WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Kingdom Celebration Publishing Date: 2017-04-23T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/kingdom-celebration/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.240 Kingdom celebration. That's what we're going to talk about. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.080 Guys, so we've been on the theme of the kingdom for the last little while. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:14.720 And so this is another super important part of the makeup of the kingdom. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:18.800 Because the coming of the kingdom of God is supposed to create 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:22.640 a celebrating community. That's what it's supposed to create. I mean, 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:28.480 you've seen those movies where the conquering soldiers return into a city 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.120 and they've just freed the city from oppression. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:37.600 And people gather around the streets because there's a new rule that's coming. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:40.800 You look at some of those camps where prisoners were held 00:00:40.800 --> 00:00:43.360 and they hear the sound of bombs in the distance. 00:00:43.360 --> 00:00:48.320 And then suddenly you have friendly troops coming and they set the camp open. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:56.000 And even though you have these really tortured prisoners now suddenly feeling joyful, 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.320 it's the same intent. The coming of the kingdom was supposed to create 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:06.720 a celebrating community. And so if a church is not a celebrating community, 00:01:08.320 --> 00:01:11.600 there's something seriously wrong because it's a makeup of the kingdom. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:15.760 The coming of the kingdom creates a celebrating community. 00:01:16.720 --> 00:01:20.480 It's supposed to do that. A coming king. He's conquered. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:24.800 We know he's won the battle. He's on his way. News has already arrived. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:30.160 Enemy troops are already fleeing. The city has been liberated. 00:01:30.160 --> 00:01:34.720 Things are in the process of being reconstructed. Streets are being renamed. 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:39.680 People that were thrown out of office are being reinstituted into office. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:46.000 Tyrants have been removed. Banners and flags of the enemy are being pulled down every day. 00:01:48.960 --> 00:01:54.960 And in the process, the city now is jubilant because there is a returning king who is coming. 00:01:54.960 --> 00:02:01.280 And if that is the case, then every community of believers must be a celebrating community. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.520 This is important for us to understand somewhere inside because every time we are not, 00:02:06.080 --> 00:02:08.320 we are denying the existence of a returning king. 00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:17.520 So the people of the kingdom are therefore supposed to live in this idea that we live 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:25.360 under the good. We live under the good of a coming king. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:29.760 We live under the good of a coming king. 00:02:32.480 --> 00:02:36.880 That's what we are supposed to be like. Not just in church. The church is a place where we see 00:02:36.880 --> 00:02:44.560 common expression. At one place at one time. But the church doesn't disband today at four. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:48.640 It's a body. It doesn't disband. This should be the nature of the body throughout the week. 00:02:48.640 --> 00:02:55.440 I mean, that's why we end up this evening saying, can we have this next week, 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:00.000 can we call it a spirit and joy week? And we'll talk about that a little later. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.240 But the people of the kingdom are those that are living in the good of the coming king. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:10.640 The strange thing about living under the good of a coming king is it's not dependent on your circumstances. 00:03:11.200 --> 00:03:17.040 We are talking about living under the good of a coming king. It's almost like this cloud. 00:03:17.040 --> 00:03:24.160 You know those mosquitoes? I don't know what they are. Those tiny things that start circling around 00:03:24.160 --> 00:03:31.280 over your head. Yeah, it's a big cloud and you do this and they move this way. You do this and they 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:35.920 move this way. I mean, they're on my balcony and they only come during summer. When I don't want 00:03:35.920 --> 00:03:39.440 to stand on my balcony through winter, they're not there. They're not there. They're not there. 00:03:39.440 --> 00:03:42.240 When I don't want to stand on my balcony through winter, they're not there. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:49.280 Come summer, the moment I step out on my balcony, they're there. About 14 of them. I tried counting them once. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:55.360 And then you do this and they move this way. You do this and they move this way. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:01.040 They just don't leave you alone. It's the same way that the good of a coming king works. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:07.760 Then it doesn't matter what's actually happening on the ground. Above you, there is this cloud 00:04:07.760 --> 00:04:13.760 that is the good of a coming king. And if you and I are able to lock in on that somewhere inside, 00:04:13.760 --> 00:04:18.320 you will find that the circumstances under you begin to change because of what you're under. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:26.320 Please remember this. The circumstances under you begin to change when you understand what you are 00:04:26.320 --> 00:04:31.920 under. And you are under the good of a coming king. And what does that goodness include? It includes 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:37.040 everything because Moses said, show me a goodness. And how did God respond? I will show you my glory. 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:43.440 His splendor, his magnificence, his power, his weight, his brilliance, everything combined into 00:04:43.440 --> 00:04:50.400 this one word, which I've often said, kabod means glory. So when we talk about walking under his 00:04:50.400 --> 00:04:56.960 good, you will find that if that becomes where your mind and heart are locked, then the circumstances 00:04:56.960 --> 00:05:01.600 under you must relent. It's just how it works. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:12.240 But it's very hard to actually think like this because we lock our eyes on the circumstances 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:19.040 around us. And so it's very hard to think like this, that I live under this cloud, that it doesn't 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:24.560 matter where I go. It's almost like it's attached to me. It doesn't leave me. 00:05:27.840 --> 00:05:33.920 This is what creates hope. It doesn't matter how dry and parched the land under you is. 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:35.440 There is a cloud above your head. 00:05:35.440 --> 00:05:41.360 Attached to you guys. He's attached to you. You've attracted him. What in you attracted him? 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:48.800 One, that he made you in his image. And two, that the brilliant radiant image of his son 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:55.200 now lives in you too. You attract him and his son in you attracts him. And therefore he's 00:05:55.200 --> 00:06:01.680 attached to you. And that's why he's attracted to you. And that's why he's attracted to you. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:06.000 And that's why he's attracted to you. And that's why he's attracted to you. 00:06:09.280 --> 00:06:12.560 But must think like this. This is what makes us celebrate. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:23.600 This is what causes celebration. Israel was subject to a covenant of joyful obedience. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:29.040 Israel didn't have a choice. Israel, when God called Israel, he said, hey, I'm subjecting you 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:34.960 to a covenant. I am the superior one, so I set the terms of the covenant. I'm subjecting you 00:06:34.960 --> 00:06:41.120 to a covenant. But I don't want your obedience. I want your joyful obedience. I want your joyful 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:48.000 obedience, Jacob. Because if it ain't joyful, it's not obedience really. Because if you are 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.960 willing and obedient, then you will eat the good of the land. Isaiah chapter 1. If you are willing 00:06:52.960 --> 00:06:57.760 and obedient, then you will eat the good of the land. So I don't want your obedience because I 00:06:57.760 --> 00:07:03.840 have tons of obedience from people who are afraid of me, who want things. But give me joyful obedience. 00:07:05.360 --> 00:07:11.280 That is the nature of the community of believers who know that the kingdom has come. It's joyful 00:07:11.280 --> 00:07:17.600 obedience. We are subject to a covenant of joyful obedience. This is why, guys, you will see that 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:22.080 throughout the Old Testament, and even the New Testament church practiced it, throughout the 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:28.320 Old Testament, there were these specific festivals that God had in the calendar year that Israel was 00:07:28.320 --> 00:07:41.840 supposed to congregate and celebrate. And so, let's pick on someone, Rachel and Mae. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:50.640 Could you find out the celebratory festivals in the Old Testament? And could you find out what days 00:07:50.640 --> 00:07:56.080 they fall on this year? Passover is done. You don't need to do it now. You need to do it by 00:07:56.080 --> 00:08:02.080 next week. What were the festivals that Israel would celebrate? And then find out what days they 00:08:02.080 --> 00:08:09.120 fall on this year? I know Pentecost is coming. 50 days from Passover, there's Pentecost. Then there's 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:15.600 a feast of tabernacles. There's a feast of trumpets. These were ordained by God so that he could call 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:21.120 all of Israel to celebrate. And celebrate what? They were supposed to come together, and the intent 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:29.760 of their coming together was to reflect with gratitude on the fact that they lived under 00:08:29.760 --> 00:08:36.160 the blessing of Yahweh the King. That they lived under the blessing of Yahweh the King. That they 00:08:36.160 --> 00:08:41.600 lived under the blessing of Yahweh the King. Is there anyone in this room that doubts that you 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:46.960 live under the blessing of Yahweh the King? Because if you doubt it, it still doesn't make 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:55.920 it untrue. It's just that you doubt it. It still doesn't make it untrue. You live under the blessing 00:08:55.920 --> 00:09:03.120 of Yahweh the King. And when we begin to think like this, we begin to enjoy. What's that line that I 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:11.200 used to repeat so often? If you something, something, you something, something, it'll come. 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:14.080 Yeah, that didn't help at all. 00:09:18.160 --> 00:09:28.960 Shoot, it was such a good quote. Okay, guys, when we stop celebrating, we show that we have lost the 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:36.480 sense of the King's habitation or the King's visitation. When a church stops celebrating, 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:41.040 and by celebrating I really don't mean songs. Songs are one way of celebration. 00:09:41.920 --> 00:09:47.200 When a church is no longer a celebrating community, as in a place that's fun, 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:56.560 where people love to come and just, just be. If a church isn't like that, then it's because 00:09:57.920 --> 00:10:02.000 people aren't aware of the visitation of the King or the habitation of the King. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:13.440 This King is so enjoyable that if a church does not become a place where celebration is normal, 00:10:14.400 --> 00:10:18.480 then it's either because the pastor is ruining it or the people are sour. 00:10:21.280 --> 00:10:24.400 Because God is not like the pastor or the people. 00:10:24.800 --> 00:10:29.760 Doesn't matter how old the church is. Ah, it bothers me when I go in the church where everyone 00:10:29.760 --> 00:10:37.040 is dressed properly, but the clothes are so starched that even the mouth doesn't smile. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:46.960 It's painful. We can't have that. It's not, it's not a God thing. I'm not talking about 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:53.840 faking it. I'm talking about inside we should have this celebratory attitude. 00:10:55.760 --> 00:11:00.080 So what does that look like? When I say celebratory attitude, what do you think it means? 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:04.560 What would it look like? What would celebration look like to you? 00:11:09.520 --> 00:11:14.800 Oh, come on. Don't tell me. Sorry. Joy. But what would it look like to you? 00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:17.840 Joy. But what would joy look like to you? 00:11:20.640 --> 00:11:25.440 Like a child on his birthday, new toys, new gifts, new people, a lot of room, 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:29.360 lot of license. Can't jump over the sofa without getting into trouble. What else? 00:11:30.880 --> 00:11:40.400 Spontaneous dancing, spontaneous many things. What else? Sharing special food, sharing special 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:46.240 things, making mistakes and knowing that it's not going to be as costly as it normally is. 00:11:47.520 --> 00:11:48.000 What else? 00:11:50.640 --> 00:11:55.200 Thankfulness, a heart full of gratitude, which just keeps pouring out because there are too 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:58.480 many things to remember. Oh, thank you for this. Thank you for that. What else? 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:08.240 Telling others about whatever you are excited about. What else? 00:12:11.280 --> 00:12:16.560 Noise. Noise. Noise is such an important part of celebration. Ever been to a celebration 00:12:16.560 --> 00:12:27.280 where there's no noise? Happens in cemeteries. Nowhere else. Cheering. What else? Sorry. 00:12:28.400 --> 00:12:31.280 Laughing, head thrown back laughter. What else? 00:12:31.280 --> 00:12:43.600 Jumping for joy. What else? Music. Music is such an essential part of celebration. What else? 00:12:45.040 --> 00:12:53.680 Dancing, sharing, shouting, hugging, liking each other. I mean, go for a birthday party, 00:12:53.680 --> 00:12:59.200 people who don't like each other hug. What else? 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:11.920 Togetherness. What else? Stories. Yeah, man. People begin to, am I too loud? Can you turn me? No, 00:13:11.920 --> 00:13:19.040 I'm okay. Then it's fine. Guys, stories, telling stories, telling people about, I mean, what does 00:13:19.040 --> 00:13:25.920 business class in Austria have anything to do with anything? Stories. What else? 00:13:27.520 --> 00:13:34.480 Guys, do you see the long list? This is what a community that celebrates in the knowledge 00:13:35.040 --> 00:13:40.560 that there's a new king and a kingdom in town. This is how a community looks. 00:13:42.640 --> 00:13:45.680 And when a community is like this, it becomes very attractive to people. 00:13:45.760 --> 00:13:51.840 Yearn for this. Say, desire this. Desire this in your time with your spouse. Desire this in your 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:58.800 time with your spouse and children and grandchildren. And cats and dogs and the works, man. Desire this 00:13:58.800 --> 00:14:05.040 because this is the nature of God. You know, heaven is going to be such a time of, 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:11.360 it's going to be really good guys. Everything that we said, there'll be so much noise. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:15.840 There'll be so much laughter. There'll be so much singing and it's not worship songs. 00:14:18.160 --> 00:14:24.000 Yesterday at Diana's mom's memorial, there was this girl who sang a song called Dream a Little. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.000 God will say, can you sing that for me? 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:36.480 I can only imagine. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:44.480 I can only imagine. Come on guys, this is where, this is what life must look like. And it doesn't 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:49.360 matter what your circumstances are. When you focus your eye on this, when you focus your thinking on 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:55.600 this, I live under the good of a coming king. I live under the good of Yahweh the King. He is 00:14:55.600 --> 00:15:01.360 present. This is how I live. This is how I live. It doesn't matter that my circumstances here are 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:07.280 it doesn't matter that my circumstances here are really sucky, but up there, it's not sucky at all. 00:15:10.800 --> 00:15:12.080 And then it percolates down. 00:15:17.120 --> 00:15:20.960 The phrase that I'm trying to remember was something like you occupy what you think. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:30.720 You occupy, no, you occupy this, how you think becomes, you inhabit what you think. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:38.160 You inhabit what you think. That's why some of us live in fear, some of us live in great sorrow, 00:15:38.160 --> 00:15:43.600 some of us live in the fear of things going to happen. You inhabit what you think. So when you 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:52.160 inhabit this, it becomes natural for it to percolate into your environment, man. You inhabit what you think. 00:15:52.800 --> 00:16:00.560 Before any kind of mission work that anybody does or a church does, the church first is and must be 00:16:00.560 --> 00:16:07.520 a celebrating people. Any mission that comes out of anywhere else is bound to drop like a stone at 00:16:07.520 --> 00:16:14.400 some point. Any mission that the church engages in, if you go out on a mission trip, make sure 00:16:14.400 --> 00:16:19.200 that the one thing you get right is that you're not going to get a bad thing. You're not going to get 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:22.400 a bad thing. If you go out on a mission trip, make sure that the one thing you get right 00:16:23.760 --> 00:16:28.400 is a joyful heart and a joyful melody, man. 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:42.720 Absolutely. Giving is such a part of celebrating. 00:16:43.040 --> 00:16:50.240 So before any kind of mission or service to the world, the church is and must become a celebrating 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:57.120 community. In Isaiah 12 verse 2 to 4, it says, and we shall scoop out of wells of salvation, water. 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:03.440 Spring up all wells. Splish splash. Not spring up all wells. Here's a teardrop for you. No, no, no, 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:08.960 no. It's wells of salvation. You pull out with joy, it says, from the wells of salvation. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:15.680 Rejoice when somebody comes. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:22.560 True. Rejoice and pull out with joy out of the wells of salvation. Guys, if you get that right, 00:17:22.560 --> 00:17:27.200 it'll be fascinating. And I'm hoping we can do that this week. Go ahead. 00:17:30.560 --> 00:17:36.400 That sounds terrible. Yeah, practical ways of... Okay, so 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:42.320 before I start my day, before I go on a trip, while I'm flying, the only thing I did as a father, 00:17:42.320 --> 00:17:46.880 I really want to enjoy this, enjoy you during this trip. If I enjoy you, everything else is 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:53.360 going to work out. So let me engage you in conversation. Let me engage you in scriptures. 00:17:53.360 --> 00:17:58.160 Let me engage you in what you want to talk about. Let me engage you in the fact that, boy, father, 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:02.960 how did you get me these perks? Father, I really want to enjoy you because if I enjoy you, 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:13.520 I'm confident of you. Guys, if you are embedded in the joy of his majesty, I'll explain that, 00:18:13.520 --> 00:18:16.800 then your perspective changes. Let me explain this. When a child 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:24.800 has his head thrown back in peels of laughter in the arms of his mom or dad, it is the safest, 00:18:24.800 --> 00:18:32.880 best place a child can ever have. Because the child is so confident of the place that he's located in. 00:18:33.040 --> 00:18:39.680 What is he located in? In frail arms. But what is happening? Mom and child are just joyfully 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:46.560 laughing. Joy changes your perspective on everything of God. In the morning, if you get up 00:18:47.280 --> 00:18:54.080 and decide that, father, my job is really miserable, my boss is miserable, I haven't earned any money, 00:18:54.080 --> 00:19:02.240 my back aches and my cat is behaving like a cat. And when all these things are happening, 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:08.480 if you have the ability now to say, oh God, but here's what I'm going to do. In your presence is 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:15.040 fullness of joy. And I'm going to come and find it there. I'm going to begin to celebrate. 00:19:17.120 --> 00:19:23.040 I'm going to locate myself in your delight. Locating yourself in his delight is when joy begins to. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:32.160 Rise and it becomes your strength. Guys, this is a practice. It is a practice. What we do is prayer. 00:19:33.280 --> 00:19:37.040 God is saying, come on, engage in my delight instead of engaging in prayer. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:42.480 You come every morning, Jacob, and pray for a hundred things that you want sorted out. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:47.200 I'm all sorted out. Engage in me and see how things begin to fall into place. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:52.080 Children look for that. They only want their parents delight when they find it. 00:19:52.080 --> 00:19:54.560 They are fixed. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:05.520 Ministry happens out of this place of joy. Jesus would always come out of that place. 00:20:05.520 --> 00:20:09.760 That's why he would be moved not with bitterness, not with anger, but with compassion. 00:20:12.320 --> 00:20:19.920 When they came, returned after casting out demons, he said, oh, don't go there. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:26.880 The point is this, guys, if you are not and I am not able to wake up tomorrow and the day after 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:30.320 that and the day after that for the rest of this week and begin with this whole idea of I'm going 00:20:30.320 --> 00:20:36.240 to engage your delight to God, then it's going to be very hard for the rest of the day because you'll 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:48.480 have to pray a lot. You'll have to pray a lot. Hey, some of you are married. Don't you love it 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:55.040 when you crack a joke and your spouse really laughs at it? I mean, Kamal hasn't experienced 00:20:55.040 --> 00:20:59.520 that because most of his jokes are really bad. But one of these days it's going to happen to you, Kamal. 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:09.360 Even Kamal's future daughter-in-law, I was sitting with her some days ago and she said, 00:21:09.360 --> 00:21:16.080 oh, that sounded like a Kamal joke. And I'm thinking to myself, gosh, she isn't in the family yet and 00:21:16.080 --> 00:21:24.320 she already knows some traits. But the point is this, sometimes you crack a joke and your spouse 00:21:24.320 --> 00:21:31.760 laughs and it brings you so much down. Or you bring a gift and you didn't know what to get it 00:21:31.760 --> 00:21:39.120 and you finally got it right and she is so delighted. This is how God is, guys. Find those 00:21:39.120 --> 00:21:45.760 things. Life is really very simple with God. It keeps coming back to these simple things of 00:21:45.760 --> 00:21:49.920 delighting in a much loved child. I know we've repeated it a hundred times, but it's amazing how 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:58.560 we still don't get it. So the practical part of it is tomorrow morning or when you go giving out 00:21:58.560 --> 00:22:04.240 tracks or when you're doing a salvation call or when you're healing somebody, first and foremost, 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:11.520 identify this very thing that, oh God, I'll do this out of a sheer sense of joy, not duty, 00:22:11.840 --> 00:22:20.080 not work, but out of just sheer delight. You know, all those healings that happen in Mongolia, 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:26.400 they would become a struggle only when I would forget that God is powerful and compassionate. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:30.240 Whenever I knew he was powerful and compassionate, I knew I didn't have to do any work 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:35.520 and I'd just be joyful. When I would forget that, I'd have to start praying. How sad, 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:38.720 how sad. Most of our prayer is struggle. 00:22:47.040 --> 00:22:54.480 Do pray. Engage him and his personality. God has a personality. Engage his personality. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:23:06.720 This week, pray less, but engage him and who he is. Do it like you would do with a friend. 00:23:11.760 --> 00:23:14.640 I wish I could define this better, but I might come back to it. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:23.200 Guys, in the New Testament, if you look at fellowship, you'll see in Acts chapter 2, 46 and 47, 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.400 the church was always like that. They broke bread in their homes and ate together. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:31.360 They broke bread in their homes and ate together. How did they eat? With glad and sincere hearts, 00:23:31.360 --> 00:23:37.760 praising God, enjoying the favor of all the people. May you do this more. I pray God that 00:23:37.760 --> 00:23:42.160 this week and next week, you will break bread with a few people that come to your house. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:46.560 You will break bread in restaurants. We used to do this a while ago. We've kind of lost out on it. 00:23:46.560 --> 00:23:51.680 Break bread and do it with laughter and with joy. Do it with laughter and with joy. 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:59.680 The two things that the breaking of bread was supposed to hold dear, laughter, joy, 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:05.120 praising, glad, sincere hearts. The church has crushed and made it a solemn funeral. 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:17.040 May you break bread this week with your spouse, with your children around the table. Let Psalm 127 00:24:17.040 --> 00:24:21.760 come alive in your life, or 128, where it says, and you will sit down with your wife who is fruitful 00:24:21.760 --> 00:24:26.640 and with your children around the table and you will eat and as you do that, break bread and enjoy 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:38.080 it. Talk about God. We said that celebration includes stories. Talk about God. Celebrating 00:24:38.080 --> 00:24:43.840 community. In a celebrating community, it's very hard to have long feud, long lasting feuds. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:50.800 You'll have to settle issues. You'll have to debit offense and credit friendship. You'll have 00:24:50.800 --> 00:24:55.520 to reconcile because a community that celebrates cannot afford to have long-standing feuds. 00:24:55.520 --> 00:24:59.920 Feuds need to be settled and it takes time to settle it. Don't put a band-aid on it. 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:06.720 It needs cleaning. It'll take time. But I was telling the Lord today, Father, if I have any 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:11.440 feuds that are outstanding, show it to me because I've got to settle them. This community cannot 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:17.040 afford a feud. I'm not talking about us as a church. I'm talking about Christian community as a whole 00:25:17.360 --> 00:25:21.360 and in this church for sure, if there's anything outstanding, if there's an offense that has lasted 00:25:21.360 --> 00:25:30.000 too long, debit it and credit friendship, man. Got to do that. Got to do that 00:25:33.360 --> 00:25:38.880 because we're supposed to be a model, right? This is what a people amongst whom God dwells looks like. 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:40.880 That's the intent. 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:46.880 So Jacob, what about the fact that we are in these bodies and we are groaning? What about conflicts on the outside and fears inside? 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:56.880 What about the struggles with sin? What about crushed but not pressed on every side but not crushed? Perplexed but not in despair? 00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:02.880 Persecuted but not forsaken? Struck down but not destroyed? What about stuff like that? All that is true. 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:08.880 But God is not saying, hey, you're not going to be a Christian. You're not going to be a Christian. 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:14.880 But God is not saying, hey, your grief is not real or hey, your problems in your marriage is not real or hey, your struggles are not real. 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:20.880 But he's saying in the midst of that, there's something else that you can look for. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:30.880 In the midst of that, you can begin to experience alongside the hurt you're feeling a deep hope-filled joy. 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:38.880 If your joy does not have hope, it's just happiness with few interruptions of laughter. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:48.880 If your joy does not have hope, all it is is happiness with few interruptions of laughter. That's all it is. 00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:56.880 The joy that the kingdom brings is a joy that is filled with hope. That's the beauty of this thing called joy. It's filled with hope. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:02.880 One of the ways you can question whether you have joy is, is it filled with hope? 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:12.880 And if it is not filled with hope, it is not kingdom joy. It's some kind of man-generated joy. 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:18.880 Joy must be full of hope. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:28.880 And joy has three things that you've got to watch out for and look for. Source, context, expression. 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:34.880 These three things are important when you think of joy. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:44.880 Source, context, expression. All three are important. 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:52.880 The source. This goes back to the question of, okay, so what does it look like practically? How do we get this joy? 00:27:52.880 --> 00:28:00.880 Guys, the source of joy in his presence is fullness of joy. In his presence is fullness of joy. 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:04.880 Are you going through a really bad time right now? Are you going through a really bad struggle? 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:10.880 Are you going through a frightening time in terms of facing the future? Are you scared of something? 00:28:10.880 --> 00:28:16.880 Are you feeling hopeless? Have you waited for way too long and nothing has changed? Are your circumstances the same? 00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:24.880 Are the sickness symptoms exactly as they were before or are they getting worse? Does life look dismal? 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:34.880 Then you must find this thing that we are talking about because it, and you can only find it in his presence. 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:44.880 How do we access presence? Very simple. Time. 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:54.880 If I want to spend, if Mark, or if I want to seek Mark's presence, I must spend time. 00:28:54.880 --> 00:29:04.880 Implicit in the word presence is the need to spend time. 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:12.880 Not towards an end. The end is the presence. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:20.880 I'm not spending time with Mark so I can get something. I'm spending time with Mark because Mark is the end game. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:30.880 Because in his presence is fullness of joy. And if I spend time with him, I leave, 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:42.880 and I don't understand the mechanics of it, but I leave with oodles of hope-filled, light-emitting joy. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:50.880 The Bible says so. I mean if you read Psalm 16, 11, it talks about it. Psalm 43, verse 4 talks about it. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:58.880 Psalm 45, verse 7 talks about it. In Jeremiah 15, 16, it says, 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:08.880 Even when I eat your word, it brings me joy. When I eat your word, it brings me joy. 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:16.880 Before I left for this Vienna trip, something happened where I got something wrong. 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:24.880 And I went and told someone about it and they said, I think you're completely off balance and it's not right. 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:29.880 And I thought maybe I was completely wrong. And so I'm sitting in the flight that's just left and I'm saying, 00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:33.880 Father, not exactly the way I wanted to start a trip. I'm feeling really bad. 00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:39.880 Because if this is how I hear and if I could get it wrong, it'll be disastrous in Vienna. 00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:47.880 So instead of watching a movie or looking outside the window, found Proverbs 25, verse 9. 00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:53.880 Proverbs 25, verse 9 says, If you walk humbly, I'll teach you my ways and I'll show you my path. 00:30:53.880 --> 00:30:58.880 So I said, Father, I just want to come and humble myself because I want to get things right. 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:04.880 So if I spend enough time with you right now and get this out of the way, I'm sure I can do well. 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:12.880 Took about half an hour, one hour, worked it out. The worse off you are, the more you need this time. 00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:19.880 The worse off you are, the more you need this time. You don't need it for healing. 00:31:19.880 --> 00:31:24.880 You don't need it for provision. You need it so that you can get here. 00:31:25.880 --> 00:31:28.880 Once you're here, provision and healing come. 00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:32.880 Problem with prayer is, prayer targets healing and provision. 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:38.880 Thing with spending time is, you target God. The healing and provision follow. 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:46.880 It goes back to the primary verse that the kingdom is based on. Seek first and all other things. 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:50.880 The all other things includes healing and provision and everything else. 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:53.880 But seek first whom? Seek first him. 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:58.880 And you come under this cloud and then healing and provision flow. 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:01.880 You don't have to go seeking it. 00:32:01.880 --> 00:32:06.880 The amount of time we spend praying for stuff that hasn't happened. 00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:11.880 When you can go to the one who has all the stuff. 00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:27.880 I don't know what it is. Ever since I started out, about a couple months ago, I've just not been myself. 00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:31.880 Especially this last week, it's just been really bad. 00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:38.880 I was saying to God, are you my healer? And I was corrected. 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:45.880 And I thought, the question is, who is my healer? And it's this God that is my healer. 00:32:45.880 --> 00:32:49.880 And he knows that everything is in him. 00:32:49.880 --> 00:32:53.880 And all the things we will do, he knows. 00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:58.880 And he's got a provision for it, regardless of whether you're at fault or someone else is at fault. 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:01.880 So, source, God is the source. 00:33:01.880 --> 00:33:05.880 Context. Guys, there are three contexts if you want to maintain joy. 00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:07.880 First, obedience. 00:33:09.880 --> 00:33:12.880 Because it says, I'll finish by four, don't worry. 00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:17.880 Obedience. John 15, verse 9 to 11. Jesus put it this way. 00:33:17.880 --> 00:33:22.880 Hey, Jeevan, if my words abide in you and you abide in me. 00:33:23.880 --> 00:33:29.880 He says, I'm telling you this ahead of time so that my joy might be yours and your joy is complete. 00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:31.880 Obedience brings joy. 00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:35.880 In Hebrews 1, 9, here's what it says. 00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:42.880 Because you've hated wickedness and loved righteousness, I have anointed you with the oil of gladness much greater than your companions. 00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:50.880 You'll find that as you begin to walk in obedience, joy is a natural outcome of it. 00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:53.880 Walk in obedience and it's very hard not to be joyful. 00:33:53.880 --> 00:33:58.880 You don't know how pleased children are when they do something that you tell them to do. 00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:01.880 And they do it. And they look at you like they need a medal. 00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:04.880 Why? Because there's this sheer joy. 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:09.880 They have this sheer joy at having obeyed daddy and done what daddy asked. 00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:14.880 So obedience is one of the contexts. 00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:21.880 The second one is, joy must be shared. Joy must be shared. 00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:32.880 There are some Christians who are very joyful, but it's only when they are with themselves, not with others. 00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:36.880 The joy that isn't shared dies young. 00:34:36.880 --> 00:34:39.880 That's not my quote, it's somebody else who I don't know. 00:34:39.880 --> 00:34:43.880 The joy that is not shared dies young. 00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:51.880 Jesus was a man of sorrows, but he was very joyful to be around. 00:34:52.880 --> 00:34:57.880 Don't mistake him being called a man of sorrows as being a really sour guy. 00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:02.880 Prostitutes and fishermen and tax collectors don't hang around sour people. 00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:04.880 They are sour to begin with. 00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:17.880 If you're a joyful person and your joyfulness is limited to worship and to times of church or times of intense communication with God, 00:35:17.880 --> 00:35:22.880 then there are monasteries in Europe that you can go and become part of. 00:35:25.880 --> 00:35:30.880 But if you're a joyful person as a Christian who belongs to the joyful community of Christ, 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:35.880 then it must be shared, otherwise Proverbs 18.1 goes into action. 00:35:35.880 --> 00:35:37.880 What does Proverbs 18.1 says? 00:35:37.880 --> 00:35:44.880 It says, a man who isolates himself is just after fulfilling his own desire and he goes against wise counsel. 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.880 There is no isolation in the body of Christ. 00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:52.880 That's another question we need to ask ourselves. 00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:57.880 Am I so intense and so joyful when I'm one-on-one with God, but nobody else gets to share in it? 00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:00.880 In this, I admire Kamal. 00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:06.880 Doesn't matter how bad the joke is, he will make sure that he spreads it all over the place. 00:36:17.880 --> 00:36:19.880 Praying to Jesus and seeking his presence. 00:36:21.880 --> 00:36:23.880 I would put it this way. 00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:29.880 When your children were small, when Armin was small, did he talk or did he always request? 00:36:31.880 --> 00:36:32.880 Talk. 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:39.880 When it comes to Christianity, most of us make requests to him as God who needs to do us a favor 00:36:39.880 --> 00:36:48.880 and we rarely have the joyful, unashamed, bold, shameless confidence of sitting with daddy and talking to him. 00:36:49.880 --> 00:36:57.880 I mean, I got an upgrade on my way back from London this time and on my phone you'll see me starting off my writing to him 00:36:57.880 --> 00:37:00.880 and my first comments are, hey daddy-o. 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:05.880 And then I thought, I better not show this to someone because they'll think I'm being highly irreverent. 00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:10.880 But I was so joyful at the spark that I got that I couldn't but say, hey daddy-o. 00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:13.880 I'm not saying you should say it. 00:37:13.880 --> 00:37:15.880 I'm not even saying that's the right thing to say. 00:37:15.880 --> 00:37:17.880 I'm just saying it came out of me. 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:25.880 Prayer somehow has this notion of request and supplication and there is a time for this 00:37:25.880 --> 00:37:28.880 but most of the time is spent in delight. 00:37:31.880 --> 00:37:36.880 Righteousness is what? Right relationship. With whom? With God. Who is what? A father. 00:37:36.880 --> 00:37:39.880 Let me say that again. What is righteousness? 00:37:39.880 --> 00:37:44.880 Righteousness is right relationship. With whom? With God. Who is what? A father. 00:37:44.880 --> 00:37:47.880 Before he was anything else, God is father. 00:37:47.880 --> 00:37:50.880 Before he was creator, he is father. 00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:56.880 Adam was who? The son of God. 00:37:56.880 --> 00:37:59.880 Oh, we shouldn't forget that. 00:37:59.880 --> 00:38:05.880 And if you are father, then the only thing fatherhood is based on is relationship. 00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:12.880 And the thing that sonship is based on is relationship and obedience. 00:38:14.880 --> 00:38:21.880 Third context is faith. The third part of context is faith. 00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:26.880 Guys, it's odd, eh? 00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:33.880 One place that says come for my praise is frolicing. I don't know what it is in English. 00:38:33.880 --> 00:38:37.880 Frolicing is an English and German word. I think it says it exactly. 00:38:37.880 --> 00:38:42.880 It's a right word. Frolicing. It's a beautiful word. Come before me, frolicing. 00:38:42.880 --> 00:38:46.880 That's awesome, eh? Come before me, frolicing. 00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:54.880 Faith is essential to produce joy and joy is always evidenced in acts of faith. 00:38:54.880 --> 00:38:57.880 Faith is essential to produce joy. 00:38:57.880 --> 00:38:59.880 Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 17. 00:38:59.880 --> 00:39:03.880 Though the fig trees haven't blossomed, though there be no cattle in the stall, 00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:08.880 though the olive tree has shed its fruit, and though there be no grain in my barns, 00:39:08.880 --> 00:39:12.880 yet here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to do cartwheels of joy. 00:39:12.880 --> 00:39:15.880 Why? Because God's going to come through. 00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:23.880 So faith is essential to produce joy. Essential to produce joy. 00:39:23.880 --> 00:39:29.880 And finally there's expression. Joy that is not expressed is stillborn. 00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:32.880 Joy that is not expressed is stillborn. 00:39:32.880 --> 00:39:34.880 How is joy expressed? You guys said it. 00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:38.880 Clap, shout, dance, laugh, tell stories. 00:39:38.880 --> 00:39:43.880 This is the nature of the kingdom community here on earth. 00:39:43.880 --> 00:39:48.880 How end the community is not like that. My God, it stinks. 00:39:48.880 --> 00:39:51.880 Maybe become increasingly like that. 00:39:52.880 --> 00:39:54.880 So, let me conclude. 00:39:55.880 --> 00:39:56.880 Want joy? 00:39:56.880 --> 00:40:01.880 There's that got milk ad. If you want joy, ask yourself the question, 00:40:01.880 --> 00:40:04.880 Do I got the spirit? 00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:09.880 Because if you got the spirit, joy is just waiting at the door. 00:40:12.880 --> 00:40:16.880 Joy and the spirit go hand in hand. Joy and the Holy Spirit go hand in hand. 00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:22.880 Joy and the Holy Spirit go hand in hand. Joy and the Holy Spirit go hand in hand. 00:40:23.880 --> 00:40:26.880 Joy and the Holy Spirit go hand in hand. 00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:29.880 Joy is really a heavenly attitude. 00:40:29.880 --> 00:40:34.880 Joy and the Holy Spirit go hand in hand. 00:40:35.880 --> 00:40:36.880 Want joy? 00:40:38.880 --> 00:40:41.880 Jump into the wind of the spirit. 00:40:42.880 --> 00:40:46.880 Hey, let me give you an example. 00:40:46.880 --> 00:40:49.880 When we started the service, 00:40:50.880 --> 00:40:53.880 the computer that we had would not work. 00:40:53.880 --> 00:40:56.880 The other computer that we had was not here. 00:40:56.880 --> 00:41:01.880 Certain things that needed to be in place weren't in place. 00:41:02.880 --> 00:41:06.880 Had no idea when those things would work out. 00:41:06.880 --> 00:41:09.880 There was no timeline. 00:41:09.880 --> 00:41:12.880 Marcus was having a little bit of trouble with the drums. 00:41:12.880 --> 00:41:16.880 Sound was up and down, going off and on. 00:41:16.880 --> 00:41:19.880 What do you do? 00:41:22.880 --> 00:41:25.880 Find the wind of the Holy Spirit. 00:41:25.880 --> 00:41:31.880 Jump into the wind and he'll restore everything that you need. 00:41:31.880 --> 00:41:38.880 Instead of you going down the route of irritation, bitterness, upset, who's at fault? 00:41:38.880 --> 00:41:40.880 Who do I blame? 00:41:42.880 --> 00:41:44.880 This happens every day. 00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:49.880 You go home today and your spouse is not very happy, find the wind of the Holy Spirit. 00:41:49.880 --> 00:41:55.880 You go home today and your children just broke your favorite hockey stick, 00:41:55.880 --> 00:41:58.880 jump into the wind of the Holy Spirit. 00:41:58.880 --> 00:42:03.880 You go home today and you find out that you forgot to turn off the oven 00:42:03.880 --> 00:42:08.880 and your dinner is cooked, jump into the wind of the Holy Spirit. 00:42:08.880 --> 00:42:13.880 You go home today and you find out that the ticket you booked is for a month later than you want to travel, 00:42:13.880 --> 00:42:16.880 jump into the wind of the Holy Spirit. 00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:19.880 You're playing the guitar and you break two strings. 00:42:19.880 --> 00:42:22.880 Give it to Mike. 00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:30.880 Some things Mike can fix, most of the other things the Holy Spirit will do. 00:42:30.880 --> 00:42:33.880 The point is this. 00:42:33.880 --> 00:42:35.880 Jump into the wind of the Holy Spirit. 00:42:35.880 --> 00:42:37.880 Guys, look for him because he's just waiting. 00:42:37.880 --> 00:42:40.880 Unfortunately, he's a gentleman. 00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:45.880 And so he doesn't barge his way and say, give it to me, I'll take care of it. 00:42:45.880 --> 00:42:46.880 Give me Tate. 00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:48.880 No, he doesn't do that. 00:42:48.880 --> 00:42:51.880 Oops, sorry Tate, I shouldn't have done that. 00:42:51.880 --> 00:42:54.880 These are mistakes we make, but let's move on. 00:42:54.880 --> 00:42:56.880 Tate, I apologize. 00:42:56.880 --> 00:42:58.880 So you can't do that. 00:42:58.880 --> 00:43:01.880 You can't do this and you can't do that either. 00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:04.880 Let the Holy Spirit take you away. 00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:09.880 Let the Holy Spirit always has a solution, always has a solution. 00:43:11.880 --> 00:43:13.880 Jump into it. 00:43:13.880 --> 00:43:15.880 Jump into it. 00:43:16.880 --> 00:43:21.880 So, the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, 00:43:21.880 --> 00:43:25.880 but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 00:43:25.880 --> 00:43:29.880 So this week, can you, as you come here on Thursday, 00:43:29.880 --> 00:43:33.880 can you prepare yourself that, oh God, when we come on Thursday, 00:43:33.880 --> 00:43:38.880 one of the things God wants to do on Thursday is to immerse you in the Holy Spirit and enjoy. 00:43:38.880 --> 00:43:41.880 That's one of the things that will happen here on Thursday. 00:43:41.880 --> 00:43:43.880 How does it happen? I have no idea. 00:43:43.880 --> 00:43:51.880 But one of the things the Holy Spirit wants to do on Thursday is he wants to immerse you in joy and in the Holy Spirit. 00:43:51.880 --> 00:43:55.880 Immerse you in joy and in the Holy Spirit. 00:43:55.880 --> 00:44:01.880 Another word for immerse, which will frighten all of us, is baptize you in joy and in the Holy Spirit. 00:44:01.880 --> 00:44:09.880 So I took out the word baptize and I put the word immerse, because that sounds so friendly and so non-denominational. 00:44:09.880 --> 00:44:12.880 So he wants to immerse you in joy and the Holy Spirit. 00:44:12.880 --> 00:44:14.880 So come on Thursday ready for this. 00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:16.880 Come on Thursday ready for this. 00:44:18.880 --> 00:44:20.880 Was that joy? 00:44:22.880 --> 00:44:24.880 That's what's going to happen here on Thursday. 00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:26.880 But come ready. 00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:28.880 Come ready. 00:44:29.880 --> 00:44:33.880 Let me read this line out that I wrote just before I left. 00:44:39.880 --> 00:44:41.880 I still have two minutes left. 00:44:43.880 --> 00:44:48.880 You know guys, when I'm not here on Sunday, I want to desperately make up for it. 00:44:48.880 --> 00:44:51.880 I know you were here on Sunday and so you went through it already. 00:44:51.880 --> 00:44:56.880 But for me it's like, if I was not here on Sunday I'm going to take twice as much time. 00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:00.880 But don't worry I won't, because I miss being here on Sundays. 00:45:03.880 --> 00:45:05.880 Shush, silence in the peanut gallery. 00:45:11.880 --> 00:45:15.880 I mean, if you were sitting in one of these front rows we could allow you to speak, but those back rows? 00:45:17.880 --> 00:45:21.880 Joy allows you to perceive from within His Majesty. 00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:25.880 Confidence and faith are then attracted to you. 00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:29.880 Joy allows you to perceive from within His Majesty. 00:45:29.880 --> 00:45:33.880 Guys, I'm really concluding. 00:45:33.880 --> 00:45:38.880 God is a highly joyful God. 00:45:38.880 --> 00:45:48.880 Please remember, grief, sadness, sorrow, pain, shame was never supposed to be part of this life. 00:45:48.880 --> 00:45:54.880 God has had to deal with it, not because of who He is, but because of who we became. 00:45:56.880 --> 00:46:00.880 In His nature, God is a highly joyful God. 00:46:01.880 --> 00:46:09.880 Which then means that the Holy Spirit is ridiculously ecstatic and joyful Spirit. 00:46:09.880 --> 00:46:15.880 He is so full of glee and laughter in His presence. 00:46:15.880 --> 00:46:19.880 He is so full of glee and laughter and joy. 00:46:23.880 --> 00:46:29.880 We were the ones who brought in words like grief, sadness, shame, sorrow. 00:46:29.880 --> 00:46:32.880 These words were never supposed to enter the dictionary. 00:46:32.880 --> 00:46:42.880 And He promised when He enters, He will meet a mouth full of laughter. 00:46:42.880 --> 00:46:50.880 And so guys, given that God is joyful, His people must be joyful. 00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:54.880 Given that God is bringing back a future kingdom which will be joyful. 00:46:54.880 --> 00:46:57.880 Remember what He says to the servant in Matthew 25. 00:46:57.880 --> 00:47:01.880 He says, enter into what? The wealth of your master? No. 00:47:01.880 --> 00:47:03.880 The mansions of your master? No. 00:47:03.880 --> 00:47:05.880 The service of your master? No. Enter into the? 00:47:07.880 --> 00:47:09.880 Crazy! 00:47:10.880 --> 00:47:14.880 Two things God is. One, joyful. Two, He is a servant. 00:47:16.880 --> 00:47:18.880 We won't touch that today. 00:47:18.880 --> 00:47:22.880 He is joyful. The ultimate reward is joy. 00:47:23.880 --> 00:47:25.880 What did He say every day after the earth was created? 00:47:25.880 --> 00:47:29.880 It was good. He was happy. He was joyful. 00:47:32.880 --> 00:47:36.880 So on Thursday when we come, come with this desire, Oh God, 00:47:36.880 --> 00:47:40.880 there is one character that you are so thriving that you are made up of. 00:47:40.880 --> 00:47:44.880 That you said the kingdom is made up of righteousness, peace and joy. 00:47:44.880 --> 00:47:46.880 In whom? In the Holy Ghost. 00:47:46.880 --> 00:47:48.880 The Holy Ghost is packed. 00:47:48.880 --> 00:47:50.880 The Holy Spirit is packed with joy. 00:47:50.880 --> 00:47:54.880 Guys, we haven't even tasted what it feels like. 00:47:54.880 --> 00:47:59.880 Oh, when life begins to operate out of this place of joy, 00:47:59.880 --> 00:48:03.880 there are circumstances that are pressing, things that are crushing, 00:48:03.880 --> 00:48:05.880 persecution, conflicts outside and fears within. 00:48:05.880 --> 00:48:08.880 As Paul himself writes in 2 Corinthians 4, 5 and 6, 00:48:08.880 --> 00:48:12.880 in the midst of that, Paul says, but rejoice. 00:48:14.880 --> 00:48:21.880 Come with this desire, Oh God, immerse me in this fine quality that you have always had. 00:48:21.880 --> 00:48:24.880 Enter, I mean, what are the words God uses? 00:48:24.880 --> 00:48:27.880 Everlasting joy. 00:48:29.880 --> 00:48:31.880 Inexpressible joy. 00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:34.880 I don't want to live any other way. 00:48:34.880 --> 00:48:37.880 You know what will happen when you begin to live like this? 00:48:37.880 --> 00:48:40.880 Can you imagine what will happen to the circumstances around you? 00:48:42.880 --> 00:48:47.880 Nothing can stand against the joy of the Spirit of God. 00:48:47.880 --> 00:48:48.880 Nothing. 00:48:48.880 --> 00:48:51.880 So come ready to be immersed in joy and the Holy Spirit. 00:48:51.880 --> 00:48:53.880 How is it going to happen? 00:48:53.880 --> 00:48:55.880 Thank God we got four days to figure that out. 00:48:56.880 --> 00:48:58.880 Because I got no idea. 00:49:00.880 --> 00:49:03.880 I went to one church and the way they make it happen is... 00:49:04.880 --> 00:49:07.880 I'm done. You can switch it off because this is... 00:49:07.880 --> 00:49:10.880 They make it happen as a preacher will say.