matter the problem, because God is simply saying, I'm in charge.

Let these things happen. Wait quietly upon me. Trust me, believe in me and wait, watch and see what I will do. And that heart is a heart that rests in that sovereignty and rejoices over the God who reigns supreme. This Christmas season, do you experience joy that all of us who are saints are to possess? Or is there something that's robbed you of your joy? It only robs you of your joy because you let it rob you of your joy. You've let your sin rob you of your joy. You've decided to live in sin rather than follow Christ.

You decided not to submit to what the word of God says. Therefore, you'll never have joy because those who live unsubmissive lives to the word of God experience the misery that God puts upon their soul like David did when he lived in sin, unsubmissive to the laws of God. He lived in misery until he repented because he wasn't submissive to the word of God. You see, we put ourselves in unjoyous situations because of our sin, because of our willingness to submit to the authority of God's word, not willing to sing the songs that portray his joy, unwilling to serve and to sacrifice our lives for the benefit of others.

You put yourself in that situation because if you're a believer, you are a partaker of the divine nature of God. You possess joy and the fruit of the spirit is joy. And my prayer for you and me is that this Christmas season would truly be a hallmark that truly defines your citizenship in heaven, that your joy portrays that you are a citizen of the kingdom of God. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for today. Truly, Lord, you are a great God. You are so good to us and we are so unworthy of that goodness. And yet your grace and your mercy continue to flow. Your faithfulness is overabundant. Your promises are great. And Lord, we thank you that you've called us into your kingdom. May we this Christmas season truly portray the joy we have in Christ, that we are of another city whose builder and maker is God, that truly we are just pilgrims, aliens on this foreign soil. We're going home.

We're going to heaven. We're going to the kingdom of God. In the meantime, may we demonstrate to everybody else that we are citizens of that kingdom, that the joy of our king is the joy that reigns supreme in our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.