Speaker 1: I wanted to give you kind of a joy prescription,
Speaker 1: thinking about really thinking about the trials of life, not
Speaker 1: thinking about the blessings of life, but thinking about the
Speaker 1: trials of life, the disappointments, the sorrows, the loss of
Speaker 1: the difficulties, because we all go through them. We all
Speaker 1: go through them. Unfortunately, it's one of the promises. Isn't
Speaker 1: that a terrible promise? Jesus said, in this life you
Speaker 1: will have tribulation. But he finished it with something very
Speaker 1: appropriate for today's message. He said, but be of good share,
Speaker 1: for I have overcome. So we are divinely connected to
Speaker 1: the overcomer. So even in the midst of trials. And
Speaker 1: if I just you know, if we just took your
Speaker 1: week alone and just ask you about your week, maybe
Speaker 1: some of you today could acknowledge something you are going
Speaker 1: through right now, or you've been going through something that's
Speaker 1: up against you, or you're up against something that is
Speaker 1: trying to wear you down, wear.
Speaker 2: You out, steal your focus.
Speaker 1: You know, when there's a heavy situation going on, our
Speaker 1: thoughts want to go to it. Our thoughts want to
Speaker 1: go to it, our thoughts are pulled to it, our
Speaker 1: thoughts are directed to it.
Speaker 2: And the enemy loves that.
Speaker 1: He loves to draw us away, and it opens up
Speaker 1: a vulnerability in our own hearts to be drawn into
Speaker 1: the spiral, that downward spiral of whatever would be married
Speaker 1: to it. Worry, fear, depression, despair can be so much
Speaker 1: attached to it. Right, I want to read to you
Speaker 1: a little bit out of Joseph this morning. I want
Speaker 1: Joseph to be the biblical framework of what we set
Speaker 1: the stage with today, because Joseph went through a bunch
Speaker 1: of this, and one of the things that is central
Speaker 1: to Joseph that caught my attention is how he stayed
Speaker 1: tethered to the word of the Lord of his life.
Speaker 1: He stayed tethered to the dream of God over his life.
Speaker 1: And we have that opportunity as well, and as we
Speaker 1: do it is it's massively consequential for our inner man.
Speaker 1: It sets the course for whether we're going to walk
Speaker 1: in peace and joy or whether we're going to get
Speaker 1: under the circumstances. Has anybody ever said that to you
Speaker 1: when you've said not bad under the circumstances, and they've said,
Speaker 1: what are you doing under those circumstances? Right, We're not
Speaker 1: meant to live under circumstances immen Genesis thirty seven one
Speaker 1: through nine. Jacob lived in the land where his father
Speaker 1: had stayed, the Land of Jacob. So Abraham, Isaac, and
Speaker 1: Jacob were picking up the story of Jacob, the third
Speaker 1: of the Patriarchs, and Jacob became Israel. So Jacob had
Speaker 1: an encounter with God. He became Israel, which means prince
Speaker 1: with God. And we know that the lineage of the
Speaker 1: Jewish people came through Jacob. That lineage goes back to Abraham,
Speaker 1: and we're divinely connected to Abraham through Jesus, who was
Speaker 1: the seed, the spiritual seed of Abraham.
Speaker 2: This story picks up with Joseph.
Speaker 1: Specifically, Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the
Speaker 1: phlocks with his brothers, the sons of Billha and the
Speaker 1: sons of Zippah, his father's wives, and he brought their
Speaker 1: father a bad report about them. Now, Israel loved Joseph
Speaker 1: more than any of his sons because he had been
Speaker 1: born to him in his old age, and he made
Speaker 1: him an ornate robe for him. So this we begin
Speaker 1: to see immediately, and throughout the story of Joseph. What
Speaker 1: we see is Joseph is a type of Christ. And
Speaker 1: this robe or this garment that was made for Joseph,
Speaker 1: it was a many colored garment. You've maybe heard sermons
Speaker 1: on it over the years.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: We've been preaching on this for years and years in Christianity,
Speaker 1: recognizing Joseph is a type of Christ, recognizing this ornament
Speaker 1: or this ornate garment that was made for him by
Speaker 1: his father was a garment of favor. It was a
Speaker 1: bestowing favor on him. And it's likened in the prodigal
Speaker 1: story of Luke eleven of the prodigal Son. It's likened
Speaker 1: to the robe of righteousness. So, and it's a signet robe,
Speaker 1: a robe of favor. And so this was given to Joseph,
Speaker 1: and he wore this robe. It set him apart among
Speaker 1: all of the brothers. When his brothers saw that their
Speaker 1: father loved him more than any of them, they hated
Speaker 1: him and could not speak a kind word to him.
Speaker 1: This is interesting because immediately you see something about Yeshiah,
Speaker 1: about Jesus, about the Messiah. Because there's Messianic things woven
Speaker 1: into this passage. You see that sometimes it's not what's
Speaker 1: terrible about you that causes animosity. Sometimes it's the favor
Speaker 1: on you that causes animosity.
Speaker 2: Sometimes it's the.
Speaker 1: Way you're loved by father that causes animosity. Not everyone
Speaker 1: falls in love with you just because you're loved. Sometimes
Speaker 1: trouble comes your way because you're loved.
Speaker 2: And so what we're.
Speaker 1: Thinking about today is being careful the way we examine circumstances,
Speaker 1: and careful in that we don't give ourselves to circumstances
Speaker 1: in such a way that circumstances determine the outcome of
Speaker 1: our heart. And so we're seeing some stuff here already
Speaker 1: With Joseph, his brothers couldn't speak a kind word to him.
Speaker 1: Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it
Speaker 1: to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said
Speaker 1: to them, listen to the dream I had. We were
Speaker 1: binding sheaves of drain out in the field, when suddenly
Speaker 1: my sheaf rose and stood upright while your sheaves guttered
Speaker 1: around mine and bowed down to it. Well, there's a
Speaker 1: great dream right there. You know. They were excited about
Speaker 1: that one and his brothers, you know, they exclaimed, what
Speaker 1: in the world do you intend to reign overs?
Speaker 2: Will you actually rule overs?
Speaker 1: And they hated him all the more because of his
Speaker 1: dream and what he had said.
Speaker 2: So here's here's the word the Lord.
Speaker 1: All he's doing is actually expounding to them the word
Speaker 1: of the Lord over his life. But instead of receiving
Speaker 1: accolades or understanding or discernment or favor or kindness or recognition,
Speaker 1: this young one is disdained all the more because of
Speaker 1: a word in his life. Then he had another dream
Speaker 1: and he told it to his brother's listen. He said,
Speaker 1: I had another dream, and this time the sun and
Speaker 1: the moon and the eleven stars were bowing down to me.
Speaker 1: This was actually an insight, wasn't it. He didn't know
Speaker 1: what this was all about, but he knew God was
Speaker 1: talking to him.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: They didn't have understanding or discernment, none of them did
Speaker 1: at this time, but they had enough discernment to know that, oh,
Speaker 1: this means something. And instead of acknowledging it or receiving it,
Speaker 1: of course, they oppose it, and they hate him more.
Speaker 2: And what he's seeing is what.
Speaker 1: Actually happened in Genesis forty six. We're in Genesis thirty seven,
Speaker 1: but in Genesi's forty six we find out that Jacob
Speaker 1: and the whole family are going through a massive famine
Speaker 1: in Egypt and there's no food.
Speaker 2: But Joseph ended up.
Speaker 1: Down in Pharaoh's house, promoted by God, and he rescues
Speaker 1: the entire family. So we know the end of this thing.
Speaker 1: We have the advantage of that. But Joseph didn't have
Speaker 1: the advantage. Joseph had to walk with the word of
Speaker 1: the Lord of his life. He had to walk with
Speaker 1: the dream he had received. He had to walk with
Speaker 1: the promise, the seal, the blessing of his father on him,
Speaker 1: signified by the robe that he wore. Isn't that amazing?
Speaker 1: I just I want you to see some of this
Speaker 1: as we just talk about it, because I want to
Speaker 1: go somewhere.
Speaker 2: Verse nineteen.
Speaker 1: They're out in the field together, the brothers are, and
Speaker 1: here comes the dreamer. And they said to each other,
Speaker 1: come now, let us kill him and throw him into
Speaker 1: one of these cisterns, and say that a ferocious animal
Speaker 1: devoured him, and then we'll see what comes of his dreams.
Speaker 1: When Ruben heard of this, Ruben is the oldest of
Speaker 1: all of the sons, he tried to rescue him out
Speaker 1: of their hands. Let's not take his life, he said,
Speaker 1: don't shed any blood. Throw him into the cistern in
Speaker 1: the wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him. Ruben
Speaker 1: said this to rescue him from them and take him
Speaker 1: back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers,
Speaker 1: they stripped him of his robe. Hello, somebody, don't you
Speaker 1: know this is what the enemy's trying to do through circumstances,
Speaker 1: Through circumstances in your life.
Speaker 2: The enemy is trying to.
Speaker 1: Strip you of your robe, strip you of your royal identity,
Speaker 1: strip you of that which represents a right relationship with God,
Speaker 1: Strip you of that which is known now in Luke
Speaker 1: eleven as the robe of righteousness, the robe of righteousness.
Speaker 1: They stripped him of the robe. They threw him in
Speaker 1: the cistern. The sisterron was empty, there was no water
Speaker 1: in it. And as they sat down to eat their meal,
Speaker 1: they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming
Speaker 1: from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with Spice's balm and myrrh,
Speaker 1: and they were on their way to take them down
Speaker 1: to Egypt. And so Judah said to his brothers, what
Speaker 1: will we gain if we kill our brother and cover
Speaker 1: up his blood. Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites.
Speaker 1: And not lay our hands on him. After all, he's
Speaker 1: our brother, our own flesh and blood. And his brothers agreed.
Speaker 1: So when the Medianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled
Speaker 1: Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for
Speaker 1: twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him
Speaker 1: to Egypt. Now you know what happened. They took him
Speaker 1: down the Egypt and sold him to a gentleman, a
Speaker 1: great business tycoon in Egypt named Potiphar. Remember that, And
Speaker 1: so he begins to serve in Potiphar's house as a slave.
Speaker 1: But he doesn't forget the word. He doesn't forget the
Speaker 1: word over his life. He stays tethered to the word.
Speaker 1: And so because he's tethered to the word, he's able
Speaker 1: to He's able to shed the bitterness. He's able to
Speaker 1: shed the despair. He's able to shed the hopelessness. He's
Speaker 1: able to shed the fear. He's able to shed the inferiority.
Speaker 1: He's able to shed the false identity that the enemy
Speaker 1: is trying to put on him. There's always a false
Speaker 1: identity and a false future that the enemy is trying
Speaker 1: to thrust on us. If we'll give ourselves to circumstance,
Speaker 1: if we'll give our if will magnify circumstances, you know
Speaker 1: it will be transformed into the image of whatever we magnify.
Speaker 1: Right Tewo Corinthians chapter three says that as we behold him,
Speaker 1: we're transformed into his image. We're beholding his glory. We're
Speaker 1: beholding his victory. We're beholding what he's accomplished. We're beholding
Speaker 1: that he purchased us. Therefore he has declared us worthy
Speaker 1: of value, worthy of redemption. There's so much that is
Speaker 1: hidden in him, the written word and the living word,
Speaker 1: that we.
Speaker 2: Tether our lives to.
Speaker 1: And if we fail to, if we fail to, then
Speaker 1: we end up with turmoil. We lose our inner peace,
Speaker 1: and we begin to live life out of our circumstances.
Speaker 1: And you know, if all, if all, or if any
Speaker 1: of us lived life out of our circumscumstances, our lives
Speaker 1: would become so miserable, our hearts would be so burdened down.
Speaker 1: We would be absent of peace because of the inner turmoil,
Speaker 1: the inner conflict. We would be absent of joy. We
Speaker 1: don't have to do that, we don't have to do
Speaker 1: that we can see what happened in Joseph's life. Joseph
Speaker 1: is a great example for us, and he's actually in
Speaker 1: the Word. Purposely, God has highlighted the life of Joseph,
Speaker 1: so we can see that as he hung on to
Speaker 1: the word of the Lord over him, not only did
Speaker 1: it sustain him inwardly, but he gave God what God
Speaker 1: needed to partner with for the Word to come to pass.
Speaker 1: The Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of God, is what
Speaker 1: dwells in us, the testimony of the Kingdom, the witness
Speaker 1: of the Kingdom, the glory of the Kingdom, the ministry
Speaker 1: of the Kingdom, the presence of the Kingdom, and the
Speaker 1: Kingdom of God is the victory of Jesus over us,
Speaker 1: the victory of Jesus over us. You know, Jesus already
Speaker 1: has proclaimed a victory over you.
Speaker 2: You know, if.
Speaker 1: There wasn't another word, that word alone is sufficient. If
Speaker 1: you never got another prophetic word, But you will, if
Speaker 1: you never got another rama, But you will, because we
Speaker 1: can't live by bread alone, but by every word that
Speaker 1: proceeds from the mouth of God. So he's destined defeat us,
Speaker 1: and he's destined the lead us. But we have to
Speaker 1: know that every word is really the testimony.
Speaker 2: Of Jesus over us.
Speaker 1: Revelation nineteen ten says that's the spirit of prophecy. The
Speaker 1: spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus over your life,
Speaker 1: because he's already testified that he He's bought you, redeemed you,
Speaker 1: he's brought you back, he's knit you to Father. He's
Speaker 1: restored you even before you ever come in their restoration.
Speaker 2: He's restored you.
Speaker 1: He's restored you not only to Father, but he's restored
Speaker 1: you to peace and joy inwardly because you have sought
Speaker 1: him and made your heart right with him and write
Speaker 1: with his word. And that's what righteousness is. So the
Speaker 1: Kingdom of God. There was a discussion in Romans chapter fourteen,
Speaker 1: and the discussion was could we eat this, could we
Speaker 1: eat that? Should we observe this law or observe that law?
Speaker 1: Can we drink this or drink that? And the discussions
Speaker 1: going on, and Paul talks about it in Romans fourteen,
Speaker 1: and then he concludes something in verse seventeen. He says, guys,
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of God is not what you eat or drink,
Speaker 1: or what you don't eat or drink, And we could
Speaker 1: extrapolate that to understand even what Jesus said in Matthew
Speaker 1: six thirty one through third three. It's not what you wear,
Speaker 1: It's not your circumstances. The Kingdom of God is righteousness,
Speaker 1: peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is the
Speaker 1: core of our heart. The core of our heart is
Speaker 1: the Kingdom dwelling within us, and that core will sustain
Speaker 1: us through every trial, every circumstance, every sabotage, every difficulty,
Speaker 1: every hardship, every struggle. The Kingdom of God is in you,
Speaker 1: and the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy
Speaker 1: in the Holy Spirit. I want to talk about righteousness
Speaker 1: first because so many times I think in church and
Speaker 1: I'm guilty of this, we think of righteousness as like
Speaker 1: a one and done thing. We came to the Lord
Speaker 1: and we received the imputed gift of righteousness because we
Speaker 1: accepted Jesus as saved. We recognize that our performance wasn't sufficient.
Speaker 1: We've recognized that we still fall short. We've recognized that
Speaker 1: no sacrifice we can bring is sufficient to make us
Speaker 1: right with God. Nothing we can do can make us
Speaker 1: right with God. And so we receive what God has
Speaker 1: done in Jesus and in doing so, he imputes or
Speaker 1: he credits our spiritual bank account with righteousness. So we
Speaker 1: stand not in our own righteousness, we stand in his,
Speaker 1: and so we kind of think of it as one
Speaker 1: and done. As long as we continue to believe on Jesus,
Speaker 1: then we continue in a position of righteousness.
Speaker 2: If there is.
Speaker 1: A failure, a sin, if there's some contradiction to that relationship.
Speaker 1: First John one nine says that if we confess that
Speaker 1: failure and bring it before Father, that he's faithful and
Speaker 1: just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. So righteousness is restored.
Speaker 1: But I want you to see it a little bit
Speaker 1: differently today. I want you to see that righteousness is
Speaker 1: not so much won and done, but righteousness is an
Speaker 1: ongoing right relationship with Jesus and his word over your life.
Speaker 1: It's an ongoing relationship with Jesus and his word over
Speaker 1: your life. Now, I want you to see it that
Speaker 1: way because this is bigger than salvation. It's bigger than
Speaker 1: salvation because salvation has brought you into a place where
Speaker 1: the Word becomes alive to your heart, and where God
Speaker 1: has a better word over you than any circumstance would
Speaker 1: ever declare. See the Enemy is woven into and connected
Speaker 1: to every negative circumcumstance, and he wants to testify out
Speaker 1: of those negative circumstances. And we could almost say there's
Speaker 1: an opposite to Revelation nineteen ten, where it says the
Speaker 1: testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. We could
Speaker 1: also recognize that the testimony coming out of negative circumstances
Speaker 1: is or contains a spirit of prophecy, but it's not
Speaker 1: from a holy spirit. It's from the enemy. And so
Speaker 1: how do we maintain our righteousness? Because maintaining our righteousness
Speaker 1: is not just continuing to believe on Jesus for salvation.
Speaker 1: He's hem life, getting to heaven. I'm going to be okay.
Speaker 1: If I die today, I'm covered. But the righteousness that
Speaker 1: we're talking about is continuing to believe what God says,
Speaker 1: continuing to believe what God has said, continuing to believe
Speaker 1: what God has declared, continuing to believe that she Jesus
Speaker 1: is victory for you and sufficient for you. And his
Speaker 1: Romans eight twenty eight says that he will make every situation,
Speaker 1: he will bring good out of every situation. He'll bring
Speaker 1: good out of the bad. Can God bring good out
Speaker 1: of the bad in your life. A hearty amen, A
Speaker 1: hearty amen. God can bring good out of every negative situation.
Speaker 2: But he's asking us.
Speaker 1: To continue in a right relationship with his word. When
Speaker 1: we're in a right relationship with his word, then what
Speaker 1: happens is the peace and the joy begin to flow.
Speaker 1: The peace and the joy are activated by a right
Speaker 1: relationship with his word. Peace is even referencing peace. The
Speaker 1: scriptures on peace, the even reference that we are abiding
Speaker 1: in peace because we're abiding in the Word, so righteousness.
Speaker 2: Is imputed to us. We continue in a right relationship
Speaker 2: with this word.
Speaker 1: But then also look at Isaiah Isaiah twenty six. You
Speaker 1: will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast
Speaker 1: because they trust in You. The absence of peace, that's
Speaker 1: conflict of the mind, it's conflict of the thought. It's
Speaker 1: inner turmoil. It's being pulled, pulled, pulled, pulled, pulled in
Speaker 1: the conflict, pulled into turmoil, pulled in the restlessness, pulled
Speaker 1: into anxiety, pulled into fear. Oh, the enemies using every
Speaker 1: circumstance to do that. But you, Father, God, will keep
Speaker 1: in perfect peace those whose minds whose thoughts are stayed
Speaker 1: upon Him, stayed upon his word, stayed upon what he said,
Speaker 1: stayed upon the victory over us. There's a victory over us.
Speaker 1: There's a victory over us. And if we will tether
Speaker 1: our hearten our mind to this, if we will keep
Speaker 1: our heartner mind tethered to the victory allready declared over us,
Speaker 1: then we will partake a peace. Hello, somebody, are you
Speaker 1: with me today?
Speaker 2: Righteousness? Righteousness?
Speaker 1: Righteousness, righteousness is having a right relationship with the word,
Speaker 1: coming into agreement always with the word, not letting the
Speaker 1: word get away from our inner focus.
Speaker 2: Romans four ones through three.
Speaker 1: What shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to
Speaker 1: the flesh. For if Abraham was justified by works, he
Speaker 1: has something to boast about, but not before God. But
Speaker 1: what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it
Speaker 1: was credited to him as righteousness. Now, when we read
Speaker 1: the story of Abraham, and we look at the story
Speaker 1: of Abraham and the main topic of Abraham, the main
Speaker 1: subject of Abraham is not just the inheritance he was
Speaker 1: to receive of children like the sand of the seashore right,
Speaker 1: but the focal point of that was Isaac. The focal
Speaker 1: point was a miracle child. Isaac was the focal point
Speaker 1: of the promise of Abraham. And yet we see that
Speaker 1: eluded him, that eluded him. Is that the right word?
Speaker 1: For twenty five years? Twenty five years Abraham is tested
Speaker 1: and tried, and tested and tried, and circumstance after circumstance
Speaker 1: after circumstance, And yet what is the record of Abraham?
Speaker 1: Abraham continued to believe. So because Abraham continued to believe.
Speaker 1: Chapter four goes on to tell us that even though
Speaker 1: he considered his body as good as dead and Sarah's
Speaker 1: body as good as dead at one hundred years old,
Speaker 1: yet he did not waiver concerning the promise. But he
Speaker 1: kept continued to grow strong in his faith, giving glory
Speaker 1: to God, rejoicing, rejoicing, rejoicing, recognizing that he who promised
Speaker 1: was well able. Rejoicing springs up out of a right
Speaker 1: relationship with the Word of God. Rejoicing springs up. It
Speaker 1: doesn't spring up out of circumstances. It doesn't spring.
Speaker 2: Up out of great coffee.
Speaker 1: It doesn't spring up out of just the right muffin.
Speaker 1: It doesn't spring up out of everybody loving you, everything
Speaker 1: going well. Rejoicing springs up out of a right relationship
Speaker 1: with he who promised a right relationship with the Word
Speaker 1: of God. Keeping our mind and our heart focused on
Speaker 1: that that gives us this inner peace, and the inner
Speaker 1: peace comes forth with joy and joy. Crazy thing I
Speaker 1: just learned. I didn't even know this. But joy is
Speaker 1: from the root word of Caros. Joy is from the
Speaker 1: root word of Caras. And rejoicing and joy and grace
Speaker 1: they all come from the same root where they're all cognates.
Speaker 1: How's that for a big word. I dare you to
Speaker 1: say it three times a cognate. They have the same
Speaker 1: ancestral root, grace, joy, and rejoicing. And so here's Abraham rejoicing.
Speaker 1: Twenty five years later, there's still no child traversing everywhere,
Speaker 1: trial after tribulation. Maybe this is where Joseph got it.
Speaker 1: Maybe this is where Joseph came by it. Because they've
Speaker 1: heard about the stories of Great Grandpa, and they've heard
Speaker 1: about the trials and the tribulations. But they heard how
Speaker 1: God met them. They heard how God came through, they
Speaker 1: heard the miracle of Isaing, they heard about the dream
Speaker 1: and the visions of Great Grandfather. And now they're holding
Speaker 1: on to those words themselves, believing that He who made
Speaker 1: the promise will bring it to pass, and so much
Speaker 1: so that we're told that the patriarchs would continue with
Speaker 1: this heart of peace and joy even to their death,
Speaker 1: even if they didn't see it come to pass. The
Speaker 1: patriarchs were told were never, were never to let go
Speaker 1: of their right relationship with the Word over them, and
Speaker 1: therefore the inner peace that govern their hearts and the
Speaker 1: joy that exuded out of their lives. So what is rejoicing?
Speaker 1: And rejoicing is a verb to joy. To rejoice means
Speaker 1: that you give a sound. It's like laughter. You give
Speaker 1: a sound to the grace that's been distributed to you.
Speaker 1: Joy is an inner recognition of grace that's been distributed
Speaker 1: to your life because he shows you, because he picked you,
Speaker 1: because he bought you, because he loves you, because he's
Speaker 1: victorious over you. So I have a right relationship with that.
Speaker 1: I continue to believe. I continue to agree, I continue
Speaker 1: to confess. Romans ten eight through ten says continue in
Speaker 1: confessing this. Believe in your heart under righteousness, and then
Speaker 1: confess with your mouth. Confess means to agree, continue to agree,
Speaker 1: continue to agree. Yeah, But circumstances say something else, and
Speaker 1: difficulties say something else. And here's another delay, and here's
Speaker 1: another sabotage, and here's another difficulty, and here's another hardship,
Speaker 1: and here's another testimony out of circumstance. This says exactly
Speaker 1: the opposite of the word. Shouldn't I let go of
Speaker 1: the word now? Aren't these things signs and symbols and
Speaker 1: enough of a circumstance enough to let me know that
Speaker 1: I should let go of the word right now? Maybe
Speaker 1: I should let go right now? Oh no, don't let
Speaker 1: go of the word. Keep a right relationship with the word. Literally,
Speaker 1: your sanity depends upon it. Your peace depends upon it,
Speaker 1: your interest depends upon it, and your joy depends upon it.
Speaker 1: Your joy is the present acknowledgment that His grace is
Speaker 1: at work. And when I acknowledge that his grace is
Speaker 1: at work, then my countenance is lifted. It's lifted with laughter,
Speaker 1: It's lifted with rejoy. Sing, it's lifted with rejoyce sing
Speaker 1: rejoice in the Lord Again, I say rejoice. You know
Speaker 1: Niemiyah eight verse ten. We quote it all the time
Speaker 1: in church. It says, the joy the Lord is your strength. Well,
Speaker 1: reading the text of me Amiah eight, it's actually kind
Speaker 1: of mind boggling.
Speaker 2: The Amayah.
Speaker 1: Was there with Ezra and others rebuilding Jerusalem and the
Speaker 1: wall and the Tabernacle and the temple. This is after Daniel,
Speaker 1: and this is after the seventy years of captivity, and
Speaker 1: so he's there rebuilding it.
Speaker 2: And then he says, hey, you know what else we're
Speaker 2: gonna do.
Speaker 1: We're gonna restore the priesthood and units we're gonna do.
Speaker 1: We're gonna restore the Sabbath and un else we're gonna do.
Speaker 1: We're gonna restore the reading of the Law. And so
Speaker 1: the Levites got up and in front of all of
Speaker 1: the people, and they began to read the law. And
Speaker 1: as they read the word and the law, to us,
Speaker 1: it represents the word of the Lord. It represents yes
Speaker 1: new covenant faith, and it represents the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1: And it says, as they read the law, as they
Speaker 1: read the word, the people begin to weep, and they
Speaker 1: begin to humble themselves, and they begin the needle, and
Speaker 1: they begin to weep. And their hearts were broken because
Speaker 1: they had been so distant from the word of the Lord,
Speaker 1: and their hearts were rent. And when the Lord saw that,
Speaker 1: he rose up through the prophets, and he said, don't weep,
Speaker 1: stop weeping.
Speaker 2: Don't weep. You've got the right heart. None of you
Speaker 2: should weep.
Speaker 1: Enter into the joy of the Lord, because now the
Speaker 1: Lord is rejoicing over you, because your heart's are right.
Speaker 1: When your hearts are right, the Lord rejoices over you.
Speaker 1: And the joy of the Lord is your strength. That's
Speaker 1: the context of that verse. The joy of the Lord
Speaker 1: is your strength. The grace, the grace distributed through Jesus,
Speaker 1: is yours. Because you've humbled yourself and you've esteemed the Word.
Speaker 1: You've valued his word over your life. You've valued the
Speaker 1: living word. You've valued his claim of deliverance over your life,
Speaker 1: and his restoration word. Because you've valued that, and because
Speaker 1: you've cherished his word, weep no more, weep no more,
Speaker 1: because he's rejoicing over you. He's victorious over you, and
Speaker 1: the joy of the Lord over you. That's your strength.
Speaker 1: Let's stand this mind. I'm going to ask the prayer
Speaker 1: to him to come as we close. Perhaps you're here
Speaker 1: today just doing the very thing we're talking about, aligning
Speaker 1: your heart with God's word again and anew and afresh.
Speaker 1: And maybe it's not a saving word. Maybe it's not
Speaker 1: a salvation word that you need to align your heart with.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's another word over your life, and circumstances have.
Speaker 2: Been shouting at you.
Speaker 1: Circumstances have been shouting at you to forsake the word.
Speaker 2: But God is.
Speaker 1: Saying today, no, tether yourself to the word, draw near
Speaker 1: to the word, stay connected to the word. Patiently wait
Speaker 1: for the word. Don't give up on the word. Your
Speaker 1: peace will be restored, your joy will be restored.
Speaker 2: These flow out of His word.
Speaker 1: If that's you, I want you to come, be prayed for,
Speaker 1: be ministered to as we close and worship to day.
Speaker 1: Would you put your hands up with me before the Lord. Father,
Speaker 1: we thank you. You're not the author of every circumstance.
Speaker 1: You're certainly not the author of negative circumstance. You're certainly
Speaker 1: not in the midst of trouble causing it to come forth.
Speaker 1: But Father, you've promised you will use the circumstance. You
Speaker 1: promised that as you did with Joseph, you'll turn things around.
Speaker 1: As you did with Joseph. You'll fulfill your word, and
Speaker 1: many will be touched, and many will be saved, and
Speaker 1: many will see victory, and many will taste of your goodness,
Speaker 1: because of your promise over our lives. Father, we agree
Speaker 1: today that you come with like a Romans eight twenty
Speaker 1: eight anointing over us, that where the enemy has been
Speaker 1: tested fine, that a circumstance sets us out away from
Speaker 1: and destroys the plan of God. Your testimony is, no,
Speaker 1: I'll use that circumstance. I'll use that circumstance.
Speaker 2: I'll use it. I'll use it.
Speaker 1: I'll use it, and I'll still turn things around, and
Speaker 1: I'll put the enemy under your feet, and I'll cause
Speaker 1: you to taste of victory and to receive the word
Speaker 1: that I promised over you.
Speaker 2: Father.
Speaker 1: We thank you for this today, and we seal our
Speaker 1: hearts over to your word, and we set our minds
Speaker 1: steadfastly upon you in Jesus' name. And everybody said, God,
Speaker 1: bless your cherish. Let's worship as we go this morning.