Are You Happy? | Grace Life Podcast | Joel & Friends

is what it is it is what it is yeah i've been having to live by that mantra for the last few days [Music] [Music] get this [Music] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] it is [Music] system that's right are you happy i'm so happy and here's the reason why uh over the last week or so i came across three different articles on happiness and i thought well i'll share portions of them and see what the pastors have to say about it the first article comes to us from desiringgod.org which says very little that i agree with although they say it well they're good at it they're really good at saying things i don't agree with that's like some of the bible translations yeah the um uh so he there's an article called in love with the life you don't have um and i can share the link here in love with the life you don't have uh i'll put that in here and uh we need to get boosters under our chair so it'll be as tall as you uh so greg morris uh he has this to say he says the secret to happiness some have wisely said is to want what you already have yes so many of us can i don't know how much i agree with that so many of us can truly say with c.s lewis's character in shadow lands you know i don't want to be somewhere else anymore i'm not waiting for anything new to happen i'm not looking around the next corner and over the next hill i'm here now that's enough he says instead unhappiness finds us wanting a life we don't have if this this and this happens then i'll be content the easiest loves are the ones we don't have our neighbors grass grows greener as we keep staring at it if our desires could remain on our own property we would be happier we would better love the life we have he says the secret to happiness is not a new one centuries ago puritan jeremiah bureau burroughs wrote in the rare jewel of christian contentment that a christian comes to contentment not so much by way of addition as by way of subtraction he meant that the christian achieves happiness not by adding more to life to satisfy his gaping desires but instead of subtracting from his desires bringing them down to the situation god has placed him paul and then he points out paul how paul practiced this he told sought to curb young timothy's desire for money reasoning that we come into this world and leave it with nothing and that many have apostasized uh by this love he cites first timothy 6 8 with a bad version but having food and raiment let us be there with content that verse we know with just the basics of what we need for an adequate human existence paul will find what many things with lavish palaces could not what paul will let me say that again paul will find what many kings with lavish palaces could not contentment right that sounds very puritan an idea i mean contentment uh you know i know i'll say you know we have the lord you know it's it's now speaking as a christian to want what you already have you haven't possibly thoroughly explored and and come to the reach the ends of the riches of his grace with with because he's already given you so much to want what you already have is i mean the very the very idea of your salvation every the new creature that he made you in his son is in and of itself to me would be sufficient to be fulfill all your needs of happiness and joy in this life and you know just the pursuit of holiness in your walk would uh be in and of itself uh richly fulfilling fulfilling that's right you would think so and and i see the same reflection in many people's prayer life is right they're praying for things that that they already possess or right or they possess something that's far superior than what they're asking for that's right their prayer uh represents a a willingness to settle for yeah uh a pauper's change rather than for uh eternal weather i remember uh i had a uh oh shall we say european girlfriend uh when i was away from the lord who generally if i remember right yeah thank you and uh one of the only thing that stuck with me apart from all the years of bitterness and frustration with uh the only thing that stuck with me was a love of the little things in life finding joy in the little things in life [Music] letting that be a source of happiness for you rather than needing the big things all the time i agree with and i agree with with what hal's assessment when you listen to people pray i mean there they are literally when they're praying for spiritual things praying for things they already possess now i love the way this quote reads uh this quote that he had by puritan uh jeremiah bureaus about not you know a contentment is not so much a way of addition is by way of subtraction but i i feel like the the whole math on that would be just the opposite when it comes to christianity in the sense that it's not the addition of stuff you know it's the addition of spiritual things you know it's not the subtraction of uh you know pleasures in this life as much as it is a a loss of the love of the things of this world that's been replaced by i see more replacement principle than just a blanket uh addition and subtraction like the way he put it no i agree i agree with that and if we me included if we would spend more time examining the depths of what of all the spiritual blessings we already have it would kind of pale the other things or yeah i said i don't see it as an uh an issue of addition or subtraction at all i see it as an issue of appreciation exactly and gratitude right right i love that point too yeah um uh so the uh and and you know the point with what paul tells timothy in first timothy 6 8 about having food and raymond being content everything god has made you and everything he's given you is so glorious and otherworldly you don't you really don't need anything else yeah what else in this life do you really need i mean you know all the spiritual blessings and food right enragement so there was a second article that came out at some point last week uh in christian daily uh i'll share the link to this too um and uh and i was gonna have to talk to the pastors about this on to these two articles we were going to talk about on tuesday if it hadn't been for the tech issues you know and then i just gave up on the idea of happiness and then the third one yesterday i was not happy on that tuesday you were anything but happy on that too it's not happy if you want any if there's anything in life that'll rob you if you're happy this technology is right up there man it's great when it works but it doesn't it's just confounding i can put up with stupid people but stupid machines machines are just they're just supposed to work that's right i i do the same thing every day and it's the machines that change on me without telling me what they've done so the second article was the danger of pursuing happiness based on feelings well that's nice um and uh so there was a lot that was said here i'm just gonna highlight one point that he talks he's quotes a lot of a guy named dan hart who is you know uh no managing editor for uh publications at the family research council he writes for the federalist national review stream first things christian post all this stuff at one point in the article he highlight he makes the case that the the people today are really clinging to this cleaving to this idea that they have the right to act in a certain way because they have strong feelings about something right you know the cancer culture yeah this strong feelings of being offended and he and he makes the point that the people's quote right to act on strong strongly held feelings has begut to act on strong strongly held feelings has become damn trying to get knock out joe rogan now he says while feelings and emotions are an important part of being human they do not ultimately define us and we must carefully discern whether or not to act on them if we want to flourish as a society it is critical that we have a grounded biblical perspective on our emotions which continually shift from day to day like the changing winds i'm not sure i completely agree with that either because when he says while feelings and emotions are an important part of being human they do not ultimately define us i would argue as a grace believer you're greatly defined by your peace your joy the the emotions they see in you because that is part of the manifest life of christ in you the amen the fruit of the spirit all of those things should be a defining aspect of your life many people define their perception of other people not on the basis because you can't see internal character what you see is demeanor right what you see is behavior what you see are uh what a person is wearing on their face i mean some people walk in the door and you don't have to ask them how they're doing today you know right right they wear their feelings on their shoulders now you know of course but ultimately i thought for us as grace believers ultimately you know there is part of uh that joy that peace that abounding hope that happiness that that graciousness that that you exhibit is you know those feelings should be characteristics of the manifestation of the life of christ and you and i'm not so sure i believe your feelings are so out of control as a grace believer if you've renewed your mind that they are continually shifting day to day like changing winds i'm not so sure that's the case either i think it's it's a result i mean that uh i mean one could preclude the other one redo your mind remember who we are christ remember the sacrifice the lord gave it and uh then we all i mean they're very happy things that will come up that will affect your emotions in that moment but the foundation of that of your life is still joy peace you know poor grandson who is thankfully he was in a coma over eight or nine hours and uh fell off a golf cart but this was yesterday that was yesterday and uh early evening but praise the lord you know he he woke up knows who he is and we're very thankful a lot of people struggle with the idea of of peace and contentment and joy and those particular issues and one of the statements that we often make is that it's a choice and again that's true and that's not true a lot of times we can't choose the way that we feel right but we can't make the all feelings or feelings don't just happen right they're they're consequential right they're driven by something reactive reactive and we can choose that which drives exactly our feelings exactly so if you're well said i mean the the one of the you know if you have issues with shall we say depression or even anger you know the question you should ask yourself is where's your mind what is it that your mind is focused on what is it that your mind is obsessed on you know get your start quoting scripture to yourself get your mind back in the game of the spiritual walk that you you know the of aligning your walk with your heavenly identity get your get your mind back focused on christ himself and then when and then your emotions will not be long behind yeah um there was a third article uh also from desiring god came out uh not too long ago i'll share the link to that where he asked a question uh can i be holy without happiness you know is there really a relation between i mean if you're really holy does it not really mean that you're happy also is that are the two interrelated um i would have to say there's a difference between practical and positional yeah your positional holy no matter how you feel about it but recognizing that and living in light of that can change your complete outlook well he makes a point toward the end uh one of the few things i did agree with i think finally i think happiness to aspire to to to having that drive to perfect holiness in your walk is a happy endeavor it is you know and then and to live a life of of pureness is a is a happy life and he says at the end here he says true happiness in god is the heart of true holiness in us and genuine holiness in us soul and body begins with souls happy in god leading to bodily words and works that confirm and testify to his worth so the closing line he says true holiness in the world begins with true happiness in god and those truly happy in him will be holy right you know i've told many many many people over the years who have been they're just discouraged but they're discouraged because they're here and they want to be there right and i say you know it's a wonderful process enjoy where you are and enjoy every step of getting to where you want to be god knows the proper motivation gave us all that proper motivation to aspire to perfect holiness in our walks which is everything he accomplished for you and in you and everything he's going to give you after it's all over it's reasonable service right and then he tells it's reasonable service yeah and yet you know that that happiness and that joy that he gives you in his son is the perfect motivation for the practical application of holiness in your walk afterwards you're motivated to do it because you're happy in him amen and there's there is that an an inevitable connection between a life of holiness and a life of and being and and being happy don't you think i think that's a that's an excellent the progression of thought as you go there and we're in the lord i mean you know where we are we're in christ we're seated in the heavenlies and we're here but we have the life of the risen and glorified lord jesus christ empowering us and moving us we live in and on top of that we live in the dispensation of grace i i think also that a lot of people struggle because of of well i'll just say bad doctrine yeah um there's a lot of superstition about about the will of god for instance and people are always wondering to know what's god's will for me in this situation where where does god want me this is perfect what's his perfect will for me and and and they're constantly seeking when you when you really go and you understand what god is doing in the time in which we live uh he's we we've he's it's not that he's not interested in where we are it's not a big issue to him where we are uh what he's what he's concerned about is how we are where we are who we are who we our unhappiness is due to dissatisfaction right and a misunderstanding and and looking for something that you know is right i think of those those who are in the say the pentecostal movement and you know according to the bible you have the holy spirit he's part of you he indwells you but that that process of which they go to try to get the second blessing right and you see all these other people who claim they have it but then you don't right and you wonder what it is all the people standing on stage at a healing service and they come along and god touches their head and they fall down and supposedly get healed on the way down or maybe when they hit the ground i don't know but then that one person touches the head nothing happens but he's he feels as if he has to fall down because you don't want to disappoint everybody right there you know that that's a joy robber and uh and and that's one of the reasons why we of course we preach against the miracle signs and wonders it's just not true yeah last night i uh when i was uh prepping i went through i don't know how many articles and zero heads in particular had a bunch of just scary you know frightening stuff going on there there's fertilizer prices going up and they're talking about famines they're talking about jp morgan saying you know you name it we're we're out of it you know shortages um some real hardcore wall street people talking about calamity and catastrophe it was a lot of bad news out there as hor you know the uh a lot of people had a lot to say about the whole china uh agreement now no limit agreement and the the you know the dynamics of power having been shifted in the globe yeah are you going to let all that stuff rob you of the joy that god has given you for of everything you are in christ you know and i look at that and years ago before i came back to the lord that would have that would have been a hard night of drinking right there news like that you know that would have been a whole bottle of scotch in that one night now i look at that and i'm just like bring it you know because you've got a fifth or a little bit i have i have you know there is that sufficiency of his grace is real you know i feel like the everything he has made you everything has given you the peace the joy bring it right the reality of the situation is since the lord jesus christ came to earth took on flesh lived his life was killed was buried and rose again the third day nothing has changed since that time right exactly the world has been full of famine right pestilence right natural catastrophes right and right and man's character has not changed right and if we did not have for instance a second corinthians chapter 4 mentality right and and looking at things that are eternal right rather than temporal right every generation would be completely and totally miserable right right you know and to the point that you made i don't remember how many podcasts ago but you know colossians 3 you set your affections on things above yeah not yeah the only thing is the last thought right if you're not on things there it's not just your mind right it's not just an acknowledgement of what is right but your your affections what what what what you value what you love right uh last night i was going through uh all the time scripture talks about happy or happiness happy earth that sort of thing uh not very many not not often at all i was just trying to think of some of those i've i i have i have uh almost complete list not all of them but the first reference to happiness had to do when uh um the queen of sheba went to visit solomon in first kings 10 and she said to the king it was a true report that i heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom how be it i believed not the words until i came and mine eyes had seen it and behold the the half was not told me thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which i heard happy are thy men happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee and hear thy wisdom blessed be the lord thy god which delighted in thee to set thee on the throne of israel because the lord loved israel forever therefore made he the king to do uh judgment and justice there's that connection between happiness and being in the in his wisdom and in his wisdom which um and david uh has a couple of psalms highlighting you know uh for thou shalt eat the shall eat the labor of thine hands happy shalt thou be you have the fruit of your labor uh happiness coming from that um that was psalm 128 2 psalm 144 15 happy is that people that is in such a case a people happy is that people whose god is the lord you have solomon talking about happiness derived from the wisdom uh psalm 318 she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her and happy is everyone that retaineth her um the there is happiness and doing mercy proverbs 14 21 he that despiseth his neighbor sinneth but he that hath mercy on the poor happy is he proverbs 16 20 he that handleth a matter wisely shall find good and whoso trusteth in the lord happy is he but i loved most of all what the lord said after he washed the disciples feet in john 13 uh 13 he said love that power he said he said you call me master and lord and you say well for so i am if i then your lord and master have washed your feet ye also ought to wash one another's feet for i have given you an example that you should do as i have done to you verily verily i say unto you the servant is not greater than his lord neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him if ye know these things happy are ye if you do them amen amen it is the it is both the knowledge and the service that brings about that happiness in his disciples understanding the wisdom of that humility while also endeavoring to exhibit it you get you find happiness i think that's a timeless principle and that's a wonderful passage to demonstrate that and people say we want to follow the words of the lord jesus christ or there's some right yeah now the uh i noticed too peter peter talked about happiness uh being persecuted suffering for righteousness sake paul never talks about happiness except only once uh talking about the first corinthians seven the woman whose husband had died but she is happier if she's so abide in the state that she's in because of the present distress that they were under and he says and i think also i have the spirit of gods and you know and the funny thing is i was thinking about there is a a a a marked absence of talk about happiness in the bible and what the bible talks about more than that is joy and in the and in the thank you you go through webster's 1828 there is a striking distinction between happiness and joy uh happiness is just an agreeable sensation with spring from the enjoyment of good that state of a being which his desires are gratified by the enjoyment of a pleasure without pain felicity but joy joy is the passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good now in the bible you have uh joy is like 216 times rejoicing is 259 times paul talks about joy 24 times he talks about rejoicing 27 times joy is the is the goal not happiness you know joy is a far greater and happier emotion than happiness yeah and you think of you know romans 14 17 for the kingdom of god is not meat and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the holy ghost and of course our favorite verse uh now the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing you know amen yeah well go go back to romans 14. i not meet but dr or drink right but righteousness peace and joy in the holy ghost for he that in these things servant christ that's right that was acceptable to god and approved it i love that yes yeah yeah yeah it's it's more than just the state of mind right right uh it's it's what god wants us to be happy right exactly yes this is more than that he wants us joy is rejoicing every day absolutely i see happiness as the sprint and joy is the marathon happiness is the happiness is the flash in the pant in the frying pan and joy is it's the slow cooker you know and you know in some denominations joy is frowned upon they think that to really to be in the will of the lord you must be miserable there are in some grace churches i mean you you go to church it's serious business you got to sit down you got to be serious and there's no smiling and you crack a joke and there's no laughter whatsoever you mean the ones where you have to eat a lemon before you come in yeah you know these people it's like where's your joy yeah we used to have we used to have some people that way don't you think you know and people complaining about uh me being a little too happy with certain guests i've had on and we're just laughing too much and it's we're we're supposed to be a joyous people amen well speaking of that i just have a question yeah is this the grey's life i was just about to say how do i shut this down oh yeah okay yeah you tell me how what is this again this is the grace life podcast we are your mad bad brothers in christ mad in the sense of mid acts dispensational bad in the sense of blessed and delivered all right can you do the other one uh how about uh i never i felt so happy to be so bad be so mad and it never felt so good to be so bad yeah how about how about the uh we've all we're your uh uh flight attendants for uh we've all got our what in christ in christ passports for uh flight 7777 and titus 213 airlines ready for takeoff at a moment's notice uh i know we usually we'll usually have you tuned out by then uh all right uh we got a bunch of links beneath the video check them all out there's a link to a page on our website where you could download my book which will absolutely produce joy in you once you learn what everything that god made you in christ uh it's called the empowered by his grace i got an email from randy this morning we should have i should have an early be able to see uh an early copy of this thing in the near future so that ball is rolling uh we've got it's all about what god made you in his son dead buried risen with him the old jew gone forever freed from sin literally not even kidding freed from sin and why you've got to download that book check it all out we've also got i have a link beneath the video to a new article i posted i had that published early this morning on its exegesis on the great love chapter of first corinthians 13. one of my better articles i really um i really i really love this thing it's it is long as but it's worth your time uh i i leave no stone unturned with every detail about every aspect of what love is yeah um so it can be a little wordy yeah but that's part of y'all's charm yeah i'm told so uh uh check it all out check that out too it's a it's an epic epic article we've also got uh beneath the video a whole bunch of links to all kinds of other articles um and then there's uh links to all kinds of videos too check them all out all right uh we've rambled enough i'm gonna see who's in the house here get caught up in the in the live chat how you guys doing and i hope they got a lot of bible questions uh dan says well if they don't i got plenty here myself oh excellent uh dan the man says from the words of jimmy's soul if you want to be happy the rest of your life never m never make a pretty woman your wife uh so from my personal point of view you get an ugly girl to marry you you got any comments about that i want to say i would say that's very politically incorrect yeah it would be an insult to many many grace preachers watch um but dan we love you anyway yeah that's hilarious he's married right uh yeah he's got his wife is a great believer yeah and so we you know yeah i wonder what she feels about that um yeah the uh um uh we got jones in the house how you doing man yeah good to see you he says jim says i'm happy to be here with you all does that count totally counts lewdis ludus how are you great to see you uh she's laughing about dan bob picard happy how about joyful praise the lord exactly exactly i was saving the joy joyful for the end there yeah exactly uh joyful and rejoicing that's how we ought to be rejoicing in the lord and how do you okay so you wake up you're grumpy how do you get yourself from that grumpiness into that state of joyfulness word prayer meditation on his word thought thinking of all the things that are pure lovely holy all that stuff and also singing and making melody in your hearts to the lord that's how you get yourself to that state of joyfulness every day i'd say a renewed mind is a joyful heart amy stewart says grace and peace beloved saints as happy as was paul my apostle to be accused of wrongdoing well if that makes you happy i'll be happy to help out with that well she's probably talking about the all the people who are not mid-axe dispensationalists hey we got jerry weinhausen in the house how are you good morning to you all how are you doing today i'm feeling i'm not i'm not happy i'm not happy i'm very joyous today um uh i almost yeah don't be happy don't be happy be joyous rejoicing today but realize if you're happy that's the starting line and it says jerry on top of the world looking down on creation which is awesome uh we got devon in the house my dear brother amy stewart quotes romans 14 22 happy is he that condemneth not himself and that thing which he allowed that's good advice uh chris nelson's in the dance like nauseating music um i hit the wrong one that also was an old old song from retro 80s chris nelson says good and victorious morning saints the old man is dead and we are made alive in christ praise the lord amen praise the lord for chris nelson yeah what does dead mean uh jones says joel you really should talk to david about sharing his playlist um which playlist are we talking about i did get a um forgive me if i missed it uh stephanie uh she did just edit the 100th q a for that q a playlist that he has and uh she's very excited about that it will be a few weeks before we actually get to a hundred but uh see they're up to a hundred already a hundred q a's i'm sorry that's totally epic that's a library that's that's a library that's totally epic and that is uh that is worthy of our time uh so i think it's a lending library too i'm going to uh yeah that's that's a permanent link now for me uh that's just totally awesome i still yesterday i had so much going on i didn't get a chance to listen to his uh thing on melchizedek if i get the uh message on wednesday night done uh today i'm i'm that's one of the first things i'm going to jump in and try to listen to although he's probably got to study tonight doesn't he man it's all just piling up um uh well said fred contentment is the key jones says dan says amen how we have it all in christ morning saints from nova scotia larry hein says uh jones says aren't happiness joy and contentment all determined by the same common denominator i would say yes for the believer yes amen right all right uh dan says yep drives me nuts to bear people here people ask for forgiveness from god when he has already forgiven them i saw i saw another article basically saying or maybe it might be can i be holy without happiness i wonder if this is the the one that was talking about forget no that's not the one there was an article last night talking about something and asking you can't be have happiness until you ask for forgiveness for the wrong things you've done and and repent of of their your ways and i'm just like dude i think that's pretty presumptuous that you can remember all of them exactly i was away from the lord for 20 years i'm in a lot of trouble if i forgot to confess something i haven't confessed anything all my life i grew up in grace church i mean god already knows and you've already been forgiven and it's presumptuous that he's waiting on you like you and you're asking add something to what christ has already done that the finished work of christ at calvary when he said it is finished it didn't mean it because you have to confess uh we got cliff matthews in the house steep rugged cliff you beautiful man how are you uh he's rugged larry hines uh question is the meeting place of acts 11 the same as 2-2 i think it's two different places in different people in acts 111 111 and a 2-2 all right well let's see here what do we got in acts 1 11 because surely you know here we have you men of galilee why stand you up gazing into heaven i mean it's you just we just had the ascension you know so they're on the mount of olives here yes right so 2-2 uh is a totally different location uh and and suddenly there came sound from heaven as of a rushing mining went and it filled the house where they were sitting they were in a totally different place part of their part of their instruction was to leave there and go into i guess jerusalem yeah and uh to a place where they knew they were supposed to be going right and wait and wait i mean the problem there isn't with the between the two isn't isn't the uh the location the problem is uh explain tongues of fire tongues of fire hanging over their heads in acts 2 3. that's the good study that's the interesting study why on earth would the holy spirit have tongues of fire hanging over their heads you know you study that out that's pretty awesome yeah let us know i'm not going to talk about the message i already did on it but that's that's an oh awesome has there been anything you haven't really done a message on sometime uh yeah hebrews okay i'm waiting for somebody to wait for some uh and get and get the chapters pastor two through six four through six is a very very interesting part somebody come along and explain that to me um amy stewart says can we know what happiness is if life is void of trials and grief right probably not probably not i i know i i look at all the the people that we talk about across the world that are really suffering and uh then i look at us and i say you know like i say about the worst things ever happened to me somebody slammed the door in my face right now he called me a something about water right the uh in the in the second article about the danger of pursuing happiness this uh dan hart guy had also referenced c.s lewis from his book the problem of pain and in the book lewis said that god you tell me what you think about this how because i may not agree with this that god withholds settled happiness and security to people in this world though he sours them with some moments of happiness they are never safe are never safe because giving them the security they crave will teach them to rest their hearts in the world and negate their need of god also though the lord allows them to be refreshed in their life's journey he does not want them to mistake that the world is their home it seems to me i mean he certainly has allowed us to live in a sin cursed world in order for us to have a reliance upon him in order for us to turn to him in all things and um but i wouldn't say that he withholds settled happiness nor security i'm not sure i would phrase it quite like that well again i i don't even know that i understand what that means yeah first of all how you know if it's withholding happiness in in in this how would that what that would what would it look like how would he do that does he take and turn off the spigot of happiness that lives within you exactly or is he withholding happiness by manipulating circumstances and of course we have to understand and and i love c.s lewis he's one of my favorite authors but uh he is hindered by the lack of external system in which he uh was trapped right and so there were you know there are many uh if you look at his journey it's a marvelous journey of faith he wasn't a vowed atheist right and uh you know in his journey of faith his his final thing he said he said he said he just finally gave in to god he said god i'm just going to let you be god amen and that's that's where his walk of faith began right i think i think he's a fascinating individual i love plays i love his books but yeah yeah you've got to take some things with a grain of salt well i mean look at this article my answer my understanding i was just a little bit different a little short boulder dash there is a lack of certainly a lack of happiness in a life without him he is written by somebody that's unhappy he's inherently has to be unhappy right right there is a sense in which what he says is true if we take and we put it into a good pauline perspective right again what's what's our our favorite verse on joy romans 15 13. amen there's two elements in that verse that many people miss yep and it you know he talks about the god of hope fill you with joy and peace right in believing right right so one of the things that that's not taught frequently about joy is the fact that it is a function of faith right amen and it concludes also that this is a function of the of the power of the holy spirit right joy in itself is a force right it is a it is powerful right and it's interesting to me when you go to galatians chapter five and you look at the fruit of the spirit i i think there's a divine design in the order in that amen because it starts it's love joy peace why does it say why doesn't it say peace love joy or why does it say love peace joy right you know can you really have peace without joy right right you know we have the the peace that we understand doctrinally but experientially peace is a product of of the joy that we experience that comes from god and can we actually have joy and peace without love i don't know they're interconnected they they are all part of that same package really right they're they're individually they fit together just like the godhead right right you know there may be things that we can uh cherry pick out of that that we like but the premise you have to reject completely that god is up there turning it on and turning it on right right right well that's again fill you with joy and peace and believing right that's something that we do your faith in the word a renewed mind fills you with that joy and peace and that the result is of abounding in hope all of which is through the holy spirit right which is which is amazing you have you have that joy and peace like you were saying is a driving force that has a result it is the the cause and the effect is the abounding in hope right yeah can you imagine god sitting up there saying all right here he is he's he's love yeah he's got joy let me get that thought before you stop peace right well i can't imagine god sending him oh he's too happy right now there's something wrong with that or he really is sad let's give him a little extra let's give him a little extra joy you know that's uh boy i tell you what that that's a that's a horrible thing that people think that god is just manipulating every aspect of your life there is certainly no doubt that even as grace believers with a renewed mind you know your word inside and out and your foundation of your life is joy and peace and happiness you're still going to have moments of you know there's sorrow in your life you know bad tragic things are going to happen you're going to cry but and that there's nothing wrong with that and there's nothing wrong with going through that grieving process when something bad happens in your life you still got to go through that but still the foundation of you you know it doesn't rock your relationship with god you're not blaming god for anything you're you know you're still you know you've sailed through that storm but you know you don't have any doubt whatsoever in any of the sound doctrines of grace and the foundation of your life is still peace with god joy through it all you still have a good spiritual perspective about everything that happened and you're not going to be going off into extremes or the deep end but you still have to go through those that emotionally i think you have to go there but it's easier if the focal point the object would be god right and to know that god is for you he's not against you and he did not cause that to happen right right i i think of the example of the lord jesus christ i love this passage out of hebrews 12. looking unto jesus the author and finisher of our faith right who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross right despising the shame right and is set down at the right hand of the throne of god amen their joy is specifically put into the context of suffering suffering and and uh being engaged in doing things that are not necessarily comfortable right and again he the lord jesus christ is an example to us in that right right as is paul yeah and you had uh happiness with peter and james james talked about happiness enduring to the end peter talked about happiness uh suffering for righteousness sake uh paul was more than happy when he suffered he was joyous absolutely joyous when he went through it because he understood the goal he understood what and it wasn't the fact that he was suffering but whereas going through the suffering he was able to establish greater doctrines and greater understandings for us most gladly then will i glory in my infirmity right right gladly right glory and for this purpose that the power right of god may rest upon me right for when i am weak then am i strong yeah yeah yeah um we say then because the context there is god's grace could we say then that joy is also a right right into a product you can't be in this state of mind without joy i mean that is you know yeah that's right there it's uh walking right alongside all those other emotions he's feeling in that moment that's right yeah it will probably fear anguish and you know i'm sure he he knows what pain is the guy been stoned to death uh uh larry said uh actually valerie says uh peace contentment joy are all found in christ amen um preaching lori howell is in the house how are you good to see you devin says agree joel i struggle with depression especially this time of year and when i really dig into the word it puts an extra pep in my step to get going every day i still feel depressed but it's less lessened i'm sorry but it's lessened um i i'm i don't i'm the depressing king uh and that but that was honest and in all honesty that was before i came back to the lord and i i did not believe i could actually give up i would ever give up this struggle that i had which is what led to so much of my drinking also which on and that it net only fed even more depression and i just drank a lot just so i could sleep because i couldn't even do that anymore i was such a mess and um honestly and then coming back to the then hitting bottom coming back to the lord uh i went through all of the paul's epistles i knew i mean back then i knew enough that paul was our apostle i didn't need to be taught right division i needed to know how the whole grace thing worked and then i went through paul's epistles with stam i went through that and it was good but there was just something missing i couldn't put my finger on it and i you know was putting together the searchable rich's drive because i wanted i wanted all information because i wanted i wanted access to all my all the answers that i all answers to all the questions that i had and the thing that really drove there really fixed me were honestly two things it was understanding what god made me in christ was life-altering i think that in and of itself pretty much cured me of my depression but the other thing too is when things would come up you know and i've felt this kind of draw back into depression it's time in the word it was where is your mind and what is your mind focused on and it doesn't it you don't have to be focused on god solely when you're studying the scriptures i know when you're out at work you've got to do other things but in the back of your mind let it be peace and joy thinking about god loving god um having some sort of um uh you know maybe so something in your in the back of your mind that you can meditate upon throughout the day uh i i've started to feel a bit of uh separation anxiety from my bible for a little while because i was so because it was so i devoured it because i just i was like i mean a desert that just found water for the first time in a hundred years and um time in the word also i think prayer and and making sure that you have that you are praying i think i think when you're away from the from the word uh prayer in those free moments that you have is a very healthy thing and and i think meditation is a legitimately solid means of thinking about the word thinking about things when you're away from the word and uh and you don't have anything else in front of you going on that over time will legitimately um legitimately cure the depression the identification and then the means of study it legitimately works yeah i'm gonna add another one i love to hear it pastor and and perhaps i think one of the most important uh of course we love philippians chapter two and the example of the lord jesus christ i love when you're in philippians chapter two where he says let this mind be in you being you right which was also in christ jesus we read a part of that mind that drove him when we looked there in hebrews right for the joy that was set before him he was willing to do some things right he said paul said he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant that was his path to joy right um we're not often in fact we are seldom often to make ourselves of no reputation and take on the form of a servant right i believe that you can't have joy in the extent that we should without serving others in fact there's no greater cure for depression than to go get involved in somebody else's problems and help them because all of a sudden yours just sort of right drifting away yeah you uh uh first of all that mirrors greatly what the lord said to the disciples after he washed their feet and then and second of all you know that that was also something that always cured me and my problem you think you got it bad let me tell you about this guy over here you know what tell me how tell me how philippians 2 makes any sense unless you read matthew 13. exactly exactly well you know it's coming from the same source exactly the same guy that said that to his disciples the same guy that told paul to tell us that very thing yeah and becoming a servant that it's a means of humility to be able to set aside i mean the lord jesus christ i mean humbling self to wash the feet of his disciples right you know in some context it would be it'd be absurd well that's the reason churches are full of so many miserable people because they come to church looking for something yeah they're looking at something what can i get what you know i need this what are my needs i need my needs met but but how many people actually are engaged in their in their local assembly not it's not just coming to a building it's being engaged and and see it as an avenue and an outlet for being um that which every joint supply it you know as different members of the body of christ we supply over the years yeah to other believers and and and to the lost and to the saved people there's there's ministry there's service there and without that element you're never going to be who god made you to be in christ right let's see right yeah right over here knowing who he made you right to be in christ it's being who you are i love that and over the years i mean you walk out and you see somebody that or they're passing you by and you just they got nothing they're they're still troubled and uh basically uh they said well i got nothing out of the service today i said okay rather than take it personal i would say well what have you done for somebody else today service is truly meeting the needs of others and if we come into the assembly right saying what can i do today to encourage somebody else in their faith instead of putting all the pressure on the church and the service and the preaching to do something for me right do it for somebody else right i remember uh one member of the church this was before you guys came here said he wasn't gonna come on wednesday night anymore because he didn't feel like he was being edified and stuff and i'm like well what are you doing to edify yourself it's on you to be edified uh about scripture uh you can't always have that expectation every time you hear i mean it there is something i mean you can't you'll have to define edifying too because certainly all these pastors that we've had in this church over the years they're always quoting scripture going to scripture doing exegesis on the verses uh but you know the question uh is you know what are you going to uh you know if if it's a if it's a message that you've heard before that's kind of basic you know you know where's your mind are you going to appreciate the simplicity of scripture and the basics of the grace doctrine are you just going to have this expectation i need to be taught something new every time i go to church you know you can't you can't expect that every time right sounds like the greeks so i learned something new every day i was for some reason in this context thinking about some of the greatest quotes that i've ever heard in this context came from martin lin luther king jr and i'm i'm serious you know here's an example he said everybody can be great why because anybody can serve you don't have to have a college degree to serve you don't have to make your uh subject and verb agree to serve you only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love amen i agree with that that's good right you know that's that's powerful stuff you know uh you know and he would often stand there at the microphone he's who have you helped today who have you helped today yeah amen so that's that's that's a great message it's a great message for every assembly and church and group and organization uh who have you helped today how can we help how can we serve you excellent um all right so we've got uh uh grace believer be ye angry and sin not let not the sun go down upon your wrath yep now we've talked about that a few times here yeah uh uh this is one thing is just just if you get angry just realize it's a human emotion it happens part of the fight and flight part of our our makeup but you can get angry getting angry is not a sin it's what you do afterwards that turns it into sin and i know people who are just full of you know self loathing because they get angry yeah well he did say be angry and sin not be angry and say no go ahead and get angry larry says what to thank you all for the prayers for my family wild thinks from our point of view our son's eye is improving we have an appointment to see what the doctor has to say thank god for doctors yes okay amen we will we will keep you in our prayers i'm guessing that since we're not seeing karen she's i mean she was already five days into no power she must be running out of power by this point the poor thing will definitely keep her in our prayers i cannot imagine going almost a week with no power in memphis this time of year yeah and i can't imagine uh how uh how this how this issue with your with your son uh as i know it's [Music] um it's gotta be it's uh it's gotta be difficult but we will absolutely keep you and your family in our nurse prayers as well as kdco um we gotta remember her also uh grace believer says me reckon uh jesus was a bit angry at the pharisees right yes he was and that was uh uh do you would you characterize his anger well he was angry at the pharisees he was angry in the temple when he flipped over all the all those tables which was totally epic now is it okay for us to do that or was that only okay for the lord to act that way because he was their messiah he certainly had the authority yeah he had the authority and the right and the position to be able to act that way does that mean that we have the right to act that way well you know i would just say the lord showed it was an example of righteous indignation i'm not sure that anything that i would ever do when i get angry would be considered righteous indignation and so i think we need to curb uh i mean go to a point you got to go to a point i mean something to get something's going it's not right we need to stop it and clean it up but you know maybe shop stop short of turning over the tables and throwing people out i mean when paul uh uh you know had the uh confrontations with the jews there was no small disputation you know yeah well that doesn't mean it was angry yeah exactly it was it was a big conflict you know and it was over doctrine though right yeah right um um [Music] yeah i don't i mean if if we were to see something like that i don't think we would have any right to be flipping tables and causing that kind of trouble that's that is something only the lord jesus christ really had the authority to do i mean if they were in our building we would have every right to clean them out or ask them to leave if we had to we pay for civil protections and civil services call the law right would you not also say and and in his actions in the temple and doing that that that was also done in type as the one that was going to come and pass judgment on that particular nation uh it's a little tired of process that's right you know somebody made the comment i think it was valerie she said you know that it's a human emotion anger is not a human emotion it's a divine emotion god gets angry it is a part of his his character as well so we know that anger in itself is not a sin because god gets angry yeah right right i think i said as a human emotion and uh but i understand what you're saying too i mean so god god made us yeah god is going to you know pass judgment on that particular nation and and they saw they got a little taste of it right of what it's going to look like right and and seeing the one with authority that came in and you know this was that was his house not there is anger a sin no i think i just said that anger is not a this is a one-man show here i'm trying um uh so would you say it's a matter of um what you do with that anger that might become a sin that's the thing yeah um paul couldn't say it any clearer be angry and sin not let not the sun go down upon your wrath you need to resolve that don't let the anger kindle don't let it keep very because it'll only intensify and uh and get worse you need to deal with it put it in its proper place and move on yeah and the point to make about that i believe when he says don't let the sun go down upon your wrath right it doesn't make you responsible for the reaction of the person or the thing that you're thinking it it's yours it's it's your choice like forgiveness forgiveness has nothing to do with what the other person is doing forgiveness is something that you exercise it's your choice it's your prerogative right you're the one that grants it it's not earned it's right whatever and and i think anger is much the same way well yes i was angry at this person or because of this situation but i'm going to deal with that and um the one will forgive before i came back to the lord i would have nights where i was so angry couldn't sleep all night long i would be so furious and frustrated about something and then when i came back to the lord and stuff and there were occasions when that would happen you know my new thinking was where's your mind uh and so i would uh you know either get back to working on an outline or get to working on something get into a bible study read a book do some do some other and that i always knew would work for me it wouldn't take too long before i'm totally sucked into whatever this new this other thing is over here forgetting about this other thing over here where's your mind right you know you make another interesting point in that many people are angry over things number one which they have no control or on things that happen to other people it's not things that directly involve us right but you see a situation and you decide well i'm going to be angry about that right one of the things that i angry i remember one of the things that helped me uh with anger was was basically hearing jordan say in a message you know why should we be surprised about unbelievers acting like unbelievers they're unbelievers that's what they do that's how they act why should you be surprised and angry and frustrated when unbelievers are acting like unbelievers so to have the a proper spiritual perspective about everything going on totally had an impact on how much anger i was feeling when something bad would happen you're just like that's an unbeliever that's they don't they don't know any better right you know having a proper spiritual perspective definitely lessens the anger and the reactions that and and the kinds of reactions you have uh in life so uh um let's see here uh larry says cliff we are doing uh great uh longing past the fact i ha i may have uh cracked rib oh man but still breathing oh there's i know that's painful ribs oh broken ribs cracked ribs ooh and then they did i've seen guys suffer with that i've never had then they just tape you up and send you back in father says ball game uh valerie says christ will never disappoint us jones says are happiness and anger mutually exclusive i know some who aren't happy unless they are angry yeah before i came back to the lord i really wasn't happy unless i was depressed truth be told you know i always say that's a very positive a very accurate response of the flesh yeah that's that's totally feeding flesh well i've said many people aren't happy unless they're miserable that's right and i i personally think that that a lot of times they they find some kind of validation uh in that they it it enhances their their worth right somehow they're it's a very warped view they're they're of their in relationships i gotta say when i when i came back i had there was a kind of i don't know how to describe it a fear of peace and love and satisfaction in life because i had lived with depression for so long that was that was all i knew i had and i had grown to kind of you know this was a thing that made me unique i kind of loved it i kind of learned to deal with it i kind of all this stuff i i you know i developed a life around it i didn't know what peace felt like for the longest time are you guys are you saying you let it define you um yeah i let the emotion define me just as that article was talking about you let it define you right it said dan hart was talking about yeah yeah that's it exactly yeah you understand that in the light you know when we had prison ministries and jail ministries uh people have been in six seven eight years sometimes even more are going to get out and the fear they had of freedom right because they knew their choices and they knew their own tendencies and right same thing i mean so i got i'm out i'm free but now i'm scared to death right i remember uh studying romans for the first time i you know i hit hip bottom came back wednesday night dave started a new study on romans i said well isn't that appropriate when you when when you when you're falling away and you come back you just got to start all over again with the basics at romans you know so i didn't want to wait every wednesday night to learn something new i i grabbed stam's uh commentary on romans went home studied that thing i mean all day all night until i had that book done in like a day or two and i remember i'm halfway through that book and studying romans i still remembered newell i think i read him next and i remember i remember studying halfway through that book i just felt this wave of peace that came over me probably by the time i got to romans 8 you know and i i had not felt that peace i couldn't tell you the last time i felt that piece it it is real it legitimately comes to you when you study the word you legitimately feel it and i mean i remember feeling that piece and i wanted i was like an addict who found a new drug who wanted i wanted more of that peace and and then i find myself just sleeping like a baby every night without needing any help you know i mean it legitimately works the word legitimately works i know we refer to romans as basic and in a lot of ways it is but it's one of the most complex and deep books that paul wrote right right and to this day i find myself i still can't believe depression can be cured through the word and and i find i find myself amazed at the principles of of paul's scripture that identification totally works and the replacement principle totally works put off and put on that process works and the end result is romans 15 13. right really but the reason that works is uh we determine who is at the center of our own personal universe exactly when we're at the center of our own personal universe it's just not going to function but but when you knock you out of the center exactly christ in the center exactly everything is revolving from a different that's perspective that's the brilliance of identification because it's no longer about you i hated me i hated the way i felt all the time i hated the way i was thinking and it's not about you anymore it's about what god made you in christ it's about the new man the old jew he's gone he's gone this is god doesn't even consider him right right right because who right and so it's not just it's not just the old you and all the mistakes you made but it's also all the wrong that was done to you all the all the bad things everything totally that's off the table now what's on the table here now is the new man and what god made you and his son this is what you got to focus on and this is how you're going to live so let me ask you would you classify your depression as environmental where you live what you do i would say mental i mean it was it was it was mental it was and now i would say what i had was a standard issue depression that the vast majority of americans have it was a spiritual problem it was it was a spiritual problem and um and they're looking for answers in all the wrong places like i was and it's and it's can be solved with not just salvation but also especially identification well i'm saying where fred wants to go and i agree with that because i've dealt with a number of number of individuals over the years that have physical depression right it is you know and and we can't have this discussion right without mentioning without mentioning this and bringing it to the forefront there are people that that have depression because of chemical imbalances and and there's totally absolutely nothing that they can totally no amount of bible reading and prayer totally you need those drugs in order to you know it helps the mind right but again it's a physical problem right right i i'm not i know i'm and i'm not dismissing those that i don't want anybody out there thinking you know i got to get over this because totally but i take what i also think is get the get the medication that you need and follow this program right well see and that's the point because what a lot of people that are on medication they start experiencing guilt yes they do and the guilt that they're experiencing is well look at that person look at the joy look at the you know look at everything positive that they're experiencing in their life and they said it's because of their bible reading and their prayer and their understanding and their sound doctrine and all of this and they go and try and make that work for them right and uh and it doesn't if it's a physical problem it's not going to correct that listen i've got someone very close to me that uh had people just literally get in her face and tell her that the problems she was experiencing were all spiritual right and uh talk about the guilt she said why can i get over this now you have in this country a vast majority of people with dealing with depression uh you have a uh you you have a a a a severe problem with uh drugs being prescribed to solve everything drugs having their own weird side effects and issues that come along with it when i'd say the vast majority of people dealing with depression are it's a simple spiritual issue just like i think your soul is longing for not just reconciliation with god your soul is longing for that uh new man that you don't know god was going to give you that moment you believe your soul is longing for that peace and that joy that only can come from a renewed mind so you know the things that go wrong with that are wrong on me i can't imagine trying to get through a daily life without all the meds that they give me and so i praise the lord for good doctors good medication i didn't know how i would survive without scotch yeah there was no way you were self-medicating i was self-medicating i was the worst i would drink a good scar i was the worst kind of uh the most dangerous kind of drinker because i would go into a room alone by myself and drink alone out of depres and depression would drive the drinking which is literally the most dangerous kind of drinker you can be uh i don't want anybody to know i didn't want anybody to see it but i wanted to get hammered you know people don't realize that alcohol is is an anesthetic right it is absolutely yeah um and yet the the that numbing feeling that you would have doesn't last long and it's not enough that it's not enough you have to keep drinking more in order but then you get to a point where you're just so you know i would i would skip um i would often skip dinners uh skip food and skip eating just so i could uh train drink it early and get to get yeah and get that get that buzz quick and early and fast and uh and and then to get that numbing feeling and uh you know it you know and then then you have to suffer for it the next day yeah like nothing ever before you know and i i in the middle of the night i would get a giant uh i had a giant mug you know i'd fill it with water drink it all in one shot and then i would do the same thing in the morning and you know you got to tug it in one side this giant thing in order and then you can almost barely function almost barely function and that's no way to live you know no way to live so if we ever notice you're losing weight you know we should be concerned well that probably drink that much alcohol you're not going to be losing weight that's for sure yeah that's high calorie that's uh um and i was and i was working out at the time also uh but i was never improving the way i looked it was i was only maintaining uh where i was at um the in any event okay so um our anger and happiness uh mutually exclusive yeah well in the moment right i don't know if you could really be angry like i used to get angry too i don't know there was every time that i was happy right during the anger right although i was very comfortable with it it was a very expected response and it was something that i was very used to but i never would say i was happy i i would say that anger cannot long survive in an environment of joy and peace right and it can be it can flash but i would think it's it's like oxygen is to a fire right and joy and peace are going to rob anger of its oxygen right there is nothing wrong with anger or even sadness either that's going to happen they go through that that's fine doesn't mean there's something wrong with your spiritual life no doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong it's a part of life part of the way we feel god feels that way too we're very sad this morning about what happened to my grandson right but we're you know good news totally uh yeah christ himself is a man of sorrow yeah amy stewart said sadness serves a purpose don't wish it away totally agree i totally agree yeah um uh jonathan says repentance uh dan quotes titus 1 7 for a bishop must be blameless as the steward of god not self-willed not soon angry not given to wine no striker not given to filthy luker my favorite aspect of that verse has always been no striker you know don't he shouldn't be beating people you know that's some pretty high standards there i think pastor jordan used to describe me somewhat as a well fighter maybe not a striker right uh and this whole aspect of you know the this whole thing about the feelings when we were talking about the danger pursuing happiness the feelings and the emphasis on acting uh because i feel strongly very much still reminds me also of second timothy 3 and this you know lovers of their own selves and pushing people to act on their feelings which makes them incontinent and fierce they are emotionally undisciplined they are easily triggered and when they are triggered it's actually fierce right that that that whole concept of you know uh having this right to act because i have these strongly held feelings and shown really plays into right no restraints whatsoever plays into fully the whole idea of the selfishness of people in the last days of grace the the the ingratitude the incontinence of their of their emotional lives they are emotionally undisciplined easily triggered lovers of self more than lovers of god ungrateful to parents unthankful unholy they hate all of us with a passion uh false accusers all that stuff goes into this whole just feeds right into this whole fleshly notion of getting all emotional about something ex to an extreme and then feeling like you have this right to act on it that's that's incontinent and fierce yeah second timothy three if you ask me you know when i think of striker i think somebody just sitting there just all right out of the blue he throws a jab in the side of his nose right now cliff matthew says happiness derives from happenstance just like life it's temporary and we and we're already all dealt a random set of trials based unfortunately on so many human factors and that in the believer we have extra tools uh you know i think we all have it's inevitable that all of us will face trials since we're all living in a sin cursed world um and uh but the the happiness is uh frankly we have more than happiness that joy to help us be able to endure all suffering we can endure suffering with joy because of the entire victory program of grace the only way not to have any pushback at all is just don't do anything right and then people won't be pushing back and so you know we should say on some level maybe you know are we doing enough because we're not getting enough pushback because as especially as we say as time moves forward i mean society and when paul's writing to believers i think he's speaking believers gonna um have this reaction to our our doctrines and our teachings they're gonna they're gonna feel as if because they're gonna become implacable too right everything that we say right uh and he says i think anger is a symptom of some deeper issue that needs to be addressed um that's possible i do you and for me you know understanding why and how anger worked i don't feel like was ever a good first solution the solution was the replacement principle the solution was you know what is it your mind is focused upon what is it you know the the whole have you reckoned the whole identification and focused upon not just putting off that old that that anger but putting on the bowels of mercies and the love of christ and focusing on the replacing of of the anger how it worked and why it's there you know that's all part of the old man that's already been crucified i think it's more than just a focus yeah i think it's it's what becomes a part having lived with someone that had anger issues i could remember discussions uh certain circumstances or the you know a person would do something and they said doesn't that make you angry and and with honesty i had to say no doesn't that bother you and i can honestly say no right it doesn't in times past it would have right and i can't even describe the process in which i arrived at the point where those things don't bother me literally they just you know don't right anymore right but i had choice but now that's a choice maybe a choice you made way back over a period of time making those particular choices it becomes a part of who you are it's not even something that i think about anymore right you know and i've gone through a very similar process and somebody asked me one time but don't you care well it's not a matter whether i care not but maybe because i care more that i'm able to to see it observe it allow it to not have it affect me in a way to where it boils my anger right i used to tell somebody all the time i just refuse to let anybody have that kind of power over me anymore where did anybody ever get the idea that the the proper way to to demonstrate that you care about something is to get angry right the only way that you can show that you care is anger right right you know right that's that just makes no sense well it makes no sense now made a lot of sense 25 years ago yeah right oh no i had i had i had ex-girlfriends that just you know why aren't you fighting with me and don't you care enough to fight well you know we wouldn't have to fight if you weren't bringing the it's a drama queen to begin with you know why do we have to fight at all yeah uh the uh so we've got um lourdes says that when they when they fall down they are not pretending it is a spiritual force that does it jones says val these are the same people who reject the gospel of grace in favor of being under the law it's legalism that justifies their anger um uh valerie says i think frosty is dancing this morning he'll dance uh what else do we have here um uh dan says yep we have the mind of christ the question is does christ have our mind love that um um you had cliff is talking about supply chain breakdowns yeah it's uh lourdes says i shared uh skipped that amy stewart says ecclesiastes 7 10 say not thou what is the cause that the former days were better than these for thou does not inquire wisely concerning this that's good oh that is good i like that lori loves green's in the house i love you i hope you're doing great glory dan quotes deuteronomy 33 29 happy art thou o israel who is like unto thee o people saved by the lord the sealed of thy help and who is the sword of thy excellency and nine enemies shall be found liars under thee and now shout tread upon their high places right valerie says too much focus on physicalness weighs down the spirit uh cliff matthews says uh amy and jones i found some uh real help for frustration and anger and kevin sadler's latest short podcast transformed my grace put off the old man oh kevin sadler still thinks the old man's alive hopefully i did give him my book and if we're lucky he has changed his mind i said dude you got to read this book especially the chapter on the old man i love me some kevin but he needs a lot big stronger dose of identification in his life we all have just a little bit of difference on the old man i do believe he's dead but i do believe he still influences me so uh harry larry says joy is one of the fruits of the spirit amen says cliff i thought the old man was dead this demonstrates a question i have never had yeah there is a platelet jones there is a playlist on on on our channel called the old man debate i said the old man's dead another pastor said the old man is alive and uh back but that was years ago and the uh um sadler agreed with the other pastor and he was wrong to do so do you consider me to be wrong and the uh uh well what you were what you're saying and what this other pastor was saying is very different the other pastor is saying well not only is he not dead he's if he's not dead he's still hanging on that cross literally you can hear people chuckle in this auditorium when he said that it's just it's not it's just that's still alive and hanging on the cross are you kidding me we are dead buried and risen with him that statement would say the christ jesus right right he is crucified with christ uh do you know what the word crucified means in the greek it means crucified which is why they use the word crucified you know what crucified means it means you're dead that's right if you're crucified with christ you have to be dead with him because christ literally died on that cross there's no possible way that old man survived a death burial and resurrection with the lord jesus christ woohoo get me started yeah no no i want you to keep going i can hear that message over and over again and we have what so what you're what you're sir it is possible that the the old man could still influence your thinking you have to put off the the old thinking you have to reckon him dead put off your thinking and renew your mind in the in the words so that your thinking mirrors more with the thinking of christ right well the passage that many of them go to they go to the pastor where paul says to put off the old man with his deeds right right right the old man indeed was crucified right with christ right but there are many habits if you will right and inclinations that the flesh right still retains right yeah the uh paul also uses the expression the motions of sin right he talks about you know when i sin it's not me but sin that dwells in him right dwelleth no good thing right and see that's why i'm a little bit killed sometimes right the old man has has a legacy of doing the wrong thing that inhabits the flesh that we still have right now i love the distinction between you put off the old man with his deeds and yet you are told to mortify the deeds of the flesh right how come he doesn't tell you to mortify the old man with his deeds because he's already dead he's dead that's why you know that's why there is that great distinction between the wording of the two and of course it's mortified the deeds right it's not never by the flesh it doesn't say mortify the flesh that's right that's right mortify the flesh hello exactly yeah yeah you're better now well with as much joy as i had in romans chapter six i had some trepidation going into seven i i do i get grief about seven all the time i love chapter seven well i love it but you know it's just not as exciting as six oh i don't know i think we can make it exciting okay do it no no it's your job well i know that uh even already as i've been looking into it it's you know i get excited when i go through it i just hope i can get the get the message out the same all right uh okay we're going to try to get through these comments here clearly what that means shut up no i'm just trying to move forward look at all these comments dude yeah uh all right so uh we may not get to all of them today uh but uh cliff says uh kevin does seem to say that the old man is dead gotta listen again uh now kevin personally told me he agreed with the other pastor he thinks the other pastor is right now i told kevin i'd pray for him i gave him a copy of that book i said dude you're probably not gonna like it but um yeah so hopefully hopefully he'll change unfortunately they're both kind of tied to the same organization so yep exactly organizational right issue that way it is a bit of an organizational issue that's very true damon says second corinthians 4 uh what is it 15-17 for all things or for your sakes that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redoubt glory of god uh exactly uh the abundant grace yeah might of might through the thanksgiving of many redounds to the glory of god abundant grace all of our thanksgiving together brings glory to the father for the whole run grace graces whatever you have grace is more than sufficient um that's that's a fantastic verse thank you very much for that uh dan quotes first samuel 14 30. how much more if happily the people had eaten freely uh to day of the spoil of their enemies which they found we have devin saying can you cover the story of elisha and the bear it's very hard to wrap my head around you know the new song is not daniel boone was the man it's the elisha was the man uh the uh yeah how about this uh how about this devin uh we will uh i'll put it down we'll come back to it maybe a next time around or uh or maybe i'll do an article or something i'm gonna let me copy and paste that we will come back to it because i frankly i'm gonna have to study that out i would do and i don't want to jump into it without having uh looked at it first and maybe even red stuff just to be careful i don't know red stuff red stuff the bible yeah right so beginning with the bible i'm reading i'm looking at a comment from dan he said joel quote don't believe me just read my book i say that oh that's bad don't believe me just read my book yeah that's hilarious who wrote the book uh you know what i'll just have to i may have to put that i'll put i'll put the jordan quote and then i'll just say don't believe me read my book yeah uh dan says oh come on joel it's an awesome song by jimmy soul i totally believe uh everybody knows jimmy seoul's songs um i don't bob picard says by the grace of god i can even be grumpy but the same grace can get out of that grumpiness amen it's grace grace is the greatest motivation in uh in our time uh cliff matthews says ugly in a man or a woman is 99 internal that's right i met some externally rough looking folks that if i spend five minutes with them my spirit is renewed right amen right praise the lord like like like spending it with us right yeah some rough looking folks uh joy is contagious that's right absolutely absolutely that's what i think a lot about our services here they're infectious i mean we truly are built on fellowship and i love our assembly uh they're warm they're welcoming they're they're loving come and join us sometime uh valerie says language of fire tongues of fire fire being holy spirit speak the holy spirit here you go you're getting you're on it cliff matthew says on elisha i don't think the term use is the same today and jewish culture youth has applied to anyone under 20 years of age also i don't think they all died bears maul and chase um i'm gonna have to read stuff i'm gonna have to read stuff frank ladue is in the house he says happy is when you can endure your pain joy is enduring always and there's a there's a life-giving example right there thank you and cliff chris nelson also uh yeah valerie uh julius boyd takes on the responsibility of a man at the age of 13 i think it was 12 wouldn't it well so when the father determined that he was amazed to take care galatians 4. uh all right uh i seriously wonder where the calmness gets his happiness from exactly is it non-stop out of reach sad that's a great point right it is it is right um uh cliff matthews i think saul paul was about 18 19 years old when he was holed and guarding the robes of those stoning stephen roofing them on unfortunately i don't know i think it was uh uh uh for me i would think he's probably older than that uh but it's hard to tell i how old do you think paul was when he was converted on the road to damascus i consider him always look at look at his education already i think he had to be middle-aged by the time he wrote philemon he was you know paul the aged uh well first of all he he certainly wasn't a novice in his own religion or he would not have received letters of authority to do the things that he was doing right right the idea that he was a very young man there i don't find yeah if it's hard to you know of course he's smart he could have excelled in his classes and graduate early but i think young adult is what i thought i think the uh if would i be correct in thinking that the lifespan of paul's entire ministry uh was probably about 20 years i remember when i was studying uh what i was going through first and second timothy i don't know how i got to this thought was that timothy's mentorship his time of mentorship with paul was roughly 15 years or so you know so he had to have been a young teen and by the time he took over uh over at ephesus he was still really young because they despised him for his youth so he had to have been really really young when paul picked him up still young at ephesus by that point and i remember going through the dates thinking that roughly that was 20 15 years and so then you have to consider all the time outside of that i don't know 20 25 years in total of of ministry that he had um i don't know and i don't know for some reason i you came at 20 25 i felt like it's 30 but you know nothing i wouldn't i wouldn't i wouldn't doubt that either um so 30 years so 30 years so 30 years by the time he writes philemon he that was he was paul the agent when he was still in prison yeah at the end of acts 28 because that's a prison epistle so if he's paul the agent by that point how old did he have to be you know by the time he was on the road to damascus it had to have been uh far later than eight it could be relative i don't know what the expected life span was probably 40 or 50 years right uh lion and jude is in the house pastor joel i would like to talk to you about something uh i can now if i'm not mistaken i think i gave you my email address the last time we got we got you on here look here's the here's the email address all right there's also beneath the video there's also beneath the video links to us on social media so if you want to reach out to any of us through social media you're welcome to do that um let me see here cliff says i think paul held a lot of guilt for that many years seeing someone die so brutally must have been traumatic i think uh things we see in youth that can really shape our lives but god can heal anything and it worked for good i think paul when he realized on the road to damascus that he was crucifying the son of god himself and he and all that murder it took it took three years in arabia for him to finally deal with it yeah you understand the gospel overcome the guilt and then be ready to preach what an example because i don't know how you would just deal with that guilt i mean all those innocent people that you crucified or had killed in the families that you destroyed and and but he said philippians forgetting those things which are behind and he took and he replaced all those thoughts all that guilt and focused it on the lord jesus christ and even even in like first timothy when he highlights his past it was not to he was not you know wallowing in in in self-defeat and wallowing in frustration about himself and his life past he was just using that as a as an as a springboard to praise the lord jesus christ for everything he did you know uh which is the context of the praise in his confrontation on the damascus road again one of the lord just a white person persecuting me yeah right that was what paul had to realize right it wasn't uh the people the adherents it was god himself that he was fighting yes who are thou lord and if he could reconcile that with god amen does that not also cover the other oh you know you know paul's going when he says who art thou he's going don't say jesus don't say jesus please don't say jesus and then you have that sinking feeling of just oh no oh wrong oh no you know that feeling you get when you get in trouble with mom as a kid and you just got that sinking feeling yeah you know you remember that you imagine the road to hell is paid with good intentions right right yeah yeah um and you notice his response he said i'm jesus whom now i am jesus who's now persecution yeah and he said lord what will thou have me to do i'm ready man i'm yours i'm here i'm a believer yeah yeah uh in any event uh okay so we've got uh a few other comments here uh dan says access 758 and cast him out of the city and stoned them and the witnesses had him uh down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was saul amen the which many had uh to me many already had authority and recognition right they weren't beckoning him to come in and help stone right but in honor and obeyance they laid their clothes at his feet not just to keep track of them uh amy says please don't forget to pray for our dear uh sister kay absolutely absolutely um so we have dottie johnson in the house how are you we enjoyed the recent florida regional grace conference we would like to know next year's date since we travel in an rv need to make reservations now uh i don't know what to tell you well it's the third weekend in january third full weekend yeah it's always the same it's always the third weekend in january thursday full weekend so i think it's saturday you should just be down here for the entire month of january yeah i think that would work you park out here yeah exactly um bob carr says i wish there were more young men rather than old stodgy curmudgeons that are stuck in their set ways you know i'm gonna bite my all right let me see here devin says churches want uh young men they need to drop the ritualistic formals and suits operated like an open bible study i'm hungry for something like that um i know that feeling um the uh for me i mean i was hungry for i wanted i when i was so hungry for the word i when i heard a pastor i wanted pure exegesis for an hour you know and be able to take in all this new information and just totally soak it in i think but too much of the world is being conditioned to be entertained with watered down stories and emotionally manipulated with just stupid stuff um that uh you know their faith is weak their knowledge is poor and uh walk is practically non-existent you know for me i walk into a service i don't care if everybody's in suits and ties and formal dress i want to hear the word preached and i nor do i care if people are dressed down yeah you come to our church and how many people were wear what you want yeah that's right just wear what you want yeah i'm going to wear a vest wednesday night i have a vest now oh no yeah oh yeah i got i have a black vest so white shirt black vest red tie i think wednesday night that kind of sharp we'll see how that you have a pocket watch i'm tempted yeah i'd have to find one i used to have one yeah back in the holidays when he dressed to me yeah i mean i may start doing doing a vest thing we'll see uh okay so we have um jones saying access 758 and cast him out of the city and stoned them and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was all right right um yeah it's hard to say i don't you know i don't know uh maybe when paul said paul the agent he was just uh he seemed and looked a lot older than he was because he had been badly beaten and persecuted and i can't imagine that he didn't take some toll on him physically how many years would uh would it have to be to go from act seven the young man's feet to uh him being imprisoned at rome in acts 28 and him calling himself paul the agent in philemon how many years is that i don't know i don't know uh yeah there's we have a say you know we also have a saying it's it's not the uh how does it go it's not the years it's the mileage right right yeah yeah paul paul experienced a lot of mileage in a very short period of time right uh well the uh there was um when they when they did indiana jones four as indiana jones said that in raiders of the lost ark that's where you got that from and then in indiana that far preceded that i've known that for oh okay so then he ripped it off and said yeah yeah it was a rip there was a line that got cut out of the fourth movie uh from the darabont draft where he where he you know he he gets hurt and stuff and then and then he tells and he tells marion it's not the mileage honey it's the years i'm just saying that was that was cut uh dan says acts 20 35 i have showed you all things how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the lord jesus how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive that's right a great principle i totally agree with that um uh church uh devin says church now days feels more like a show theater than it does a coming together of believers to study and worship the lord i i have seen especially on sites like protestant stuff where they just chronicled the insanity of this of the shows they put on now it's a major network it's a it's just absurd what church has become uh absolutely absurd and when the people are desperate for the word um and if there is to be a legitimate revival in the united states it's got to be based on preaching out of the word you're never going to get a revival with all of this nonsensical entertainment you can sure get people worked up you can sure get the emotions going you sure get the and everybody's excited about what's going on and then you know there's just no word preached at all homily somewhere you had a few weeks ago andy stanley opening up his church with a led zeppelin concert that's the stupidest thing i ever heard in my life that would be a good example of what's being talked about and then and then he says oh well we put on this led zeppelin concert because it's not what you're supposed to do because you don't if you're not supposed to do it why are you doing it dude all right anyway all right we're getting close here to noon uh i wish i was back in orlando i love them too lori says we love you way more um uh let's see you know where you're at it's only like eight or ten eight or nine hours maybe uh franklin dew said the lord showed his love with his disciples by sharing the scripture valerie said christ was angry slow to anger that's right that's right uh dan says second corinthians 1 24 not that we have dominion over your faith but are helpers of your joy for by faith ye stand um cliff says bob bob and i are one a very bad stodgy curmudgeon uh righteous anger is not the same as selfish anger that's what it says completely different um one's righteous and one's not yeah uh cliff says uh so true about church uh these days i suspect only one in a thousand church assemblies today considers the bible as the anchor of all that we hold true that many yeah one out of a thousand yep i have been uh desperately looking for a church in my area i sent emails to six of them with my name and number and asking if we could talk before i attend what they believe there is a link beneath the video i don't you may already know about this but there's a link beneath the video where you can get a list sharon you can get sharon mckinty's list of grace churches uh and it's uh in alphabetical order according to state um so uh that may be helpful but there's a link to that beneath the video uh all right we've got um what else do we have here uh lori says amen pastor joel getting in his word always calms me and gives me peace i have a hard time getting away from his word because i'm so addicted to it frankly uh devin says i'm going to make a facebook account soon and search for a local bible study uh all right so what else do we have here there's so much stuff online but never if you have the opportunity or option never let an on-time online study take the place of being in the fellowship of the believers right uh bob picard says i love the fact that the there are young men who desire truth so much of the church tends to treat young people like two-year-olds exactly yeah exactly um uh what else do we have here uh the message of grace okay so they're talking about churches and in a near location to where this uh brother is living uh that's awesome it's awesome to see okay uh who gave the gospel yesterday it was fred what or how wasn't it i don't think his house i think fred should give the gospel today don't you think uh yeah you know i think he remembers yeah i forgot it was he may be old but i think he remembered yeah yes you know we talk about being old you know in fact i think we mentioned it when you're coming tell me the old old story and the story of the that the lord jesus christ came to this earth philippians chapter 2 took on the form of a of man and became a servant and humbled himself unto death even the death of the cross because it wasn't just death he died on the cross and the cross then becomes the central figure of all about who we are in christ but it's not the cross it's who was on the cross and it was the lord jesus christ and paul says who gave himself for our sins and but god commendeth his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners christ died for us you know it's a it's uh it's certainly probably in most cases an unnecessary question but it is true that god only and the lord jesus christ only came to save sinners do you know that you are a sinner for all have sinned and come short of the glory of god some people are offended by that title and say don't tell me i'm a sinner but the fact is the truth is you came short of god's glory and god says the penalty for coming short of the glory of god is to be cast alive into the lake of fire for eternity but then remember he commendeth his love toward us but then in that same understanding that that the penalty of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life through jesus christ our lord god has prepared a gift for us today he's saying you don't have to go to hell if you go to hell you're gonna it'll be by your choice he says but i want you to believe that my son in his death at calvary his shed blood paid the price for your sin and once we have trusted christ as our savior romans 6 23 is no longer true about us we do not be uh are not short of the glory of god because we are as righteous as god is it's all the gift the gift of righteousness and all you have to do is believe what do you do to believe you choose to believe you know you say based on the facts based on the message i believe it we beg you we implore you just as the apostle paul did we pray you in christ said be reconciled to god all right how about a word of prayer heavenly father how grateful we are to have pastor fred and hal here with us how grateful we are for every single saying in the live chat including the ones that just joined us like grady content for the faith for whom i'm uh very grateful uh for that fellowship and uh it's great to see you guys it's great to see everybody else out there of course i i pray father that our time together will make us all to increase and abound in love toward another and toward all men and that our hearts may be established unblameable in holiness amen before you um and i pray father that our faith will also grow exceedingly together and that um you will count us worthy of your calling and fulfill all the good pleasures of your goodness and the work of faith with power in the name of your son will be glorified in us i pray father also that i absolutely think of every saint i think of larry hines his son's eye i think of that whole family their circumstances i totally lift them up especially larry and i pray for you know he will just exhibit model spiritual leadership in that family leading with love and i also i think of kay dico who is still in the hospital we think of karen gray i'm assuming that because of lack of power she's not able to join us today i pray that that issue may be fixed soon and she may be able to get restored and i just pray though that despite how tough that may be she will also learn to appreciate and appropriate the sufficiency that you've already given her by her grace and uh by his by your grace and i also pray father for every other saint in the live chat all the members of the channel all the members of the church here every last one of them and i just pray that um that all of us uh together uh we your word will just have free course it'll work effectually in all of us we will align our earthly walk with our heavenly identity in everything you know we will we are enriched by your son and uh that with your son and us we will do all the things that you've instructed us to do we we're so grateful father we're grateful for everything you've done for us in us and through us we're grateful for everything you made us in your son we're grateful for this life that we have and i pray father we will make the most of this life make the most of every moment we will do the work of evangelists preach the word share the word get help to get the word out to everyone who needs to hear it and that everything we say and do will be to the honor and glory of your son our savior and it's in his name we pray amen amen all right thank you so much guys we'll be back here at 10 a.m tomorrow with the bible studies 10 a.m bible study all right i'll post that on facebook too good i'll have a bible study come on back tomorrow it'll be totally epic uh i love you guys dearly and uh you take really really good care have a truly bad day hey we'll see you tomorrow bye-bye praise the lord

Channel: Fellowship Bible Church Orlando

Views: 2,702

Keywords: fellowship bible church, joel hayes, grace life podcast, are you happy, happiness

Id: GGXGW283tBA

Length: 117min 34sec (7054 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 08 2022