The Fruit of the Spirit Explained David Jeremiah

each of us has Just One Life to Live our life should count it should matter it should have purpose and frankly it should be amazing but as look around me see lives lived in disarray defeat and discouragement I've been deeply burdened about this because you see an unfulfilled life is just no way to exist and from what read in the scripture God promises us life of blessings beyond our comprehension literally life beyond amazing what kind of people do we need to be to live in this culture that is so messed up and hard to Define and we don't know where going and it always ends up where we didn't think it would be we are told that when the Holy Spirit completely controls the life of Believer this is what it will look like the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long suffering kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control God's description of man for all seasons so in response to the question what kind of people should we be at such time in history as this here is God's answer he calls us to be people of love and joy and peace he wants us to have endurance in our lives he he wants us to have compassion for those who who need our help we should be people of generosity this is God's ideal person and believe it or not we can become like that we were meant to be like that could just say it this way Christ died so that we could be that kind of person the Lord Jesus Christ said in John 10:10 have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly sounds like life beyond amazing but there's some roadblocks that we need to get out of the way if we're going to get to the place we want to be if there's gap between the promise of what our Lord wants us to have and what we're experiencing what is causing it what is happening to us that this abundant life that Jesus died for so that we could have it seems to always be at the end of our fingers but not quite in our grasp and like to suggest to you the three things that I've thought of in preparation for this that might help us understand this little bit first of all think for many of us we misunderstand our Salvation most Christians today view salvation strictly in the past tense salvation is something that has happened to us it's history our Salvation according to many Christians is done thing but the Bible doesn't view salvation like that men and women the Bible views salvation in three different tenses the Bible views salvation like this have been saved if I've trusted Jesus Christ as my savior as many of you have you've become Christian then you can say of yourself have been saved and you point to the when you trusted Christ but the Bible also teaches that once you're saved you continue being saved you're saved eternally but it's true that once you have been saved as you go forward in your life you are being saved and one day the scripture says you're going to stand before the Lord and you're going to be just like him and then the Bible says you will be ultimately saved so here's the way that works you are saved from your sin from the very penalty of sin during your lifetime as Christian you're gradually being saved from the power of sin over your life and ultimately one day praise God we're all going to be saved from the very presence of sin there won't even be any sin but please hear me if you get stuck in the past tense you won't be the kind of person who can have life beyond amazing because salvation is more than just have been saved it's am being saved and ultimately will be saved that's why Paul said to the Romans that now is our Salvation nearer than when we believed what was he talking about not past salvation that was already done not present salvation they were living that the salvation of the future when you stand before the Lord and you are made like unto him sometimes we miss what God wants for us in the Christian experience because we misapply the concept of works and this is not hard this is little bit the ol ol but hang with me and I'll put some stuff on the screen it's really easy to grasp this the New Testament is very clear about the fact that in our present tense salvation we are not saved as the result of our effort it's the result of the grace of God have noticed however that in many of the key passages where the doctrine of salvation apart from Good Works is found the doctrine of salvation unto good works is also found here's the Dilemma that people have I'm supposed to be saved but it's not by works but then am saved now what do do so let me help you with that two passages of scripture that are very clear first of all Ephesians 2:8 and9 notice for by Grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God now watch this not of Works lest any man should boast or try this one Paul wrote to Titus his young protes and he said not by work works of righteousness which we have done but according to his Mercy he saved us through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit Paul in both of these passages reminds us clearly indelibly unconditionally there is no such things being saved by works you can't do enough works to become Christian you were saved by the grace of God apart from Works everybody got that all right now don't stop here because after Ephesians 2:8 and9 comes Ephesians 2:10 have you read that for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them not say by good works but you're saved for good works same thing with with Titus Chapter 3 here's verse 8 in same chapter this is even more powerful this is the faithful saying and these things want to affirm constantly that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works these things are good and profitable to men so sometimes we don't get what we should get out of this life as Christians because we misunderstand salvation and we think it's already over that everything has happened sometimes we don't get it right because we misunderstand how works are so wonderfully commanded of us as believers and here's the third one and this is little more mysterious but you've been around the church as long as have you'll get this one in hurry sometimes it's mistaken idea of spirituality here's what know men and women after all these years of studying this and want to be very clear about this the New Testament calls upon Christians to take action it does not tell us that the work of sanctification is going to be done for us we are in the good fight of faith and we have to do the fighting but thank God we're unable to do it for the moment we believe and are justified by faith we're born again by the spirit of God we get the ability the New Testament method of sanctification is to remind us of that now having been reminded of it let's go do it let me hurry quickly to the road map of life beyond amazing and want you if you have your Bibles to turn to the second chapter of Philippians love the book of Philippians do you like Philippians yes what great book this is it seems like it speaks to so many things but want to read to you these verses and having explained to you what I've explained to you you'll sort of get this now in the way that hoped you will get it Philippians 2:12 and13 therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence listen carefully work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both to Will will and to do for his good pleasure and you're going to say wait minute didn't you just tell me you don't have to work for your salvation yes did because that's what the Bible says and I'm not contradicting it you're just not reading carefully it doesn't say work for your salvation it says work out your salvation some of you are so opposed to work out you won't even read that in that same text it says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling be because it is God who works in you so we're to work out what God has worked in God is giving us these things that we need that doesn't mean we just sit and hold them what is really responsible for your Christian walk your Christian growth is it just sit back and wait for the Holy Spirit to zap you how many of had been Zapped no and we wonder why isn't this working well we're looking for the wrong thing each generation of Believers carries on its own debate over this question but here's what want you to know the Bible holds the tension between man's role and God's role in Perfect Balance when you became Christian you got everything you need for life and godliness how many of you believe that the Bible says it we have to believe it he said God gave us what did he do he put it in US like he puts ore in the earth he puts these things in us not only that the scripture says he gives us precious promises what is that that's the Bible the guide book he gives us everything we need for life and godliness and then on top of that he gives us these precious promises to help us can take you back to Philippians for just moment here in Philippians remember it says work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it's God who works in you both the will and to do of his good purpose what would that look like well let me just tell you what it would look like verse 14 comes next do all things without complaining and disputing that's good place to start how many of you could use little help there you probably complained because you couldn't find your parking place this week and know some of you complain cuz somebody sat in your seat when you came to church this morning so yall need some work that's what I'm telling you the the reason why we need to work out what God has worked in is cuz it's not all working amen am and it goes on to say that when we do this we'll become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in this world the Bible says that the reason we're not making more of an impact on the world why we're not shining his light is because we haven't taken seriously the opportunity we have to take the things that God has given us and Max them out for his glory and for our good we're not just going to sit and wait for God to make us the people that he's called us to be the Bible won't allow that if you don't know that there's hundreds of other scriptures could bring to you that call us to put on the new life to take off the old life to walk in Holiness these are commands these are not suggestions so what is character what would we look like if we develop this character in our life people of strong character are usually people that are very disciplined they have fortitude Integrity ethical strength these are attributes that will distinguish you from one another these are the things that make you shine as light in the darkness you're different kind of person character is an attitude that every young person every middle-aged person and every old person should have embedded in their minds character is returning extra change at the grocery store character is keeping appointments and being on Time character is honoring your commitments and honoring your word character is choosing the harder right instead of the easier wrong character is setting priorities that honor God and family and Country character in marriage is working through the tough times rather than throwing in the towel and looking for divorce character is being committed to the well-being of your family and friends Associates and others even if it's personally costly and character is setting good example married person of character acts married all the time person of character is self-disciplined and self-controlled character implies the courage to stand for what is right if necessary all alone to oppose what is wrong and to make the effort to discern the difference character is being truthful in all things while being sensitive to the fact that sometimes Truth Hurts needs not be spoken character is being selfless rather than selfish remember character is the only thing that goes in the casket with you to the hereafter and believe it or not it's the only thing that people will remember about you when you're gone and it should be something we desperately want to develop in our lives here's where I'm at folks can tell you we used to talk about this years ago we used to talk about character we used to even teach it to our children in school do you remember that we had courses in character not now we got characters in our school but we don't have any character in our school but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it does it because nobody's been doing it recently would you say that one of the great needs we have in our culture is more people of character don't you want to be person of character know sure do want to learn everything can about what it means to be man of God and have character because whether you like it or not at some point people whose opinion matters will be paying lot of attention to you and to me they'll be watching what we do and how we react act we might not even know it but they'll be looking at you for an example because they need an example to follow they'll be looking for leader maybe the children will be looking for parents to do the right thing and each time you enter room each time you go to practice or meeting every time you involve yourself in the life of another human being you have the opportunity to leave positive Legacy behind because you're person of character ladies and gentlemen what I've been talking about is called sanctification and sanctification is best defined in this word sanctification is becoming in practice what you already are in position everything God calls us to be we already are in his mind but he calls us now to become every day what we already are in heaven you know the greatest illustration of what I've been talking to you about today is this almighty God has loved us before the foundation of the world and that would be enough would it not he loves us but God didn't leave it at that he loved us and he sent us his own son to prove it God took action to demonstrate his love to you and to me and if you've never received that love because you've never understood how much he loves you I'd like to ask you to do that today God loves you so much that he didn't even keep his own son in Heaven with him he sent his only begotten son to this Earth let him become like us and go to the cross and pay penalty for our sin which we could never have paid so that we can have standing before the father if you've never trusted Christ ask yourself this morning why not maybe it's time for you to make that decision to decide to become Christian now with one last word here is Dr Jeremiah let me say it again God intends for your Christian Life to be amazing however some Christians are not experiencing that kind of Abundant Life and maybe that's you that's the purpose in this introductory message you heard today about realizing life beyond amazing want you to overcome the roadblocks in your life discover thead road map and reap the results of the life Christ died to provide for you such life begins with faith in Christ as Lord and Savior and continues with knowing and trusting in his word country Superstar Alan Jackson made fortune singing love songs with words like this when Somebody Loves You there's nothing you can't do when somebody loves you it's easy to get through that sentiment may not be absolutely true but it's whole lot better than the old country classic that goes like this went back to my fourth wife for the third time and gave her second chance to make first class fool out of me that actually is song got to tell you that after lifetime of Ministry I've observed that the whole idea of love makes fools out of lot of people when you talk about love you are talking about something that people write talk and sing about so much and believe that one of the reasons that's true is because there's hole in the human heart and we need reassurance and affection in Fellowship love is the oxygen of the soul and we have to have it the first thing that an infant needs at Birth is to be held and hugged by loving parent and the presence of Love brings lifetime of blessing when we receive Jesus Christ as our personal savior the very love of God is poured into our hearts did you know that the Bible tells us that he pours his love into our hearts By His Holy Spirit and that love grows within us just like grapes grow on vine and the fruit of the spirit is love and this love isn't just sensation it's not just warm feeling around here in your body this love wears work gloves and handles the everyday nuts and bolts of life it's very practical it hugs the lonely it feeds the hungry it tends the sick it Comforts the sorrowful and it puts up with the insufferable it's kind and longsuffering it's pure and perceptive and positive in its Outlook it is truly one of the foundations of life beyond amazing and here's the interesting thing about it folks until Jesus came to this earth nobody ever had experienced that kind of love the world's concept of love before that was very self-centered it was love that demanded something in return it was love for what you could get out of love but when God sent his son as love gift to this world his special other centered love was put on display in Jesus Christ for all of us to watch and they call that love Agape that's the word in John 3:16 for God so Agape the world now let me tell you something that will surprise some of you love is not an option love is command the command of Love is everywhere on display in the New Testament and find many Believers are quite shocked at this because they've bought into the idea that you can't command love love is something that's got to kind of overtake you you you know we we talk about it this way we fell in love like you're walking down the street and you fall into it you know like something happens to you you didn't have anything to do with it you don't know anything about it just what happened to you just fell in love well the Bible tells us that we are responsible to love one another now I'm going to read these scriptures and want you to notice how often the word command or commandment shows up the command to love here's what the scripture says John 13:34 new commandment give to you that you love one another as have loved you that you also love one another John 15 12 this is my commandment that you love one another as have loved you John 15:17 these things command that you love one another 1 John 3:23 and this is his Commandment that we should believe on the name of the son of God and love one another just as he gave us commandment now here's the question that you and have to answer is it possible for us to obey that commandment can love be commanded can we love each other as he has loved us and based on the evidence that you observed today you would have to see that most people have taken that option off the table no love is not something they take as responsibility but something they get to do if it so happens to be right for them hear guys all the time earlier when was doing lot more counseling than do now guys would say well Pastor Jeremiah just got to tell you don't love her anymore like they have an option not to love her anymore anymore the Bible says husbands love your wives what part of that don't we get well what if don't feel like it that anything to do with it love her anyway because love isn't feeling love is an action love is response Love Is Verb love is what we do more than what we feel the feelings come after the action in the New Testament book of Revelation when the Ephesian church had lost its first love what is it that God told them to do go back and do the first Works he didn't say go back and sit around and see if the feeling comes back he said go back and do the first Works in fact in the New Testament scriptures listen to this we are commanded 55 different times to love and all of these commands are given to us in different context in different settings they affect us as parents they affect us as children they affect us as individuals these commands affect us as members of the local church even the New Testament holds out for us what seems to be impossible that we should love our enemies and Jesus Christ apparently thought that was important enough to leave us with vivid illustration as he hung on the cross and forgave the people that put him there of those 55 commands to love 21 of them are commands for us to love one another God commands The Impossible and then he gives us his ability to accomplish this love so how do we cultivate this love in our lives how do we cultivate this command as with all the character traits we are studying in this series let me tell you we are responsible for developing God's gift to us of Love remember now God pours out his love to us when we're saved he gives us this deposit of love but he doesn't give that to us just so that it can sit there and not be responded to by us we're to take that love and take it to the next level we are to say this is God's gift to me and I'm going to take this and give gift back to him out of what he's given to me Paul summarized the words of 1 Corinthians 13 in this statement at the end of the love chapter you know it well and now abideth faith hope love these three but the greatest of these is love now that seems like that's the end of the discussion of love but unfortunately there is chapter division is between 13 and 14 which think shouldn't be there it's arbitrary by the way the chapter divisions in the Bible are not inspired they were put there by people who wanted to make the Bible easier for us to read so you hear the summary statement of what love is at the end of chapter 13 do you know what the first verse of chapter 14 says it says pursue love here is what love looks like the love that God has given to you accept it rejoice in it be thankful for it now pursue it in other words take control of your own life and begin to ask God to help you learn how to love better that's what want in my life and here we have this Primal example of that seeming Paradox that stands at the center of all of these traits the fruit is always gift but it is still something requires hard work on our behalf so that brings us to how we do this how do become more loving person I've been commanded to love hear people say this just wasn't born with much love or don't have I'm just not loving person like once you say that you're off the hook no you just admitted where you are but you're really on the hook now nobody has the right to say well know we're supposed to do this but just wasn't born that way know some of you weren't born with loving attitude but that doesn't mean you aren't responsible to love so since love is both gift and task here's the question that challenges Us in every one of these discussions how can we become more loving people I'm Christian know God know that he poured his love into my heart I'm confident that God loves me John 3:16 is something know well but do you know 1 John 3:16 we all know John 3:16 do you know what first John 3:16 looks like the 316s are kind of there for us to Remember by this we we know love because he laid down his life for us and we also ought to lay down our lives for the Brethren that's 1 John 3:16 and 1 John 4:11 and 12 is similar because if God so loved us we also ought to love one another so let me just lay this principle out so that we can all grab hold of it one of the ways you learn how to love one another is by learning how much God loved you in the first place because if we're supposed to love one another as God has loved us then we need to learn more about how God has loved us so that we can pattern that in our love for one another because God loved us we are to love one another October 22nd 2007 the first medal of honor was awarded for combat in Afghanistan it was presented to the family of Lieutenant Michael Murphy on Navy SEAL who gave his life to make radio call for help for his team Murphy and three other seals were sent on mission in June of 2005 into the rugged 10,000 fot Afghan mountains searching for known terrorist and they apparently were spotted by local tribesmen who reported them to the Taliban and Murphy's team was trapped by 50 enemy troops who surrounded them on three sides forced them into Ravine and all four men began to sustain wounds and were out of ammunition we were hurting said the team's sole survivor petty officer second class Marcus Latrell we were out of ammo and it was bad it was real bad but Murphy moved from man to man to keep his team together though he had to expose himself to enemy fire to do it then because the mountainous terrain blocked Communications he had to move into the open area and call for help despite incoming fire he calmly provided his units location and information about opposing Force while making the call he took two rounds in the back and dropped the handset but he managed to retrieve it and complete the call even telling the person at the other end thank you while he was in this wounded condition his dad speaking to reporters after his son had been killed in action said here is man who' been shot in the stomach he'd been fighting with his wound then he gets shot in the back and then he still has the presence of mind to say thank you petty officer Latrell Survived The Firestorm because he was blasted over the ridge by rocket propelled grenade knocked unconscience and rescued by local villagers who refused to turn him over to the Taliban he was later transported to marine Outpost and he owed his life to lieutenant Murphy can't imagine the love respect and gratitude that he feels today for his Fallen companion to know that buddy willingly and without hesitation exposed himself to enemy fire to save him that must be lifelong appreciation not many of us will ever see that kind of courage or love in our own personal lives because it doesn't happen that often the me generation has turned into It's All About Me generation and if we're not careful even in our churches we become consumer centers where everyone wants his or her own style of worship or set of programs but the Bible says this while we were yet sinners Christ died for us there's only one symbol that think is greater than the Medal of Honor and that's the cross of Calvary and think it would help us if we used our imagination once in while just to consider how similar our plight was to that of Murphy's team trapped by the enemy outnumbered wounded and hopeless and yet one man stood up and stretched out his arms and saved us there's something about that picture that moved us and think it's no accident that Jesus died with outstretched arms it was his way of embracing the whole world and reaching out for you and me the second thing we need to do is pursue genuine love did you know that in John 13:35 it says by this the whole world will know whether or not we are Christians if we love one another you expect that to say by this the whole world will know we're Christians if we come to church or if we pray or if we give to the offering doesn't say any of that it says by this shall everyone know that you and are Christian by how we love one another that's the badge of our discipleship and it's no wonder that the watching world looks sometimes at the church which seems to be more about fighting and griping and complaining and all of that and they don't want any part of it because it doesn't seem genuine it doesn't seem real this was very much of problem in the New Testament here's the third thing want to share with you and just give you this principle pray for greater love if you don't feel like you're really as loving as you ought to be ask God to help you God wants us to be loving people and he doesn't mind if we come and ask him to help us and if you have somebody in your life who's not very loving toward you and others you might want to pray for them that God would give them some more love too then don't be afraid to risk that's number four if you want to grow in your love for others don't don't think it's safe way to go how many of you know it's never safe to love anybody cuz they can hurt you we've often said in our discussions at home that sometimes the people you help the most are the ones who hurt you the worst isn't that something but that's one of the things you have to guard against you cannot stop loving simply because you're afraid that if you love you'll be hurt maybe you've gone through relationship and it just ended up so bad and you've said in your heart I'm never getting involved with anybody else again and this was so awful let me read to you what CS Lewis said about this he said to love it all is to be vulnerable love anything and your heart will certainly be rung and possibly broken if you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give your heart to No One not even an animal wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries avoid all entanglements lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness but in that casket safe dark motionless airless it will change it will not be broken it will become unbreakable impenetrable irredeemable the alternative to tragedy or at least to the risk of tragedy is damnation the only place outside of heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of Love is hell you got to be willing to risk and then here's the last one and we're done practice love every day therefore be imitators of God as dear children the scripture says and walk in love how many of you know walking is one step at time just as we learn to walk one step at time we learn to love one loving act at time 1 Corinthians 16:14 says let everything you do be done with love so here's the essence of the message find out how much God loves you and take that love and be distributor take that love and love others every time you think don't know if can love that person stop for moment and remember how much God loved you what he not only saved you from in the past but what he might have saved you from in the future remember the Bible says God loved us when we were without any reason to be loved sinful rebellious not looking for love God reached out to us that that's the quality of love he wants us to develop as Believers and when we do want to tell you if you've ever experienced even little bit of this it's an amazing life to love others is the greatest reward you will ever get in your life and now with one last word here is Dr Jeremiah it's ironic isn't it that the thing the world needs most love is the thing the world understands the least our culture has an abundance of counterfeit love that is incapable of satisfying the longing of the Soul if you and are going to live life beyond amazing we must first learn to love the way God loves fortunately we have the greatest illustration of perfect love modeled for us by Jesus Christ when he died to provide us an Abundant Life today and Heaven in the future understanding true love ultimately begins when we commit our life to Christ by faith if there's country on this Earth where people should be filled with joy one will certainly think it would be the United States of America but most current polls show that only about 35% of Americans are very happy depression affects more than 19% of American adults anxiety disorders affect 40 million or 18% of the population in 2016 federal data analysis found that suicide rates in America had surged to their highest level in 30 years rising in that period by 64% among women and 43% among men and worldwide study of 90,000 people showed that the 10 richest countries in the world also had the highest rates of depression what this tells us is that joy and happiness may not be necessarily dependent on your circumstances and those who have the most reason to be joyful often turn out to be the most often depressed so let me begin this discussion about Joy with two profound statements that comes to us straight from the Bible these may surprise you they kind of surprise me even though I've studied this over the years one of the first things you need to understand about joy in the Bible is that God experiences Joy Isaiah 62:5 says as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride so shall your God Rejoice over you the Bible actually teaches us that God enjoys us he looks down over humanity and he enjoys some of us more than others but he enjoys us Isaiah 6519 says will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people and Zephaniah 3:17 says the Lord your God in your midst the mighty one will save he will rejoice over you with gladness he will quiet you with his love he will rejoice over you with singing don't know if you've ever thought about that before but God in heaven is joyful person and he rejoices in us he likes us if you've been brought up in culture where so many have where God is viewed as god of judgment Stern and angry all of the time listen to the word of God God experiences joy and right on the heels of that we need to understand that God wants you to experience Joy if he's joyful God he wants his creatures to be joyful for those who believe the Bible there is no debate no doubt about this what God desires for us he provides for us listen to the the words of the Lord Jesus from the Gospel of John these things have spoken to you he said that my joy May remain in you and that your joy may be full later in the 17th chapter he said now come to you and these things speak in the world that they may have my joy in themselves when you read the New Testament you discover that the ministry of Jesus in his lifetime was always surrounded by Joy Jesus was joyful person and wherever he went he brought Joy when he was born that was the promise wasn't it that he would bring joy we have word that we sing during the Christmas season Joy to the World the Lord Has Come and when you follow him in his ministry it's amazing how much joy he created everywhere he went it was Ministry of joy that was found in his life went for instance one day he heals this crippled woman and she stands straight up and begins praising God and then there was leper in Samaria who was healed by Jesus and he returns to thank him and the scripture says he came back praising God with loud voice and when the lame man at the gate beautiful was healed he gets up and goes into the temple and here's what it says he was walking and leaping and praising God now that's happy boy amen Jesus embodies joy and his personal style makes it so natural for him to express it you see him at joyful celebration you see him at welcoming home you see him in the acquisition of treasure you watch him finding lost coin or lost sheep or lost man in fact remember one of the first books of the Bible taught as young Pastor was the Gospel of John and you don't even get out of the second chapter in The Gospel of John before you see Jesus performing his first miracle at wedding Jesus went to wedding he went to wedding to perform miracle that became one of the sign miracles in the Book of John so that those who saw the miracle would believe that he was indeed the Son of God but if you go back to that chapter in the book of John Chapter 2 and you read the story of that wedding you see Jesus involved in the celebration of young couple making their vows to one another when they ran out of wine Jesus took care of the problem he was always around where Joy was happening I've discovered that Joy is the atmosphere in which our Christian lives are supposed to be lived when Paul was writing to the Believers in thessalonica he settled it once and for all he said Rejoice always always and you know that Joy is present in every major event that we experience as believers let me ask you question class how many of you remember the day you were saved let me see your hands was that happy day amen happy day happy day When Jesus washed my sin away the joy of Salvation is the joy realizing you're not guilty anymore that you've been forgiven that God has given you the gift of eternal life and you're going to spend eternity with him salvation is joyous time in fact the Bible says when person is saved almighty God throws party in heaven did you know that in Luke 15 and in verse 10 we are told there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents so every time you hear somebody give their testimony of Salvation when person comes to Christ we should all rejoice in that because that's moment of great joy that's where it all starts and you know the Bible tells us this Christian Joy is so unique it even shows up in times of difficulty and trial one of my favorite bible stories probably one of yours too is the story of Paul and Silas recorded in the 16th chapter of the book of Acts and they're put in prison remember that one and before they're put in prison they're taken to the stocks and they're beaten and now they're in prison and the Bible says in verse 25 of Acts 16 but at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them now the kind of joy that can get you happy in jail ha at midnight with your back bleeding and your life in danger that's the kind of Joy want want that kind of joy we may not be able to rejoice in our load but as we learn we can rejoice in our Lord and Christian Joy is so incredible that it even stays with us when we're dying I've been with Christian people through the process of death and seen the smile on their face some of them have told me they've seen Jesus in the process and they wouldn't come back here for anything when Paul was getting ready to finish his journey he said in Acts chapter 20 none of these things move me all the things that were going on around him he said they don't bother me these things don't move me or they don't get in my way don't even count my life dear to myself so that can finish my race with joy joy all the way to the end so in the 15th chapter of the Book of John this is all played out in few words and I'm going to take you through these few words but if you don't have your scriptures in front of you you can watch and we'll put them up on the screen write the reference down let's talk for moment about the source of joy in your life we've already establish that this Joy comes from Jesus listen to his words in John 15:11 these things have spoken to you that my joy said Jesus my joy May remain in you say that with me my joy and that your Joy might be full Jesus says want your joy to be the result of my joy This Joy is Christ's Joy This Joy is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ being lived out inside of you Christian Joy is Christ's joy in the Christian Christian Joy is letting Christ live his life through you so that what he is you become Peter called it joy inex expressable and full of Glory This Joy isn't dependent on us it's dependent on him and if we will trust him he produces that joy in our hearts and the characteristic of This Joy is that it was full Joy this is not imperfect or incomplete it is not an almost Joy or sometimes Joy this is an everyday 100% complete joy and the uniqueness of This Joy is captured in words that Peter wrote in the first chapter of his first letter see if you can get your arms around this one here's what he said whom having not seen you love though now you do not see him yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of Glory let me pause for moment and say if you're looking for Joy outside of Jesus you're wasting your time but I'm here to tell you he's always open for business he's always ready for you to come and if you want joy real Joy wonderful Joy you got to let Jesus Come into your heart and if you've never done that hope you will do that CU all the rest of this is not going to work for you unless you have Jesus in your heart that's where it starts the Bible also tells us that this joy that is my Joy says Jesus and full Joy This Joy is continual Joy friends have you ever discovered how simple it is for your gladness of today to become your sadness of tomorrow have you ever noticed that your sweetness of the morning can turn into your bitterness at night or the friends you thought were your friends yesterday become your enemies today or the wisdom you thought was so cool yesterday is now so foolish today the one thing that all of us share as we take this journey together through humanity is that nothing we get involved with ever seems to last but the joy of Christ of which we speak today is continual NeverEnding absolutely constant lasting Joy This Joy is not hinged on happenings it's perfected in person at one of the lowest times in the lives of Jesus disciples the days just before he was taken away from them to go to the cross in the midst of their sorrow and anxiety Jesus comforted his disciples with these words John 16:22 therefore you now have sorrow but will see you again and your heart will rejoice and this is the part love and your joy no one will take from you so how do you get this Joy we've already talked about the fact that you have to surrender your life to the Lord Jesus Christ you have to give Jesus Christ first place in your life want to say again if you don't know Jesus Christ that's where Joy starts well one of the things you need to do if you want to have joy in your life you have to submit your life totally to the spirit of God you see Joy is the fruit of the spirit when you're filled with the spirit of God you get that fruit we're talking about how you cultivate the fruit but you don't get it you have to trust the Lord Jesus Christ and then the spirit of God comes to live within your heart and if you want that joy to be full and complete you have to say to the Lord Jesus and to the Holy Spirit here's my life do with it as you please may have told you years ago that when first understood the importance of fully dedicating your life to the Lord didn't want to do it because for some reason in my mind thought God was going to send me to Africa for some reason thought if said Lord Jesus you can have my whole life thought if did that I'd end up on on mission field in Africa and now know that wouldn't been all that bad because lot of good things happen there you see until you come to the place where it's not you anymore it's him you're willing to say Lord Jesus here's my life you chart it I'll sign it at the bottom faced that early in my life when believe God wanted to be preacher had been so totally involved in the in the broadcast industry taken many courses in broadcast industry and speech and was working in couple of radio stations because this is what wanted to do then God called me to preach and thought the worst thing about that was was going to leave all that broadcasting stuff away and was going to go be preacher but God was just training me back here for what he knew he wanted me to do out here and would never have found that out if hadn't just said Lord okay whatever you want me to go to Seminary and be preacher here am what thought he took away from me he gave me back multiple times the Bible says commit your way into the Lord and He what gives you the desires of your heart but it doesn't start until you say yes until you say Lord God want your joy know I'm not going to get it my way so here am here's the page of my life I've signed the bottom you fill in the details thirdly you got to study the word of God you know why because this is God's handbook on Joy this is the book that God gave us so that we would know how to live the Christian Life and if you want to know about Joy man this is it you'll find Joy everywhere in this book let me just tell you that if you want really to have joy cultivated in your life you got to share your life with others you're not going to be happy by yourself the God intended you to be happy by yourself he created the church so that we could be together how many of you know how hard it would be to live the Christian Life today if we didn't have each other if we didn't have the church look at all the screw mess we're in right now in this country look at all the craziness that's going on you know the only kind of Sanity you ever feel is when you come to church on Sunday then you have to go back into that mixed up world you got to have other people in your life you know Christianity is joyful one of the great things people tell me when they visit our church Dr Jeremiah there's so much joy in your church isn't that what should be here if you got Jesus shouldn't you be full of joy joy is contagious and to catch the infection you have to expose yourself to the virus and become part of the Blessed epidemic amen so if you want to be joyful person I've been learning this the hard way and some of you know it already if you want to be joyful hang out with joyful people you say how do know the kind of people to go and hang out with find those who are joyful because if person has authentic Joy you've just solved your problem you you got the right person find Joyful people hang out with joyful people become part of the epidemic catch the virus get infected with the joy of Jesus Christ amen so let me go back to that lyric of an old song we used to sing growing up here it is if you want joy real Joy wonderful Joy Let Jesus Come into your heart and now with one last word here is Dr Jeremiah in today's message quoted number of statistics about the Quest for happiness for many true Joy seems to be an elusive experience perhaps this is true because we seek happiness in the wrong places true Joy is only found when we come to know God and we anticipate spending eternity in his presence the path to knowing God's joy is through faith in his son Jesus Christ for Christ is the only path to living contented life and joyful life in these messages I've encouraged you to make nine decisions that will transform your life but behind each of these decisions is one decision that impacts all of the others and that decision is what will you decide to do with the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says that Jesus came into this world to Deliver Us from life of sin and selfishness and separation from God in very familiar verse to most of us the scripture says all of us have sinned and we have fallen short of the glory of God but through the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ that barrier between our holy God and sinful man has been removed and when we decide to put our trust in Jesus Christ for eternal life and we invite him into our hearts and our lives he gives us life beyond amazing the Lord Jesus wants us to have that life but it cannot begin until we make that defining decision to put our trust in Jesus Christ so if you've been listening to these messages and you've been intrigued by the kind of motivational content of some of it that's all well and good but you can't even start any of these things until Jesus Christ is at home in your life if you've never accepted him if you've never invited him into your life let me give you that invitation today make Jesus Christ the lord of your life ask him to forgive your sin and he's never refused to do that for anyone who comes honestly to ask in these messages that we have been sharing have focused on what life might look like if Jesus is involved and how we might activate that life in our everyday lives now there's one more decision to make Jesus Christ is in your heart the Holy Spirit has come to live within your life if you're Christian but but now here is the question you must answer will be willing to turn my life over to the Holy Spirit the person God has given to each of us to orchestrate this life beyond amazing am willing to let him take control let me suggest to you that living life empowered by the holy spirit is the only way you can ever be successful as Christian if you've tried to sustain any of these nine characteristic trait in your own strength you've discovered that it's simply too difficult for you and you know what you're absolutely right the Christian life is not hard it's not difficult it's impossible unless the holy spirit is in control well you say Pastor Jeremiah how do do that I'm Christian know that I'm saved know I'm on my way to heaven know my sins are forgiven but have these things in my life that I've tried to get my arms around and never seem to get victory over with them it's really frustrating if there's something I'm missing out on please tell me well just want to tell you you're not missing the Holy Spirit he lives within you but you may not be appropriating him properly or allowing him to have control in your life and if that's true you will never be able to live the life beyond amazing with any consistency at all there are certain things that you are going to have to recognize and realize if you want that edge in your Christian experience living life in engaged with the Holy Spirit hope that as you've listened to these messages and heard me talk about all the possibilities to be person of love and joy and peace and person that has integrity and person that has self-discipline hope if you'll listen to all these things that you found within your own heart hungering and thirsting after this and saying want that to be true of my life well want to tell you again that that's one of the most critical things that you can have and that's desire the Holy Spirit takes up reson in our hearts the moment we believe but we do not at that moment instantaneously become fully mature Christian it takes time for the fruit that the spirit brings to ripen and become visible in our lives and we have to do our part and here's the first thing we have to do we have to desire the Holy Spirit to be in control you say well that seems kind of mean why are you telling doesn't make any why would you say that wouldn't anybody desire the Holy Spirit no we don't let me tell you where many Christians and think if could if could quote people that I've read and if could look down into the hearts of people that I've met way too many Christians get saved and the only thing they care about is that they're not going to hell and they're going to heaven and now they're going to do their own thing all the way through life if you said to them do you want more of God do you want more of the spiritual control in your life many people would say so what does that mean and then when you start talking about what God may do in their lives they back away and say you know I'm cool I'm great and many of them will say don't bother me with all that stuff know I'm saved know I'm going to heaven and I'm confident of that and I'm comfortable with that and that's all want I'm not into all of this and they think really walking in the spirit is some kind of over thee line out of control walk the Bible says if you want the spirit of God to control your life if you want his power source turned on you have to desire it at the clim of one of Israel's festivals Jesus stood up in the temple and he said if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink and if you read the next verse you find out he was talking about the Holy Spirit in another passage Jesus said if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him both of these passages indicate the same thing we have to desire the Holy Spirit to control us we have to thirst for his Direction in our lives the direction to the destination and the power to get there belong to the spirit but the decision to continually drive forward to the correct destination remains with you how many of you know when you get in your car they haven't done this yet at least they're working on it you don't turn on the ignition punch the GPS system and then sit back and fold your arms and the car takes you where the GPS system says it's going to take you that don't work by the way have running dispute with the lady in my DPS system she she she's not always telling me the truth sometimes she says turn right and know better I'm supposed to go forward and you know what happens when you don't follow the lady in the little box in in your car you just wait few moments and you hear these words recalculating recalculating and thought to myself this week wonder how many times the spirit of God has directed me and I've gone on my own way and the spirit of God has said recalculating one of the things know is that God never gives up on us we take wrong turn he doesn't say okay that's it for Jeremiah he went right and told him to go straight I'm done with him no he keeps after us he keeps recalculating and bringing our lives back but here's the issue the Holy Spirit doesn't do the work he shows you what to do gives you the strength to do it but you have to make the decision to follow it and if you don't then your GPS system is worthless and you will be lost so you have to ask yourself the question today do you want these these qualities developed in your life do you want to be in Cooperative program with the Lord God to work out your own salvation to work out what God has worked in then the holy spirit's going to be involved and you have to give him control second you have to announce your sin love to tell people when talk about the holy spirit that the Holy Spirit has two names and his first name is Holy because he is Holy the Holy Spirit cannot thrive in contaminated environment Ephesians 4:30 says thiso not bring sorrow to God's holy spirit by the way that you live think the new King James says grieve not the Holy Spirit as you become sensitive to the things that you know are not pleasing to God you don't just blow them off or you don't just excuse yourself for them you deal with them and you ask God to forgive you and you repent and repentance means to turn from it it means to take 180 you're going this way in this particular practice and God brings conviction to your heart about it and you say Lord God know this is wrong and Repent of this and I'm sorry for this but that's not the end of it when you do that you turn and you go the other direction repentance is not matter of sorrow and tears and crying repentance means to stop doing what you're doing and stop doing the right thing to repent and what is so wonderful about Charles ry's statement is that we think what I'm talking about is some kind of subnormal or abnormal no this is the way the Christian Life Is someone once told me the Christian life is getting up and falling down falling down and getting up falling down and getting up all the way to heaven nobody lives perfect life nobody gets there without challenges but the issue isn't are you going to be challenged in your life the issue is what will you do when it happens how we respond to it how honest are you willing to be before God when he puts his finger on something and he surely will if you want to walk with him and he'll say that Spirit you have toward that person is wrong Lord God I'm sorry that's not enough go fix it walking in the spirit not grieving the spirit is living life where you listen to the spirit of God when he puts his finger on something in your life in 1 John is the great encouragement that if we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness do you know that verse wasn't written to unbelievers that verse was written to young believers and the Apostle John said listen when you're walking along the way as Christian and you mess up or you step in hole or you do something you shouldn't do or you say something you shouldn't say listen to me here's what you need to know if you confess your sin he is faithful and just to forgive your sin and and cleanse you from all unrighteousness and get back on the road and keep walking and don't stop the Christian life is not an uninterrupted Road from where you become Christian all the way to heaven you're going to have some stops and some starts here's the third thing devote yourself to the word of God well what does that have to do with anything the process of growing in Christ is impossible without this book did you know that nobody has ever been saved except for two things you have to have the spirit of God and the word of God nobody will get to heaven unless the spirit of God and the word of God has worked in their life that's how you become Christian but did you know also that once you become Christian nobody ever grows in their faith without the spirit of God in the word of God let me tell you how this works if you want the fruit of love to develop in your life read the passages in the Bible about love 1 Corinthians 13 others if you want to learn how to endure and have greater endurance study the lives of men like job or Moses do you want to grow in Integrity suggest you get acquainted with Noah and Abraham and Joseph and Hannah and Daniel and whole bunch of others if you do not put the word of God on your heart Drive the Holy Spirit doesn't have anything to work within your life here's one that's tough for all of us men especially die to your own ambition not to ambition to your own ambition the Bible says in Galatians 5 those who are christs have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires if we live in the spirit we have to walk in the spirit we're commanded to walk in the spirit it's simply matter of obedience we we must be willing to let God be God and all God's resources will be available to us if we simply walk in the spirit and Paul uses this word walk it's very interesting how many of you know walk is one step step at time powerful taking one step at time that's how you live the Christian Life one step at time putting one spiritual foot in front of the other sometimes you walk into the wind sometimes you walk with the wind at your back no matter regardless of what you're doing in your life the person who is walking in the spirit is making progress when we let go of our ambition we say to the Holy Spirit okay I'm going to get off the Throne of my life and and I'm going to put you there and from now on what you want will be what do remember leader who was going through some real struggles in his church and he said he finally came to grips with this is how he was going to handle it every day when he went to work he'd open his office and looked there at the chair in his office and envisioned that the spirit of God was there and he would say to the spirit of God don't know what to do with this mess it's in your hands and he would go someplace else and study those of us who grown up in the American ethic know that we're pushed and driven to be self-made people we're motivated to do better and learn be effective all of that is well and good but you have to stop somewhere along the way and ask yourself who is this for and what is this about and you have to ask God to give you Clarity on that no servant can serve ve two masters you cannot have two CEOs in your life you can only get to have one and you have to make the decision the Lord God isn't going to make it for you you have to decide okay I've been tooling along here in my boat with whole lot less power than think should have maybe there's something else and then just stop dead in your tracks and say I'm going to let God take control I'm going to let God run my life I'm going to read his word I'm going to let the holy SP Spirit direct me listen to me God plan for your life is better than any you can imagine but as long as you keep holding on to your own Ambitions and you want to do it your way and you want to do your thing and you're not willing to trust him you will get what you can get but will never be as much as God wants you to have the Bible says commit your way unto the Lord listen to this and he will give you the desires of your heart so ask yourself what is it you desire and then commit yourself to the Lord the spirit of God is just waiting for you to say yes yes take control I'll follow your direction and then you've got to commit yourself to do what he tells you to do so the question is this what do you want your life to be like the Apostle Paul puts it very plainly if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the Deeds of the body you will live for as many as are led by the spirit of God these are the sons of God what will your life be like when you're led by the spirit of God will all the potholes be filled all the detours straightened all the doors opened absolutely not being filled by the spirit doesn't mean your world suddenly becomes Garden of Eden you still deal with crab grass and storms and clouds in your life but you'll see huge difference in how you deal with them because it's not now just you it's the holy spirit in you doing his work through your life when the Holy Spirit is at home in your life the nine virtues that we have been talking about will not only be the gifts of God that you have received at your salvation they will be virtues that are growing and you will be able to discern growth in your life because the holy spirit is at work along the way there will be lot of blessings along the way there'll be some tests but along the way you will feel the presence of the Holy Spirit every day and the fruit of the spirit is about transformation making you different so here we are at the end of this series and here we are at the end of this message and where do we go from here just want to leave you with this thought wherever you are on this journey many of you are Christians have been for long time still looking for that power in your life to be used of God some of you are brand new in the faith maybe you've just been baptized ized and you're getting your you you're getting your start as walking with the Lord wherever you are whatever you're doing just keep going don't quit keep utilizing what God gives you keep taking what you learn and putting it into practice don't just be collector of information I'm glad when see you take notes but hope you're taking notes so you can remember what the word of God says so you can remember when you read it again what to do the Bible says we're not to be hearers of the word only but doers one of my greatest fears is that I'm teacher of the word of God and people come and they're more smart about the Bible than they ever were but they don't allow the word of God to matriculate down into the everyday life that they live so here's what I'm saying just keep going don't quit there's story about mother who had young son who was struggling to learn to play the piano and she thought it might encourage him to attend concert of great pianist who was visiting their city as they were seated the mother spotted friend and left her seat to go speak to her her son very curious young man took the opportunity to explore the Grand Music Hall where this event was taking place soon he wandered through door marked no admittance when the house lights dimmed and the mother returned to her seat and realized that her child was missing before she could do anything about it the curtains opened on the spotlighted center stage and the audience gasped with mixture of laughter and anger when the mother saw the cause of her reaction she gasped in horror there at the keyboard of this grand piano sat her little boy innocently picking out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at that moment the master pianist made his entrance he quickly moved to the piano and whispered in the little boy's ear don't quit keep playing and then the great Piano Master leaned over the boy with his left hand and began filling in the base accompaniment to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and moment later his right arm reached around to the other side and added running obligado and when the last note sounded the mesmerized audience stood to their feet and thundered their Applause together together the old master and the young novice had transformed an awkward situation into wonderfully creative moment and this is what God does with us no matter how hard we try to live Godly lives our efforts always seem to come up short but when God enters he turns our halting music into masterpiece he takes our efforts done in good faith and he honors our efforts but not only that by his holy spirit he transformed those efforts into something beyond what we could ever do if we had the best day of our life and that is what Paul was telling us when he wrote work out your own salvation in fear and trembling sit down at the piano and begin to play but don't worry it is God who works in you both to will with his right hand and to do with his left hand what is necessary so the indispensable key is what the master said to the little boy don't quit keep playing and now with one last word here is Dr Jeremiah throughout this series have encouraged you to make decisions that will lead to life beyond amazing life of love joy peace and endurance compassion generosity Integrity humility and self-discipline you may be thinking well that's lot easier said than done but that is exactly how the Bible tells us to live we can become the people God wants us to be and claim the Abundant Life he has for us if we will depend on the power of the holy spirit that can only happen when we Are Born Again by faith in Jesus Christ Christ so to help you take that step toward living life beyond amazing please allow me to send you three free gifts from turning point first life beyond amazing scripture cards to help you stay focused every day on the amazing life we have in Christ second booklet about knowing and living for Christ called your greatest turning point and third our monthly devotional magazine turning points to encourage you with inspiring articles and devotionals and we'll send all these gifts to you free of charge if you will contact us here at turning point today thank you for being with us today join us next time for another message with Dr David Jeremiah here on turning point