Garment of Praise

Well, good afternoon, everyone. Good to see all of you here today. I want to say welcome to those listening on the web as well. Thank you, Mr. Nielsen, for that very fine special music. I'm always impressed with the musical talent that's here. And anyone who can play an instrument, you have my admiration. So, you know, this week I was watching one of those cable news stations, and I saw a clip on there that touched me in a way that I didn't expect it to. And they were talking about the Mexican government coming up to the United States and filming an ad in one of the major American cities about drug addiction and the awful effects of it. And they were going to take that back and play it for their youth and their country to say, this is what happens. This is what happens if you become drug addicted. And as I watched that and saw the pictures—it was the first time I had seen pictures like that. If you watch the news, you see some of the things that are going on in the world around us. But the pictures of these people who were just there, there was no life in them. They were just standing around.

I don't know if the word zombie is the correct term or not, but it was just an awful thing to see these people doing that. And they would take from shot to shot. And I think it happens in every major American city that you can see this. And I haven't actually seen it in person, but something, by the way, it was filmed, just made me feel sorry, really sorry, for the world we live in and the people that are in that state.

And I know that drug addiction is not anything new. Mr. Rangel talked about it. It's been going on for years. But when you look at all the world around us and you see that going on and you see all the other things that are happening where people are just doing strange things, things that we would not have even thought about five or ten years ago. And I think about some of our young people, and I saw a poll this week or somewhere that indicated that more than half of our teens know someone who's going through some kind of gender transformation. That shocked me. I don't know anyone that's doing that. But our teens are exposed to that every day. And even at the feast, I heard some things about it. And I think, what is going on in the world? What is happening that young people would be dealing with these things? Drug addiction in such a way that there's just no hope for those people. People that get into these things and some of the gender stuff that's going on, the whole sexual thing, or just try anything. Just try something new. And it's almost being encouraged in the world today. And you look at the world around you and you just have to shake your head and think, your lives, you're messing them up. You have absolutely nowhere that you're going. And whatever you're doing is completely destroying everything that should be built. And what you see in the world around us is a complete breakdown in societal foundations. It's just like there's nothing that's sure anymore. If you're a young person and you look around and you see, you know, the government is saying this, my schools are teaching us this, my at-home parents are doing things, you know, not people in the church, but saying things and doing things that just shake you to the very foundation. So young people in society have no idea what is going on. And you see that there is just, in a way, there's just a lack of hope. No one knows what to expect anymore. The world has become quite uncertain. And if you're a young person or even if you're an older person looking at life down the road, you think, where is this going? Where is the hope? Where is the incentive? What am I living for? What are we looking at? And it makes you and me, you know, as we look at ourselves, one of the things among the many things that we can be thankful for as we look at this week when we're focusing on Thanksgiving here in America, that the hope that God gives us is a very, very important thing. It makes our life, it makes our life different. We have hope. We have hope. And you know what? We're the church that has that hope and the world needs that hope. Now, we need to realize that and we need to be talking about that hope and taking that hope out to the world. Not that everyone is going to do that, but that they know there is hope. It's not in governments. It's not in politicians. It's not in themselves. But the hope is in God. The hope is in Jesus Christ. He came. He lived his life, died for us, the sacrifice of all the sins, and in that is hope. Yet the world has lost sight of that. And so we see all these things going on around us, that if we had our eyes open or if we were living in the world, and that was the only hope we had, I think we would be far different people than we are today as well. If you will, turn with me to Romans, Romans 15.

Romans 15. Paul talks about this hope in verse 13.

As he's about to close his epistle to the Romans, he says, He says, May you abound in hope. Maybe we don't think enough about the hope that God gives us and how important it is, how we abound by the power that God gives us, the knowledge that we have, that we can look at the things and look at the world around us and shake our heads, and we can mourn and we can feel very sorry and empathetic with what the world is going through and think if they just knew, if they just knew, their lives could be different.

And this life that they're living now wouldn't just be this meaningless, futile type of existence they're going through. Our lives are not futile. Our lives are filled with purpose, their meaning. God's given us that meaning. We have a spirit in us that enlivens us and gives us hope, and we can look at the world around us and not fret, and not worry, not stress, not be stressed, not be anxious, because we know, we know how it's going to end. We know how that Jesus Christ will return, and eventually mankind will learn to live the way of life that God has prescribed.

They will feel the joy. They will feel the fulfillment of life. They will feel the energy and His love as we learn those things, the very things they will learn in the kingdom that we are learning now as we practice them in our lives. Peter writes about this hope, too, in 1 Peter 1, verse 3. He says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, I mean, look at the mercy He's shown us.

We know, we know, God has given us that knowledge. It's a very privileged thing that God has given us. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away. It doesn't disappear. It's sure. There isn't going to be someone come along and say, Oh, well, no, not that way. Let's do it a different way. No, that wasn't sure. Our foundation is absolutely sure. The world needs to know those things.

We need to be reminded of those things ourselves, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith, for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Later on, down in the chapter in verse 13, He talks about, gird up your loins. Like, stir up the action.

Get ready. Get ready. Get your mind ready to do what God wants. Because of that hope, that's in us. Now, the author of Hebrews, many people say it's Paul, but we don't know exactly who the author of Hebrews is. In Hebrews 6.19, you don't need to turn there. He says, that hope is the anchor, the anchor of our souls.

Having an anchor is awfully, awfully important. You know, we are anchored to Jesus Christ. He's the anchor. The hope that He gives us is an anchor. Without an anchor, we would be people that are just pushed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, right? Just like a ship that's set afloat in the sea, just moving from this place to another, doesn't know where it's going, ends up where ever anyone knows.

But we are anchored. We are anchored, and the world is missing that anchor. They are missing that hope. They are missing everything. And when that is missing, and when vision is missing, and when surety is missing, and where there's all this change that's going on in the world, change that is unparalleled in our lifetimes, you're going to see what goes on, what is exactly what we see going on in the world around us now.

Just things that you can't even imagine. You don't even know when you listen to the news the next day, what's the next new thing that's going to come up that people are going to talk about. Without hope, without hope, there's nothing. And let's go to Titus. Mack a few books to Titus 1. And verse 2.

Titus 1 and verse 2. Just cutting into the sentence there. Paul writes, he says, In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. That's the hope. The hope we need to remind ourselves, young people, that's the hope you've been called to. You may look at the world around you, and as you go to school, as you go to college, as you go to work, and you see all these things happening with people around you, and hear all these other things that people might say, this is good.

This is the way. Freedom of anything you want to do. No, it's just as you heard in the sermonette. There has to be restraint. There has to be an anchor. There has to be the hope. There has to be something that you live for. Don't let yourself ever get caught up in what the world around you says. Stick to the word of God.

Stick to that hope. Be thankful and remind yourself of what you've been called to. And the answer is that you have that the people around you wish they had, if they had it, they would not be living and suffering, and in misery and in confusion the way they are today. The world would be a different place, and will be a different place when Christ returns, but our time is now to be living that way.

One more verse here, and back in 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 8. 5 verse 8. Paul again, he goes, Let us, who are of the day, be sober. That means temperate. Have our minds together. Not fuzzy-headed, but clear-minded about what we're doing. Let us, who are of the day, be sober. Putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.

You know what helmets do, right? They protect the head. And that hope, keeping that hope, will protect our minds from going in serious and weird directions. You know, as you read about, when you read about all these things that people have, and drug addictions, and the other things that are going on in this world around us today, the changing environment, you know, you read about suicides among young people because they just don't know it has an effect, a negative mental, a negative effect on your mental health.

God says, if you keep that hope together, if you keep that hope of what you have, that everyone in this room, and everyone listening has access to, it'll protect your head. It'll protect your mental health. You won't get confused. You may have to make decisions along the way, choices along the way.

Always choose God, and always choose the certain thing. Hope is such an important thing. You know, in what it says in 1 John 3, everyone who has this hope, what do they do? They purify themselves. They live God's way. They resist sin. As, again, you heard earlier today, they take, they take, they have that choice, and they resist sin.

They let God build that strength in them to resist that and choose, choose His way. And of all the things, you know, Paul says in 1 Corinthians, at the end of that love chapter, he says, there remains these three, faith, hope, and charity.

Faith, hope, and love. Hope has to be there. It's a part of a beautiful life. Without it, without it, there is no beautiful life, and we will see that more and more around us as time goes on.

Well, let me switch gears a little bit here, but can I have you turn back to Isaiah 61? Isaiah 61. At the feast, I gave a sermon entitled, Beauty for Ashes. And then I talked about Isaiah 61, verse 3 here, and talked about what God would bring, what Christ would bring to the earth, the beauty, the oil of joy, and the garment of praise. When I finished that sermon, I said many other things, and I realized I didn't get to the other two, the oil of joy or the garment of praise.

So I want to talk about that today, because that's part of what our life has to be. Hope has to be part of it in order to reach these goals or this life that God has given us. But let me just recount for a second here the first part of it. Let me read Isaiah 61.3. These are the words that Christ spoke in Luke 4, verse 18, as he was speaking, as he was called up in the temple that day and went to the book of Isaiah, read these chapters, and said, Now this is fulfilled in your hearing.

And he meant, This is fulfilled for us today. Yes, it will be filled in the kingdom for the rest of mankind. For you and me, this is us today. God gives us these gifts today. In verse 3, it says, It says, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. That's Millennium, but that's us today. And you'll recall we talked about truth, and we talked about beauty.

And underlying any beauty or any beautiful life is truth. Truth has to be there. Hope has to be there. Truth, without truth, we can't have hope. We have to know where truth is, and more and more in this world around us, truth is confused.

One side will say, This is truth, and I'm going to wipe out your truth. The other side will say the opposite thing. The Church says, This is truth, and the only truth is here in the Bible. This is the anchor. This is the ground zero for truth.

This is what we teach. This is what we believe. This is what we live by. God says you will have a beautiful life. You will be a beautiful person. If you look at the word beauty there, it actually talks about a headdress. God will adorn you with beauty. Put it on your head. But there has to be truth. There has to be truth there. There has to be hope there. God has given us both. So we, as God's people, should be vibrant. We should be lights that are shining in the world around us, vibrantly.

When people ask us as teens, as people ask us as young adults, people ask us who are older, what makes you so solid in this time? Why are you not upset? Why are you not politically active and out there campaigning for this candidate or that candidate or whatever it is? It's because we know the answers aren't in this world. The answers are in God, and that's the kingdom, and that's the citizenship for which we wait. That's what we are living today. You know, Jesus Christ, when He came, He said many things. He said, He's the way, He's the truth, He's the life. He said, Set my people apart by truth, and we're set apart by truth. But He said that the reason I have come is that they can have life, and they can have it more abundantly in John 10. 10.

You know, more abundantly means they're going to enjoy life. It's going to be good for them. It's not going to be what we see when we walk around the streets of the city, when we watch movies or whatever the entertainment is today that I see less and less of, but every time I turn on the TV, I'm not even sure what I'm watching or why I'm watching it.

That they may have life and they may have it more abundantly. That's what He promises. That's where we're going. And so He shows us the way. If we go back to Ephesians now, we're going to look at Ephesians 4. You've been hearing a lot about Ephesians 4 the last few months. And in Ephesians 4, God, through Paul, did record for us some very important truths in a direction that we need to pay attention to. Ephesians 4 and verse 15 begins in the middle of a sentence here, but you're very familiar with this series of verses. In Ephesians 4 verse 15, it says, But speaking the truth in love. Now, we've talked about that. The word speaking isn't in the original Greek. Truth is a verb. It means living the truth, doing the truth, speaking the truth. We are about truth. We become truth. If we're becoming like Christ, we become like Him.

But doing, living, speaking, being the truth in love, that's a gafí, that we may grow up. There's action. There's a purpose. There's something that goes on in our life. It's not status quo. It's not going backwards and becoming less and less like God. It's more and more like Him. There's always the goal. There's always something to to rivet us and always something to work toward, always something that excites us when we're led by God's Spirit. When we understand truth and remember the hope and what God has called us to.

Speaking of the truth in love, that we may grow up in all things unto Him who is the head, the head, the head of this church, our older brother, the forerunner, who has gone before us, who has run the course, who has made it possible, who knows the way and tells us, I will show you the way. Follow me.

Grow up into all things unto Him who is the head Christ, from whom the whole body, that's every single person that God calls and who responds to His call, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share. You see that? It's what it is. It's not just a few. It's all of us. God has a purpose in mind for all of us. When He calls us, it's not just to fill a seat. It's not just to write a check. It's to do something. He has a purpose in mind for every single person. The whole body, what every joint supplies, we all have a purpose. We all have a part in this as God builds His church, His temple, the temple to which He will return, by which every part does its share, causes or makes the growth of the body for the building of itself, or building up of itself in love. He goes, look at that. Look at that purpose you've been called to. Look at that truth you've been called to. Pay attention to it. Put it in the front of your mind. And then Paul says, okay, because you know this, because you understand this, because you've been called to this, he says in verse 17, this I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk.

Shouldn't be what the world is. Shouldn't be paying attention to things. Oh, they have the answer? No, they do not have the answer. Look at the end result. And look at the end result of what God has called us to. That's the answer. This is the way. Don't walk like they walk in the futility of their mind. It's all futile. It's a waste of time. Look at the pictures of people that are hopeless, that are doing those things out there. They're ruining their lives, grasping at something to give their lives meaning, but it will give them no meaning. Only the hope of God gives us meaning. Only the direction of Jesus Christ gives us meaning and purpose in our life. Something we can never forget. And as we look at the world and even find ourselves even thinking, oh, maybe the answer is no. God's way and God's way only leads to a fulfilled life. They have, verse 18, they have their understanding darkened. No light in it. No future. Their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God. It doesn't take any scholar to know when you look at what the world is doing, that the world is moving further and further away from God by design. Even the ones who are moving us further and further away from God know they are moving further and further away from the Bible. They don't want God. They don't want Christianity. They don't want Christ. They don't want the Bible. They want to write the world in their script, whatever that is. And we know that's not of God. We know who the Spirit that works now in the sons of disobedience is. They're alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that's in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

That's a picture. That's a picture of the world we live in today. It's a sad, sad picture. You know, you look at it, and when you look at it and you feel sorry for those people that are living in that, that don't have the answers, it's easy to see why God says, you know, we sigh and cry. Like, what a waste of life if they just knew their lives are so meaningless. They don't know what they're doing. They're grasping for things like a blind man in the dark.

I'll grab to anything. This may make me happy. This may make me a better person, but it doesn't work. It doesn't work that way. And in this section, Paul finishes this, but you, that's you and me, right? But you have not so learned Christ. You have not so learned Christ. That isn't what we, that isn't what we know. Hang on to the truth. Live the truth. Do the truth. Speak the truth. Stand up for the truth. Do become, become the truth and let it become your heart. Well, that's the truth in beauty from ashes, because as you look, you know, if you ever see those clips and you see, you know, that newscast, you can see the ashes that the world is becoming.

With God's hope, and in our lives, maybe some of us have been in the ashes before God called us and we can, you know, recount. Yes, our lives were ashes or headed toward ashes, but when God called us and we grasped His truth, beauty, a beautiful life, a purposeful life, came. Let's go back to Isaiah 61. Let's talk about the oil of joy for mourning that is mentioned as the second thing.

Christ says, I give you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning. And the word mourning there is exactly what it means. It's kind of like the mourning that we do, you know, when we mourn someone who has died, when something awful has happened to us and we feel that sadness and that sorrow and that is there.

That's the mourning that's there that the world will mourn, and the world will mourn. You know, I go back to verses a couple of times in Ezekiel, and I think it's in Isaiah as well, where God says, when they realize what they have done to themselves, the nations of this world and maybe even the nation we live in, they will loathe themselves.

When they see the end result of everything that they've done and everything that they're promoting, and everything falls apart, they will loathe themselves. There will be mourning. They will realize what we did, what we did, and the blessings we've been given, we just completely squandered, completely squandered and made a mess of everything. You know, the Jews realize that. When you read through the book of Lamentations, they were mourning when they realized, you know, we should have listened.

We should have listened to God. We should have hearkened to what Jeremiah said. But now we've lost it all. Now we're in a foreign land. Now we've lost everything, and they lamented what was going on. But God says when he comes into our lives, and when we accept him into our lives and are led by the Holy Spirit, and that oil represents the Holy Spirit, that joy, joy should result. Turn to God. Joy results. And our life is full of joy.

You know, there's the verse in Philippians 4-6 says, There's a peace that surpasses all understanding. Now I think there's a joy that surpasses all understanding, too. You know, the world will look at joy, and they'll say, you know, this is that, and they confuse it with happiness.

And happiness is a good thing. We're all happy. But there is a joy that you and I, you know, experience that is different than the world would see, that the world would define. It's a joy, even in times of trial, knowing that God is with us, knowing that he's working with us, knowing that future that's there.

You know, Christ said it, Christ said it very well in Hebrews 12, verse 2, when he said, when it says, you know, He suffered for the joy that was set before Him. I went through all that agony. For the joy that was set before Him, it was worth it. It was worth it to do that so that He could see people with eternal life, you and me, and save us from the devastation we would have brought on ourselves.

Well, back in chapter 60 here of Isaiah, there's a couple—there's a few beautiful verses that correspond here to Isaiah 61, that oil of joy for mourning. If you look at chapter 60 in verse 19, you have a picture of God in our lives. Now, this is millennial in a way, but, you know, when we see the light that shines in our life today, Jesus Christ, when He came into the world, He brought light into the world, and light should be in our world as we know Him.

In verse 19 of Isaiah 60, it says, the sun shall no longer be your light by day. You know, we got a nice sunny day here in Cincinnati, a little cold for my liking, but a nice sunny day nonetheless, and it's nice to have that, but that's not the light that should light our lives.

The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you. But the eternal will be to you in everlasting light, our light today, our light forever, and your God, your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself, for the Lord will be your everlasting light. And the days of your mourning shall be ended.

When we are living the way of truth, the days of mourning end. Joy results.

There may still be trials along the way, tribulation along the way, persecution along the way, but we know where it ends. We know the path that God has us on. And even in those times to remind ourselves, what does God want me to learn? How is He perfecting me? What is it in my character that I need to know as I go through this financial trial, relationship trial, health trial, whatever it is, whatever it is, what happens in our life, God is getting us ready for that eternal life, that hope of eternal life that He gives us. And so that's what He is saying here. The light never goes out of our life unless we put it out.

But embrace it. Do what God says. Follow Him. Realize what He has called us to, and don't lose sight of it.

The world has lost sight of it. It's a very sad thing to see people who have lost hope, who have lost purpose. You know, in Romans 1, verses 20 to 21 in there, it talks about what happens to people who forget God, who are not thankful for things. And exactly what we see going on in the world around us today in every single aspect is exactly what happens when people lose that tie to God and their gratitude toward Him. But we'll get to that in a minute.

You know, I think all of us probably, at times in our lives, feel the joy go out a little bit, right? Sometimes we feel like we're a little distant from God, and we have to think, what have we done? It's not God who moves. He never moves. He's always there with us. It's always us who moves away from God. So if we ever feel distanced or not as close to God, if we feel depressed, downtrodden, miserable, like we want to give up, that's not of God. That's not the Holy Spirit working in us. We've done something that we need to get back to where that joy is.

How do we get back to that joy? I think you know the answer, but, you know, God gives us the answers to everything in the Bible. So let's spend a few minutes and look at some of the places where we can find out what that joy is. How, if it's missing in our lives, if something's missing, what can we do? What can we do? Because there are things we can do. It's no surprise when we go through these things, but maybe a surprise that they're all right there in the Bible. Let's go back to Psalm 51.

When I've talked about, you know, but David, as he lost that joy in the sins that he committed, very serious sins, and he had moved away from God. And as he came to realize what he had done, he didn't try to make excuses, didn't try to justify it. He simply repented to God and begged to God, you know, please, please forgive me. Remember in Psalm 51, that's where we're going.

Don't take your Holy Spirit away from me. But here in verse 12 of Psalm 51, he says, well, verse 11 is where he says, don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Remember what you've been called to. What has God done for you that he's done for all of us? There's a joy in that. Yes. Yes, I'm weak. Yes, I'm a sinner. Yes, I have a lot of work to do, but you have called me to salvation, and you give me the tools that I need for you to give me that salvation. I just have to use them. Takes our part in that, right? So, restore to me the joy of your salvation.

Let me know. Let that be in my heart. We can make that happen. If we go back to Psalm 16. Psalm 16 verse 11. Again, David talks about this joy. Psalm 16 verse 11. You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. In your presence is fullness of joy.

Now, when do we come into God's presence? Well, we're all in God's presence here, right? As we're here at Sabbath Services today, when we come into his commanded assembly, God's here. We come into his presence. He says, come before me. But it's not only at Sabbath Services, but if you're feeling the joy is gone out of your life, you don't stay away from Sabbath Services.

Sometimes I talk to people and it's like they're running from God. And I say, no, no. When you're feeling depressed, when you're feeling down, run toward God. Go to church. Be there among his people. Be in his presence. When's the other times? We can be in God's presence as much as we want. What has God given us? When prayer, we go before his throne every day in prayer. We can be in his presence all the time. And maybe that's, no, not maybe, that's exactly where we need to go if you're feeling apart from God, distant from God, if the joy is gone from your life. Go to him in prayer. Be with his people. Do what he says.

In his presence. In his presence is fullness of joy. God records for us here. Over in Jeremiah. Jeremiah 15. Jeremiah 15. And, well, let's just read verses 15 and 16. Verse 16 is what I'm really going to, but in verse 15 he says, Oh, eternal you know, remember and visit me. Take vengeance for me on my persecutors and your enduring patience. Don't take me away. Know that for your sake I have suffered rebuke. Your words, verse 16, were found and I ate them. I digested them. Your words were found and I ate them. And your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.

For I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts. Not feeling the joy? Eat God's words. Get your mind and get your face in the Bible. Read it. There's truth. There's joy. I guarantee if you will sit down and you will read God's word, you will feel. Coming back again, we have to turn to God. Eat the words. John 15. John 15 and verse 11. Words that Christ was speaking on that last night before he was arrested and crucified, giving instructions to his disciples then and to you and me and every disciple that he calls. In verse 11, after he says all these things that we've read in chapter 13, 14, and up to 15, he says, These things I've spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.

What words did he speak? He said things like, Stay attached to the vine. Stay attached to the vine. Everything that I command you to do, do it. Go back and read what he said in chapter 14 and 15 leading up to that. If your joy is gone, go back and read Christ's very own words. He said, and he preserved them for us, I spoken these that your joy may be full. If you want your joy full, see what he said.

Go back. Go back and see what he said.

2 Corinthians 7 and verse 13. Paul here writing to the Corinthian church verse 13 says, Therefore we have been comforted in your comfort, and we rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus. Titus experienced some joy here. We rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. Wow! When we're with each other, we can help each other to feel that joy again. Titus was refreshed in his joy just by being with the people there. Begin to see why God says he wants his people to meet together, to love one another, to get to know each other, to get to understand each other, to see when someone's down we might be able to pat someone on their back or say a few things and refresh their joy.

If they're gone for a few Sabbaths, if we pick up a phone or send an email or a text and say, How are you? We've missed you. Anything to refresh joy because we can have that effect on one another, but we have to know each other. We have to be family the way God wants us to be, and we have to be our brother's keeper.

God will let us know what our brothers need if we are interested in that. Down in chapter 8 on the same page you're in right now, you have the Corinthian church making this offering. We're putting together this kind of offering, shipment that they were going to send to their brothers afflicted. In 2 Corinthians 8, verse 1, Paul says, Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy, the grace of God bestowed on them, that in a trial of affliction it wasn't a great time in their life, whatever they were experiencing it wasn't like pleasant, but in that great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.

They gave. Whatever was going on in Macedonia, things were not easy, things were not good. They didn't use it as an excuse to say, well, forget it, we might have told you we were going to do that, but I just don't feel up to it today. This, that, I've had a financial setback, something's come up, whatever. No, you know what? What they did? Now the abundance of their joy, they followed through on what they said they were going to do. When we serve, when we look out for others, when we do the things and get ourselves out of the middle, or not out of the middle, out of the forefront of all our miseries and all our little problems, we start thinking about others and how we can serve them, joy begins to come back.

God didn't create us to be self-centric, but to be other-centric, right? I mean, Jesus Christ didn't come for Himself. If He was all about Himself, He certainly wouldn't have been born flesh and blood and suffered the way He did. He did it all for us. He came not to be served, He said, but to serve. And so when we serve, joy begins to return. Over in Philippians 2, Philippians 2, verses 1 and 2, therefore Paul says, if there's any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, if there's any of those things which you would certainly hope are there in a church of God in a body of the people of God, he says, fulfill my joy.

Make me fulfill my joy by doing what? By being like-minded. By being like-minded, being like Christ, speaking the same thing as he says in 1 Corinthians 1. Not being carried away by every little wind of doctrine, speaking the same thing, grounded in the truth. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth, right? This is what we're to be teaching. This is what we're supposed to be doing. This is what you and I are supposed to be living and putting into our lives.

He said, if there's any of those things, fulfill my joy. This is how you will make me happy. This is when I see you living the way of life, when you are like-minded, when you're speaking the same thing, when you have given yourselves to God.

Fulfill my joy by being like-minded. Having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Does that give us joy when we see everyone here, when we see people doing God's way? I think it gives God joy when he sees that we're all together in one accord. How many times does he say that through the book of Acts? Certainly about the day on the day of Pentecost and in other places as well. When his people are all of one accord in one place, gathered before him when we're all living by the same truth, and yielding to him, it brings him joy.

And I think it brings us, each other, joy too, when we see each other here, every Sabbath. And through the week, when we have opportunity to see people in other occasions through the week. That we're all learning the same thing, we're all teaching the same thing, we're all speaking the same thing. There's that unity that can only come from the Holy Spirit that God wants us all to have.

And you can mark down Hebrews 12, verse 2. I already mentioned that one. Jesus Christ, when he said, the joy that was set before him. What was the joy that he had? The joy that he had was that the people he died for, the people that he loves, which is all of mankind, every man, woman, and child that's ever lived, The joy that he had was that they would be, or they would have the opportunity to have eternal life.

It's a beautiful thing. That's the joy that was set before him. He already knew he had the joy in heaven before he ever came to earth or was born as a flesh and blood human being. But where he was going back is there was going to be the first fruits, there were going to be all of humanity that had the opportunity to know him and to yield to him and to repent and to have eternal life.

That was the joy. The plan was complete. And all of mankind had the opportunity. You know, you could probably go through the Bible and find more places where joy is. If you want joy, trust in God. If you want joy, give your life to him. Keep hope in the forefront of your mind. Remember always what God has called us to. The Holy Spirit that he's given us. Let it lead us.

Let it lead all of us and let it lead us because it will produce joy. It is the second-less second-listed fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering. The thing is, we have to keep the oil burning. We can't become one of those five foolish versions who let the oil of the lamps go out.

We need to keep it burning. There's things that we have to do. Not just coast through life, but do the things that God has said. And then make it part of our heart. Not just do the things, but actually become part of our heart. Let's go back to Isaiah 61. And then we have the third thing that Jesus Christ said, I will give them. I will give them, and he's given you and me, the opportunity for beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

Now, the spirit of heaviness, what that means is that you kind of feel tired, kind of dim, kind of weak. You know, at the end of a hard work day, and it's like, you just feel heavy.

I just want to lay down. I just want to not do anything for a while. That's the spirit of heaviness. Life is drudgery in a way. And when you look at the world around us, I think the world is saying that life is becoming, there's a spirit of heaviness. You and I might experience the spirit of heaviness as well. When things don't happen, and we have to remind ourselves, where's the joy? How does that be rekindled?

What do I do if I feel constantly, constantly down? Or the spirit of heaviness that I just don't feel like I have the energy to go on? Well, we can find where that is, where that is too. God says he'll replace that spirit of heaviness with the garment of praise. Garments, I mean, this is the thing we wrap ourselves in, right? I don't think it escaped any of us that the theme of the hymns today are all about praise.

So it's a fitting week for that. But we clothe ourselves in praise. But how do we do that? How do we do that? Well, sometimes when we just praise God, it becomes contagious, and we find ourselves finding that energy. We're just finding that energy come back again. But sometimes it just comes by the fact that of what we do and our attitude. Let's go to Isaiah 35. We're in Isaiah just a few chapters back. Feast of Tabernacles, Isaiah 35 is always, you know, always read at the Feast of Tabernacles.

It's a picture, beautiful picture of what God will do, you know, for the world when he returns or Christ. And it'll become beautiful again. Verses 3 and 4, he's talking specifically to you and me, and for the people there too. But I think really to the people now, you and I, who are looking toward the kingdom, who God is working with, who he wants us to be kings and priests in that kingdom.

And in verse 3, and he knows what—we have to remember, Christ knows what life is like. He experienced so much more than we have in life. If there was anyone who would feel the Spirit of heaviness, it would have been Christ, but he never lacked the energy. He never stopped going, right? So he tells us, strengthen the weak hands. Sometimes don't we have to do that? Strengthen the weak hands. Make firm the feeble knees. Sure you want to drop. Sure you want to just give up. Don't do it. Don't do it. Keep marching forward. You know, God talks about—reminds me of the verse that talks about even in their old age. Even in their old days, they produce fruit.

There comes a time when we become, you know, up in the years, we might think, oh, we've done enough. I just don't want to do anymore. But God says, no, as long as you're alive, you're learning, you're growing. There's a reason you're alive. There's more. More God wants us to learn, more of him. You know, if we keep that in our minds, why are we alive? We are here to learn more of Christ, and that should be an exciting thing that we have in our lives.

That God is perfecting us more and more. There is never a time in life that we stop learning or growing. And so he says, you know, strengthen those, strengthen those hands. Make firm the feeble knees. We've talked about how to do that. Say to those who are fearful hearted, be strong. Don't fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance.

With the recompense of God, he will come and save you. Hold on to that hope, he's saying. Hold on to that hope. It will be something that buoys you. And if we remember to really count what God has given us, and be thankful. Here we are in this week. I mean, America's got this Thanksgiving week, but every single week, every single day, should be a day of thanksgiving for God's people. Of all the things that we can be thankful for, the hope that God gives us is one.

The Holy Spirit, the tools, the calling, the whole nine yards, we could list a list. If we went around the room, we would never, we would never complete the list of the things that we could be thankful for. There's just that much. America has forgotten a lot of it. America, the things they're doing right now, you know, they've forgotten the blessings that have been bestowed upon them. You and I should never forget. Back in Psalm 40, Psalm 40, as you read through the Psalms, you know David was always thanking God.

David was always praising God. He was a man after God's own heart. He recognized. And after his sin, and God forgave him, and he became a man after God's own heart, he never forgot. He always was thanking God for everything that he had done for him. And he leaves, you know, Psalm 40 here in verse 5. You know, he kind of capsulizes what he thinks, something that you and I can be thinking about in our lives. He says, I mean, Psalm 40 and verse 5, he says, Many, many, O Lord my God, are your wonderful works, which you have done.

And your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to you in order. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Isn't that true? He's saying you could never list all the blessings of God. If you start listing all those blessings, you know, you would never be able to come to the end of the list.

Because there's so many. You know, at times I've told people when they are feeling down or whatever, I say, you know, just get out a pen and paper and start listing the blessings that God has given you. When you do that and you see what God has done in your life, and you feel that gratitude toward God and recognize what He's done for you, the feelings of hopelessness, depression, being downtrodden, confused, all the things that go along with life, you know what?

They disappear. There's this old song, those who have been in the church a long time. Remember the old song, Count Your Blessings? Count Your Blessings. Name them one by one. Count Your Many Blessings. See what God has done. Boy, that's something that we could do in our lives, right? Whenever we're feeling down and out or even when we're not. Do you want to give your prayer of thanks to God?

Do you want your prayer in the morning or whenever you choose to just be 100% thanking God and praising Him? List those things. Start telling Him the things you're thankful for. You will see. You will feel the energy. Thanks to God is something that we absolutely must do and build in in our lives every day.

The Bible tells us that 1 Thessalonians 5, 18 says, Without gratitude, people turn away from God. Without gratitude, we're just lost. Build it into your lives. Philippians 4, verse 6 says, Every prayer should include thanksgiving. When God says every, and when He says always thank Him, pay attention to those words. Pay attention to those. They are meaningful. And they are true, and they are His way of life that can lead to all the things that God wants us to experience.

Let's go to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5. We were into Ephesians 4 just a few minutes ago, but as we go on in Paul's epistle here, you know, we see, we see, as he tells us, you've been called to a great purpose. You have a purpose. Every single person has a purpose in God's truth. And he tells us, you know, and being mindful of that, don't go back. Don't walk like the Gentiles walked anymore. Don't look to the world and see what they can do. In chapter 5 of Ephesians, verse 1, he says, Be imitators of God.

Follow Him. Pattern your life after Him. Be imitators of God as dear children and walk. That means your course of life. Walk in love as Christ has loved us and given Himself for us, and offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. That our lives could be sweet-smelling aromas to God as we live and walk.

Verse 18, Don't be drunk, he says, with wine, in which is dissipation. Don't look to the world to drown out your sorrows. That you can replace mourning with joy. That you can replace the spirit of heaviness with the garment of praise. Don't be drunk with wine, but be filled with the spirit. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Submitting to one another in the fear of God. Ah, thankful people praise God. Thankful people sing to God. Thankful people have praise as part of their life. They feel it in their bones. And when they come before and they have the opportunity to praise God, they praise Him. They clothe themselves with praise. It becomes them. And when He says, I will give them the garment of praise in that, you find joy in the fulfillment of all those things when we are truly and fully praising God.

You can mark down Hebrews 13 and verses 14 to 16. It talks about the sacrifice of praise. Let's go back to Psalm 30 again and see another one of what David had written. Psalm 30 and verse 11. David, as he lived his life and we know his story well, he says, You have turned, Psalm 30 verse 11, You have turned for me my morning into dancing.

And we know the pictures of David always cheerful and joyful before God. You have turned for me my morning into dancing. You have put up my sackcloth and you clothed me with gladness. That's who I am now. You've forgiven me. I can get on with life. To the end, that glory may sing praise to you and not be silent. Oh, Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever. I will give thanks to you forever. I won't turn back to Isaiah 61 right now, but you can read verses 4 and 5.

When God says, He'll give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness, He gives us everything we need to continue going on toward His kingdom. Through whatever twist and turn life may be all because it's the road that He has us on, and we know the destination if we stay on it and don't become discouraged.

Thanksgiving, praise is a key part of that. Let me just close here with Psalm 148. Of the many things that David did, one of the things you see throughout his Psalms, and as you read through them, praise in God, praise in God. Psalm 148, I hope I'm not preempting our final hymn here, but if it is, oh well. Psalm 148, this is one, right? I know my kids, they always thought the name of that hymn was, praise ye the Lord, oh, right? But it's like, not praise ye the Lord, oh. It's praise Psalm 148, verse 1.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights, praise Him all His angels, praise Him all His hosts, praise Him sun and moon, praise Him all you stars of light. Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, and you waters above the heavens.

Let them praise the name of the Eternal, for He commanded, and they were created. He established them forever and ever. He made a decree which shall not pass away. Praise the Eternal from the earth, you great sea creatures, and all the depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind, fulfilling His word, mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowl.

Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth, both young men and maidens, old men and children, let them praise the name of the Eternal, for His name alone is exalted. His glory is above the earth and heaven, and He has exalted the horn of His people. The praise of all His saints of the children of Israel, a people near to Him, praise the Lord. This week, and every week, let's be really, really thankful, and let's be people who are clothed with the garment of praise.