How to Have Joy in the Lord | Paul Washer Sermon Jam

now what must you do you see here's what you do first of all why do we study scripture well we study scripture to know his will but that's another sermon but i'm talking about you and your joy and your encouragement why do we study scripture to know who he is and the more we know about who he is the greater our joy if we see him in light of the gospel or our relationship with him in the light of the gospel what he's decreed for you this is amazing tell me more i want to know what is it i know some of you people are so spiritual that that really doesn't matter but to me it really matters i'm excited like a kid at christmas i want to know what's coming this is so good what is he decreed what has he done i'm free i really am free i don't have to move a quarter of an inch to the left or the right to be any more loved of god i don't have to do anything do anything less do anything more i am loved of god and he has decreed all these things for me he's done all these things for me he will do so much more for me and for you that i cannot even grasp it mind cannot comprehend it do you see that now what must we do we must have faith we must read the word and believe it believe what god says not what you think i'm so tired of your false humility getting in the way it's not about what you think about yourself it's what you think about god and stop believing lies that rob you and kill your joy believe what god has said about himself now what is faith faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen now how is that kind of statement any different from me jumping off this roof because i think i'm peter pan how can you actually have assurance for something you hope for you just hope for it how can you have assurance that it's really going to happen how can you have convictions that something you've never seen actually exists how because god has said it because god has said it in his word and you see this is why faith is impossible apart from god's word and that is why faith is strengthened by god's word now see i just can't tell you you need to get into god's word because you'll get into god's word and come out miserable because you're not understanding things properly you got to get into god's word in light of what god's done in the gospel for you then you get in there and it's wonderful it's wonderful and you start searching out all these things and you believe them the greatest illustration of faith other than gethsemane and our lord in gethsemane the greatest illustration of faith is abraham in romans 4. it says without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old and the deadness of sarah's womb he contemplated it and it says yet with respect to the promise of god he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith giving glory to god how do we give glory to god by believing him you want to start a fight call somebody a liar you want to honor somebody believe them believe them and moping around with all your humility and self-affliction beating yourself and everything else that that didn't glorify anybody [Music] it doesn't really doesn't maybe yourself but grew strong in faith giving glory to god and being fully assured that what god had promised he was able also to perform it's it's believing in the faithfulness of god how do you have faith you have faith because you believe god is faithful and god is powerful able to do everything he promised he's never failed i don't know if you've realized that or not never he will not fail with you something that has been said by martin lloyd jones has been said by many pathetic counselors had been said by many pastors as this you need to preach the scriptures to your heart and stop letting your heart preach to you you need to preach the scriptures to your mind and stop letting the vain thoughts of your mind preach to you you just need to stop it how does satan kill doesn't run around with a machete he lies that's how he killed adam and eve and everyone else he's ever killed he lies how do you walk with joy you believe what god said and not what the enemy said you believe it you believe it and you but you're renewing your mind in the word of god to such a degree that what god says becomes a greater reality to you than what you see in the mirror are what you see around you preach the scriptures to your heart tell your heart to shut up that's why if i go to a church and the preacher says today i'm just going to share from what's in my heart i walk out i don't care what's in his heart i don't want to know what's in his heart i want to know what god has said now joy joy where does joy come from from most people i talk to whether they admit it or not their joy comes from their performance and that's why their joy is never strong unless they're deluded self-righteous and pharisaical listen i'm not teaching antinomianism here i have been devoted to christ i have suffered for christ i've risked my life for christ and i've lost much for christ with my own life and with a clear conscience i can say that i'm not teaching antinomianism or that obedience is not important i'm just telling you that joy does not come from obedience after 30 some years in the scriptures i'd understand that joy comes not from my performance but god's and that joy of god's perfect impeccable performance that joy is what energizes obedience basking in who god is and what he's done for you and how good it is i mean this is good that produces obedience joy i don't even know how to define that word except with some other words assurance confidence hope gladness of heart gladness of heart merriment of heart but stronger than that confidence assurance peace now i've written here when all that god is all that god has done and all that god will do is apprehended by you is comprehended by you is believed by you it will produce a joy in you that is independent from everything but god your joy will not depend on circumstances your joy will not depend on performance your joy will depend on an immutable god who does all things perfectly do you see that and that's where it must be that's where it must come from it must come from him listen nehemiah 8 10 do not be grieved for the joy of the lord is your strength what does that mean it's joy that comes from that comes from god and i know what your brain is doing yeah it comes from god if you're obedient no it comes from who god is who god is what god has decreed what he's done what he will do you grasp that and it leads to joy now another thing that i've said written down here if our joy is the result of faith in who god is and precedes obedience then our joy will not be based on our performance but on god's you see the difference most people in their categories their joy comes after their performance and is based upon it now we all know that sin will bring sadness i'm not saying it will not and that obedience will bring joy i'm not saying it's not it does not but what you have to understand is the whole of who you are and the great foundation of your joy must be his performance and not yours who he is and not who you are now i'm going to close by saying this we're going to talk for a moment about obedience joy energizes obedience it strengthens us that we might be obedient it encourages us encourages us listen to hebrews 12 2 about joy energizing fixing our eyes on jesus the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross it motivated him it moved him joy that would come after the darkness of that morning the joy that would come it invigorates it energizes derek kidder writes this based on his commentaries old testament commentary he writes that such a joy when nehemiah says the joy of the lord is our strength he says such a joy is invigorating not escapist or invincent now listen charles simeon who if you can get a hold of his commentaries please do his expository outlines they're absolutely wonderful but he wrote extensively on this issue and i wanna i wanna read him so you realize i'm just not making something up he said two things about joy first joy disposes for action it makes us ready for action fear and sorrow depress and overwhelm the soul am i talking to anyone here fear and sorrow depress and overwhelm the soul they innervate and be numb they make numb all our faculties they keep us from attending to any encouraging considerations they disable us from extending relief to others they indispose us for the most necessary duties we cannot pray or speak or or do anything with pleasure but on the contrary a joyous a joyous frame a joyous frame of mind exhilarates the soul now you can be a pie in the sky person that says everything's going horrible stick a cherry in your cap or whatever and sunflower in your pocket or something and just keep walking that's not what i'm talking about it's stop looking at those things and see them in the light of who god is what god has decreed what god has done what god will do for you he says that such a joy exhilarates the soul david well knew the effect it would produce and everyone may safely adopt his resolution and listen what he says in psalms 119 32 i will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart has your heart ever been enlarged with joy i can see this so clearly because i'm such a weak person what you think is so important i can walk into office and someone will say man they're killing you on the on the internet right now they're attacking you there's a guy that's just tearing you apart and i go to my office just you know want to die and then someone will walk in and go yeah paul they're really tearing you up you and macarthur and piper and sproul are okay it's not for something crazy i did i'm okay now just just the change of the news how it changes my disposition and exhilarates me when i hear the first news i can't even work i'm just sitting there numb when i hear the second news i'm ready to go again you see how much we are affected by what we think what we believe now he says this secondly joy qualifies for suffering when the spirit is oppressed the smallest trial is a burden in those seasons we are apt to fret and murmur both against god and man we consider our trials as the effects of divine wrath are overlooking god that i'm suffering because either god's his wrath or he's looked upon something that i've done we consider trials as the effect of divine wrath or overlooking god we vent our indignation against the instruments he uses but when the soul is joyous afflictions appear light how little did paul and silas regard their imprisonment how willing was paul to lay down his very life for christ this accords with the experience of every true christian i am so sick and tired of people thinking that paul was willing to lay down his life because he was just so much more spiritual than the rest of us stop it stop deifying men who's willing to lay down his life because he caught a glimpse of all the things that have been given to us fully in scripture who god is what god has decreed what god has done what god will do and that's why you need to get in the scripture you need to get in the scripture and ask those questions you

Channel: To Live is Christ

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Keywords: Paul Washer, joy in the lord

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Length: 16min 49sec (1009 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 28 2020