[SPEAKER_00]: man.
[SPEAKER_00]: Were you okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: Would you get in your bibles now?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, or is there an issue?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, you need light.
[SPEAKER_00]: You mean, what do you need light for unless you have a phone that has a light in it, somebody flashing?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So glow in the, yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And do you feel secure right now?
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so if your wife says, hey, honey, you're in your bed and she says, can you get up and go over and get me something and it's dark and you hit your big toe, that's not fun, but if you have light, then you're able to see, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So may I say the words that God said, let there be light.
[SPEAKER_00]: You might think that was staged, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it is crazy how we take for granted light.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we don't have it, it changes everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: So everybody's waiting for the time change.
[SPEAKER_00]: That way we can have more light, you know, in the evenings.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just, it does everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: And to me, you know, you have that and even my wife was like, oh, look, it's six o'clocking and you can see, you know, outside and just put kind of puts a smile on your face.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the words we're gonna talk about tonight are joy and then we're gonna talk about light and then we're gonna get into the subject of walk.
[SPEAKER_00]: This Sunday morning, we're also gonna be talking about the subject of walking.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to be, and this interesting two times in a row, which is really kind of neat how gods were just all blends and goes together.
[SPEAKER_00]: So joy, what makes you happy and joyful and your personal life?
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, somebody's going to get spiritual on me, and that's all right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing wrong with that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tomorrow night, or Friday night, if Penn State beats Michigan and wrestling, again, I'll be happy over that.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to, you know, that'll be like, I don't have any wins for them straight.
[SPEAKER_00]: They have records.
[SPEAKER_00]: Another record, most dole meets of all time.
[SPEAKER_00]: and they're blowing an hour pond.
[SPEAKER_00]: Does that make me happy?
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure, it's fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just fun.
[SPEAKER_00]: If they lose, I'll be not happy, but eventually they're gonna lose.
[SPEAKER_00]: And my joy is not build on sports, like some people.
[SPEAKER_00]: But there's things like that, trivia things like that, does put a smile on her face.
[SPEAKER_00]: But what really puts a joy in your heart and your mind?
[SPEAKER_00]: Anybody got something for me?
[SPEAKER_00]: So we can go all over the place, can't we with with joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So here in our text, that's what he gets into, a first shot in chapter one.
[SPEAKER_00]: So last week, no, three weeks ago, now, I'll really stretch you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can anybody remember the three words that we put in sequence?
[SPEAKER_00]: The first one was, I'm gonna help you was, the word and the word brings something.
[SPEAKER_00]: And once you have the word that brings life, it generates something.
[SPEAKER_00]: Light, so you can't have light without life.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can have this without the current.
[SPEAKER_00]: You gotta have electricity.
[SPEAKER_00]: So there has to be the source of power.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then again, let there be light is the Word of God that brings this life, that brings light.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's the premise that first John and John
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're in verse number four now.
[SPEAKER_00]: And these things right we undo that your there it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what's the purpose of this book to give the Christians?
[SPEAKER_00]: So he said, reading your Bible, prayer.
[SPEAKER_00]: All of this does bring the Christian a joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So have you ever have one of those nights where you just can't sleep at all?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so you're up and it's like, okay, Lord, I guess you want me to talk to you for a while.
[SPEAKER_00]: and then you dig into the word a little bit and maybe then after you do that you start getting tired maybe and sometimes it's that one on one time and you just get this happiness satisfaction you know because you got into the word and so the joy is to be filled right
[SPEAKER_00]: Joy is to be filled up inside of us.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to go through a bunch of verses tonight, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope you're okay with reading the Bible, because we're going to do that a lot of verses tonight.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we're going to talk about this verse again on Sunday morning, actually.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so look with me just a couple of books over to third John.
[SPEAKER_00]: third John because I didn't get to this last last Sunday to third John and you'll see there's yeah maybe we should do that just go from first John the second John to third John you know it's it's really powerful stuff but first number four I have no greater joy I have no greater joy well that's something it's like there's the peak of the apostle John's joy and what is it
[SPEAKER_00]: Sunday morning where we were talking about walk again, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so here we're talking about walk and light and joy and all these things are flowing together.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it wasn't me or about me, he's saying that the joy was given, the joy came, is the result of others.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the joy came because they, his people that these people that he led to the Lord,
[SPEAKER_00]: are now walking in truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's truth?
[SPEAKER_00]: The word God, Jesus, I'm the way the truth and life, I word is true.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we deal with the doctrines to we're seeing these people walking in this truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to expand down that a lot more on Sunday morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the walk has to do with their everyday living, what they're doing when a daily basis, they're living out this truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're walking in this truth,
[SPEAKER_00]: and creased.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, yeah, because of that, he has this incredible, incredible joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then we give you another one.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm in second John, verse 12, having many things are right in you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would not write without paper in ink.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would not write with paper in ink, but I trusted common to you and speak face to face that our joy may be full.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, here a guy is, you know.
[SPEAKER_00]: the end of John we talked about who John is and his life and everything and so here's this apostle that Jesus loves and this guy is so wrapped up with joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's wrapped up with the brotherhood.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's how we treat each other.
[SPEAKER_00]: The love of God in first John 4 we're going to get to that eventually.
[SPEAKER_00]: So all of this is a very positive mindset.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now and you are looking at the
[SPEAKER_00]: why?
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you think the contrast between the Christian having the same hardships that the lost world has and yet we have joy and they do not?
[SPEAKER_00]: The hope, that's what was brought up earlier, too, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So we have something that we're looking forward to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Through the hardship, we have an expectation.
[SPEAKER_00]: They do not have that.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's why I faith love hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got into that several weeks ago with Sunday mornings to help you realize.
[SPEAKER_00]: This whole thing is really, really important.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is a mindset for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then it gives us, as we're going to talk about Sunday morning, patients to endure all of this, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But why are they so angry?
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you notice the screaming and the hauling at the cameras and it's just like they're angry?
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's no joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's almost like their joy is being angry and unhappy and letting everybody know of how angry and unhappy they are.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're lashing out of people.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's almost like you can sense that when they get into cars, like fool, we let them have it today, didn't we?
[SPEAKER_00]: And then they're happy.
[SPEAKER_00]: because they made somebody else miserable, or they proved their point.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's really sad.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Rul said.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the joy needs to be filled up.
[SPEAKER_00]: It needs to be full.
[SPEAKER_00]: Look with me to John chapter 15.
[SPEAKER_00]: John in chapter 15.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, you're noticing, probably, boy, you're in first John, second John, third John, now John itself, and we'll see in 1511 be important, another important concept.
[SPEAKER_00]: Christ is speaking here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, interestingly, be in John 15 briefly, again, on Sunday morning, I love how God's word just says,
[SPEAKER_00]: constantly just blends and comes together, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So verse 11 he says this, these things have I spoken into you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full.
[SPEAKER_00]: So John is writing down the words of Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: about the subject of joy where it comes from and the Christ wants that joy to be inside the Christian filled up filled with joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So where does the joy come from according to Jesus' words?
[SPEAKER_00]: My joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's Christ's joy becomes into you for Israel and for all of us, yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's prioritizing, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the absence of Christ in the lost world has removed joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Christ in us gives us a joy because it's coming from Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: First that Throne is one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, this is a free one.
[SPEAKER_00]: He says, they had joy of the Holy Ghost.
[SPEAKER_00]: because they were being persecuted and yet the Holy Spirit gave them joy while they're getting beat up and thrown in jail and losing their jobs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because they turned for idols, the certain true living God, and yet they were happy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so this joy comes from the Lord himself.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what are some of your favorite verses on joy?
[SPEAKER_00]: You have any favorite verses about joy or joy, joy, you know, you have any, you can think of.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll start giving you some if you don't.
[SPEAKER_00]: Rejoice and Lord always, and again, I say, rejoice, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Joy comes in the morning, yes, ma'am, that's right.
[SPEAKER_00]: They that so interiors shall end what?
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, that is Psalm 1611.
[SPEAKER_00]: Those that so with tears are going to reap what joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the thought there is what, how do we apply that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, let me ask you this way.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's that talking about?
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's selling and what do we sell?
[SPEAKER_00]: We sell seeds, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And once we have planted, that's not too long from now, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: You get into, you know, April and May,
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's our plant and later on, you're gonna start reaping, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So those that sell with tears, tears have to do with compassion.
[SPEAKER_00]: So obviously, he's not talking about putting wheat in the ground.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not about the word, and we're selling good things in the result.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it joyful reaping, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Psalm 3 to 11, joy comes in the morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's your verse for that one, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, and also he talks to, I'm, no, I'm sorry, that's 30, verse five, 30, 11.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says, shout for joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: They weren't back to see their because we're not allowed to shout.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, the preachers allowed to shout.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's on the yell and then, well, you are really animated today, Carl.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, good.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was, right, animated.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a, not a bad thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I love everybody be animated.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so shout, be low, Psalm 51.
[SPEAKER_00]: Does anybody remember what in David's repentant, Psalm, what he talked about when it came to joy?
[SPEAKER_00]: Restore the joy of thy salvation.
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's getting back with God, getting rid with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's saying, bring that joy back that I'd lost when I went into the sin, all right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, there's some, although that's 1, 26, 5.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, Quebec, uh, 3, 18 says joy is in God, uh, Psalm, Luke 623, talks about a future joy, and Galatians 522.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I remember that one's about, Galatians 522, fruit of the Spirit, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So the fruit of the Spirit is,
[SPEAKER_00]: Number two is joy, love and joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the spirit is one that brings that joy when we are yielded to him, yes, sir.
[SPEAKER_00]: On speaking, are you noticing that joy is talked about in the Bible and awful lot?
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet, what do we find ourselves as far as our state, off times?
[SPEAKER_00]: Anything but filled with,
[SPEAKER_00]: So, James 1, 2 tells us to what?
[SPEAKER_00]: Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations.
[SPEAKER_00]: Joy, I'm not happy, but God said, well, we're supposed to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why should we be happy when we know God is trying us, testing us, or if there's temptation, whatever?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why are we supposed to be happy about that?
[SPEAKER_00]: You, somebody brought up Trishy brought it up earlier.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not for the immediate, it's about what's going to come as result, because when we endure that trial, and we come forth as gold, if you will, we know there's going to be a reward as a result of going through a patient link.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, there again, this is a matter of, okay, get the joy in you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, count on joy, the flippy is four, four.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then this is one of my preachers' favorites.
[SPEAKER_00]: John was a different preacher in the early days.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, basically, he was a typical Baptist preacher.
[SPEAKER_00]: Basically, every message on Sunday mornings was one of about five or six subjects.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dress codes, worldliness, but one of them was one of the subjects of salvation.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is one he went through to, I can't tell you many times that I've heard him preach.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's found in Luke 15.
[SPEAKER_00]: So here's the setting.
[SPEAKER_00]: The disciples have gone out.
[SPEAKER_00]: First time their commissioners are going out too, but too, incredible miracles are taking place.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they're casting out demons, they're helping people, they're human people, and they come back, and they are having a pep rally.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they're like, guys, did you experience it too?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they're all coming back and experiencing the same thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're like, this is so amazing.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're just so filled with joy because they're like, man, even these demons had a lesson.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is just amazing.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what, Jesus did?
[SPEAKER_00]: Anybody remember he did?
[SPEAKER_00]: He stopped him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then that's not what I want you to be happy about.
[SPEAKER_00]: He literally says, stop being happy about that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, how much better can it get in healing people and casting out demons?
[SPEAKER_00]: And she's like, no, no, I don't want you rejoice in that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But rather rejoice for another reason.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I know what it is, that your names are written in a book of life.
[SPEAKER_00]: Know that you're saved is more important than all the physical, no matter how big a miracle is in the interest of prayer and things that we do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said, that's cute.
[SPEAKER_00]: I must think, don't, but I don't want your rejoice in about that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you better be a rejoice and you're going to have them one day.
[SPEAKER_00]: In case you ran out, man, we're, you know, ready to go, you know, ready for the trumpet.
[SPEAKER_00]: Joy is all through the songs and, you know, you see David dancing because the ark is coming back, you know, there are worshiping and everything is joyful and unhappy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we get into these other verses as like, well, this is really bad news, only a throne in jail again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, but when Paul and Silas were thrown in jail, what was their attitude?
[SPEAKER_00]: Man, the praise of God, and praise him, and singing him, that sounds like joy to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Proverbs, it's in Proverbs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anybody gonna look up enough for us?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so, yeah, I talked about a laughterist medicine.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, there's bright different translations.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that phrase is repeated in the Psalms.
[SPEAKER_00]: Also, it's actually in your quite a few times,
[SPEAKER_00]: and Psalm 18, and I've mentioned this last year, that was the first verse that I had dial in, memorized, and Psalm 18, one, I would love be, O Lord, my strength, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And then the joy of the Lord is spoken about.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's all this love for God is realizing, he's my strength, he's my joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So do you think, if the flip side of that is shown,
[SPEAKER_00]: that if we are not filled with joy, what is lacking then?
[SPEAKER_00]: If the joy of the Lord is my strength, I would love you, Lord, my strength.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's missing when we are not filled with joy as Christians, because is anybody, okay, I'm gonna be hypocrite.
[SPEAKER_00]: There are a lot of times my wife's here.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am not a happy camper.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am not happy, I am not filled with joy, my carbure� down, and then the other carbure� down, and then you don't have the money in it's like, this is not fun, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not always going like, this is really awesome.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what's lacking?
[SPEAKER_00]: In case you got it, so it is a mind-to-set, isn't it?
[SPEAKER_00]: That our focus is there, we're probably going to talk about Saturday morning, Jim, I
[SPEAKER_00]: Saturday morning's men's breakfast.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you didn't sign up, I think they have to sign up yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think I'm going to go through the Hebrews my wife and I was going through some of that in chapter 12.
[SPEAKER_00]: Looking onto Jesus, the author and finish her of our faith, who for the joy, those set before him and you're across the spot and despise the shame.
[SPEAKER_00]: So again, hardship, and yet he was looking at the outcome.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Christ was focusing on what was happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: the surroundings, circumstances, but on that, plays that hard for us to do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not easy, because one minute we can spit the devil on the eye, no problem at all in the next minute we're running, you know, and we're just, we're not, the strength doesn't seem to be there.
[SPEAKER_00]: So a lot of it's up here in the preparation of the heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we shouldn't fail because, remember when we were going through Peter, he says, he has already given us everything we need to live Godly.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're lacking nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: The problem is us, not God, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you're saying, drifting away from Lord, not focusing on Him, not in the Word, not forgetting our hope, you know, so, so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there joy that comes to you, Teresa, thank you for bringing this up already?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there joy when we give, when we're helping somebody?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's more blessed or happy to than to, so let me ask you this, you're praying for something, you're asking God to provide for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you go to the mailbox and it's there,
[SPEAKER_00]: and God provided for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you allowed to be happy and joyful then, too?
[SPEAKER_00]: Even though you're the receiver.
[SPEAKER_00]: You follow me?
[SPEAKER_00]: There's not only joy in giving, there is joy in receiving because we're recognizing it as God providing and giving a gift.
[SPEAKER_00]: My faith and I, we've had some holy dances through the college years because we were broke.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we were in the black every month for three years.
[SPEAKER_00]: We had nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And God would, you know, she'd be praying, and I'm doubting.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's like, hey, we love it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's 30 bucks or 60 bucks for something for the kids for Christmas or whatever it was.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what it was.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's like we couldn't wait for the mail to come.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that day, we were just waiting.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we go out there, and here's an envelope with our names on it, and nothing in it but cash.
[SPEAKER_00]: The exact amount that she was praying for.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you just like, wow, that was a good one, God.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was really, really good one.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think that's the connection where it is that we're trusting the Lord and then God provided and then comes the joy because of God, not just because he would got the $60.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's like really amazing to watch.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the joy is in giving, but it is also in answered prayers.
[SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes we are the answer to somebody's prayer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there joy in the future only or is there a joy in the present?
[SPEAKER_00]: Both, and so there's not a time that we're not supposed to be joyful.
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, we got...
[SPEAKER_00]: Both here, you know, you lost mom, you know, lost spouse, you lost a child, you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's like, well, how can you have joy?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that joy comes in the morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: The joy comes when heaven is there, when we finally arrive and there's that reunion.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's the hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're seeing how all this connects because I've had funerals for lost people and that funeral had zero joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing with tears, hardship, sorrow, nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the flip side of that is I've had services for many of you.
[SPEAKER_00]: The loved one is in heaven, and you know that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, I'm going to see them again someday.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's that brings a piece and a joy knowing that it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it gives me that joy presently.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I also have something that I'm looking forward to with that joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I didn't have this one.
[SPEAKER_00]: What is my hope, what is my joy, what is my crown of rejoicing?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it not you and the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?
[SPEAKER_00]: So the rapture
[SPEAKER_00]: is future and policy, the thing that I'm hoping for, the thing that I'm joyful about and rejoicing about, is seeing the other Christians that I have led to the Lord in the sky when the raster takes place.
[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, I can only see people that do not believe in a rapture.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they say, it's not in the Bible, there's no resurrection in the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we got soul-sleep being taught, you know, and then finally, when there's a general or other action, then you come back to life and we're all in heaven together, yay.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I, I can't, so many verses that that doesn't line up with.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, it's a present joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, it's a future joy, and that's what he's getting at.
[SPEAKER_00]: And to me, that's a fascinating verse.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because one of the questions that I do have from Christians is this, will I know my loved ones in heaven?
[SPEAKER_00]: Or are we going to be like some people feel, well our minds are going to be swept clean because God doesn't want us to remember anything here on this earth because it's all negative.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so now I'm going to have a renewed mind and I will only know the future and nothing in the past will be there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's true.
[SPEAKER_00]: How could Paul say, I'm going to recognize you in the sky at the rapture?
[SPEAKER_00]: That chose me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Paul said, I'm going to know who you are.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to remember I led you to the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sure, there's even a memory.
[SPEAKER_00]: The rich man in hell had a memory of the brothers on earth.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, both there will be memory.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's going to be one of the worst things for the lost in hell is remembering and knowing when they rejected the gospel.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or in my ancestors had it and it didn't come to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, now I'm lost because the sin passed down because they rejected the gospel.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, all are without excuse as Romans says.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's joy in heaven.
[SPEAKER_00]: So why do we sometimes not have that joy that we could should have?
[SPEAKER_00]: The case he says it right is because we're not there abiding with the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're just not there.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know,
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's be honest, you know, there's times I was in the world having a great time and we're praying, praying for people, doing all this stuff, and then two hours later I get into my daily routines of life and everything, and it's almost like I didn't read my Bible and pray that morning because it's like a couple hours later it's like, I'm growing and complaining man, that's, man, dude, you almost ran me over, you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's almost like we let those bad circumstances rob us of joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, Laura, you brought up, I think one of your lessons was about the joy stealers.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I remember right, you remember any of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: put you on the spot.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I think you said you had a lesson in the years ago or something like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: One, the things that steal joy from the Christians.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, of course, sin does that.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we're saying we're not happy.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're thinking we are, but we're not.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so there's a lot of things that steal the joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you think of some things that robbed Christians of joy?
[SPEAKER_00]: I mentioned sin, you know, going away from the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yep, when we forget who gave it to us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Selfishness is a joy-stealer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anger is a joy-stealer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Self-righteousness.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't have joy in God.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just, yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's why if you want to think of it, what we have walked over the last weeks, one TV of people screaming and hauling and spitting and everything else that they're doing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, what's going on in their heart?
[SPEAKER_00]: What's going on in their mind?
[SPEAKER_00]: And those same things could be happening to us as Christians.
[SPEAKER_00]: angry.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're not over top.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't tell me what to do and we do that to God.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've lost the joy because He is our ultimate Lord in authority.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to get into that on Sunday more as in Colossians.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, He is preeminent.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody above Him is number one.
[SPEAKER_00]: He is the head of all things of the church.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so when we refuse to submit, we lose joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so there's so many
[SPEAKER_00]: aspects that we could go through the 10 commandments.
[SPEAKER_00]: We could go through the wall.
[SPEAKER_00]: We could sew over and over again, the commandments of Christ and get into the epistles.
[SPEAKER_00]: And over and over again, he's bringing up concepts to live in.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's think about a child.
[SPEAKER_00]: A child has been given clear direction and want to do by the parents.
[SPEAKER_00]: What happens when the child does and complies,
[SPEAKER_00]: to what the parents asked them to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: What happens in the home?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is a strife or is it happiness?
[SPEAKER_00]: But as soon as the child rebells and says, I'm not doing, you hate me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just do, and all these things that they are taught to say, start coming out, and now there's no joy in the home.
[SPEAKER_00]: because they're not obeying.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're not submitting to the authority because we resist authority.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're watching it on TV, the police, ice, everything, like you have no authority.
[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, yes, they do, and they can throw you in jail.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can be in big trouble because they do.
[SPEAKER_00]: They have authority.
[SPEAKER_00]: Road, read, Romans 13, it's right in the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is there.
[SPEAKER_00]: They are on authority over us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's why he says, submit yourselves to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you're going to have praise of the thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, you know, I'm seeing an officer and if they're buying donuts, I'll buy it for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: It always puts a smile on their face or a coffee.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I found out that the Michigan police are not, this is true, I'm down there getting the donut and you're getting donuts, so I'm gonna like, hey, let me get those, an officer, Lee, and gentlemen, she goes, thank you so much for that, but we are not allowed to let you buy us a donut.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't like, you know, gotta be, I didn't say you should move to Indiana, but I thought it, anyways,
[SPEAKER_00]: different mindsets and different states.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, yeah, so joy, joy and happiness.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some people is like, ah, Carl, you know, you know, we laugh at church and we, and things like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, what's wrong with laughter?
[SPEAKER_00]: What's wrong with seeing the light side of life and think, I think it's healthy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think laughter is, it does bring medicine.
[SPEAKER_00]: We remember things better and so yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's what, so let me highlight
[SPEAKER_00]: One thing, go back with me to first John.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did anybody else have any comments or thoughts there?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I knew when I was going to say what you're turning there.
[SPEAKER_00]: So when I have a family in, you know, the kids were there and the parents were there and they were all hating on each other.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, they're all mad at each other and we're having kids and there's a lot of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Mom and dad, you know, they're just not getting along.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll say this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Give me your kids for a little while.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I just get the kids one on one with me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I asked them this question, do you want a happy home?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, most of them do sit there and look at me.
[SPEAKER_00]: They will not answer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most occasions, there's like, well, it would be if they would do it I wanted, if it's what they're thinking.
[SPEAKER_00]: They could dance, they're fault.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I teach them quickly, you can create a happy home.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then they shut down.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't want to hear it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want the responsibility.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody has to give me happiness.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's not kind of what we are doing with the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because the Lord is trying to create joy and happiness in our lives and our homes, if you will.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when we resist him,
[SPEAKER_00]: And we don't do and comply.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's where the anger and the problems end up coming.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so some of them though, they say, yeah, I do want to have you home.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I'll ask them, well, what are the things that Mom and Dad are asking you to do?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to get you my homework.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, your poor thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Get up, get myself ready, make my bed.
[SPEAKER_00]: The most simple things in life will put a smile in mom and dad's face, but it's like, why do you think I brought up guys in a hand for Sunday morning?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the simplest thing and yet it's a jerk reaction.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, no, it's this pride thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a real simple thing to comply, but we resist it.
[SPEAKER_00]: we're far, we're falling away from the Lord because we're not doing it God's way.
[SPEAKER_00]: So look with me to first y'all I'm one five now.
[SPEAKER_00]: This then is the message which you have heard of him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Who do you think the him is three guesses in his first two, don't count, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And now we're declaring it unto you so you can read John and now I'm first on he's like, you know, you've heard what Jesus said that God is light and in him is no darkness at all period.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I don't have a lot of time.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm just going to, we'll get into this next week.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought we needed some joy tonight, mostly though, you know.
[UNKNOWN]: So
[SPEAKER_00]: But when you get into this principle of light, so some have taken this to a weird level, so I'm going to engulfinate you tonight, okay?
[SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, when you think about this, light and walking in the light and the God is light.
[SPEAKER_00]: So some have taken this scripture and have twisted it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's called a gap theory.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anybody know what the gap theory is?
[SPEAKER_00]: Anybody heard of it before?
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so basically that they're saying is there's a gap between Genesis 1, 1 and 1, 2.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what they believe is this, that when it says, and there was darkness on the face of the earth, there was darkness everywhere, well, there's no darkness with God
[SPEAKER_00]: So what they think, and they take a couple of verses and twist them, they say, well, what happened is that's when Satan fell and destroyed and ruined, God's original creation.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then God fixes this darkness, the Satan brought, because God can't create darkness, because there's no darkness in him at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then,
[SPEAKER_00]: Later, Dawes says, let there be light.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the only way that there could be darkness here is because Satan came and destroyed everything already.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, there's not a lot of problem with that in the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: Does anybody remember the last time we were together, something that we went through in second Corinthians in chapter number four?
[SPEAKER_00]: They, by remember, I'm such an awesome teacher.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I get to teach you this concept again.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to now paraphrase versus one through six.
[SPEAKER_00]: Second critique is four, one through six.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what he says is this, it talks about the gospel.
[SPEAKER_00]: In whom the God of this world is blinded to minds of them which believe look not, less the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine under them.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the gospel is light, shining in hearts to bring them to the knowledge of truth, and what Satan is trying to do is put blinders on people, keep them in the darkness.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, guess what God does.
[SPEAKER_00]: He gives an example of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And guess where Paul goes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Genesis chapter number one and what he shows is this it's beginning there was darkness and then God made light and the light was stronger and out did the darkness showing you what happened to man there's a picture God is so cool it's a very beginning in Jesus chapter number one the beginning God is showing you salvation
[SPEAKER_00]: There was darkness in sin, and God took it away through the word that brought life and light.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so God is saying, I allowed there to be darkness because I haven't created light yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's no gap there folks.
[SPEAKER_00]: But people want to comment, well, you just aren't deep enough carol in the world.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now it's pretty clear in the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's right there that no God intentionally made it dark to show I-Gring Fourth Light.
[SPEAKER_00]: Man didn't do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Evolution didn't do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: He created it from nothing and there was light without the sun.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because the sun didn't get created yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's later on.
[SPEAKER_00]: So there was light before the light halters.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the thought of the Hebrew word.
[SPEAKER_00]: The sun holds the light, if you will.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's where we see God is light.
[SPEAKER_00]: That helps you with this text.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in Him there's no darkness at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: So anywhere God is, yeah, there's darkness.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna fix it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just like when Jesus was on earth, anytime somebody died, he ruined the funeral.
[SPEAKER_00]: He'd resurrect them, bring them right back to light.
[SPEAKER_00]: No one stayed dead in Jesus' presence ever when he was in the ministry.
[SPEAKER_00]: He, you know, we got tough, we got gyrosis, got her, we have Lazarus.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have all these people and he's resurrecting them and saying, I am the resurrection and the life, I'm going to say,
[SPEAKER_00]: And he immediately came back to life.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when he says, Trump, it's going to sound.
[SPEAKER_00]: The call is going to be from God for man to resurrect and they're going to all of a sudden in a blink of an eye, everybody's going to come to life.
[SPEAKER_00]: God's command.
[SPEAKER_00]: So really cool.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's what we can't wait for that to take place.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have to, Christians, we have to enter the Word on criticals.
[SPEAKER_00]: Non-criticals.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, you can take my words, you know, the statistical teacher, the things that are my theories, or my ideas, or you should be critical of that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when I'm quoting the Bible and saying, this is what the Bible says.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have no authority to criticize the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what your scholars do, and they have their opinion about the Word of God and they correct the Word of God, and I had three or four teachers in my Bible college that did it all the time when they entered into the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: They would say, no, that's not right what it says here, and then they would correct it and say, literally something opposite, or they would say, well, in the original manuscripts, that wasn't there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm in first John chapter.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, we're going to get to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, can't wait for that one chapter number five.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the manuscripts didn't have a verse in there, so they pull it out and say that these verses shouldn't be in there.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they literally pull those verses out of the Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I asked George, the director, I said.
[SPEAKER_00]: So as I'm looking at first John,
[SPEAKER_00]: And this was my Greek class, and I'm learning to translate every word, and then the TR, the verses and words are all there.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're there, the Greek, it is there.
[SPEAKER_00]: But there was caught in horde, they ganked it out.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so they're like, well, the scholars are like, well, no, it shouldn't be in there because some of the order of manuscripts doesn't have it in, but the majority texts have it in there.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they're going with a minority versus the majority, and they're saying it shouldn't be in there because some didn't have it there.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I asked him, I said, so George, when you're in first John five and I just read the Greek test, I said, would you ever teach or preach up with authority?
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, absolutely not, I would never touch that portion of Scripture is not there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Higher criticism takes away from the authority of the Word.
[SPEAKER_00]: I never told him, but I purpose in my heart one thing, because when he came and freaked on my church the first time, I said, George, I'm very, now, do not criticize the Bible without you're here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And guess what he did?
[SPEAKER_00]: 15 years later, he calls me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he said, Carl, I have to apologize to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because you asked me not to do something and I know I did it.
[SPEAKER_00]: What I forgot is you were not my student.
[SPEAKER_00]: you were the pastor of that church and he undermined my authority.
[SPEAKER_00]: And here's what I believe.
[SPEAKER_00]: They can go through their life criticizing the Word.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to go through my life preaching to work with authority.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to see who wins when we get before God.
[SPEAKER_00]: That needs to be your mindset with this.
[SPEAKER_00]: God is like his word is real.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: And many have died for it.
[SPEAKER_00]: so that we could have a word in the English language, even.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, understand, there was blood spilled to translate the word of God into the English language.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's why we have it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not because beyond Matthew, you get into Tindle and what he did to translate.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you got Gutenberg in that 1400s, and they're now able to print it out.
[SPEAKER_00]: And sorry, I don't want to offend you, but Catholics,
[SPEAKER_00]: are hunting these people down to kill them because they didn't want the Bible in everybody's hands.
[SPEAKER_00]: They didn't want you to have a Bible.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're going to tell you what the Bible says.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's dangerous, isn't it?
[SPEAKER_00]: So Tindall said this to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, not many years from now, the young boy that plow the field will know more about the Bible than you.
[SPEAKER_00]: almost a direct quote of Tindall.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then they finally found him down, they finally did kill him.
[SPEAKER_00]: All because he wanted the Bible to be an English language.
[SPEAKER_00]: That this is really, really important for us to see this, to say, if God said there's darkness, it's not because Satan fell.
[SPEAKER_00]: God says later, it's because I'm gonna show you darkness, it represents sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to speak
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to bring the word, that's Jesus, and He's going to be bringing light, which is the gospel, and you're going to see, and now you're going to have full joy.
[SPEAKER_00]: So when I turned to light's back on, when the lights were out, you should have seen your faces.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I can see now, okay, let's get digging in now, change their light changes everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's God's Lord, maybe.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, proper, I'm helping you with your Bible studies.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, what you're doing is this as you're entering into the Word.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're trying to find out what does God, what does God saying and what does it mean?
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, we get proper application.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if I do not have proper meaning, I'm going to have a skewed application to my life.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we have to get the proper understanding.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that's what I do first, Sonny Moorings, or tonight, I'm going to give you meaning, concept, what has God trying to teach us, and then we apply it to our daily lives in 2026.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you glad you're a Christian?
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, God says, don't forsake the assembling of the self together.
[SPEAKER_00]: That doesn't mean Sonny Moorings.
[SPEAKER_00]: That means as much as we can be in the world together, it's a good thing we sharpen each other.
[SPEAKER_00]: We help each other.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I needed a good dose of joy tonight, how about you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Just to be reminded, joy is to be their present and future.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, we love you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for this time we've had together.
[SPEAKER_00]: We thank you for the joy that you give us.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't have it, and I know you know the times I don't have it in my heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Lord, we just have to be real with you.
[SPEAKER_00]: When is not there, we need to come back to you and then the joys full.
[SPEAKER_00]: So fill our cups, Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Help us understand, we are complete in you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pray for the want of ministry, Lord, you'll continue to bless it.
[SPEAKER_00]: as they're developing the work inside of these children, and that we're, as we pray that many of them will be saved that aren't, we're praying that they're going to grow with Christians, and that these seeds lured that are being planted in their hearts and in their minds are going to bring forth fruit, and then that fruit's going to remain.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's going to be a reward as a result.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Lord, do some amazing spiritual things because Lord, we may have some great missionaries in our building right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're going to go out in the field in 20 years from now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pastures and deacons and teachers.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we don't know who we're building right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Lord, I pray that you'll work as only you can.
[SPEAKER_00]: And take us all home safely.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we'll thank you for what you'll do in Jesus name of prayer.