"Joy of the Lord" By Chris Ulrich June 22nd,
2014
If
you could bow your heads with me. Lord,
we thank You, God, for the blessings You’ve poured out already this morning in
worship time, the music, God, and we thank You, God, for blessing our lives as
abundantly as You have, God. We pray,
Lord, that You would bless our future as well, God. We look forward to what You have in store for
us, God. I ray that I would get out of
the way of Your message, God. We pray
that You’d rain down and give us the words that we need, God; that You would
pour out Your blessings, God. We pray
that You would give to us richly, God.
We thank You for being there for us, God. We thank You, God, for giving us the breath
of life. We just want to ask these
things in Your name, Jesus. Amen. So,
how many remember this past winter? I’m
glad that everybody who didn’t raise their hand, doesn’t remember it. Today is the first day of summer, so thank
God for that. Now, I’ve got to say, I’ve
got to say, I know Parrish Lee had stated last fall that he had prayed for an
extremely cold winter, so that it would kill off any of the insects or whatever
other things—mosquitoes… So, if there’s
anybody you want to question about how it was this past winter, Parrish is
sitting right here in the front row.
That was a shout-out. So,
this month has been Sound Doctrine. You
don’t have to turn to it, but I’m going to read: Titus 2:1 But speak thou the things which become sound
doctrine: I
know it has been mentioned, but it bears repeating that the theme of Sound
Doctrine has been by direction from our general pastor, Pastor Paine, in I
know that the first message this month, Parrish, you had given, on “Prayer,”
and it’s definitely a topic that will never get old unless we allow it. I know you shared something about a cousin
that you had, shortly after you got baptized, that had been shot and he had
been in intensive care, and I remember you just sharing about that people
banded together, the Christians banded together, and prayed diligently, and
there was a healing taking place that even the doctors couldn’t deny. It was one of those things where it was like,
once that acknowledgement was known, Parrish, I remember you sharing that it
just seemed like people just kind of sat back and said, “Well, I’ve gone as far
as I’m going to go.” It just seemed like
at that moment that the healing stalled.
It was one of those things where it just made me understand that we need
to pray it through. I mean, it may seem,
at times, like, “Okay, I’ve gone as far as I can possibly go.” It’s like, you look at the example in the Old
Testament of the Children of Israel; they were standing there at the edge of
the Bob
Heirtzler, you preached the message two weeks ago about, “Seek ye first the Last
week we celebrated Father’s Day and I’ve got to say that I appreciate Malcolm
and Kirk and Pete sharing their hearts. I know that not everybody came out, but I would
like to say thank you to those who supportive, those who were in
attendance. Malcolm, I’ve got to say
that I appreciate what you said about people that are honorary fathers, because
not everybody is. It’s one of those
things where it’s like, you know that there are people that teach the
children. It’s one of those things where
it’s like, you’d better be able to teach them right. I mean, we can’t just—and that’s what Sound
Doctrine is all about. Nehemiah 8:10 Then he said unto
them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto
them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither
be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. I
know that many of us here have heard this verse many times before but I suppose
that some might be hearing it for the first time. But I want to backtrack a little and, not try
to explain the entire history of the book of Nehemiah, but just understand that
is you look at the first chapter, at that time, the Israelites were in
distress. I mean, they were under siege;
the wall of The
title of today message is “The Joy of the Lord,” and my first point is about
having joy in the midst of tribulation.
That’s really one of the paradoxes of Christianity: that such a thing is
even possible. Think about it for a
moment: When you’re having distress, or
turmoil, or hardship, how is it possible?
You know what? I know that different people have suffered tragedies— 1 Peter 1:1-8 Peter, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto
you, and peace, be multiplied. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a
season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be
found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom,
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and
full of glory: We’re
going to have some trials of our faith whether we like it or not. Peter talked about the trial of our faith and
the heaviness of manifold temptations, and they that live godly in Christ Jesus
will suffer persecutions (2 Timothy 3:12).
There’s enough endurance that we understand that it’s not going to be
all, like I said, a walk in the park. And
you know what? I really don’t like
it. And I’m pretty sure that none of us
here really likes it very much either.
But when we look at what’s stake we realize that a lot of the joy we
have derives from just the hope that eventually it will get better. I know a couple of us have talked about that
this past week. It might not get better
today, might not get better tomorrow, and it might not get better next week,
but it’s bound to get better. That
doesn’t even necessarily mean that it’s going to get better in this life. I’d like to think that it will, but I think
we all hold out hope that, “You know what? I’d like to see things
improve.” I’d like to see us a group, us
as a church, us as a state, us as a country, that the general well-being would
improve, but it might not. That’s the
challenge right there, because we have to look at it more long term. We’ve got to look at the things that are
unseen. The Bible talks about lay not
your treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, but lay up
treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19). It’s
one of those things where it’s like, as you go through life, you accumulate
some stuff, I get it, we all have some personal mementoes, or some things that
have sentimental value to us, but the goal is not to try to accumulate massive
amounts of possessions. I’ve shared this
before, there was a movie, years and years ago—actually, it was from the
forties, but, I saw it, not in the forties—it was called, “Citizen Kane.” I suppose some people—how many have ever seen
Citizen Kane? It’s a classic—Orson
Welles, for anybody who knows who he was—but, what it was, it was about this
person who had gone through life, and they had accumulated huge, huge amounts
of wealth, and possessions, and houses and real estate, and whatever else was
at the time… I think the timeframe was
the early nineteen hundreds. But, at the
very end—they started out at the very beginning, with what he aid, which was,
“Rosebud.” I’m not going to tell exactly
what that was, for anybody who’s never seen it, who wants to see it, but I am
going to say this: It had nothing to do
with his possessions, it had to do with , when he was a child, something that
meant a lot to him. But we’ve got to
look at our faith the same way—how much does it really mean to us? How much does holding on to the faith really
mean to me, personally? Having the joy
in the midst of tribulations—and, believe me, I’m not trying to make light of
anyone’s sufferings or tragedies, including my own. It will keep us on the straight and narrow
path. It’s the kind of thing where it’s
like, it may seem pretty hopeless, like you mentioned, Rebecca, in your testimony,
about some of the struggles, and some of the hardships—I think sometimes, as
Christians, we almost get calloused, just thinking, “It’s going to be just
that? It’s just going to be burdens?” That’s not the case. Christ said, “Take my yoke upon you, and
learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, For my yoke is easy, and my
burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30) To
me—and I have to share this—I remember just driving—me and a friend were
visiting (I think it was my grandmother in The
second point is that joy is an option.
That might seem strange because I think that we would all think that joy
is something that everybody wants. But
we really can’t get into everybody else’s mind to know for sure. I know there’s a lot of depression, sadness, even
suicidal tendencies. I know that in the
early ‘90’s, there was a scene like a Goth scene or a Grunge scene, and I’m
just thinking, whether we can understand it or not, I’m looking at it like, my
goal is not to try to be as unhappy as possible or—and you know what I think? I don’t even want to get this to where it’s
just my opinion, but, Biblically-based, we have to look at it like, “Do I want
joy, or do I want to be unhappy? Do I
want to be depressed? Do I want—?” and,
again, there’s going to be enough things that are going to happen to us in this
life, there are going to be challenges.
So, it’s not a matter of looking at it like—there are going to be
obstacles. Where are people going to
find joy? I think a lot of us know that there’s
a lot of different places out there where we could seek for it. We could think, “Well, I’m going to get it
from this, or I’m going to get it from that, or I’m going to get it from this
career, or this movie, or this relationship… I’m not going to try to spend half the day
trying to figure out, “Okay, what is it that everybody chooses or esteems…” We see so many who are unwilling to submit
themselves under the mighty hand of God.
When that happens, we have to look at it like, okay, my question right
now (and I’m not asking anyone to raise their hand), “How many want to have
joy?” It’s a pretty easy question with a
pretty easy answer, but are we willing to do what it takes to get there? I’m sure we’re all pretty convinced, here,
that it all comes from God. But I’m
suggesting that we can’t really have it unless we know God in the fullness of
His plan of salvation. I’m talking about
the plan of salvation. Now that is one
of those things where it’s like, again, I believe that there are a lot of happy
people out there. I’m not trying to make
it sound like it’s too morbid, like it’s noting but problems. I believe that there are a lot of happy
people outside of God. That’s the
difference, though, having the joy or having just happiness. It comes down to, when you peel back the
layers, and you start asking, and seeing that there’s a lot of uncertainty
about where they’re eventually going.
That has to be the big difference.
Looking at it like, okay, I could be happy that it’ been a nice Spring;
I could be happy that Winter is over, or that my team won the championship, or
whatever the case may be—that I got a good meal. But, that’s only going to last a short
while. But then we have to look at it
like, okay, something that’s more long-term, and it’s something that—it’s not a
matter of looking at it like, we’re trying to shame anybody into, “Okay, if you
don’t have Christ, if you don’t know Christ, then you’re not going to have joy. If somebody firmly believes that they do—and
we’re not even trying to say, “Oh, you’ve got to prove it; you’ve got to prove
it to me.” Nobody’s going to answer to
us; everybody’s got too answer to God.
It’s a matter of looking at it like, I know that we believe that,
ultimately, that joy does come from God.
And it does come from being born again, and it does come from enduring
in the faith. Yes, again, we’re going to
go through some hard times, but we’re going to be happy, too, and there’s
nothing wrong with that, but do we still have the joy of God to keep us going? I’d
like to say one last thing on this point of the joy of God being an
option. Personally, I’m thankful that
God gives us a life to enjoy and there’s a lot of things that I feel like I do
have that, and I feel that a lot of us here do.
Again, it’s not a matter of—I know God’s good to us, but, to make it more
personal, I know God’s been good to me. But
I want to ask a question, and I’ve asked this before, because it’s a matter of
coming to grips with this thing called Christianity: “Do you like being a Christian?” I suppose that there’s times where we don’t
always like it, but I’m thankful for it.
I gets me through those times where it’s like, on the outside, before I
knew God, there’s those times where there are lulls in the action, or they call
them, “down time.” It was just
searching, and it was like that uncertainty that was just deep down within, and
it was like, you don’t know where you’re eventually going to end up, or, if I
don’t know whether I’m right with God. I
would say, to answer that question, I like being a Christian. I like the fellowship; I like the
friendship. I like knowing that I don’t
have to look behind me and think, “Oh, that guy’s coming after me because I did
something to him, or I did him wrong.”
We’re going to offend people at times; we’re going to say the wrong
thing or do the wrong thing, and it’s a matter of apologizing and getting on
with that. I’m not talking about such a
grievous matter that—I mean, even if something like that does happen… We’ll look at the example of King David. I mean, could it have gotten any worse than
that? For those of you who don’t know,
he committed adultery, then he had the man whose wife he had committed adultery
with murdered, then he lied about it, but, you know what? because of his
repentance, God forgave him. It’s not a
matter of looking at it like, “Oh, well, if he can do it, so can I,” or, “Well,
I can get away with it…” The goal is
not—he suffered for the rest of his life.
He was still in God’s grace, but there was wars within his own
household, there were wars that he had to fight, and there were things that he
had to go through that he wouldn’t have had to go through, just looking at it
Biblically speaking. I believe that God
puts people on our path, on this journey of our life that will encourage us and
strengthen us; many of those people are right here in this room. I think that’s part of what—just having joy
as an option—when we choose that, then it does allow us to keep going. Isaiah 61 The Spirit of the
Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings
unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To
proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all that mourn; To appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of
joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they
might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might
be glorified. And they shall build the
old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair
the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your
flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your
vinedressers. But ye shall be named the
Priests of the LORD: Men shall call you
the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their
glory shall ye boast yourselves. For
your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their
portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy
shall be unto them. For I the LORD love
judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in
truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the
Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall
acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul
shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of
salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her
jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth
her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring
forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth
before all the nations. My
last point today, and I believe it’s the most important one, as far as joy, is
that we have to understand that the joy of God isn’t about an extreme form of
behavior. I want to expound on that a
little, because what I mean by that is there’s going to be those that are
boisterous, a little bit louder, a little bit more rambunctious. There’s going to be those that are going to
be quiet, more subdued, more withdrawn… We
need to be respectful of each other—we weren’t all raised the same way, we
don’t all have the same influences, and we don’t have all the same likes and
dislikes. If there is a common ground,
it’s that we love God, and we do have a common goal. We have to look at it like, you know what? I’m
not talking about sitting around, sulking, and ignoring people, that’s not way that
people are going to see the joy of God.
But on the other end of the scale, we have to have enough balance that
people can understand when they’re asking us questions and we can answer them
sensibly, logically, and Biblically so that they can understand. That was one of the big differences when I
first came here and we got into Bible studies, and it was just a matter of
connecting the different points and understanding, okay, so that’s what it
takes. That’s what pastorship is about That’s what humility is about. That’s what salvation is about. I mean, we’ve got to look at it like—I know
that the prayer meeting that we had, and Mike and Greg, you guys definitely
described it well, I would say that it was like a rushing mighty wind. And I’ve got to say, I’m on that end that’s a
little bit more subdued, and a little more laid back, I guess you could say,
but I was enjoying myself. I’m not
talking about, like, it’s the kind of thing where it’s like, the Bible says let
everything be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40), so it has to be
a matter of respect, both ways, so that it’s like, if somebody wants to be a
little louder, that’s fine. Our founding
pastor’s wife, Sister Hazel Davis, she’s—I believe she just turned eighty—but
she’s always been pretty quiet, pretty subdued.
I would say that still water flows deep.
It’s one of those things where I would never question, “Oh, yeah, she’s
not—she’s not…” You know what I
mean? Think about this, too, and it’s
not a matter of trying to talk anybody into being one way or the other, like,
“Okay, if you’re loud, you need to tone it down, but, if you’re quiet, you need
to amp it up.” That’s not, like I said,
there has to be appreciation, too. There
has to be respect, like, you know what? that’s what makes it beautiful. You see the different backgrounds in
different people, and, like I said before, it’s an education. I mean, you see how people were raised, and
you see how God drew them, or God called them, and it’s great! I mean, it’s really something where it’s like
you can see how God has used this ministry in so many different ways that I
would say I’ve never seen elsewhere. I’m
not looking at it like—again, it’s not a matter of like, I’m trying to convince
you to stay, or I’m trying to convince you to do anything. It’s simply a matter of looking at it like,
today’s message is about the joy of the Lord.
It is sound doctrine. It is
something that we have to look at it like, you know, knowing whether we’ve got
it is a good barometer of where we’re at spiritually. If we don’t have it, we can still get it, and
if we do have it, we can still keep it.
So, it’s not a matter of looking at it like, “Well, I need to act like
this person, or act like that person…”
How about, just appreciate that person for who they are, what they do,
how they conduct themselves? Again, I
realize that there’s boundaries. Again,
the Bible says, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” I’m closing with this thought, and then I’m
going to read from Psalm 30. It doesn’t
matter what kind of background you have or whether you had a pleasant
upbringing or not. It doesn’t matter if
your family agrees with your decision to live for the Lord or not. Whether you’re young or old, rich or poor,
married or single, widow or widower; the joy of the Lord is truly for everyone. Joy really only comes from God. Psalm 30:1-5 I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast
lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou
hast healed me. O LORD, thou hast
brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not
go down to the pit. Sing unto the LORD,
O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but a moment; in his
favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. That’s
a lot like life. There are times when we
go through things, and hardships, and tragedies, and it just seems sometimes
like it’s never going to end, or it seems like we just don’t see that light at
the end of the tunnel. But we have to
see that light at the end of the tunnel.
God has it there for us. I know
Motel 6 has their slogan, “We’ll keep the light on for you.” God keeps the light on for us. He’s always there. It’s one of those things that we can always
rely on. I thank you for your time this
morning, and God bless.
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