This sermon emphasizes the need to turn away from earthly concerns and focus on heavenly things to experience true joy, peace, and freedom from fear and anxiety. It highlights the importance of releasing what we hold onto, symbolized by the story of the little girl with her hand stuck in a vase. The message stresses the pursuit of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit to attain a life free from depression, anxiety, and fear. It warns against deception and encourages believers to abide in Christ, ready to face His judgment with confidence.

You do not rejoice always. How do I know that? It is impossible. You rejoice some of the time, but you're gloomy, depressed, angry many times, and we are trying to overcome these things. You hear messages about overcoming anger and overcoming anxiety and overcoming depression, overcoming discontentment. You say, I'd like to have that life. I'll tell you how you can have that life. Turn from being occupied with earthly things and set your mind on heavenly things. But many people, they want to be occupied with the earthly things and have joy and peace and freedom from fear and anxiety. It is impossible. If you want freedom, you have to give up something. You heard that story of that little girl whose hand was caught in a flower vase. She couldn't pull it out. And so mommy came along and said, she said, my hand is stuck. The little girl said, mommy said, come on, straighten your fingers and you can pull it out. She said, I can't straighten my fingers because I'm holding a coin there. I don't want to leave that. How will you be released then? You'll be stuck to the vase for the rest of your life. That's how it is. There's something you hold on to. You say, I want freedom from depression, gloom. I want freedom from anger and anxiety. Straighten your hands, release it. The thing you're holding on to, it'll come out very easily. I read a book once, the title of which was the happiest people on earth. Now, I don't think the book described exactly how we could be the happiest people on earth, but I certainly believe one thing that a true disciple of Jesus Christ, who's repented of being occupied with earthly things like Israel, set his mind on the things that are above, that is life, eternal life and fellowship, will be such a person, will be the happiest person on earth. I believe that with all my heart. I've experienced a little bit of it. And I want to, we want to build churches where people can testify that they have experienced something of it. That's the whole purpose of preaching and teaching in our churches. The message of John the Baptist, repent, turn around for the kingdom of heaven. Today, we don't say it's a tent, it's here. The kingdom of heaven is here. The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but what is it? It says here, it's righteousness. Well, that's Old Testament. No, but here's more. Righteousness with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings a righteousness which makes us full of joy and frees us from anxiety and fear. That's peace. Peace is a freedom from anxiety and from fear. We're to be totally free from anxiety and fear. Isn't that a good life to live? A life of complete freedom from anxiety and fear about the future, concerning what's going to happen to me, whom will I get married to, what job can I get, what about a house to live in, what about my children, etc. So many fears and anxieties which everybody in the world has, but we can be free from that. We can have a concern for our children, but not anxiety about us. We have to be completely free. Do you know my brothers and sisters, if you call yourself a Christian, you're supposed to be totally free from fear as much as you're supposed to be totally free from sin. Jesus said, do not be anxious even about tomorrow. Leave alone next year and the year after. Do we take those commands seriously? Maybe you do. You say, I want to be, I want to live that life. I want to be free from anxiety. I want to be free from fear. And the other thing mentioned here is joy. Joy means total freedom from depression, bad moods, gloom, discouragement, self-condemnation, everything. People say, I want that life, but you can't have that life unless you seek the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of heaven. If you're seeking a kingdom of earth and we want those things, it is impossible. So that's why John speaks about, he says, I don't want to talk about all these other things. I want to speak about eternal life and fellowship, that your joy may be full. So I want to say to every one of you, you could have been a believer just one or two years, you can be filled with the Holy Spirit. And if you're really filled with the Holy Spirit, you know that song we sing, heaven came down and glory filled my soul. It's one of the best ways to say what the Holy Spirit does. He brings the spirit of heaven down to our heart. What I can't understand today is a lot of preachers who say they are filled with the Holy Spirit, but their whole mind is occupied with earthly things. And heaven hasn't come down. No, heaven is still there. Heaven is not in their hearts. You look into their hearts, they're thinking of how to become healthy and wealthy and not even wise, just healthy and wealthy. This is the deception that's going on today. And so John in his letter speaks about this deception. See, he says, why am I writing this? I am writing this, chapter 2, verse 26. You ask John, John, why are you writing this? These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. See how John is concerned about deception. 65 years after walking with the Lord and looking at the state of Christians in his day, he says, I'm writing to you about people who are trying to deceive you. That's why I've written this letter to protect you from deception. You have an anointing, the Holy Spirit within you. You don't need anybody to tell you when you listen to someone that that is not the truth. It's wonderful. I believe that even a new believer, if he's filled with the Holy Spirit, can listen to a preacher and say, hey, that doesn't sound like the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit, he doesn't need to have some read books or even have come to our church. The Holy Spirit will tell him. But what happens is this new believer, when he goes to a church and he hears all that teaching on earthly things, which everybody else is excited about, and he feels in his heart, hey, this is not what Jesus and the apostles speak about. And he continues to go to that church. After some time, he'll be brainwashed. He'll believe that that is the way and that perhaps he was wrong. And that is how thousands and thousands and hundreds of thousands of people are being deceived today. So he says, this anointing will teach you all things. So little children, verse 28 of chapter two, abide in him so that when he appears, there are going to be two types of people when Christ appears. Among believers, he's talking about children who are God's children, little children. He's not talking to the unbelievers. I want to tell you, when Jesus comes again, some of your children will shrink away from him in shame recognizing the things you live for in that day and others will have confidence. Yes, Lord, I'm ready to meet you. I'm ready to stand at your judgment seat that you can examine every area of my life, expose it so that people can see what I live for. And there are other people who will say, oh Lord, don't expose my life. Don't let everybody around know what I lived for when I was on earth. They are the ones who shrink away from him in shame. In this congregation, there'll be two types of people. I'm not here to judge because I don't know your private life. I don't know what's going on in your mind. I don't know what you think in your heart, but I'll tell you one thing without a doubt. This verse teaches very clearly there'll be two types of people. If Christ were to come right now, some would say, great Lord, I'm ready, not just for heaven, but to stand before you and for you to expose my whole life so that you can show people what I live for. My sins have been forgiven. That's blotted out. What did I live for after that? And there are others who will say, great Lord, I'm glad to be in heaven, but please don't ever display what I live for on earth. Don't put that video tape on the screen for all believers to see because I fooled everybody on earth that I was very spiritual. People didn't know how I lived at home. They only saw how I