Echoes of Grace
Living a Joyful and Productive Life
Lesson by Espn McCall, Preacher at Wickett Church of Christ
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- Duration:
- 44m
- Broadcast on:
- 18 Nov 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
a lesson from last Sunday. It doesn't sound very fun. How do you live a joyful and productive life if you have the right desires? Because I said multiple times that doesn't sound very fun. To forget all the things of the world, and so this morning I've decided I'd bring you a lesson that is living a joyful and productive life. Now sadly, it doesn't pop up. The title doesn't pop up. I haven't quite figured this program out that the Raspberry Pi uses, so the title's not going to pop up. But I have a math equation for you. It's G-L-M plus M-L-G equals J-P-L. And you say what is that mean? And you can guess all day and you might never get there, so I put it on the board. It's God's love for man plus man's love for God equals a joyful and productive life. Go away. So God's love for man plus man's love for God equals a joyful and productive life. So you ask, well, what is that, right? What is joyful, right? So I put again, to be joyful, to be happy is to be joyful. And if you have the right desires for God, well, you should be happy. And if you're happy, then you're joyful, right? Lesson ended, right? No. Sadly, it's a lot more than that. Strong's definition, it'll go. There we go. Strong's first definition is a calm delight. It's a calm delight, right? The root word of calm delight is well off. Right, that's what it means to be calmly happy, to be well off. That's calm. That a calm delight is to be well off. It's to be joyful, right? Be happy with what you have. It's the peace of God which passes all understanding. That is to be joyful. You're joyful through the peace of God that passes all understanding. Now, I told you we're going to continue on our desire. Well, here's how it is. God's desire is for us to be joyful. And we need to all be connected. And I'm going to try this another way because I got a lot of positive feedback last time. I have put, whenever it decides to click, the lesson, or not the lesson, the scripture on the board for you, in John chapter 15, and verses 9 through 11, it says, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you, abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. Just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full." Right, so what does it say here? You say, well, it sounds pretty simple. My joy may be in you and your joy may be full. Yes, it is actually incredibly simple. If we abide in the love of the Father, his joy will abide in us that we might have joy, that we might be full. And if you remember our math equation from the beginning, God's love for man. Here's God's love for man. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. And if we love God, as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. All right, so if we love God and God loves us, go away again. We can have a joyful and productive life. Abide in God's love and our joy may be full. That's what it says very strictly. All right, so whenever we're connected, not only are we connected to each other, right, we love each other, as he says, so I have loved you. If we love God and we abide in God's love, we're joyful. It is God's desire that we be joyful. And first John, chapter one, in verses three through four, it says that which was from the beginning, which we have, I'm sorry, first John, chapter one, verse one, and then verses three through four, apologies, this verse one, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. Okay, doesn't make much sense by itself. So that's why we look at verse three and four. Verse three, it says that which we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you also so that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. So it says that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, that which they have seen and heard would have been Jesus Christ. These are the apostles speaking, right? That's which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, we proclaim to you Christ. He lived, he died, he was resurrected from the dead and he ascended and he forgives sins. That is what they proclaim. That is what they saw. And the reason they proclaim it is so that they might have fellowship with each other, right? So that they might be connected with each other, right? And whenever you're connected with each other and you understand Christ that he lived, he died, he was resurrected and he was the Son of God, then you might have fellowship with Christ. And it says that we are writing these things, right? So we're writing these so that you understand, right? That's what it says. Once we tell you these things, you can understand these things and you can be in fellowship, but so that your joy may be complete. Now they weren't just writing these things on a whim of oh, I think that'll sound good or you know what they might need to know this. They're writing these things through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, right? And so the Holy Spirit told them to write these things that their joy might be complete, which means God wants us to know so that we might be joyful, so that we might be full of joy. Now let's go back to the Old Testament. Turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah with me. Nehemiah will go to chapter 8. So God's desire is for us to be joyful and not only do we see that in the New Testament just the verses we've seen thus far, we'll see it in the Old Testament as well. In Nehemiah chapter 8, every it gets there in verses 4, 5, and 6 is where we'll begin. It says, "And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and when he opened it all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces on the ground." So here we have God's word being proclaimed. We have God's word being proclaimed and they rejoice. They are happy. That's what it says. They rejoice. Amen, Amen. They lift up their hands. They worship gods with their faces to the ground. Now let's continue in verses 7 and 8. In verse 7 it says, "Also Jeshua and Bani has a whole bunch of other names in there that are not going to fail to pronounce. And the Levites helped the people to understand the law while the people remained in their place." So here we have all these people, the Levites who would be the priests. They help the people understand the law. They help the people understand God's word while they stayed there. It says in verse 8, they read from the book, from the law of God, clearly. They clearly read this. They made sure everybody understood it. They didn't twist a whole bunch of words. They didn't throw "the" and "he" in there. They read it in a way that everybody could understand and they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading. They made it so people could understand. That's what they did. They wanted people to understand the word of God. So that they might rejoice in the word of God, that they might be one in the word of God. And in verse 9, whenever it pops up, there we go. It says, "And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, this day is holy to the Lord, your God. Do not mourn or weep, for all the people wept, as they heard the words of the law." And it says, "This day is holy, do not mourn or weep." That means don't be sad. That's what that means. And it says, "For all the people wept, as they heard the words of God," or the words of the law, right? Now, we don't know whether they wept because it convicted them or they wept years of joy because God is so good. But we're told, "Do not mourn or weep." And that's what we're told, right? Be joyous. Do not mourn or weep. Stop holding up. That's what we're told. And now, of course, they weep and we don't know why they weep. But we're told not to. All right, let's continue. Nehemiah chapter 8, verses 10, 11, and 12, it says, "Then he said to them, 'Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet wine, and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord, and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.'" So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be quiet, for this day is holy. Do not be grieved." And all the people went their way to eat and drink, and to send portions and to make great rejoicing because they had understood the words that were declared to them. There are two things here that I have under us. The first is, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Now, I couldn't find it in a songbook I have at this building. There's a song called "The Joy of the Lord." It says, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." That's what it starts off with. It uses this verse. "The joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord is your peace." Whenever you understand the Bible, as they did, to make great rejoicing because they had understood the words, whenever you understand the words of the Lord, you have joy, and you have joy in the Lord. You can make great rejoicing together, because the joy of the Lord is your strength. He's the reason you keep going on, because you believe him, because you understand the words he has for you, because you want to declare them yourself. So he's your strength to continue on as this life is hard. Go with me next to Acts, chapter 8. Acts, chapter 8. We'll look in verses 30 through 35 Acts, chapter 8, beginning in verse 30. Now, towards the beginning of our Bible study this morning, we talked about the Ethiopian eunuch. Well, here in Acts, chapter 8, is the Ethiopian eunuch. Beginning in verse 30, it says, "So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' And he said, 'How can I unless someone guides me?' And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. So, Philip starts off with, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' That's a question for all of us. That's not necessarily just the question for the Ethiopian eunuch, although that is the question being asked by Philip to the eunuch. That's a question to all of us. Do you understand what you're reading? Do you understand Nehemiah chapter 8? That's what we just came from. Do you understand that? And now, you have to ask yourself, is your answer, 'How can I unless someone guides me?' And in a lot of cases, that is a very valid answer. That's a very valuable answer as well. There's a lot in the Bible that we don't understand unless we sit down and we study it. Now, you can either go to somebody who's studied it for themselves or you can sit down and do all the studying and do it the hard way. Sometimes, the hard way is more fun. You'll definitely get more out of it. So, Philip comes and he sits with him and he was invited to sit with him. And in verse 34, we'll skip verse 32 and 33, although I do encourage you to read them. They are wonderful verses to understand. In verse 34, it says, 'And the eunuch said to Philip, about whom I ask you, does the prophet say this about himself or about someone else?' So, here, the Ethiopian eunuch is asking who's coming, right? Who is being prophesied? Is the prophet prophesying himself or is he prophesying someone else? He's asking who Jesus is. This is what he's doing. He just doesn't know that yet. It says in verse 35, 'Then Philip opened his mouth and began with this scripture. He told him the good news about Jesus.' So, from here, we don't know exactly where they were in Isaiah, but from here, Philip starts, right? He says, 'You have now asked about Jesus.' You don't know that you've asked about Jesus, but you have, because what you asked me was who are we talking about? Well, this is who we're talking about. He explains them the good news about Jesus. And we'll continue in verses 36 through 40. However, we're going to swap translations on you from the ESV to the New King James version, as the ESV does not have verse 37. So, let's hear on the board in the New King James version, it says, 'And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water.' And the eunuch said, 'See here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized?' So, here, they have come upon water. He has heard the good news about Christ, and he says, 'What hinders me to be baptized? Why can I not be?' And Philip said, 'This is what's not in the ESV.' And Philip said, 'If they'll believe it for the whole vine heart, they'll maste.' And he answered and said, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' So, what stops me from being baptized? This confession. You have to confess, right here. If you believe, you may. And he said, 'I believe.' And he commanded in verse 38 the chariot to stand still. He says, 'Stop the chariot.' Right? And they went down both to the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. He said, 'Stop the chariot. I need to go be baptized.' After hearing Jesus, after hearing the good news, the gospel, if you will. Right? That's what gospel means is good news. And it says, 'And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away, Philip.' I thought I read that wrong. I did. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away, Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more. So, Philip baptizes him. He gets out of the water and he's taken away by the Lord. And yet, that's not what I want you to focus on. And he sees him not again. He does not see him again. And he went on his way, rejoicing the eunuch. Not Philip. Philip is gone. We're speaking of he being the eunuch, and he saw him no more. And that eunuch saw him no more, and he. And that is our character. That's who the he is. And he went on rejoicing. Well, why was he rejoicing? Right? Because he heard the good news. He heard Jesus. He was joyous because he was saved. Right? No, of course, it's really easy. Right? They aren't going through any times of diversity or adversity. Apologies. Right? This is really easy. He was just in a wagon and he was reading the scroll of Isaiah because they were scrolls. They weren't even books at the time. And he was reading the scroll of Isaiah and he was taught and he was baptized. And now he's super happy. So how about first Peter? Go with me there. First Peter chapter one. How do we rejoice in the time of adversity when not everything's going right? Hey, when it's not so easy. And first Peter chapter one, I'll read verses six, seven, eight, and nine. Really? There. Oh, I got to fix that next time we use this. And first Peter chapter one in verse six, beginning it says, "In this you rejoice, though now for a while we're back in the ESV, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, no more precious than gold, but perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Now there is a lie here, and we could sit down, I could talk for the next hour about these verses alone, but I won't. And I'll point you to one thing, I will point you to verse eight, though you have not seen him, you love him. Now this is an incredibly important passage for we today, sitting in this building, we today in this entire planet Earth, have not seen Jesus. So this speaks straight to us, though you have seen him, you love him. So the question is, you have not seen him, do you love him? Right? And though we don't see him right now, he's not walking through that door, he's not me standing behind here, I'm not Jesus, I promise. Now you don't see him right now, you haven't seen him in your life, you do not see him now, you will not see him later, and you believe in him, don't you? Right, that's what it means to be a Christian is, you don't see him, you've never seen him, you're never going to see him while you're still alive on this earth, and yet you love him, and you believe in him, and you rejoice with joy that is inexpressible. You don't see him, you haven't seen him, you're not going to see him, and yet you're happy because you believe in him, because you know him, right? You know his story. If you rejoice with joy that is inexpressible, I can't express the out amount of joy, right? I mean, it's inexpressible, you're filled with glory, and you rejoice because Jesus, because we have Christ, right? How about Hebrews chapter 12, go with me there, Hebrews chapter 12, and verses 1, 2, and 3, the first three verses of Hebrews chapter 12. Beginning in verse 1, it says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted." It says, "Let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely." I let it go. It doesn't matter. It's just, it's there. I run with their race that's set before us. Run with the endurance. You want to finish that race, looking to Jesus the entire time. You're not just running to run. You're running to Jesus. That's who you're running to. You're setting your mind and your eyes upon Jesus, who is who, the founder and perfecter of our faith. That's who Jesus is. And whenever you look towards Jesus, Jesus is the one who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. He had to die on a cross. He had to endure sinners' hostility against him so that we don't have to. So whenever you're looking to Jesus, that doesn't mean set your eyes on him, stare at him the entire time, run on a straight line. That's not what that means. Looking to Jesus means look at his nature. Look who he is, strived to be like him for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. He was so joyous. He emitted joy. He gave joy to people enough that even he died on the cross and they could rejoice because their sins are forgiven. Jesus had joy. What about Acts chapter 5? Acts chapter 5 and verses 40 and 41, it says, "Then they left the presence of the counsel, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name." And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. This is the apostle, the disciple of Christ. They were just told do not preach that in the temple. Do not bring that in the temple. And they left rejoicing. They were happy that they were even counted worthy to suffer. And they were happy that they suffered. It were not even worthy of this suffering. We're not Jesus Christ. And so they're happy for it because people call them out of different. And so they'd be happy. And in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 11 through 12, it said, "Blessed are you and others revile you and persecute you. And other all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." Keep putting my face right into that. It says, "Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Rejoice and be glad. Bless it are you. You're going to be reviled. You're going to be persecuted. People will utter all kinds of evil against you. And bless it are you because of that. Bless it are you because when they do these things, they're doing them to you on the account of who on my account it says, and in most red text, Bibles, that's all in red. On my account, that is Jesus speaking. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. Right here on earth, you're going to be persecuted, reviled against. They're going to utter evil things on you because you follow Christ and rejoice in it. Your reward is in heaven. That's where our reward is. That's how we can rejoice in all this time of adversity because we're not looking for things here on earth. And James chapter 1, verses 2, 3 and 4 says, "My brother encountered all joy when you fall into diverse temptations." I don't think I typed this one out properly. It says, "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing." Now, there's a reason this one's not in the new King James or in the ESV version. You look in your Bible, if you're reading out of the ESV and you're like, "Well, my Bible doesn't say ye, and there's a reason for that." I just didn't put it in brackets this time. The reason for that is the old English, which the King James version was written out of in the new English words mean different, such as our desire lesson last Sunday. The word desire and the word once in old English mean the same thing. And yet, to desire something and to want something now were two very different things. For the desire now is to want earnestly, to want is that I could do without it, but I'd like it. That's not what desire means. That's not what want means in the old English, right? So here it says, "My brother encountered all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations." And it's not the word diverse. I wish I had my Bible up here with me to know exactly what that word is, but it's counted all joy when you fall into temptation, right? That is, don't look at any of the bad. You're tempted. That's a good thing. That's what that means. All right, it's knowing this that the trying of your faith works peace for patience. I cannot read today. All right, this works patience, that the trying of your faith or the testing of your faith, as it says in some versions, right? You're being tested and tested and tried are two different words nowadays, but they're not two different words back when this was written. They were the same word. That's how we translate them to two different words, right? That you're going to be tried. You're going to be tested. And that's going to give you patience, right? And let patience have her perfect work, right? Be patient. From when you're patient, you can learn to be perfect, that you might be perfect and entire, that you might want nothing, right? When you're patient, count it perfect, right? Because you're going to be tested. And when you're tested, be joyful. Because when you're tested, you're being made perfect. Because when you're patient, it works on you. It makes you perfect. Now, in case you don't know what the word patience means, patience, whenever it pops up means cheerful. It's hopeful. It is cheerful endurance, hopeful endurance. Patience is a, well, I'm just going to sit here until you be quiet, right? Patience is a, I'm going to sit here hoping you're going to be quiet. That's what patience is. It's hopeful endurance. It's happy, right? But let patience, but let perfect or cheerful endurance work, right? That's how you count it all joy. It's because that's the definition of patience. Now, that's not our definition of patience anymore. And our definition of patience is just waiting. Wait patiently. It's, it's coming. Just sit there. You're bored. You're upset that you have to wait, right? But you're being patient. You don't want to. You're not cheerful about it. You're not necessarily hopeful about it either. Words meant something different back when the Bible was written. And we have to understand that. And so whenever we let patience have our way, whenever we are patient, you're supposed to be cheerful in your patience, right? You're being tested and you're supposed to have your faith work through patience, right? You're being tested. You're supposed to be cheerful. You're supposed to have joy, right? And in 1 Peter, chapter 1, verses 3, 4, and 5, back to the English standard version, it says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Christ, of Jesus Christ from the dead. If we stop right there, it's stopped right there at the end of verse 3. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." For it's according to his great mercy that we were born again into a living hope through resurrection, right? Because he came, because he died, and because he was resurrected, we have mercy, right? We have a new hope, a living hope. Continue on verse 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. Captain heaven for you, right? When we are baptized, when we become a Christian, whenever we have the right desires, right? Whenever we desire this living hope, whenever we desire to be born again through the resurrection of Christ, then we have an inheritance that is imperishable. It's undefiled, it's unfading, and it's kept for us in heaven. It means you're going to have an inheritance that the realms of this world don't even touch. It's something that you can't know, right? And what is not to be joyous about that if we just stop right there, right? Whenever you're a Christian through this living hope, right? Through this new hope that we can have, we get to us inheritance that is in heaven, that we can't even fathom to understand. That is joyous. But if we continue, it says, "Who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time?" This is us who by God's power are being guarded. We are being guarded by God's power through our faith that we have this salvation. We are the guarded ones. And if that's not even more caused to be joyous, that you are guarded by God, that you have this inheritance coming for you, right? That salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time. Then how can you really know God, right? I don't know what your life is like, but if that is not a joyous occasion, if that is not something to be joyous about, then you either have a really good life or you don't know what joy means, right? And of course, there are a lot of other scriptures. Here's three, for an example, 2 Corinthians 8, 1 through 4, 1 Thessalonians 2, 17, 18, 19 and 20 and Acts 16 verses 22 through 25. Now, we're not going to turn and read all of these. 2 Corinthians was our scripture reading this morning. And the reason we're not going to turn and read them is because I'm trying to stay a lot more under an hour than 56 minutes. But I do encourage you write the scriptures down, turn in your Bibles to read them. Or these are people that were able to rejoice in times of adversity, right? And another reason to rejoice in the time of adversity is you know the outcome. You know what's going to happen, right in Romans chapter 8 and verse 17. It says, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. That's what verse 17 is, right? If we are children of God, then we are heirs of God. And if we are heirs of God, then we are fellow heirs with Christ for Christ is the Son of God. And we are only those heirs if we suffer with them. We may also be glorified with Him. Right? Whenever you follow Christ, you're going to suffer with Christ on Christ's account. You're going to suffer and whenever you suffer with Him, you're going to be glorified with Him. In verse 18, I want you to pay attention to verse 18 very closely so I underlined it. It says, "For I considered that the suffering of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed for us." You know what that means? It means none of this matters. Right? The suffering you endure doesn't matter. That's not even comparable to the joy, to the glory that you're going to get. I have three more slides for you, two scriptures and one song. Rejoicing in adversity, I told you the final song this morning is going to be sung number 477, "Blessed Assurance." It says, "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine." Oh, what a fortaste of glory divine, air of salvation purchased of God, born of the Spirit, washed in His blood. "Blessed Assurance, shout Hallelujah, the glory be to God for Jesus is mine." Oh, what a fortaste. Oh, this is just the beginning of glory divine. Right? An air of salvation. Well, we know that, don't we? It just told us that whenever it decides to go back to the next one, it's having power problems. We just told me we're heirs in Romans chapter 18. I know. Romans chapter 8 and verse 17, right? If children then heirs of God, like fellow heirs with Christ, heir of salvation, we were purchased of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. Whatever we were baptized, we were reborn of His Spirit. And we were baptized into His resurrection. We were born of His blood. So whenever we start to sing out, think about this. I think about the joy in which we have as Christians that Jesus is ours. Right? This is only a taste of the glory that's to come. I worship an heir to God. We have been purchased by Him. We're born of His Son's Spirit and washed in His blood. And Romans chapter 5 and verses 8 through 11, it says, "But God chose His love for us and that we, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Right? Christ died for the sinner. He didn't die just for anybody or just for the saved apologies. He died for the sinner. He says, "What man needs a doctor when he's not sick." Right? The sick are the ones that need a doctor. He says that in Matthew. I believe he also says in Luke, I don't believe it's in Mark. I could be mistaken, right? So he came and he died for us while we were sinners. So we might not be sinners anymore. Right? Since therefore we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of the Son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by His life. Right? We were enemies to God when we were in sin. We were God's enemy. For there is no darkness in light and God is light and sin is darkness. Right? So we were the enemy of Him. We were the complete opposite. And yet while we were enemies, we were reconciled as what it says. He died for His enemies. That's what it says. Right? And how much more is He willing to suffer and sacrifice for His enemies than He is for anybody that's saved. Right? If He's willing to die while we are His enemies, think about the things He'll do when we're His friend. Right? When we're on His side. So as more than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We're home. We have now received reconciliation. Right? We also rejoice because He died. Because we have been reconciled to Him. That's why we rejoice, brethren. So having the right desire might not sound like the most fun thing under the world. And yet you have more reason to rejoice than anyone else ever will. One more scripture and you can have the lesson. I'll leave an email out to you if I want. In Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 22 and 23 says, "But you have come to Mount Zion into the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festival gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect." Now, I don't remember why I put a smiley face there. That is my personal note that I meant to delete. So we've got a smiley face on the board now, but it's so terrible was the sight that Moses says this. Right? Moses exceedingly fears and quakes when he comes to Mount Zion. Moses is afraid at Mount Zion. Right? And yet Moses rejoices, doesn't he? Because he's at the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Right? And we will come to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven and to God, the judge of all. Right? So whenever we are righteous, whenever we have the desire to follow God's will, brethren, then we come to the city of God. This is our inheritance. Right? This is the inheritance that Moses didn't get because he didn't listen to God. Now, we know Moses went to Paradise, right? But Moses didn't get to go to Jerusalem. He died on top of Mount. It wasn't Zion, it was. He died on the mountain overlooking. Right? The name slipped my mind, but he died there because he didn't listen to God. He didn't get the joy of going in, but God made him a promise at the beginning and God kept his promise. You will see the promise land. God took him to the mountain, showed him the promise land and struck him dead because God fulfills his promises, brethren. And this is our promise if we have the right desire. He will take care of us. Now, this isn't a lesson on the first principles, but we know the first principles, right? Here, which you've done, believe, confess, repent, be baptized, and the pasty one that's to remain faithful. Brethren, I'm going to tell you right now, if you don't have the right desire as we talked about last Sunday, and if you don't feel like you have a joyful life in Christ, or that you don't know how to live a joyful life in Christ, brethren, I'm going to tell you two things. One, I don't think I explained my lesson very well, or you didn't listen. And two, you may be in sin. Christ died and was resurrected that we might be taken away from sin. He gave us the path of repentance that we might be taken out of sin and return back to him. If everyone feels as though they do not have the right desire that they feel like their life is not as joyous as it should be in the Lord, or that they view living for the Lord negatively. If you'll come forward as we stand and saying in us for prayers or repentance. [BLANK_AUDIO]
Lesson by Espn McCall, Preacher at Wickett Church of Christ
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