For the rest of us, we return to Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5, verses 16 through 24. If you could change the setting on the TV, I would appreciate it. That way I can make sure I stay on track here. Thank you very much. Galatians chapter 5, 16 through 24. I read, you follow along. I'm reading from the English Standard Version. And that's the one that Jesus read from, okay? ESV, the elect standard version, but I digress again. I digress. So ESV, if you're reading it from the NIV, the nearly inspired, that's okay too. That's all right. Galatians 5, 16 through 24, having some fun. So if you're here, good. If you're here in person, it's always better than being online. But if you're online, we're glad that you're joining us also. All right. 16 through 24, but I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For those are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy. drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." So we continue our look, summertime here, our look at the fruit of the Spirit. And the question that we're looking at or, you know, we're seeing they're growing more like Jesus or growing in Christ's likeness. So if I were to ask, so help me out, help me out, this is about a week, I don't know what, all right, in the study. So what is the fruit of the Spirit? You get to answer. And if you want me to pick on you, I'll get off the platform and then God will really, oh, you guys, you're challenging me. All right, good deal. All right, so what is the fruit of the Spirit? I'm not even going to look, but I'm just going to choose somebody. Since the camera can follow me, I have free reign on this place. Free reign. I respect law enforcement, so I'm not going to pick on Lorenzo, because I don't need him to talk to his buddies on the white shirt and motorcycles to pin me on Taft Street. Not that they ever would, but I need an out, so I'm going to keep him nice. All right? I'm going to keep him nice. All right, so. Yeah. Okay, and what does that mean? What does that mean? What is the fruit of the Spirit? Is it nine ways to live a better life? I mean, that's how some may put it. These are nine ways to live a better life. No, these are moral commands, better morality. No. So what is the fruit? Front row Baptist, front row, I normally pick back row Baptist, but front, no, no, no, okay. You're law enforcement too, so I'm gonna respect you, respect the blue, okay? So I'm gonna, I need you guys on a certain given day when I get stopped by Officer Friendly, all right? So, fruit of the Spirit is the character that God, the character of Jesus that God is growing in you, by virtue of the Spirit of God being in your life. It manifests itself this way, it's fruit on the vine. If you and I are abiding in Christ and Christ is abiding in us, we will bear fruit. We saw that John 15 verse 5, specifically a few weeks back. So the fruit on the vine... is expressed this way. We can fake a lot of stuff on the external. You cannot fake this, because this is something that you don't produce. This is something that Christ, through the ministry of His Spirit, produces in you. So we've been looking at that. We said last time that there's one fruit comprised of nine parts. It's almost as Adrian Rogers, the famed Baptist preacher, he said it's a one fruit with nine flavors and this needs to exist in the life of every Christian. This does not mean that I get to cherry pick you know, what I want. This is what God is busy at work creating in you, the character of Jesus. Those He knows, He predestines, He elects, He chooses, He doesn't lose one, He glorifies. But why? Why? So He can conform the character of Christ in you and in me and in every child of God. That's why when you and I don't walk the walk, But we like to talk the talk, He comes around and He just disciplines. No different that if you're a parent here, you don't let your kid run amok. All right? You discipline. Why? Because you hate them. On the contrary, the Bible says it's an expression of love. Because you want to form in them and create in them that which is necessary so they can be a productive member of society, not a menace to society. So God is busy at work, the Lord is busy at work producing the character of Christ in the child of God. We began to take a look at that last time with the fruit of love. Today we look at the, in detail, the fruit of joy, of joy. Okay? There's a lack of joy in our world today. You look around and there's plenty of laughter and there's plenty of entertainment. But it tends to sort of like disappear once the credits run their course, at the end of the movie, once we have to stop binging and get back to real life. Then all of a sudden, it's ahh, life is full of just people who are disappointed once again, they're angry and upset, you see them on Pines Boulevard, you see them in South Florida, they don't like you, you don't like them, they wave, they don't use all their fingers, they let you know you're number one, etc, etc. And things that just fade away as soon as we get back to the reality of life. And we try to find joy in things that do not provide it. And if money can't buy you love, it definitely cannot buy you joy. All right? One author picks up the right, and I'll read some of it, and then the last part will be on the screen. Let me read what I need to read. He writes, have you ever wondered what would make you truly happy? What if all the financial restrictions were removed from your life? Like not having to pay taxes, right? What if all the people who hold you back were taken out of the way? Not taken out, taken out of the way, okay? And suddenly you were able to do something that you deeply desired. If you could do what you wanted to do, have what you wanted to have and be what you wanted to be, would you feel genuine joy? Most people think, if only I could or if only someone else would, then I would be happy. A common myth is that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. However, when we get there, we find it isn't grass, it's turf. Husbands walk away from wives because they think being with someone else will make them, quote unquote, really happy. Wives leave husbands because they think they will be more secure with someone else. People quit decent jobs, change careers and move across the country thinking that the new job, new house or the move will bring them the satisfaction and intense happiness they crave. Most, after they make the change, find that they still have to live with themselves, and they aren't very happy. Even the United States Declaration of Independence proclaims that we have the right to the pursuit of happiness, yet nowhere in the Bible will you find God advising us to pursue happiness. And then he writes the following, this will be on the screen. The happiness that most seek is disguised as something that will last, when in reality it is passing, elusive, or brief. And he's right. That's right. Listen, it would make sense for those that do not know Jesus Christ to be joyless. It does not make sense for the child of God to be joyless. You and I are called to be joyful or joy filled. Why? Because it's part of the spirit or the fruit of the spirit that God is busy producing in our lives. If our lives are marked by joylessness, it's not God's fault. You and I need to evaluate why aren't we experiencing the joy of the Lord. like the other parts of the fruit, it's not something we produce. I can't just tell you, do it. It's something that's done, and yet we have a role to play, and we'll see that this morning. So let's dig in. Two questions we're going to ask, or two main headings. Number one, we're going to define it. Joy defined. What is joy? So before I go to the screen, I tell you what I wrote. Once again, I'm going to engage the audience. Let me see where I'm going to go. What is joy? And don't tell me it's my mother-in-law, because that's my mother-in-law, her name, Joy. I didn't ask who is Joy, I asked what is Joy? So, go ahead, what is Joy? It is a choice that you make, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to stay focused, to rely on the Lord, to stay steadfast, regardless of Nice. If the ushers would come now, we can just pick up an offering and just leave. All right. And, but no, I have four more pages of notes. So we're not, we're not. Okay. That's very good. Very good. Anyone else? Anyone else wants to tackle it? What is joy? Front row Baptist, go ahead. Right. Okay. So is joy and happiness the same? No. No. Okay. Why not? Not you guys. You already spoke. Why is joy and happiness the same? Pat, go ahead, brother. Nice and loud. Like if you're trying to get my attention. Uh huh. Okay. Joy is much deeper. You know, if you hang around enough Baptists, that's what you usually get. Right? That kind of standard answer. I've said it. Joy and happiness are different. Let's see what the actual dictionary says and let's see what the actual Bible actually has to say about it. So on the screen, oh, they're already ahead of me. Look at that. All right. It's not terribly complicated to define. We tend to do it, but as a noun, the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying. Keen pleasure, elation. For example, she felt the joy of seeing her son's success. A source or cause of keen pleasure or delight, something or someone greatly valued or appreciated. Her prose style is a pure joy. The expression or display of glad feeling. a state of happiness or felicity as a verb, used without an object, to feel joy, be glad, rejoice. This all comes from dictionary.com, all right? So, it's basically synonymous with happiness and gladness. Old theologians, or the oldest theologians would have called it blessedness. One of the lexicons, the authoritative one, it's a word book, okay? The New Testament translates it, the experience of gladness, the experience of gladness. Now, we know that in our English Bibles, we have the word rejoice, and we may, depending on the translation, you are happy. But we know that in the original manuscripts, that was not the case, because it wasn't written in English. All right? Except for two areas, one, both in the Old Testament were a little bit of Aramaic, everything else is Hebrew, New Testament was Greek. So, The Bible doesn't make a distinction as clearly as you and I make it in English. And in English language, we may have to because of the connotation, because of what we carry and what we tend to mean by what we say. We have to be careful. But you won't find in a Greek lexicon or in a Hebrew word book, a word that can be translated to the scriptures that says, happy has to do with the world's fleeting happiness and joy has to do with a steadfastness in the Lord. You're not going to find that word. What you're going to find is a word that you and I need to appreciate And the reality is that the distinction might be an artificial one. And if we're not careful, if we say that joy is not happiness, then how do you express joy? We rob it from its emotional connotation or an emotional piece of it. So we have to be careful. So is joy the same as happiness? Yes and no. And that's what we need to figure out. Let me explain why before you walk out here and protest, all right? You've heard of common grace, that's God's good gifts to everyone, righteous and unrighteous, Christians and non-Christians. Well, to a certain degree, there's a common joy. There's a common joy, okay? Both Christians and non-Christians experience joy in several common ways. Many of you experienced it yesterday as there was times of celebration. I mean, what are we going to say, that the Christian is the only one that can really sing happy birthday? Because the non-Christian can't be happy and they can't have a happy birthday? Are we really going to say that? Are we going to be known for that? No, in times of celebration, you know, you do that, the birth of a baby. It's a happy time. It's not necessarily about, oh no, were you happy, Ozzie, when the baby was born or were you joyous? Don't make the distinction. I was elated. Yeah, man, I was happy. Of course I was happy. And it was a joy that the time came. Times of celebration, times of achievement. Some of you guys flooded social media yesterday. Graduation pictures. What, what, what? Only Christians can put those graduation pictures? They're the only ones who can be happy? It's a common joy. Christians and non-Christians, if you partook of one of those celebrations, the commencement ceremonies, maybe they're coming your way. What? Only Christians can walk the aisle? No, there's a common joy. Whether it's times of celebrations, times of achievement, relationships, okay? Listen, there's going to be a happy day come this Saturday for John. He's so happy he's wearing purple today. mob or whatever, okay? He's getting married this Saturday. What? What? He can't be happy? It has to be joy? No, it's there. To a certain degree, it's interchangeable for now, for now. Relationships, you know, I remember when Charlie, who's not here anymore, but he was, you know, when he was with us, when the day we connected, we hadn't seen each other for a bunch of years. I just saw Cody Wagner. It's been a minute. The last time I saw Cody, he was like his kid's age. So, what was I supposed to do? Not be happy? Of course I was happy to see him. He reminds me of how old and ugly I am. I mean, I saw him, it's like the prime of his life, beautiful wife, beautiful kids. I saw Julie, Bronnie's kid, and their daughter, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm so old, am I not supposed to be happy? No, I'm happy. And it's a joy to have you all here. That's the reality. There's unexpected joy. We call it a lucky break. We call it a tax rebate, come on. All right? Those are unexpected joy. There's the joy of life. There's people who are basically happy people. In fact, there's some people who are basically happier than a lot of Christians I get to know. They're just happy people. They were raised with a sense of contentment. They were raised with a sense of, Hey, I'm glad to be here. You know, you find someone who fled communism. They get here and they're like, Hey, El Ayuma, baby. It's great. The US of A. I like it. And I'm just overall grateful to be here. I'm happy to be here. And then you find some other guys who in Christ, they love to just chew the lemon. And nothing is right, and they express it that way. Well, what? What are we doing here? So, is it just for the Christian or the non-Christians? It's for both. There's a common joy, and that's what I want you to know and take with you. What's the difference? It's on the screen there. The difference is not between happiness and joy themselves, but between the source, the extent, and duration of our joy or happiness. That's the difference. See, Gigi's here. She loves to travel. Right? You do love to travel. And because you love to travel, you desire to go on a vacation. Is that a bad thing? No. And when you get to go on vacation, I feel envious, she feels happy. Now, is that wrong? Is that wrong? No! Is that a Christian thing? No, plenty of non-Christians were at the beach the other day when I was there, and they seemed to be happy about it. You know, if you love a person, you desire to be close to them. When you find that one, that one, one, one, one, right? Okay? You want to be with them. And back to John, when they marry and all of a sudden the desire becomes, it bears fruit and it's great. And what? What? That's only for the Christian? No. See, it's possible to have joy, to be happy. The difference, the difference, okay? Here's the catch. Apart from the Holy Spirit, the object that you love is something in this world. And this world is passing and its satisfactions are fleeting. Consider the source. What is your source of joy? Who is your source of joy? Again, back to this, back to the travel. See, common joy is limited by extent and duration. Why? Because if my source of joy is tied into this fleeting world, you know, I can have a good vacation, but I'll never have the greatest one. Just think about it. How many vacations have you had? You'll always can have a greater one. You can always have a better one. That's the extent. There's always something better. There's always something bad. That's why we seldom travel to the same places unless we really have a connection with it. But we always try to, you know, let me go here and let me go there. And boy, we try to push the boundaries. The duration is also the same. Why? Because our joy. I'm on vacation and about two days before I'm like, oh man, I got to go back to work. The joy of the vacation. Yeah, the joy. Listen, I travel. I go out. Let's say I'm in North Carolina driving. It took me about three weeks to get there because I only go like an hour at a time. And then I'm like, find me a Ramada and I can't drive this long. All right. So like you're moving out to Alabama. I had to drive to Alabama, brother. Give me a week, bro. Give me a week. I mean Orlando and then this one and then Orlando and then Sanford and then from Sanford to I don't know where, that stretch on I-10, Lord have mercy. All right, to get to Pensacola, might as well get to China. All right, so I'm traveling and I'm heading down on the turnpike and all of a sudden I see this sign that says, welcome to Broward County. My BP just jumps. Because all of a sudden I re-engage in all of your lives. Like, I wonder what's going on here. And my wife look at me, she goes, you're there, aren't you? Yeah, I am. Because I'm like, hey, praise God. Because the joy of whatever I was experiencing, the duration comes to an end. That's the big difference. You see, why is it that nothing in this world seems to fill up our longing for happiness, our longing for joy? Because of this, on the screen, we were made for more than vacations. We were made for more than possessions. We were made even for more than romantic love or parental love, which are among the greatest sources of happiness in the world. We were made for God. That's why the ancient theologian Augustine said, our souls are restless until they find rest in you. And that's why this world outside of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, we've tried to find and fill the void of joy or happiness with different things. And that's why we skip on relationships and we change and we change cars, we change spouse, we change habitations, it doesn't matter. Why? Because I'm trying to find, I'm trying to fill that and my soul is restless and always be restless until you find the Lord. And having found the Lord, then you and I, like the psalmist, we can say this. You make known to me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Did you catch it? Because the source is the Lord, the extent is fullness, and the duration is forevermore. See, that's what we're talking about. Don't make the artificial distinction between happy and joy. Biblically seeing it is the source. When the source is right, then the extent and the duration, you're there. You see, because He never changes, He never ends. So a joy rooted in relationship with the Lord results in a joy in Him. And like Martha was saying, that's why no matter what happens, I can be happy or I can be joyous. I can. There's something to be said about not so much common joy, but Christian joy. Christian joy. What is it? What is it? One writer puts it this way, it'll be on the screen. Joy then is that ever-deepening awareness that our lives are hidden in Christ and that we can be led by the Spirit through anything. Afflictions, trials, pressures, or frustrations may come, but they cannot destroy us, so we experience joy. We may genuinely hurt, we may weep, we may be tempted, we may not understand what God is allowing to come our way, but none of this causes us to lose God's focus in our difficulties or hampers our ministry to the needs of others. We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. This is biblical joy. Well, they're quoting Jack Hayford. He's with the Lord now, a pastor out of California. And he's right. So what's peculiar? What's so special about Christian joy? Number one, this is where, because our English language, we have to be careful. Because we tend to tie happiness to happenstance. Okay? Not so in the Bible. Blessed, those Beatitudes can be said, can be translated happy hour. If you use biblical terminology, if you stick to the biblical definitions. We have to call it blessed, we have to call it something other. Because here, Christian joy is not dependent on circumstances. And here's where we note the difference. Because in our general conversations, we tend to associate happiness with happenstance. Something's going well, I'm happy. Something's not going right, I'm unhappy. And the root is hap, which is luck or chance. So when you're conversing with others, we, again, we've learned this from 2020, thank you pandemic, and the summer of love. Definitions matter. So when we're conversing, we need to make sure the definitions are the same. So here, when you're talking to someone else, if you know, and you know them because you have a relationship with the person, or you're talking to people in general, you know that there's a difference, you can assume the difference between happiness and joy. But for the fellow Christian, it's not unbiblical or unspiritual to say, hey, I'm happy you're here. We have a happy marriage. If I don't say joy, a joyous marriage, what, that means that my marriage is no good? No. But there is a difference, there's a difference. This is why, because Christian joy is not dependent on circumstances, Habakkuk chapter 3, there is such a book in the Old Testament, it's a minor prophet. Habakkuk chapter 3 says, Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit beyond the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls. Can you imagine? My world is coming to an end. There's nothing. There's nothing. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like the deers. He makes me tread on my high places. Habakkuk, if you've studied the book, we did it here a couple summers ago, from protest to praise. Habakkuk is saying the day of reckoning, a day of wrath is coming to God's people. But even in the midst of that, I can rejoice. Why? Because God is faithful. God is faithful. And that's why it says, though it might be bleak as bleak can be, all caps, bleak. There's nothing. There's no fig tree. There's no blossom. There's no fruit of the vine. I can rejoice. You see, Paul says the same thing. Paul says the same thing. 2 Corinthians chapter 7. It's on the screen there. He writes to a church in Corinth that in 2 Corinthians, if you've studied 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians is a defense of his ministry. This is a church that He loved. This is a church that He spent time in. This is a church that He wrote several letters to. We only know 1st and 2nd, but there's others that were written that did not make the Holy Scriptures. But He wrote to them and He refers to them when you study 1st and 2nd Corinthians, what we call 1st and 2nd Corinthians. This is a church that after He had given His life, all of a sudden they begin to impugn His ministry, impugn His character. He's not really an apostle. He's not really... He's a fake. He writes back to them. This is what He writes, make room in your heart for us. We have wronged no one. We have corrupted no one. We have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you. For I said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you. I have great pride in you. I am filled with comfort in all our affliction. I am overflowing with joy. It's the same letter where you find the phrase sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. So his life may have been full of troubles, but his heart full of joy. And there's no greater pain than when people cause it. There is no greater pain. I don't care what you think. There is no greater pain than when people cause it, when they betray you, when they stab you in the back. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, we read, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. You want the will of God? I'm looking for God's will. Here you go, three always. Always joyful, always praying, always grateful. Aim at it, get it, love it, live it, do it. You don't have to wait for some writing in the sky, it's right here. You want to reveal Word of God, the revealed will of God, always pray, always give thanks, always be grateful. In the good times or in the bad, we can do this. Why? Because joy is not dependent, it's not dependent on circumstances. Let me read you what someone else read and then I'll finish it off. It'll be first listen, then I'll tell you when to look at the screen. Joy is something that should mark us as the people of God. I think joy, however, can be confused with happiness. This author starts interacting with what we know as the difference. In other words, people hear that we should be filled with joy and laugh all the time. Make no mistake. Joy should often be marked by laughter and excitement, but at the same time, the Scriptures connect joy with other emotions. The author of the letter to the Hebrews describes Christ's crucifixion in terms of joy. Look into Jesus, Hebrews 12, 2, the founder and perfecter 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. Jesus was not clapping His hands as He giddily bore His cross. His sufferings was, however, a time of joy for Him. His joy was in knowing that He was being obedient to His Father's will. I also suspect that it was the knowledge that this suffering would produce life for His bride, the church, that gave Him great joy. On the screen here. Christ had the joy of saving His people, but at the same time that joy was marked by suffering and by death through crucifixion. There are times when God's people should be marked by great joy, coupled with happiness and excitement, such as when a loved one makes a profession of faith in Christ. But at the same time, though perhaps not expressed with the same emotions, there can be a joy even in suffering. And he's right, because our joy, our source of joy, is not tied in to fleeting circumstances. Number two, Christian joy is the decision you and I make It's not only a gift, it's also a command. Psalm 32, be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in the heart. Philippians 4, 4, rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again. It's not like, hey, listen, if you feel it. If you feel it, go for it. If you're not feeling it, don't go for it. No, it's that. Yes, it's a gift that's produced, but it's also the reality that it's a command. It's a decision you and I make. Habakkuk chose to rejoice in the Lord despite of the circumstance, despite of the revelation of what God had told him. I will rejoice. I will rejoice. The good news is, here's the good news. That which God commands, He provides. Isn't that good? He says rejoice, here's the joy. He says love, here's the love. Be patient, here's the patience. He doesn't set us up to fail. He's not you and me sometimes. We set each other to fail, ourselves to fail, our kids to fail. I never forget, somebody was teaching their kid how to put peanut butter and jelly. What did they use? Jam. Why? Because jam spreads easier than jelly. So he set him up to succeed. And you know what I said? Thank you, mom. You'll get that one a little later. Okay, so you say God doesn't set you up to fail. I have a book here by Jerry Bridges. If Jerry Bridges writes it, you can read it. I don't make those wholesale, okay? I have yet to read something that Jerry Bridges wrote that I go like, throw it in the fire. He's with the Lord. He was with the Navigators for a long time, NavPress. If Jerry Bridges writes it, I can get it. If you find something that's questionable, please let me know, and I'll retract. I'll retract publicly online, all right? But Jerry Bridges, he writes the file. Again, let me read a little bit, and then I'll tell you when to look at the screen. He says, so the choice is ours. We can be joyless Christians or we can be joyful Christians. We can go through the life bored, glum and complaining, or we can rejoice in the Lord and our names being written in heaven in the hope of an eternal inheritance. It is both our privilege and our duty to be joyful. He then goes on to say on the screen there, to be joyless is to dishonor God and to deny His love and His control over our lives. It is practical atheism. To be joyful is to experience the power of the Holy Spirit within us and to say to a watching world, our God reigns. And he's right. He's right. Number three, joy, Christian joy comes from knowing and trusting the Lord. How can you choose to be joyful? Psalm 5, but let all who take refuge in you be glad. Let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Psalm 105, let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. But you don't understand, there's some troubles, there's some heaviness in my life. You just don't get it. Well, James 1 says, count it all joy, not feel it all joy, reckon it. Count it all joy. Why? Because the source is your relationship with the Lord. The source is the sovereign one. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. Count it, reckon it. You don't even have to feel it. I'm not saying feel joyous that you're going through what you're going. You don't have to feel joy because the diagnosis is this. You don't have to feel joy because you're unemployed. You don't have to feel joy because you have to uproot your family and go somewhere else again. You don't have to feel the joy. You can count it all joy because God remains in control throughout. That's the beauty of it. That's the beauty of it. Alistair Begg puts it this way. Again, I wish I had the Irish brogue, but I don't. For the Christian, joy's foundation is found not in something we feel, but in something we know. It is to know that Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, has forgiven us. It is to know that He loved us and died for us so that we can be free of accusation. It is to know that when our consciences accuse us, when we are aware of our weaknesses, failures and lack of power to live as God intends, we are driven again and again back to the rock of our salvation. When we know these things, then and only then can the very joy of the Lord be our strength. And Alistair Begg does it again. He's right. So what can we take with us this morning? How about this on the screen there? Joy draws from love and leads to peace. Joy brings glory to God, helps you minister to those around you with a God-honoring, Christ-exalting attitude, and will bring you through the hard times. How do we develop this kind of joy? How do we develop this kind of joy? That's for next time. That's for next time.