WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:12.480 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:18.000 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProkway.org. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:24.079 You always have and you always will. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:26.480 You said I'll not leave you as orphans. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:28.960 An advent is a time when we commemorate. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:35.600 Remember that there was a time of sadness, silence, and darkness was over the land. 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:40.000 And then those who dwelt in deep darkness, a light shone on them. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:44.240 God kept his promise because you always do. 00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:51.119 And we slow down and we go down during Advent and we think deeply about our lives and how they're lived. 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:52.560 Not self-hatred. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:55.039 We're not looking for new levels of self-hatred. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:00.960 We're looking for new levels of understanding that inform the way we live in this culture and in this time. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:04.079 Thank you, God, for the Bible that it's the truth that sets us free. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:06.000 It's not come today to jam us up. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:08.000 It's come to liberate us. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:15.280 It's come to restore your creative purpose that you said to Adam and Eve when you said, You are free to eat of any tree in the garden. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:17.760 But of this one tree, don't eat. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:21.280 Thank you, Jesus, that you came to give us back that freedom. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:22.640 I pray we'd live in that. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.920 We'd frolic wildly in the midst of that. 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:32.400 Thank you for children that remind us that we've sinned and grown old and made life about things it never should be about. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:37.599 And so, Lord, let us just be recapture the wonder and the joy today. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:41.439 Infuse us, remind us that this is in there, God. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:43.840 For all those who know Jesus, it's in there. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:48.799 Buried underneath fear and determination and guilt and manipulation. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.239 There's this vibrant joy that's longing to get out. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:54.560 So, Holy Spirit, lead us into this today. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:55.760 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:57.920 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:58.079 --> 00:01:58.319 Amen. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:01:59.599 You can have a seat if you have a Bible. 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:02.239 I invite you to take it and open up to Hebrews chapter 12. 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:04.000 And if you don't have a Bible, relax. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:13.120 Everything I say will come up on the screen if you're our guest today, or if you're visiting for this is your third or fourth or fifth time, whatever, and you've never been a part of a service called Advent. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:15.919 Advent is the four Sundays that lead up to Christmas. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:20.400 Let me just say this because I talked to the guy last week and he goes, I what's that table down there? 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:22.879 I said, actually, a guy in our church built this for me. 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:27.919 Just because you don't understand what's going on doesn't mean that you're dumb because he said, I don't know if I understand that. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.080 I said, dude, uh, it's okay. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:33.919 Advent is the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, and each Sunday has a theme. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.000 We started off a couple weeks ago, hope. 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:37.360 Last Sunday was peace. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:40.960 This Sunday is joy, uh, and next Sunday will be love. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:43.439 And so today I want to talk to you about the power of love. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:50.719 Each Sunday is intentional, it's intended to kind of slow us down and make us think about uh our life and how it's lived. 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:54.719 Now, when I say I want to talk about the power of joy, let me also say this. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:59.039 This is not a self-help pop psychology motivational talk. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:01.039 That's not the kind of joy that I'm talking about. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:05.919 Here's the distinction: Joy, when I talk about joy from the Bible, it's an understanding. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:08.479 It's not an emotion or a feeling. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:09.680 Let me say that again. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.039 Joy, as I talk about from the Bible, it's an understanding. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:17.199 It's not a motivation or a feeling or a desire, even. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:20.800 And so, therefore, I can feel a lot of things that don't feel joyful. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:38.400 Like you can be sitting in this room right now, you can be very sad, you can be very concerned, you can be very tired, you can be very concerned about your marriage, you can be very concerned about your children, you can be sitting here thinking, I've got adult children that are off the reservation, and look at me, you can still be very joyful. 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:42.479 This is what I mean by it's an understanding, not a feeling. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:44.080 And this joy doesn't go away. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:59.199 As a matter of fact, I want to make three uh statements by way of introduction, uh, because the this all these feelings, deep sadness, concern, flatness, whatever, none of that is a rival to or a refusal of the kind of joy that I'm talking about. 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:06.560 And I want to make three statements by way of introduction, kind of as a foundation for us to stand on this morning and just look at two verses in the Bible. 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:09.199 Here's the three introductory statements that I want to give us. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:14.960 Number one is simply this if you believe the gospel, then this joy is already in you. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:17.120 This joy is already in you. 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:21.920 If you believe the gospel, if you're a Christian, you you you're not here trying to acquire something. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.959 I'm trying to arouse what's already in you. 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:29.120 Secondly, that life is designed to help you access this joy. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:37.439 Life is designed to help you and I access this joy because life by nature can be difficult, not all the time, but there'll be difficult periods. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:44.879 Uh and what will happen in a difficult period is that you'll see that all the things that you look to for happiness don't help in those moments. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.279 It's in those moments that you discover your joy. 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:51.439 This is what I mean when I say life is designed to help you access this joy. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:55.600 Thirdly, this joy is what distinguishes Christians from those who don't know God. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:01.040 This is why Jesus, he's getting ready to go to the cross and die in John 17. 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:06.319 He prays to his father and he says, Let my joy be in them and let it be in them to the full. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:10.800 Because he understands this is the thing that's going to distinguish them from everybody else. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:13.040 And so if you're here today and you're like, Really? 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:14.000 You're kidding me, dude? 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.360 At the end of 2020, you have the audacity to talk about joy. 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:20.480 Please do not hit the mute button and just work on your Christmas list. 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:22.720 Uh, scratch off Pastor Neil, he's a moron. 00:05:22.800 --> 00:05:23.680 Go to the next person. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:27.759 Uh, good because this is this is what Jesus prayed for. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:33.839 This is what he prayed would be in us, and this is what the culture longs to see around us, okay? 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.759 I want to read from Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1, the power of joy. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:06:00.560 Therefore, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin that cling so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:02.879 Uh, uh the power of joy. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:11.519 There's five things I want to say from the Bible about joy this morning, this powerful understanding that's that's embedded in each of us that are believers. 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:16.480 The first thing is simply this that joy reminds us that we're not the first people to suffer hardship. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:20.639 Joy reminds us that we're not the first people to suffer hardship. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:21.759 You say, what do you mean? 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:26.399 Therefore, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, just stop right there. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:31.519 Since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, what is he talking about? 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:37.600 Now, when the Bible was originally recorded, the Bible was inspired by God, recorded by men, okay? 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:38.959 Big difference in those two. 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:40.240 Make sure you get that order right. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:43.279 Otherwise, you think, well, the Bible's just a history book, it's just a book. 00:06:43.360 --> 00:06:45.839 Some guys wrote down some rules trying to jam you up. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:46.800 No, they didn't. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.360 God, but God inspired the Bible. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:50.560 It was recorded by men. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:56.079 And so when he says, but but but when it's originally recorded, it wasn't broken into chapters and verses. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:57.920 In other words, we didn't have the numbers. 00:06:58.160 --> 00:06:59.439 And so it was a letter. 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:02.639 The book of Hebrews is a letter that was written to a group of people. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:09.920 And so when he says, therefore, in verse one, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, you should naturally think, what's he talking about? 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:17.040 He's talking about they put the numbers in the chapters in there to break it up so we can kind of get our head around it and know where to find certain things. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:26.879 And so in chapter 12, verse one, when he says, Since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, he's talking about the previous chapter, chapter 11, which is known as the hall of faith. 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:28.639 It's just this list and litany. 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:43.600 Now, I'm not gonna read the whole chapter, but I do want to start reading in verse 32 of Hebrews chapter 11, because I want you to see this, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, in other words, the first thing that joy does is it reminds us we're not the first people to suffer hardship. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:45.439 Because here's why this is a big deal. 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:46.800 I'll just use myself. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:56.959 If I begin to think that my situation is unique, that somehow this is really hard, this is unfair, then I give myself permission that the gospel never does. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:01.839 And so since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, who's he talking about? 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:04.399 I'll start reading verse 32 of chapter 11. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:06.000 And what more shall I say? 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:26.319 For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barack, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:29.120 Women received back their dead by resurrection. 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:34.399 Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:38.639 Others suffered mocking and flogging, even chains and imprisonment. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:56.080 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, uh, they were killed with the sword, they were brought, they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:07.200 And all these, though the though the commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:13.440 So when it says, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, this is what he's talking about. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:15.360 And I didn't even read half the chapter. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:19.279 There's other uh men and women listed in there who accomplish great things. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:21.600 And here's what I want to I want to point to. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:25.759 Notice that the cloud is great, but the witnesses aren't great. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:28.240 What do you mean you say that the cloud is great? 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:32.159 In other words, there's many, there's a lot of them, but they aren't considered great. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:33.759 They're just considered witnesses. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:42.159 These are men and women who lived the Christian life long before we got here, and we're surrounded by these people as a reminder that we're not alone. 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:45.919 And here's what we try to do currently in the West, especially. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:10:00.480 We try to make great people who simply live out the gospel because we want there to be this second level of Christianity, like, oh man, this is for the people that really are Uber into it, like they're in the class all by themselves, and the rest of us are down here just on this level one. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:02.799 And what applies to them doesn't apply to us. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:06.159 And I just want to say, beloved, there is no levels of Christianity. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:08.240 You're either a Christian or you're not. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:12.080 You believe the gospel and you live by the gospel, or you're like, you know what? 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:15.440 I I tried that for a while and that didn't really appeal to me. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:17.840 And so I walked away from that. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:24.159 And I just want to say to all of us that joy is the thing that reminds us that we're not the first people to suffer. 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:27.600 We're not the first people to look around and kind of go, you know what? 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:28.320 Wow. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:33.120 I mean, think about it as I read starting in Hebrews chapter 11, ask yourself this question. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:37.759 This is one of the reasons I know the Bible is inspired by God and recorded by men. 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:42.159 Uh, because if you were writing the Bible, would you not leave parts like this out of it? 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.279 If you wanted people to read the Bible and go, man, that's incredible. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:46.799 I want to believe in this God. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:51.600 Would you talk about people walking around destitute, getting stoned, getting sawn in half? 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:54.480 Every once in a while, my wife will tell me, I'll come in and she'll say, How was your day? 00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:56.720 I didn't get sawn in half today. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:10:59.120 Good day. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:05.279 So if I was writing the Bible, if the Bible was written by men, men would leave this part out. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.000 You wouldn't say, Oh, this is exactly what it's like. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:09.919 Some days it's incredibly difficult. 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:11.200 And yet the Bible does. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:14.159 It's full of this rigorous, textured authenticity. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:14.799 Why? 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:16.080 Two reasons. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:22.159 Uh, number one, it encourages modern-day Christians like you and me to hold fast during times of suffering. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:26.240 Because you look at the Bible and you realize, hey, I'm not the first person to suffer. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:29.840 Secondly, it keeps our own sufferings in perspective. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:32.480 It keeps our own sufferings in perspective. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:37.120 My mom used to say this when I was a kid, and we were suffering, and she would say, Now, boys, look at me. 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:40.080 There's other people in the world who have it harder than we do. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.360 And I remember thinking, I don't know any of those people. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:45.600 I don't know one of those people. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:50.559 But there's not a time that I open the Bible and read it, I don't see somebody, I'm like, oh, yep, there's one. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:55.360 See, second thing about joy, this is why there's a power to joy that we don't find anywhere else. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:59.200 Joy says that we're capable of what we're responsible for. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:00.480 Listen very carefully. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:03.440 I want us uh carefully, I want us to think this a little bit, okay? 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:07.919 Joy says we're capable of what we are responsible for. 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:10.480 Look at the Bible, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:18.799 Therefore, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, there's a lot of these people who've gone before us who have suffered and suffered well, okay? 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:21.600 And so we're capable of this. 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:32.240 And then notice this, he says, Let us also lay aside every weight and sin which cling so closely and run with perseverance or endurance the race that is set before us. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:33.279 Hear it again. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:42.879 Therefore, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also, let us also, therefore, let us also. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:46.159 Joy says we're capable of what we're responsible for. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:49.840 The Bible never uh asks us to do things we're not capable of. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:13:03.039 Therefore, since let us also, what the writer is telling us is that this is what people did to prepare to run with endurance, this race called Christianity that was kind of marked out for them. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:07.440 We don't establish it, we don't mark out the the the the course for ourselves. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.200 It has long been established. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:13.759 And therefore, let us also, and what does he tell us to do? 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:14.559 What's it also? 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:20.000 Let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:22.000 Now that sounds like no big deal. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:27.279 Uh until you think about it, let us also lay aside the weight and the sin. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:32.480 So when the Bible talks about laid aside the weight, or some translation says the burden, that's not sin. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:37.440 That's a good thing that keeps you from the great thing or the best thing. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:41.919 So ask yourself today, if you had to just, do you have anything in your life? 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:44.639 It's not necessarily bad, but it is a burden. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:46.879 It is a weight, it takes up time. 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:50.960 What would your life, what would you be capable of if you just laid aside the weight? 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:54.399 If you just said, you know what, I don't think I need that anymore. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:57.600 I don't think that's as necessary as I act like it is. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:06.480 Like one of the things that I'm just really asking myself, stay with me, especially you men, uh, my friend Drake in North Carolina, don't check, don't, don't, don't turn it off right now. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:08.960 Uh, I have friends that watch in North Carolina. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:11.120 Uh uh, don't turn off the TV. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:13.600 Men, if you're watching at home, don't want, ah, that's it. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:15.279 We're finding another online church. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:16.240 Uh no, not at all. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:16.879 Stay with me. 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:20.720 One of the things I'm really, because I'm starting to think, is this a weight? 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:23.759 Is this a not a bad thing, but it's just not necessary? 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:25.200 Is television. 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:26.559 It's television. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:32.879 Like other day I'm sitting there, and my wife and kid are watching the uh the Christmas baking competition or whatever. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:34.159 And I'm just like, really? 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:36.159 There's a competition where people bake. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:38.399 And I think think shows like that are lame. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:46.399 And I think what I'm supposed to do when I walk through the living room and they're sitting there watching that is, I think I'm supposed to sit on the on the couch and give editorial feedback. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:49.679 But apparently that doesn't make it enjoyable. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:54.080 Uh, because after about 30 seconds, my wife pauses the TV and says, Really? 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:55.360 Are you gonna do this the whole time? 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.519 And I'm I thought this is what made it enjoyable. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:00.080 No, what makes it enjoyable is your silence. 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:05.360 And then I say, because I can't help myself, is there's nothing enjoyable about watching people bake. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:08.720 And then my wife says, To you. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:12.240 And I say, to nobody in the Western Hemisphere. 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:14.879 And then my wife says, Are you done? 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:20.639 And I'm like, now here's the reality. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:21.519 I don't care. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:22.159 I don't care. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:23.919 I don't think it's a bad thing you watch TV. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.799 Some of you ladies are like, I'm glad I'm not married to you. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:28.480 I like to watch baking shows. 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:36.080 Listen, we live in a country where we watch people decorate houses, remodel houses, bake, dance, sing. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:38.639 Is there any limit? 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:42.399 I mean, I it's it's just like what if we did this? 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:46.960 What if we set all that aside watching people do things and did things ourselves? 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:50.240 What would we be capable of then? 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:55.440 Now, again, I'm not don't come up, don't run up on me and saying, Hey, have you shot your TV yet, Elvis? 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:56.240 I'm not saying that. 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:00.240 I'm just saying I don't find a whole lot that comes out of that thing really interesting. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:06.080 And so when I say, hey, let us lay aside the weight and the sin, oh, again, the weight is not sin. 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:07.440 It's just, it's not a bad thing. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:11.840 Matter of fact, it's typically a good thing, but it's the good thing that keeps you from the best thing. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.000 And then he says, and the sin. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:18.159 Now remember, Joy says we're capable of what we're responsible for. 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:20.320 And the sin. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:29.039 Uh, here's one of the things I pray for our church is that when it comes to sin, that we would learn to think about sin's nature instead of its consequence. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:32.799 We would learn to think about sin's nature instead of its consequence. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:33.840 And you said, What do you mean? 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:34.960 Here's how we think about sin. 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:38.080 We think about sin, and you said, uh, I let me ask this question. 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:42.639 First of all, can you tell when you're sinning, when you're doing something you shouldn't be doing? 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:43.440 Say amen. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:45.600 I couldn't hear you. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:48.960 One person, when can you tell, like, oh, you know what? 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:51.120 My insides are kind of tightening up. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:53.440 This must not be what I'm supposed to do. 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:54.480 This is sin. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:55.440 Can you feel that? 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:56.399 Say amen. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:58.960 And by the way, that is mercy. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:00.080 That's the mercy of God. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:07.200 And what you have to do is, because what we do naturally, what the natural man does is the natural man thinks about sin in terms of its consequence. 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:11.440 The natural man sins and looks around and says, Well, nobody knows. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:16.799 And I'm not hurting anybody because there is no consequence, we continue in sin. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:23.839 What you should do starting today, I strongly encourage you, is start thinking about sin in terms of its nature. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:26.480 That it is by nature destructive. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:28.640 The wages of sin is death. 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:34.480 And so sin was, is, and will always be radically destructive by nature. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.400 And so it's not about consequence. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:44.720 Well, I might get caught, or I might lose my job, or I might wreck my marriage, or I might ruin this relationship, or this friend may never speak to me again. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.440 You shouldn't be motivated by consequence. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:49.920 You should be motivated by understanding. 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:56.000 And that I just gonna understand that sin by nature is deeply destructive. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:01.440 It's a switch that you have to make in the Christian life and the way you think about it. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:05.599 Because Joy says we're capable of what we're responsible for. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:13.839 Therefore, since we're surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also, translation, the people that went before us, they did this. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:16.960 Matter of fact, this past week I just kind of plunged. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:20.319 I got interested and started just pursuing these two little thoughts right here. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:22.319 Lay aside the weight and the sin. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:31.680 And in about seven minutes, I was led to the Welsh Revival of 1904, which broke out in the in the Welsh community through a man named Evan Roberts. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:37.839 When he was 13, he quit school and went to work with his father in the in the coal mines in his little town. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:39.119 And he was a nobody. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.200 He didn't have a podcast, he didn't know how to preach, he was not down with anything. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:53.680 He didn't have followers, he didn't have a YouTube channel, he didn't have a church that he used to kind of get popular and then switch it and make it about himself with his name.com at it. 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:58.319 This guy was nobody, and he preached these four, he had four points, he preached everywhere. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:02.079 And God sent revival to this part of the uh of the country. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:03.359 And here were the first two. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.759 He would say to coal miners, you must put away any unconfessed sin. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:12.000 And secondly, you must put away any doubtful habit. 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:15.279 You must put away any unconfessed sin. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:17.759 You must also put away any doubtful habit. 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:18.960 What is a doubtful habit? 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:21.119 It's what Hebrews 12 says is a weight. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:24.799 It's not not necessarily bad, it's just unnecessary. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:34.319 It is not going to prepare you to run with endurance the course that is marked out for you, because it is unnecessary baggage weighing you down. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:36.960 And by the way, uh the other, he had four points he would preach. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.000 The other two was you must immediately obey the Holy Spirit. 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:43.680 And then the fourth one was you must profess Christ publicly. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:46.240 And so he would go to the coal mines and preach this. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:50.720 These coal miners and these hardened men would come to faith, and a revival broke out. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:54.400 Matter of fact, the hymn of the Welsh Revival, we still sing today. 00:19:54.640 --> 00:20:02.880 What God did in 1904, we still sing uh the hymn called Here Is Love, vast as the ocean, loving kindness like a flood. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:08.160 Uh, that the the the that the Prince of Life, our ransom, shed for us his precious blood. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:10.160 Who his love would not remember. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:12.720 That was written as a response to what was happening. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:14.400 Who his love would not remember? 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:19.039 Because Evan Roberts went to the coal mines and told these men, God has remembered you. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:24.960 You're not forgotten people down in the belly of the earth doing dirty work that no one wants to do. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:28.240 You are God's beloved and God sacrificed his son for you. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:30.640 And this they asked him, How do you know you're getting through? 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:35.759 And he said, These men's their faces were stained black by the coal dust. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:40.559 All of a sudden, he said, You would see clear tracks where tears were washing the dust off their face. 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:42.480 Men responded to the gospel. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:49.279 This is a random uh indication of how how deep the revival went in 1904 in the Welsh community. 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:57.119 They had little horses called pit ponies, uh, little Shetland ponies in the coal mine that would haul out these wagons full of coal. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:01.440 And the miners, they usually cussed at them to motivate them to get them to do stuff. 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:02.960 They called the horses' names. 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:14.640 The revival was so intense, so life-altering that the men no longer cursed the pit ponies and that they couldn't get the pit ponies to move because they didn't understand what the miners were saying to them. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:26.160 They had to go back and teach them something else because their entire lives, all they would ever heard was these hardened men speak harshly and profanely to these animals. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:28.480 Reminds me of what Abraham Lincoln said. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:34.000 He said, I care not one dither for any man's religion that doesn't change the way he treats his dog. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:37.839 Oh, you dog lovers love that. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:40.480 You're like, that's right, honey, we're getting another one. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:42.640 Yeah. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:47.759 Here's what I'm saying revival, spiritual awakening, change is not always profound. 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:52.319 Sometimes it's simple as lay aside the weight and the sin. 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:54.880 Thirdly, joy is informed by where you look. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:56.640 Joy is informed by where you look. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:57.599 Look at verse 2. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.599 He says lay aside the weight and the sin. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.920 Which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:09.599 Verse two, looking to Jesus, the founder and the perfecter of our faith. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:16.799 We tend to look to the person in times of crisis and need, who we believe is responsible for our faith. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:22.480 And the problem with many people is that they think they're responsible, that their faith was their idea. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:25.279 You don't understand that your faith was God's idea. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:32.400 And so looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, joy is informed by where you look. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:36.079 And this looking involves turning from and turning to. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:45.039 If you were gonna ask yourself this question today, if you were gonna turn to Jesus and look to Jesus, what would you have to turn from and stop looking at? 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:51.680 Is there anything that just you think, man, I that probably gets too much of my time, attention, and affection? 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:55.279 I need to turn from that and turn to Jesus. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:56.799 Looking to Jesus. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:01.359 See, here's the problem with we as a people that don't look to Jesus. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:05.200 Then when people look at us, they don't see Jesus. 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:11.440 If we're not looking to Jesus, then when people look at us, they don't see Jesus. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:15.200 They see good people, they see moderately moral people. 00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:18.000 But when people look at you, do they see Jesus? 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:21.519 Do they think, man, there's something about that woman? 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:23.359 She's got kids crawling all over her. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:30.319 Her minivan smells like McDonald's french fries and apple juice, but she's the most joyful woman on our cul-de-sac. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:37.599 We get together for play dates, and I'm just like, man, I envy the way you live your life. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:40.400 That's a woman that looks to Jesus. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:42.480 Fourth thing about joy. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:45.839 The power of joy is that joy is fuel for the journey. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.240 Joy is fuel for the journey. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:54.960 He says, looking at Jesus, uh, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:58.079 Who for the joy that was set before him? 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:01.200 Just hear those three little words for the joy. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:02.240 For the joy. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:02.799 Who? 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:03.759 For the joy. 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:08.240 If you're gonna get your wife a tattoo for Christmas men, there's your idea right there. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:09.759 For the joy. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:10.559 Who? 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:11.759 For the joy. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:14.319 Why does the Bible say for the joy? 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:20.960 Because most things in the Christian life require more joy than determination, or sucking it up and trying harder. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:26.240 Do you have enough joy to do what the Bible calls and commands you to do? 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:28.960 Or do you find yourself being offended consistently? 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:30.640 Like, are you kidding me? 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:32.160 You want me to what? 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:37.519 The Bible says, who for the joy that was set before him? 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:40.960 Endured the cross, despising its shame. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:57.599 What is the joy that Jesus sets before him that allows him to go to the cross, not sweat it, feel every ounce of it, endured the cross, despising its shame, and is sat down, is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:01.039 This joy is the fuel for the journey. 00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:03.680 I love what Tim Keller, the writer and pastor, says. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:16.240 He says, While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life's joys, for seeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world sorrows, tasting the coming joy. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:22.720 To set in this world sorrows and tasting the coming joy. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:32.799 Not longing to taste it, but sit in this world sorrow, kind of going, and tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:35.920 Tasting the coming joy. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:40.400 I've told you this before, and I try not to do it, but I do it every year. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:41.839 It comes on about February. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:48.480 Matter of fact, I've got a reminder in my phone to start scanning my cable provider, looking for it. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:55.039 It always comes on NBC, and what comes on is a summary recap of the Iron Man triathlon. 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:59.440 And I watch it every year, and every year I sob like a kitty. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:02.400 I try not to, I tell myself, it's not that big of a deal. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.599 Why are you crying? 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:10.720 But they got the dude narrating, and it's just like, ha, as I sit on my couch and eat cookies, mmm, diggy ginkgy. 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:17.680 And the last time I saw it, the thing that jumped off the page to me is that there's some dudes, they do the Iron Man triathlon. 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:19.680 It's just a matter of hours, bing, bang, boom. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:23.279 I mean, I've had lunches that last longer and they are done. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.799 But there's a cutoff to the Iron Man triathlon. 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:33.200 And the last time I watched the little highlight show, uh, it's like 38 minutes to the cutoff. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:37.920 And there's a 66-year-old man who is just, I mean, he's breaking down. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:42.640 Brother, he has, he swam, he biked, and he's running. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:51.920 And they talk to him, and he's like, you know, about mile 24, uh, my my my body just quit working. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:54.160 And I just thought, I what am I going to do? 00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:55.759 I don't know how I'm going to get there. 00:26:55.920 --> 00:27:00.480 But then I tell myself, I've run 24 miles, I've only got two miles to go. 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:01.440 I can do this. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:08.960 And so he gets up off all fours and he's bleeding from his knees and his elbows, where he just keeps falling and catching himself. 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:11.200 And if people touch him, he's disqualified. 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:12.960 He he's got to just get there his own. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:17.759 And then here's the part that I was just like, are you kidding me? 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:25.519 He's 66, by the way. 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:30.960 That's not the part that I was just like, oh my gosh, here's the part that killed me. 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:37.039 He said, I was a hundred yards from the finish line, and I had three minutes to go. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:39.839 And I couldn't even get my bearings. 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:49.519