Foundational Spiritual Roots of Joy

Well, good afternoon, everybody, and I want to welcome those that are streaming with us and those that will be perhaps listening to this message in the weeks, the days, and sometimes the years ahead. And I hope that it will be a blessing to each and every one of us that are here today and those that may need it in years to come. I want to share a little story about myself. I think many of you know that I was in Pasadena for many, many years.

And was in the auditorium PM. Sandy will remember those days. And will remember the, for those of you that ever visited there and or perhaps watched on television, you recognize that there's a big stage and that people would walk out on that stage as the curtain opened. And just so you'll know, I was normally the one that was opening the curtain on the side as people were about to step out and to speak before 1,100 people.

That can be a little spooky. You know, there's a, you know, they say that public execution and public speaking are like almost the same thing. It gets a little scary. And so what would happen is, whether it's one of our very talented musicians and or one of our speakers that have been spoken for years and years around the world, that all of a sudden they're there at the headquarters at the time, going to be 1,100 people in front of them, plus those perhaps watching, streaming, whatever they had back then.

And I would be the one just to, sometimes I walked out there too and speaking, but that I would normally greet them at the curtain right before they went out and maybe the special music was going on. And I'd be watching them and they'd be like the, and or the the lady that was singing or the man that was singing, like this and like this.

And so I was just standing by them, kind of spending some time, giving them a little encouragement. And then I just simply say, feel the joy. Just feel the joy. And all of a sudden they'd looked up like, am I supposed to? I mean, what's going on? I've never had anybody tell me that. And that's what I'm going to be talking about today. I'm going to be talking about the subject of joy and how that can affect us. And then that joy that we have within us, we can share with others. And that's why God has called us to be an extension of the joy that He gives us and to give that to other people along the way.

In so doing, I'd like to share another story. I thought about it this morning, or actually when I was driving, as I was driving down and Susan was asleep, so I had time to think coming down. And I thought of a very neat story, and I think I've shared it with you before, that there was a world famous conductor, and they were doing a rehearsal, getting ready for a big production. And it was a rehearsal, and the song that they were rehearsing at that time was, I know that my Redeemer liveth.

I think all of us have heard that at one time or another. I will not belt it out right now in front of you. That's not my gift. If I have any gifts, that's not one. But that, so they were practicing, and then the lady that does the major lead, the soprano, in that beautiful, beautiful hymn began to sing, and at the end everybody was in awe because of how she just carried it off technically.

But the world famous conductor came over to the lady and said to her, I don't know if you believe that my Redeemer liveth. And she was aghast. Nobody had ever mentioned that to her before. But there was something that was missing. There was something, the joy, the knowing, the pulse that this individual had had a calling of relationship with God.

She went back for a moment, studied her words again, and then they did it all over again in rehearsal. And after that, the conductor came up to her and said, now I know that you know that our Redeemer liveth. And that's what we're going to be talking about today. We're going to be talking about knowing. We're going to be talking about what I call pulse. It's going to be important in this. And we're going to be talking about you and me.

Sometimes how we can get pushed to the side and lose our bearing of what God is doing with us. Join me, if you would, in Psalms 51. In Psalms 51, to begin with, to lead into our title here in a few minutes. And I think all of us are acquainted in general with Psalm 51. It's the story of, it's the Psalm of repentance. It is the time when David is broken down.

He has had relationships with Bathsheba. We understand what happens later on, that they lose that child, etc., etc., etc. It's quite a story. He had, as you might say, spiritually fallen off the wagon, gone a bad direction. But now he was coming back to God in this incredible Psalm of repentance.

And then we pick up the thought, if he could, in verse 10 of Psalm 51. Notice what it says here. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. He was been at a standstill. He was now having a reawakening. He felt a distance between him and the Creator, and was coming in a prayerful plea that he might be restored. But it was not only for himself. The restoring of the joy was not only for him, but that it might extend, that it might spill over on others as he came into contact with them.

Because it says here, then I will teach in a sense. And teaching is not always yak, yak, yak, yak, and sermonizing with somebody. But just by the sheer example that you know, that there is something different with that individual. And sinners shall be converted to you.

So he speaks about not his joy, but restore your joy. Because, ultimately, joy comes from God. Because the Spirit is given to us. And in that Spirit, if you'd like to jot this down, and in that Spirit are the seeds of joy. It's not just joy, joy, joy immediately. The Spirit gives us the seeds of joy, gives us the seeds of shalom. And what Mr. Gardinhire mentioned today, and what I'll be mentioning about, are going to be very congruous, very important to really understand what a Jew means when he says shalom.

There's a deeper understanding than just good tidings and good times. And it really does come into what joy is all about. What is David doing here? David is speaking as a singular person, as a man who has been, in a sense, spatially divorced from God because of what he has done.

And he's not merely one more Israelite. He's not one more of the tribe of Judah. He's not the head of a group. He's not in a group. This was something very, very personal. He needed connection. He recognized that he had lost the source of connection with eternity. And it had to come from the inside out, not exterior pressures from somebody else, not expectations or groupthink. This was his time.

This was his responsibility. No one else is to beseech God and ask for a comeback.

Ask for another opportunity. The time had come. Opportunity is a very unique word. I think I've explained it before, but it's Greek. And when you say opportunity, it was used in days of yore because there's a certain time in the maritime industry when the tide would be just right, just right, to come into port. And so opportunity meant to know the time when the time was right, so that the tide had risen and there'd be passage and there would be a connection. That's where the term opportunity comes. Today, I'd like to further explore that plea along with a well-known, yet ever so powerful question posed to many of us over three human generations in the Church of God community. You'll recognize it. It's simply this. We often would use it when we come up to the festivals and probably will be used again in 2025, just like the first time I heard it in 1963 as a boy. And that is simply this. Why are we here? Why are we here when, frankly, we could be out there in the flow of traffic all day long on the 15 or the 163 or the 8 or the 805? Remember, I don't live in San Diego. I may be running out of freeways. But you know what I'm saying? Or we could be—maybe not today. It's a little damp out there or cold—but we could be on the beach at La Jolla or we could be strolling in the San Diego Zoo. Why are we here today?

And to understand that, what is the motivation? What is our purpose? For you to keep on trying to avail yourself of reading Scripture and observing laws that others are saying aren't done away with and aren't relevant for today's world, for us to travel distance, to be where God has placed His name on the feast days, and to be able to learn from Him and to honor Him and to worship Him and to hear about Him and His loving plan for all of humanity, for you to lovingly, in prayerful thought, to deal with your marriages, dealing with your children, sometimes dealing with your adult children, which is a whole different twist on dealing with children at times, and or your jobs, where so many other people that you're bumping shoulders with all day long are consumed by other things that are going to come and are going to go. Or let's put it this way, what motivates you at times to travel 15, 20, 30, 40, some of us 60 miles to come to services, to be here, to have the Scriptures open before us, and to have the thoughts and the words of God convey to us for you as a person of faith to sincerely believe in the reality of the Kingdom of God that gives you a confidence that the best days are ahead. Think about that for a moment. We can't lose that fervor. We can't lose that hope that the best days ahead—Susan, I were just talking this morning. I always like to bring Susan, as you know, into the conversation. I'll hear about it later. But that aspect, as we look at world leaders, and I realize people can be for this person or that person and this and that, but no world leader matches up to God's chosen King of the wonderful world tomorrow. We can all be for this guy, or we can be for this guy, but at the end of the day, they're human beings. Whether it's in our nation or other nations, we all kind of saw it yesterday just from afar. Watch out, okay? What's that all about? Okay?

As you know what I'm talking about. And again, to recognize—and not to limit, we are apolitical. I'm just talking about people—and to recognize, then, go to Isaiah 11 and see what God's leadership is like and what we have looked forward to in the wonderful, wonderful world tomorrow. That's our hope, and that's what we're looking for. We're looking ahead. We're not always going to get everything in this lifetime immediately. Having grown up in the Church of God community, and in principle, we would often say that one plus one equals two. For every cause, there isn't a fact. Remember that? Am I talking to the right audience? For every cause, there is an effect.

So we say, okay, and God gives us cause and effect. He tells us here, you do this, and I will do this. So we would think that one plus one equals two. That quickly.

But that's not really how it operates. Yes, we want to go one plus one because we're honoring God and we're following His ways. But it doesn't always come immediately when we want it or in our time. The Dutch, my people from way back, the Dutch, they have an expression. God doesn't pay weekly, but ultimately He does pay. And that's joy. And to understand that, that sometimes one plus one equals. And indeed, the God's truth about it is, yes, it does. But it's in His time and His way, and it will come. And that's what joy is all about. It's called the joy of salvation based upon understanding of why you exit here and now. Excuse me. I'm looking at my notes here, and it's not quite looking at. When we talk about the kingdom of God, we talk about the kingdom. It is the joy of salvation based on the understanding of why we exit from other things here and now and put our focus on that kingdom coming. You know, our joy is like this, that we recognize the Sabbath is not only a memorial of what God did in the beginning in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. Yes, there was a creation. And yes, God is a creator. And yes, He is the sustainer.

But then on the seventh day, where we're congregating today, this 24-hour period between sunset and sunset, God did something totally different outside, outside the first six days. He created. He didn't bump into. He created the Sabbath as a picture of what He was yet going to do. He wasn't tired. He's not a couch, you know, He's not a, what's that, couch potato? You know, just, you know, He is now moving to a different creation. The Sabbath points to a new creation, a spiritual creation, which is still in the mix, six thousand years down the line. And what He's doing now, He's taking that, which was physical, and then creating a spiritual creation to worship Him, to emulate the example of His Son, and ultimately to be members of His family. Not, not angels, not spiritual paths, but to literally be children of God, and as a kingdom of priests, those that are firstfruits, to be able to assist the great Lord of the millennium, the high priest, Jesus Christ, and to recognize that this day then is totally unique. Because God, let's just think about this. When talking about new creation, He's creating a new kind of man, a new kind of woman, and not only that, but a new kind of community beyond just the singular, beyond the individual, that is based upon godly relationships. When you look at the course of history, whether it be secular or even at times with the people of God, from Cain and Abel, to the children of Jacob, that's a group, to the children of Israel and the promised land that God had given them, their issues were not just with the Canaanites.

They had issues and were going to war with one another, the tribes of Israel, in that period between between Moses and the kings. Then look at the king. Hello? Then look at the kings.

Good one, bad one, good one, bad one, you gotta, you know, relationships. And then the disciples, as we might say, heaven help us, and help us right there, because Jesus Christ said, be careful what you ask for. If you want to be on my left hand and my right hand and leave everybody else behind. We've been called to relationships that are godly, that are different than the world around us. So why is it so important in that we're talking about the subject of joy? Feeling the joy is something, oh, that's not just something that Weber came up with, a little cutesy and emotionalism. I'm not talking about emotionalism. We don't have that in the church of God community.

Ooh, but there is emotion. Feeling the joy is more than emotion, and it's more than a singular event.

Joy today, no joy tomorrow, joy today, no joy tomorrow. It is, you want to put this down? Joy is an existence. It's an existence. It's an expression, and it becomes an extension to others, as David outlined in Psalm 51, in an environment that you find yourself and enter into daily, daily. You know, what I mentioned 45 years ago to people as they pass through the curtain, I still do today. I did for years when I would go back and visit Cincinnati when I had those responsibilities. I do that with some of you at times. I do that as a festival coordinator before somebody goes up, and you know what they're doing.

I said, put this aside. Feel the joy. Let it come outside of you. So the title of my message is simply this. I want to share some of the foundational spiritual roots of joy. We're talking about the roots of joy, how it will stick as the storms of life come along. And if I were to use just a term for joy, I would probably say it this way. It is the beating pulse of God.

It's the beating pulse of God. You know, we've either countered that in our life or seen it in the movies. What do you do when you wonder if somebody's dead and there's nothing in them? You go, like, what are you doing? You put, you know, you don't put your little finger, you put your thumb over somebody's wrist. And what are you looking for?

You're looking for life. You're looking for a pulse. You're looking for something that's telling that each and every one of us ought to be. So let's take a look at it. And as we do again, we're, we don't want just, we want it to be a sustaining joy. Before going any further, then now we're going to move quickly here. Before going any further, let's take a moment to define joy and what it means, biblically speaking, by word and by godly intent. Joy in the Old Testament, I'm not going to go through the Hebrew. I'm not a scholar like Bob is, so I'll just define what, what it comes out in the Old Testament. It's very interesting. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew there defines gladness. It defines shouting. I don't know if you ever thought of shouting, which is one of the definitions which, it's a shouting. And again, you kind of think of the Feast of Trumpets. It's a, it's a, the Feast of Trumpets itself in the Hebrew is defined as a memorial of shouting. That, not shouting through a trumpet, but two and a half million Israelites would be out there in the wilderness. Can you imagine what a roar that was? Shouting and praising God, the God, the Deliverer, the one that had brought them out of the land of Egypt.

There's an exuberance then, a steady flow of exuberance. There's a loudness. There's not a whisper. Joy is not a whisper. Now, please understand, as I'm giving this message, I'm not telling you, going around, you know, doing a joy, joy, joy. That's not what we're talking about.

But you know it when you've sensed it from somebody, just like that conductor did with that songstress, that now we know that you got it. Now, in the New Testament, it comes from the Greek word, which you often use for gift, karas or kara, and that means to delight. There is a gladness. That means that, in a sense, then we delight in the ways of God. We delight in the example of Jesus Christ. We delight that God, by His grace, has given us His Holy Spirit.

Simply then point—this is very important before we go any further—simply put, what is joy? Get down to it, Weber. What is it? Joy is choosing to respond to external circumstances with inner contentment and satisfaction based on a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Jot down, Philippi. Oh, let's go to Philippians 4 for a second. Philippians 4.

Okay, verse 6. Let's take a look at here. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. Now, notice this. And the peace of God, the shalom of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. In other words, what this really means to break it down into English is simply this. God will give us a peace that is better than the facts on the ground currently happening in your life. That was not just simply stuck in a moment, but we have the long view. Bob, you were talking about shalom. And the Jewish says shalom to somebody else. It's not happy, happy. The peace that they are talking about is this.

This peace that, here Paul, coming out of the Jewish community, went to, is that God will give you a grace that God will give you an understanding, that God will give you a tool that whatever comes your way to realize that He knows, for us to realize that we are not alone and that something is happening here to honor Him, and that He will use these experiences to accomplish His work in us. I'd like you to go to Ephesians 2 here for a second, just a book over in Ephesians 2, and picking up the thought in verse 8. Notice what it says, For by grace, not by works, but by grace, you have been saved through faith and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. So we are saved, yes, by grace. But I'm going to build on that for by grace, you have been saved through faith and not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any one should boast. Now notice verse 10, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we should walk in them.

Have you ever heard that expression before? You're a piece of work.

That's not always said, some of you are smiling. That's not always said in nice overtones, is it? Can I share something with all of you that are listening to me today or listening online here? Assembly this, we are all a piece of God's work. And it is not yet done, thank God, that there is more that is coming. We are in His hands. So when we come to all of this, ultimately the joy that is biblically being addressed here, is simply this, is dependent on who God the Father and Jesus Christ are in our hearts. It is dependent upon our knowledge and our ability to assess who they are, to understand that we have been tapped by that which is uncreated into our created world, and that Father above knows best, rather than who we are, or what is happening in our moment of time, in a given moment, and that God looks beyond that, as Bob brought out in his fine message, that God and the Christ are shepherds in whom there is no want. And like the Dutch, God may not be on your time frame, but you are always on God's mind and in God's heart. And to remember that Jesus Christ died for each and every one of us.

God the Father doesn't forget that, and Jesus Christ doesn't forget that, just as much as when Stephen was being martyred, the first martyr of the New Testament church, and to recognize that he had that vision. And there was Jesus Christ, and it's like almost like he was in vision looking down from heaven, and Stephen saw that, that, go, guy, I know you can do it.

I know what's happening. I'm not on vacation. Bless you from above.

More to come in the future, which we'll talk about in a moment.

Now, let's see how joy works in real time. Join me if you would in Hebrews 12.

In Hebrews 12. Well, how could Jesus say that to, you know, nice to be able to say that up in heaven. Maybe they need to trade places.

No, Jesus has already been there, done that. Notice Hebrews 12 in verse 1. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Just imagine that.

You don't normally associate joy with this ghastly scene of crucifixion, the most horrible death ever devised by humanity, visited upon the one that created the I AM, the Word.

The creation killed the Creator. Therefore, and it says, for the joy. What's that talking to you and me today? Here, let's make it real on Saturday as we have our challenges, as we have had our challenges, we've had our disappointments in life, and we're on a waiting game. Joy is dependent upon having a long vision and not being derailed, knowing that God knows where we are at. He is that good shepherd that Mr. Gartenhauer talked about. And in that, even though it looks cruddy in the moment, that's a Hebrew word for cruddy, even though it's cruddy in the moment, God will not be mocked. God cannot forget. God will answer. Sometimes we put things together, and it's hard to put things—what's going on here? And joy has a long range. Join me, if you would, in John 1837. John 18 and verse 37.

This is on the last night of our Savior's humanity, or in the early morning thereof, because He's taken at night, and He's going back and forth between the court of Herod and the court of Pilate and back and forth, just to get a story. So He's in dialogue with the Roman governor Pilate, and Pilate answered something about Baba Bob, and then in verse 36, Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered by the Jews, but now my kingdom is not from here.

Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? Are you a king then?

And then Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth, and everyone who is of the truth hears my foot. This was everything that was in Jesus of Nazareth.

He was purpose-driven. He knew His purpose. As Scripture says, even from a lad, He said, I'm about my Father's business. Later on, it would say in the Gospels that at a moment when He knew it was time, He'd been up in Samaria, He'd been up in the Galilee, and now it says, and then He set His face towards Jerusalem. He had a beat on it. It was now time. It was moving towards the Passover in 31 A.D. It was time to go a calling and ultimately be crucified on the altar of Golgotha. He did not deter. In that, there was a joy. He was living out His purpose. He knew He was in His Father's hands. And we'll talk about that in a moment as when we do conclude.

In John 15, I'd like to pick up the thought of verse 4. He is the vine in which the Father has us spring from. I'd like to pick up the thought in verse 4. Abide in me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches, and he who abides in me. And I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. Now notice, but if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. And by this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit as you will be my disciples. And as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you and abide in my love. And if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love just as I kept my Father's commandments and abide in my love. Now notice this. These things, as you abide in me, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. Where did he tie it into that one that was crucified? The worst thing that he ever did in his life was be perfect. Think that one through for it's an oxymoron, isn't it? The worst thing he ever did was be perfect. And yet the judicial courts down below called him guilty. God the Father, the Supreme Court in heaven, overturned the courts of this earth. And we knew what would come about, as did Jesus know what would come about, and that he looked beyond being nailed to a piece of wood like an animal, and looked beyond that. Notice for the moment of what was going on, and noticing that there was going to be a time in the future, man, his pulse was running. There was going to be a time in the future that he was going to be God the Father's welcomeer at the door, because he is the door. He is the gateway. Jesus, in a sense, is the Mater D of heaven, welcoming us into the presence of the Father. He saw that. That's what was on his mind on Golgotha, as the author of Hebrews bears out. Therefore, in Philippians 4 and verse 4, notice this, Philippians 4 and verse 4, rejoice, and the Lord always. And again, I will say rejoice. What is rejoicing? Let me put this down if you'd like to take a note. Rejoicing is joy on steroids.

Rejoice, not just once, but rejoice. And again, I say rejoice. Joy is not just something that you bring out once a week. It is an existence. I think I've told you the story before, but I'll tell it again. My mother had a very dear friend when I was growing up in high school in Pasadena, and her name was Mary Ann Hooges, who, remember, is Mary Ann. And Mary Ann, who had a very challenging life—I will leave it at that—her favorite voice—her favorite voice—her favorite scripture in the Bible was rejoice, Philippians 4-4, rejoice. And again, I say rejoice.

She was very instrumental, especially—and you've heard my story before about being healed of spinal meningitis when I was 16. But she was with my mother all that night because she had some nursing background. I was not in a hospital. I was at home. And Mrs. Hooges was there all along.

She was always giving. She was always interested in other people, even though her life was very, very challenging. Her husband had some challenging situations medically on her own.

And years later, as a pastor of one of the headquarters congregations at that time, went down with a few other administrators that you would know at that time. And we went down to a hospital on Wilshire Boulevard to visit Mrs. Hooges, who was dying. She had cancer.

And we all visited and exchanged pleasantries and communication. We love you, which we did because she'd been an institution in the Pasadena area and the Los Angeles area.

And I was about to exit, knowing that this was going to be the last time that I was ever going to see Mrs. Hooges, who'd been like a second or third mother. I've got all sorts of, you know, I was saying. And I was about to go out, and all of a sudden, she said, Robin. I was about to go out the door. She said, Robin, in her bed, looking towards the door.

And I turned around and said, Yes, Mrs. Hooges. And she said, Robin, do you remember?

Oh, I said, Yes, Mrs. Hooges. I remember. Rejoice. And again, I say, rejoice.

I had that teaching, and that drilled into me by, again, a fellow member in the body of Christ, who in her own life, there was not a lot of joy. I mean, a lot of happy. There's a difference between happy and joy. Happy is based upon external coming to us, Disneyland every day.

But we're in a different kingdom, not the Magic Kingdom. We're in God's kingdom, and he is working on us. And sometimes you say, Lord, isn't that enough? Hello?

Is there anybody else up there? You know, no. Okay. Got that one down.

Yeah. His purposes for us are beyond the moment. But the reality is, again, Bob and everybody else, that when a Jew says shalom, it's not like, you know, for us that are out of the 60s, make peace, not war, right? The shalom there is that God will give us that which we need.

And that, again, joy then is based upon faith. Joy is based upon faith that we are truly not alone.

I'm going to go to one other verse. I'm going to finish up a story.

Susan kind of heard this last week, and it's all kind of different today. And that's how sermons always are. But join me if you would in 1 Corinthians 2.

In 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9, what allows us to be able to have this joy? In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9, but as it is written, I has not seen neither has ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things. Yes, the deep things, the deep things of God. Is there a purpose down here below? Are we just the descendants of furry creatures?

Are we just the descendants of lovesick amoeba and a pleistocene pool where the photosynthesis just hits right? And all of a sudden, voila!

I do not have a gorilla for a great, great, great, great, great uncle. And God did not create something made in his own image and likeness out of a slimy pond. I'm sorry.

There is a purpose that is being worked out here below.

David asked that question, and he said, I consider the heavens.

And yet, we are the apple of God's eyes, those that God is calling in this day and this age.

That's a vision that God has implanted in us. I'm going to conclude here. You'll be very happy. I'm going to skip two pages, and I'll send you out my notes anyway. But that I want you to think about something here of why things happen to us. Remember what I talked about? One plus one equals two. I believe that with all of my heart and all of my mind and all of my soul. But I've got to leave that which is past the equal to God in His time and in His way. I'm going to show you how this works. James 2. In James 2, I say James 2, James 1, verse 2, pardon me, my brother encountered all joy. Woo hoo! Woo hoo! All joy! When you fall into various trials, humanly we say, or really, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

And if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for he who is like a wave of the sea driven, tossed to and fro. The patience have its perfect work.

If there's ever a story about patience, if you have a piece of paper or a pencil, we're going to have a little exercise. This is called the interactive part of church as we begin to end. Welcome how we do things here in San Diego. You got a pencil, a piece of paper, pencil? Just a little piece of paper. Simply this, I would like you to write down two letters consecutively. We're going to spell out something.

I'd like you to write J and O.

Now below that, I would like you, this is not going to be mentally pressing for all of us, okay? I would like you to write J and O. Now, are we having fun yet? Then I would like you on your first line, I would like you to put in after J-O, I'd like you to put Y. And that spells joy. Now, something that maybe you've never thought about before and put this all together, that's why you've come to church. On the second line, J and O, and put in, I'm going to make you think now, and I'll do all the thinking for you, put in a name of a character in the Bible.

Who did you come up with?

I'm having so much fun watching your faces.

Susan knows the answer, but she can't say this.

I'll make it very simple for you. Oftentimes, we think of the book of Job. The book of Job.

Job is actually the saga, the spiritual saga of how joy works. You ever thought of it that way?

42 chapters. I remember many, many years ago, somebody once asked Mr. Armstrong, was Job ever converted? And Mr. Armstrong thought about it, and then he said, yes, it did, but it took him 42 chapters. It says, I've heard of you by the hearing of the year, but now my knife sees you. And there are simply some things that, excuse me a second, some things.

Hello, what's your name? Pardon me.

There are just some things that we're not going to know.

But there's something that we know about Job that describes joy, and I'm going to leave that with you, and that's going to be very important. In Job 121, we're going to go through these three verses real quickly. Let's go to Job right before Psalms.

In Job 21—oh, did I say Job 21? Job 1. Pardon me, folks. Job 1.

And let's pick up this thought. We know that Satan had asked for Job, come up to God's throne, said, oh, you know, Job's your, you know, he's giving you apples every day, and you know, he's your teacher's pet, and you know, you just have this hedge around Job. Let me have him for a while. And God said, okay, I'm going to take away a part of the hedge, and you can do to Job whatever you want to. But there's one thing you can't do. You cannot take his life from him.

That didn't stop Satan from taking everybody else's life. We recognize the devastation that happened to Job's family, which was incredible. And then we pick up a thought here in verse 21.

When it says in verse 20, then after all of this, and Job arose, tore his robe, shaped his head, and he fell to the ground. And notice what he did. Everything going on. And it says, and he worshipped. Well, who's he worshiping? He's worshiping God. After all of that devastation that in that moment, perhaps he could not understand, but he kept on worshiping God, not letting go of God, which is the key of understanding joy. And he said, naked, I came from my brother's womb, and naked shall I return there. Now, let's go to chapter 2. Just one other verse after that. In chapter 2, we have Mrs. Job. We don't know what her first name is other than Mrs., so Mrs. Job has had it up to here. Then his wife said to him, do you still hold fast to your integrity? Notice what it says, curse God and die. But Job said to Mrs. Job, you speak as one foolish woman speaks, as a foolish woman speaks, shall we in day accept good from God and shall not accept adversity. In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips. Nothing good was happening in the book of Job, humanly speaking. Everything had been taken away from him. And yet he worshiped God.

He said, this is a part of existence that I've got to learn from.

The big key for you and me today is in Job 19. Join me if you would there, Job 19.

In Job 19, in picking up the thought, if we could, in verse 23.

Oh, that my words were written. Oh, that they were inscribed in a book, that they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead forever. For I know that my Redeemer lives. That's where the song comes from. That I spoke about in the beginning of this message. I know that my Redeemer lives.

And after my skin is destroyed, that I know that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, whom I shall behold, and not another. And how my heart yearns within me. Can I make a comment? Job had pulse. Job had pulse. The joy of God. God gives us the spirit. He gives us the seeds of joy. He gives us the seeds of peace. He gives us the seeds of love. But we have got to walk that walk of joy. And the only way that joy is going to be a part of the world is to walk that walk of joy. And the only way that joy is going to develop and the fruit of the spirit of which one is joy is by nurturing, is by nourishment of going through at times the winters of life, the hot summers of life. Going through those, as Bob mentioned, those green pastures. Going through those still waters. Going through those happy paths when we're learning God's ways of righteousness. But also as we get stuck in that valley of the shadow of death.

And yet to recognize the joy is that there's something beyond that. That one plus one equals two in God's time where David says, and surely I know, surely I know that I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

You might say in going back over Bob's message today that Psalm 23 is the exclamation point of joy. Joy.

One last verse. Psalm 30 verse 4. Psalm 30 verse 4. And this builds upon.

This builds upon what is spoken of in Job. Psalm 30. And verse 4. Sing praises to the Lord, you saints of his high, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment and his favor is for life.

Weeping may endure for a night. Weeping may endure for a night but notice but joy comes in the morning. That is the ultimate of what joy is. The nights can be long.

I'm finding that out as a senior citizen. I kind of wake up in the middle of the night, and I may be having less years to live, but I have more time at night to think.

Makes it seem longer. You're all looking at me like I'm the only one. You know. Okay.

But joy comes in the morning. The night can seem drab. It can seem dark. It can seem long.

But we all know that in the morning the sun will rise. The light will predominate. The light will conquer. Jesus Christ, the I AM, created light. And he came to this earth, and he was the light of the world. The victory is in him. The victory was at Golgotha. Now we're just having to work out the details as God's way of life comes to us. We are not alone. Joy. This week, let's remember that the light of heaven has come to us. Let us respond at times to God. And maybe you're in that same pit stop that David is right now. God's waiting. God wants to hear from you. God wants to restore you. God wants to give you. He never gets tired of us. He will never give up on us.

This is your moment. If you feel far away from God, if you're not where you ought to be as a child of God, consider. Note the example of David. And as you go forth from this spot today, may each and every one of you feel the joy of God.