Joy Dawson emphasizes the significance of exultant joy in the life of a Christian, highlighting that true joy comes from knowing God intimately and fulfilling His conditions for joy. She encourages believers to seek God diligently, maintain a clean heart, and express their joy through praise, regardless of circumstances. Dawson asserts that joy is not dependent on external situations but is rooted in the character of God and our relationship with Him. She calls for a deeper understanding of God's nature, urging the congregation to rejoice in the Lord and to let His joy overflow in their lives. Ultimately, she reminds them that the joy of the Lord is their strength and a powerful witness to the world.

King God, we would be still and know that you are God. God Almighty, we stand in awe of you. Our God is a consuming fire. Our God is a jealous God. And we worship you. Christ Holy, we worship you for your awesome holiness. Your majestic splendor, your blazing glory, your dazzling beauty, your sparkling purity, your limitless power, your timeless existence, your supreme authority, your ingenious creativity, your terrible wrath, your unswerving faithfulness, your matchless grace, your unending mercy, your absolute justice, your infinite wisdom and knowledge, your fascinating, scintillating, exciting personality, your incredible tenderness, your unsearchable understanding, your unfathomable love, your God. And we worship you, your unquestionable sovereignty. We tremble in your presence because of who you are. This is the man, this is the woman to whom I will look, even he or she that is of a contrite and a broken spirit and trembles at my word. O God, I pray you will bring the fear of the Lord upon us, that we may know what it is to tremble in the presence of the Almighty God because of the extent and the depth of the revelation of yourself that you give us. Tremble not in fear. Perfect love casts that out, that we would tremble before thee as we see thee in all your glory, that blazing glory. O God, we want our faces to shine as a reflection of having seen your glory in these days, this week, in a way that we've never, ever seen you before. We want your glory to fill this place. Nothing would thrill us more, I believe, that I can speak on behalf of all of us, than if we could not enter this place as the priests couldn't enter the temple because the glory filled the house. Nothing could excite us more than to be prostrate on our faces before you, where there was no human voice speaking, but you were just manifesting yourself in all your blazing glory and we were on our faces on the floor before you. O God, reveal yourself to us. We say like Moses, show us. We beseech thee, show us this week your glory. Nothing else, nothing less satisfies us. We don't want to know about you, we want to know you. Reveal yourself. Come out from hiding. Three times you tell us in the book of Isaiah of God who hides himself. O God, come out from hiding and let us see you. Let us see you. Make us diligent searchers of yourself this week. Rid us from any casual inquiring of yourself. Give us the passionate desire of a Moses and a Paul to know you as you are. We'll take whatever adjustments are necessary and we understand there will inevitably be many. We choose to take them, but reveal yourself. We ask it in Jesus' name. We know the person of the Holy Ghost is the only one who can do it. We honor you, Holy Spirit. We submit to you. We make room for you. Come and reveal the Father and the Son to us. We believe for this. We praise you that that's what you've brought us together for. That the nations of the earth, every nation of the earth may be affected by the revelation that we have of you this week. That we may know you in order to make you known to the multiplied millions who've never heard your name. Thank you, God, that you will do it. We've asked according to your will. We've asked agreed. We've asked in the name of Jesus. We've asked in simple faith. I thank you that there's nothing else you can do but answer that prayer according to your word. Amen. The message that God has laid upon my heart to bring to you tonight is about the joy of the Lord. God's norm for every Christian. I believe there is a revelation of truth that we come to in relation to praising God, which is wonderful and sets us free. But I believe that there are levels in praising God that we need to reach that are centered in the truth from God's word about the joy of the Lord, which are that exultant joy, which are the highest levels of praise that we can enter into. And I believe God wants to take us into the exultant joy of the Lord. God's norm for every Christian. We're going to let the word of God be our slide rule for our standard of behavior. Amen? And when our lives are not matching the standard of the word, we choose to say, I have to make the adjustment. And God's word has some tremendous things and many things to say about the joy of the Lord in relation to normal Christian living, daily Christian living. Now, because our authority in Bible teaching is based upon the word of God, there will be lashes of the word. And I invite you to take the scripture references, of which there are literally dozens tonight, down so that you can do the kind of homework that diligent seekers do after messages. Now, it may not be during convention time, but those who mean business with God, who have moved out of the casual inquirer class to the diligent seekers, they take notes during times like this diligently, and then they have their own private Bible study and get twice as much, if not more, out of it, when in your own home, you take the phone off the hook, you just tell God you're going to give him uninterrupted time, you get out the notes, and you meditate and pour over the scriptures and look them all up again, and just get blessed out of your skin. In John chapter 15 and verse 11, when Jesus said, these things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full, we need to understand what it was he was saying, that we may have this very wonderful experience in normal everyday life regardless of circumstances, his joy in it, and that we may be full of it. Now, full means that it'll spill over and others will be affected by it. Verse 9, John 15, as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. That's enough to be full of joy, and we meditate upon that. Exactly the same kind of love in quantity and quality, in depth and breadth and height, that God has for the Son, the Lord Jesus, he has for us, and Jesus has for us, to abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. If you obey me, you will abide in this tremendous love. Then God says, and I just say it colloquially, now here's something to really rave on about and get excited about. Here's something where you can have exultant joy the more you think about it and the more you believe it. He says, if you really believe that I've loved you, just as the Father loved me, and that if you obey me, you're going to abide in this love, you're going to wallow in it. And it's going to surround you and comfort you and bless you and fill you. Now he says, get excited about it. I've told you so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be full. Normal Christianity. Romans chapter 14 verse 17. For the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. We must understand before we go any further in the study from God's word, that the source of this joy is the Lord himself. Never the circumstances. First Peter 1 verse 8. And I trust the Holy Spirit is going to show you how many times exultant joy is mentioned in the scripture. Now it's impossible to say the word exultant without immediately there's a connotation of deep emotion. Right? There's no way you can be exultant and just be cool. No way. Exultant is a deep, very deep, nothing surface, bubbling wall. Nothing to do with happiness. That's a little shallow thing that comes and goes with circumstances. But a deep effervescent wall of joy that comes up and is in your mind and is in your heart and is on your lips regardless of circumstances. And it can only be so, this deep emotion of exultant joy, when we understand the source of the joy and our mind is being stayed on him. There's no way this message is going to work unless we are constantly thinking of, meditating on, studying, getting to know him. He is the source of the joy. First Peter 1 verse 8. Without having seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exultant joy. Do we? To the degree we have a revelation of what he's really like, it will be the greatest influence that can happen for us to choose to praise him. And from the choice of praising him, coming from the revelation of who he is, the exultant joy comes up and out and over. Philippians 4.4. Rejoice in the Lord. Do you know that nowhere in scripture are we ever told to rejoice in the circumstances? I don't believe in that teaching. Not in the Bible. We're told to be thankful in all things. What are we to be thankful for? We're to rejoice in the Lord. We're to be thanking the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I would say rejoice. Many, many times you and I can't be rejoicing in the circumstances we were not meant to be with, to be rejoicing in the Lord. Who's above and over and controlling the circumstances? That makes a little bit of difference, doesn't it? Because we can look at the circumstances and they can be ghastly. They can be grim. They can be extremely difficult. That's realism in life. That's life, isn't it? I don't live in a bed of roses, do you? My life just isn't cloud nine all the time in circumstances. I'm sure yours isn't either. But at all times we can be rejoicing in the Lord. He never changes. He's just as mind-blowingly fabulous every moment. Do you know the Lord? Or do you know about the Lord? Do you know what His character is like? Have you studied His character, facet by facet, meticulously, detailed, intensely from the word? There are no shortcuts to knowing God. There's no instant crash courses that you can take to know God. There's nobody in this Bible or out of it had an instant course in knowing God. It takes discipline. It takes diligent seeking. It takes time alone with Him, much time alone with Him daily, pouring over His words, studying what He's like, and all the reward, revelation of Himself. The greatest incentive that we can have to worship and praise and be in exultant joy is the revelation that He gives us as we diligently, daily seek Him. What for? For guidance? No. What for? Messages to give to others? No. What for? To know about the Bible? No. To know His historic background? No. To know the author of the book? God! Do you know Him? The very thundering of His name turns me on. The most exciting, fascinating, fabulous person in the universe. All the most interesting people I've ever met is a peanut put together than my God. God. God. God. Mighty God. Fabulous God. Infinite, exquisite, tender, wonderful God. Exultant joy because of who He is. Psalm 43 verses 3 and 4. O send out thy light and thy truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me to thy holy hill and to thy dwelling. Then I will go to the altar of God. To God, my exceeding joy. I will praise thee with the lyre. O God, my God. I love David in the Bible, don't you? He's my pin-up boy of the Scriptures. He never did anything by heart, even sinning. That's the part where not to copy. But oh, did he ever love God with all his mind and with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength. That's why he could praise the Lord with all his mind and heart and soul and strength. Another of the authors under the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost tells us what this exultant joy is and speaks of it because he experienced it, because he knew God. Isaiah 41, verse 16, And you shall rejoice in the Lord. In the Holy One of Israel you shall glory. 1 Samuel 2, verse 1, Hannah also prayed and said, My heart exults in the Lord. My strength is exulted in the Lord. One of the most mighty women in the Bible. Precious little housewife, Hannah. Tremendous challenge her life is. I don't think there's a woman in the Bible outside marrying the mother of the Lord Jesus that challenges my life like little Hannah. And she could say, My heart exults in the Lord. My strength is exulted in the Lord. And the more you study her life, you'll realize she passed through some of the deepest pits that a woman can pass through. Luke chapter 10, verse 21. This is a very fascinating verse. It's Jesus exulting in the Godhead. In that same hour the Lord rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for such was Thy perfect will. I got blessed out of my socks when I was meditating on this verse as I saw that the Lord Jesus on earth was exulting in the Godhead over the fact that real wisdom, insight in the knowledge of God and the pearls of what really knowledge and wisdom is all about are hidden to little nobodies like you and me. And that's what Jesus got excited about and exulted in the Holy Spirit. Isn't that wonderful? That excited Jesus that all the bigwigs and the big names and the big intellects who think they've got all the answers because they have PhDs, they've got all their degrees, God bless them all. If they were in the will of God getting them, that's great. If they weren't, well then, they've got problems. But regardless of all the learning of men, God says that the learning that impresses him begins with the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning, period. Obviously. Have you begun? Do you fear the Lord? Do you understand what that means? Have you made a study of that subject from the Word of God? Is the fear of the Lord upon your life the beginning? And in Jeremiah chapter 9, verses 23 and 24, God says, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories, glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Do you want to impress God? Then get to know and understand his character. God says, you can glory in this if you understand and know what I'm really like. Do you understand God? Because in that verse he says, let not all these rich and mighty and wise men glory in anything else, but that they not just know me, understand me. You can never understand anybody until you've been much time alone with them and you know their character. Otherwise you only know about them. Do you know God? Do you understand God? God takes time. The pursuit with the greatest reward here on earth is knowing God. This is the source of the joy, the revelation of what he's like. Psalm 9 verses 1 and 2, I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, I will tell of thy wonderful deeds, I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O most high. So much for the introduction. God, now here's the message, God gives the joy of the Lord when we fulfill the following conditions. One, when we seek him just to be with him and to know him. Psalm 16 verse 11, Thou dost show me the path of life, in thy presence there is fullness of joy, in thy right hand of pleasures forevermore. When we believe it, we are not always hankering for human fellowship. Human fellowship is right, we're told not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. But you don't have to hanker for human companionship when you believe that in his presence is fullness of joy. Acts 2 verse 28, Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou wilt make me full of gladness, where? Thine presence. Psalm 40 verse 16, But may all who seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee. It's the reward that God gives to the diligent seeker of himself. Not to know about him, not just to get guidance, not to get messages, let me say it again, but to go alone with him and say, Oh, oh God reveal, oh God reveal himself. Say it ten times in every different way you can, but whatever you do, get in the presence of God and tell him you won't let him go till he's revealed himself. You don't want to know about him, you want to know him. And he says, Good, I see I've got a diligent seeker here. I'm going to in my time and way reward you with the fullness of joy in my presence. We think that Moses had to receive grace to go up the mountain, and he did. But he had to receive more grace to leave the friendship and presence of the almighty God to go down amongst the people. He was ruined for the ordinary. He had exalted joy up there with the Lord, face to face. How corny it would be to have said to Moses when he came down, poor Moses, 40 days, 40 nights, to think you never had food, you never had any water, you were up on a cliff of a rock, and then you were flat on your face up there, Sinai's cold and rugged, and there was lightning and thunder. Poor Moses. Come on, Moses, you need some hot drinks, and you need some fellowship, Moses. He'd say, if he were an American living today, man, I never had it so good when I was let up there with him. I'm so glad God taught me to receive grace so that I could come down here amongst these rebels. The second condition that we fulfill for God to give this exultant joy is when we have a clean heart. Psalm 51, verse 12. After David had confessed and repented of the double sins of adultery and murder, he then says, restore to me the joy of my salvation. He knew perfectly well he couldn't pray that prayer before. And neither can you or I when our hearts are heavy and our spirits are heavy because we have undealt with sin in our lives. We haven't humbled ourselves as we should have to those we've wronged. We haven't made our restitutions. We haven't confessed our sin before the Lord and gotten right with others. Of course we can't have exultant joy. You can be on some emotional trip in a crowd of others, but you're not having exultant joy. Exultant joy comes from a clean heart, a broken and a contrite spirit where we've gotten right with God and right with one another. Psalm 132, verse 9. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness and let thy saints shout for joy. There's a tremendous link in the Scriptures between righteousness and joy. There is no other way to have joy outside righteousness. See, you can look at the Lord and feel ghastly if you've got unrepentance in him now. The glory of God could come into this place tonight in a way that you and I have never ever seen. And we're going to have one or two reactions. Either we want to rush away because we can't stand the sight of the revelation that his glory shows us to be. Or we will say, I'll rush to your feet, Lord Jesus, and confess and repent of everything that your righteousness and your glory shows me that I'm not. It's one of two reactions. Pride will want to run for the door. Humility runs to his feet. Now read that verse again. It's very important. Psalm 132, verse 9. And let thy priests be clothed with righteousness and let thy saints shout for joy. Psalm 32, verse 11. I've just come from ministering in three major cities in Brazil with Brother Andrew, a God smuggler, my precious, precious friend and Brother Andrew. And he always says that a fanatic is somebody that just loves Jesus a bit more than you do. And I think that's a fabulous definition. So if you've got a reserve about somebody expressing the joy of the Lord, also remember that that's exactly what Michael, Saul's daughter, and David's wife were saying, is she despised David in her heart. Fanatic. And what happened to her? She had a bad wound for the rest of her life. Under the judgment of God. Because she criticized the way her husband rejoiced in the Lord. And there are many, many, not only women but men, whose spiritual lives are as barren as Michael's wound, who've criticized others for their expression of joy in the Lord. And until they repent of having touched the Lord's anointed and been critical, and repented of the things in their own life that caused them not to be able to express joy, they will remain that way. The next condition that we fulfill to have the joy of the Lord is when we please God through obedience to Him. Ecclesiastes chapter 2, verse 26. For to the man who pleases Him, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy. Now from here on out, God wants to show us that through obedience to these conditions, joy is part of the package. Now, we may not have realized that... And therefore, we may have been fulfilling the conditions but not entering in to what goes with the package, which is the joy of the Lord. And God wants to show us that tonight. Because you may be ticking away here, point by point, yes, I fulfill that condition, but I haven't been experiencing the joy. Now God wants you to possess your possessions and enter into the joy of the Lord. Alright? For to the man who pleases Him, have you been pleasing the Lord? Have you been obedient to what He's been telling you to do? Then He says He will give you wisdom and knowledge and joy. Look what He promises when we have left home and gone to other places other than our home and our homeland at this call to make Him known. Psalm 105, verse 43. When we have obeyed the Great Commission. So He led forth His people with joy, His chosen ones with singing. And He gave them the lands of the nations and they partook of the fruit of the people's toil to the end that they should keep His statutes and observe His laws. Would you put up your hand if at the call of God at any time you have left your homeland and said goodbye to loved ones and all your security and gone to another land to serve the Lord and obedience to Him? I expected there would be a number. Thank you. Did you experience what I experienced? This exultant joy when you were leaving? Would you put up your hand? Okay, so you know what I'm talking about. When I was leaving New Zealand and I never left New Zealand with a chip on my shoulder in any way whatsoever. I was loved. I had wonderful friends. I still have. But this verse was so fulfilled in my life I want to give testimony here that as I was leaving the people who were all my known securities my entire immediate family I'm not talking about my husband and children they were coming with me but when we were my mother, my brothers my cousins all my relatives all my closest friends were there in New Zealand and as a number of them were at the airport to see us I didn't know when we would return and by the way it was five and a half years before we did but this exalted joy was so flooding my heart that there's no way I could do anything else but just praise and sing and I was just full of the joy of the Lord and it seemed as though there was no way that I could express it by just doing the normal things of hugging and praising and singing I've done all that many times over right in the middle of the airport the last sight that they saw of me as I was going through the last boarding gate I shouted Hallelujah at the top of my voice and then I did this the only thing I knew to do to express it I went like that shouted Hallelujah again it seemed to be the only way I could it was the joy of the Lord and when you're full of it it's got to fly off somehow and it was the fulfillment of this verse let me read it to you again for he led forth his people with joy his chosen ones with singing and he gave them the land of the nations because he was sending me to be around that place and they took possession of the fruit of the people's toil that at the end that they should keep his statutes and observe his laws don't fall for the devil's lie that when you go out in obedience to God and leave all and forsake all that God is going to be a mean God yes there will be a price but privilege is higher than price and the joy of the Lord exultant joy floods and fills your heart because you see it's an honor to be called by King God to go anywhere Hallelujah I'm experiencing it tonight it wasn't easy to leave my precious darling husband that two thirds of my life I've separated from it hurts every time we've been married 30 years we had these horrendous separations we're very much in love with one another it hurts to leave him I've already phoned him since I've been here I've been here a few hours he's alone in that house it's hard for him is he moaning no sir he's praying like crazy for this meeting I can hardly wait for the judgment day to come for his sake for the rewards we've been separated for weeks which is normal been home for a few days wait I come again but this is what I'm experiencing the joy of the Lord Hallelujah I think of all the bored people that don't obey the Lord Acts 13 verses 51 and 52 Paul and Barnabas had been obedient gone out and preached the gospel left their homes they'd been received by the multitudes but they were rejected by the Jews and the leaders at Antioch what was the result of being rejected by the hierarchy in Antioch they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit it was the reward of having obeyed God and the reward of standing against the temptation to resent the people who rejected them when you pray blessings on those who persecute you and pray blessings on those who reject you and forgive them instead of resenting them what's the reward joy the joy of the Lord next condition to receive the joy of the Lord is when we're humble Isaiah 29 verse 19 the meek shall obtain fresh joy I love that God could have just said joy but fresh joy it's like a little new clean exciting package and a little bit of different joy than you had before what else does fresh mean not the same kind it's a little new deal the meek those who have humbled themselves those who know that they're nothing those who are small in their own eyes those who will be willing to be known for what they are at any time meekness the meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord and the poor that word poor means those who know they have a need it's exactly the same word as is used in blessed are the poor in spirit those who know they have a need do you know you have a need ok so those who know they have a need shall exult in the Holy One of Israel humility is the ground floor for God to bring the joy of the Lord have you ever noticed that proud people don't have too much of this ingredient first condition when we've been diligent in daily living to take time to know God from His word this is a similar point to point one but it has the emphasis of the word in it Jeremiah 15 verse 16 thy words were found this is a very wonderful verse we're going to look at it for a minute or two thy words were found says the prophet now to find something you've got to seek right if you said I found it well you've looked for something otherwise you wouldn't say I found it so God's saying when we have searched the scriptures to know Him this is not the casual inquirer this is the one who's taking time to know God over the scriptures thy words were found because I sought the Lord from the word and I ate them ah that means meditating on the word there's no way you can ever say I've eaten the word of God unless you have meditated on it reading it slowly carefully unhurried uninterrupted asking the Holy Ghost to give you revelation on it receiving by faith that He will repeatedly reading the same things over again that's meditation that's eating the word alright now when we come to know the word of God like that what's the marvelous result and thy words became to me a joy and a delight of my heart for I am called by thy name O Lord God of hosts a number of spiritual leaders over the years blessed their precious humble hearts have come to me and said Joy I hate to have to say this because it's very humbling for me but I've come to the place of desperation I've got to have answers I'm a preacher or I'm a leader I'm a teacher but I have no real hunger for the word of God help me this is my answer you're not diligently seeking to know the author of the book you're not making the word of God the priority reading matter in your life you're not giving it the time that God wants you to give it when you diligently come to say God I'm going to make this the most important part of the day I wouldn't dream of going through a day without hearing what you had to say to me first of all about yourself I want to learn about your ways I want to study you the author of the book from the Bible and you take time diligently to study his character facet by facet then you know what God says OK I'm sure that nobody would be more diligent in relation to the preparation of this conference than the president that's always the way the buck always stops at the top right sure it does and she can be just exulting in the joy of the Lord as the reward of all your hard work Matthew 25 verses 21 to 23 his master said to him well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over a little I will set you over much enter into the joy of your master and he also who had the two talents came forward saying master you delivered to me two talents here I have made two talents more his master said to him well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over a little I will set you over much enter into the joy of your master and God wants us to do that tonight to the degree we've been faithful to him the ninth condition when we've spoken wisely and according to the fear of the Lord Proverbs 15 verse 23 to make an apt answer is a joy to a man there's a joy that God wants to have in our hearts when we've spoken wisely now those are the conditions that we fulfill and receive the joy of the Lord and now we're going to look at in difficult times when we choose to rejoice in the Lord as an act of the will I'm making this a separate point because it is this is life this is realism life is not easy right any other realists in this place good because the more we're out on cloud nine at convention time the more we need some practical teaching of what it's really like when we get home inside the door amen girls alright so in difficult times when we choose when we make the choice to rejoice as an act of the will this is a very important part Psalm 9 verses 1 and 2 these two verses are the classic in scripture on this point I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart I will tell of all thy wonderful deeds I will be glad and exult in thee I will sing praise to thy name O Most High praise is a choice rejoicing in the Lord is a choice don't ever come and tell me you couldn't praise the Lord over thirty times I have found in the word of God in the psalms these words I will praise the Lord I will praise the Lord it's a choice we have free will and we choose now to the degree we have a revelation of the Lord and understand his character and a walking in obedience to him and in humility with sin dealt with in our lives and looking into his face and taking time to be with him all these factors all these conditions we've been looking at here make it as easy as possible for us with our free will to choose you see it's going to be very hard to choose if you don't fulfill the conditions that's why we had to have the conditions first but as we fulfill the conditions still there's a choice you can fulfill all those conditions and not choose we make the choice and we say I will and praise him and the more difficult the circumstances are the more we need to understand this point have it embedded in our hearts and say I don't know about you but I counsel myself constantly do you and so we say if we're not praising the Lord come on now I will praise the Lord why because of who God is fabulous God and then start thinking about all the wonderful factors of his character and then away you go I will rejoice in the Lord you haven't changed Luke chapter 6 verses 22 and 23 blessed are you when men hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and cast you out and cast out your name at least as evil well that's not too exciting those circumstances they're not too pleasant they're not too comforting they're horrible on account of the Son of Man rejoice in that day and not only rejoice and if we're not leaping for joy when we're spoken against then JD and all the rest of us have got to shape up and we've got to live according to the standard of this book that's the slide rule how much leaping for joy have we done as we've been spoken against recently well there it is girls I'm giving it to you it's the Bible we'd better believe it and if we want this to be our standard then we will experience this exalted joy it's because we choose to live less than the standard of the word we don't have the joy that we're meant to have but as we choose to say I'll not only praise you Lord but I'll leap for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven for so their fathers did to the prophet got good company 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 2 for in a severe test of affliction their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in wealth of liberality on their part it's a very very interesting verse severe test of affliction abundance of joy extreme poverty and overflowing in wealth of liberality that's an interesting mixture but of course they had to make the choice in their affliction and extreme poverty to do two things to rejoice and to give 1 Peter 4 13 but rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed if we want all the glory and to dodge the sufferings I tell you friends it doesn't work that way but if we will pray like Paul prayed I want to know you I want to have the power of your resurrection I want the fellowship of your sufferings I want to be made conformed unto you dear then you have the glory of the Lord we receive the grace we see the glory as we embrace all the things in Philippians 3 10 which is what I just quoted to you of Paul James chapter 1 verses 2 and 3 count it all joy my brethren when you meet various trials for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness do we if we can it wouldn't be in the Bible if we couldn't but can you see why it's under the heading I will rejoice in the Lord it's an act of the will regardless of the circumstances Habakkuk chapter 3 verses 17 and 18 though the fig tree do not blossom nor fruit beyond the vine the produce of the olive sale the fields yield no food the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stall I call that a grim scene do you know what there's left absolutely nothing of this world but everything God's on the throne in control and the prophet says there's nothing down here but hallelujah he's still up there and I will rejoice in him because that's what goes on to say yet I will rejoice in the Lord not in the circumstances there's nothing left to rejoice in I will joy in the God of my salvation not just rejoice joy exalted joy God the Lord is my strength he makes my feet like Heinz feet and makes me tread upon my high places now here's a very interesting thing what does that little animal do when it we look at it scaling up a very rugged difficult vertical hill crags and rocks and we've seen these little animals that God has given me the ability to do so just scaling up like that and we marvel at it with these hanging and cutting and ropes and the whole bit that goes like that now here's what God is saying here when we will to praise the Lord for who He is in the difficult places He then comes down by His Spirit you know it if you've experienced it He comes by His Spirit and He lifts your mind and your spirit above the difficult circumstances and you keep on in the difficult circumstances cause those rocks are still there and it's still hard and it's still high you're hurting it's sorrowful it's difficult everything around you is but your mind and your spirit are taken by the Holy Spirit and you are above them and you're running up the mountain now that's what I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me here He makes my feet like Heinz feet the rocks and the difficulties are there that your mind and your spirit is above and you're rejoicing in the Lord and nobody and nothing can but what did you have to do you had to will to praise Him for who He is you started to rejoice in the Lord and there's nothing like singing His praises in the midst of the dreadful and the dark and the dismal and the grim circumstances start to rejoice and praise and He says OK and then He does the miraculous the Bible is very practical when we obey it practically and literally and then after our enemies have opposed them Psalm 5 verse 11 but let all who take refuge in thee rejoice let them ever sing for joy and do thou defend them that those who love thy name may exult in thee how do we express this joy back to God well the Bible doesn't leave us in any doubt Psalm 98 verse 4 to 6 make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth break forth into joyous song and sing praises sing praises to the Lord with the lyre and the sound of melody with trumpet and the sound of the harp and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King the Lord all right with psalms and with instruments obviously Psalm 9 verses 1 and 2 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart now you don't need to be able to sing or play an instrument God is saying whatever you do rejoice and do it with your whole heart that's the main thing but if you can sing and you've got instruments well that's all to the good 1 Kings chapter 1 verses 39 and 40 there Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon then they blew the trumpet and all the people said long live King Solomon and all the people went up after him playing on pipes and rejoicing with great joy now this intrigues me this is one of the most exciting things that I can read about in the Bible there was such a tremendous release of the joy of the Lord as a leader was being appointed and anointed by God that the earth was split by the noise that's what it says in the Bible now that's some joy session isn't it God actually turned on an earthquake in response to the exultant joy as a leader was being anointed in front of the people that tells us a lot of things it tells us the primary place in importance that God has of anointed leadership there is no time from Genesis to Revelation in the Bible where God moved to bring about the maximum that he did not move through God appointed God anointed leadership that is an unqualified statement God can move without God appointed God anointed leadership but never ever to get maximum let's look at these important verses and this is behind why there was such a tremendous rejoicing when the leader was being anointed and the earth was being split Judges 5 verse 2 the background that the leaders took the lead in Israel that was the first thing then the people offered themselves willingly and then praise or blessing to the Lord three important phases there when leaders who are appointed and anointed by God lead the people then the people offered themselves willingly then praise to God Psalm 110 verse 3 your people will offer themselves freely on the day you lead your host upon the holy mountain it's not more people to follow that God leads in the body of Christ it's more God appointed it's more appointed it's more God appointed it's more God it's more God appointed God appointed it's more God appointed it's more God appointed it's more God why? because he's the author of it and I believe that the most godly people are the most natural you know why? because true godliness doesn't have any acting whatsoever there's no cover up there's nothing to act you're released to be totally natural the most natural person that ever walked the earth was the son of God the most godly he had nothing to hide, with no act whatsoever. And the most fun people to be with are the most holy. You know that? Oh, you might have thought, not really. Well, then I question whether they're holy. Because who would be the most exciting person to ever be with, whoever the donor is, Jesus? And he was the express image of the Father. And God is the author of humor. Now we have to have all this balanced with the fear of the Lord. Humor, as I well know, can, from bitter experience, can get out of control. And God has to convict me and say, quit it, can it, harness it, control it. But I also know this, that I thank God time and time and time again, as I'm sure hundreds and hundreds of you do, for the gift of a sense of humor. And if you haven't got one, he's a creative God, ask him to give you one. You know, this is quite a question, and I don't want you to forget it, and either Jesus is God. Are you fun to live with? And what would be the answer of your family? Because that's the only answer that's true. Are you fun to live with? Jesus would be. I'm going to read the verse again. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy. That was Psalm 126 too. First Chronicles 15, verse 16. David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brethren as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals to raise sounds of joy. Music to bring the joy of the Lord. Ezra chapter 3, when they saw the foundation of this harp being laid, many shouted aloud for joy, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard afar. Zephaniah chapter 3, verse 14. Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. Psalm 149, verses 1 to 3. Praise the Lord, sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in his Maker, let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing, making melodies to him with timbrel and lyre. Psalm 47, verse 1. Clap your hands, all people, shout to God with loud songs of joy. Well, we're not left in any doubt whatsoever, if we're being honest, under the anointing of the Spirit of God, which comes from clean hearts, God does not anoint dirty vessels. Don't go around saying, dear God, anoint every preacher that you know is going to preach. Many times that prayer can't be answered. Don't pray that. Say, dear God, cause the person who's going to preach to fulfill the conditionings, so that you can anoint them by your Spirit. If there's unconfessed and undealt with sin in their life, convince them of it. Bring them to repentance, so that you can then fill them and anoint them by your Spirit. Then God can answer that prayer. Don't ever pray for me this week, just fill her with the Holy Ghost. Say, Lord, cause her to fulfill the conditions so that she can. Then if I'm not, I'll get zapped by God in conviction and have to get on with some repentance. See, that's good. That's exactly how I want you to pray, that he doesn't anoint dirty vessels. What are the results? We've been looking at some of the ways in which we express praise and joy. Results? Spiritual, physical, emotional and mental energy is released by God. It's part of the package of the joy of the Lord. Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 10, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Another result is that the nations will know that God is working for us. Psalm 126 verse 2, then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. Second Chronicles chapter 20, great power is released by God over the enemy, over the powers of darkness. The Lord sent ambushments amongst them, went and drove back the enemy, caused actually the children of Judah to be saved from the oncoming hordes of the enemy. God raised up another army to clean up that army that was coming to fight them. In other words, God's mighty power was released in dynamic, unusual ways that no way the children of Judah could have ever thought of or heard of. And what did they have to do? Stand there and sing with all their babies and their teenagers and their children. You read about it there in Second Chronicles 20, and they had to sing about the character of God. When they sang His mercy endures forever, God moved against the powers of darkness. And then in Acts chapter 16, we find Paul and Silas in prison, bruised and bleeding and beaten up. And they did one thing more important than having a prayer meeting for the lost souls of the people in the town that had caused them to be locked up. They had the highest form of prayer. They took the form of praise and they started to sing the praises of God. And what did God do when Paul and Silas, instead of having a prayer meeting, important, desperately important as prayer meetings are, my word, let's never think that we can substitute praise meetings for prayer meetings. We need both, friends. Both. But they had seen the tremendous power that God releases over lost souls when they pray. And so they prayed. And they sang the praises of God. And what did God do? God was so thrilled in heaven that Paul and Silas sang His praises that He said, Amen! And that was the earthquake. And the prison doors were opened and the shackles came off the prisoners' hands and there was a mighty evangelistic move right there, move of evangelism by the Holy Spirit. And Paul got saved in the middle of the night and the whole family baptized. And Paul didn't even have to preach a sermon. They were calling out, What can we do to be saved? They were running to the altar. Such was the power of praise. Oh, will we get the message? But what was it Paul and Silas had to do? They had to choose in ghastly circumstances to praise the Lord, to sing His praises. They made a choice. They could have been saying, Dear God, raise up in the sacrifice for us now. My word, here we are, bruised and bleeding and beaten up. And now God, You raise up some people to pray for us. You know, we would have been very tempted to do that. But they got their eye on the Lord and praised Him. And God says, I'll show you guys what I can do with my power. Earthquake and salvation and baptism. Mighty, dynamic happenings. In closing, these are free prayers for ourselves and others in relation to this subject. Free prayers from God's Word. Very, very important. And this brings me to the part where I saw immediately the purpose of why God came upon our precious sister here. And with that song about, These are days for preparation. Remember dear, when you were singing, These are days for preparation. And I was the only one who knew what this message was. And I understood why she was giving that. And it's for this. Colossians chapter 1, verse 11. Because the message that God has given tonight links totally with the word that was sung for our sister. Colossians 1, 11, May you be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might for all endurance and patience with joy. Now we can have the endurance and we can have the patience. But do we have the joy? You see, there's a difference, isn't there? The more mature we've got and the deeper we've gone with God, we're receiving the grace and we're enduring and we're patient. But have we got the exultant joy? This is the higher level that God wants to bring in the place of affliction, in the place of persecution, in the place of the difficult times. And friends, the message that was sung through us here was these are preparation days. I believe they're preparation days for far greater difficulties than you and I are in the third or the fourth of right now. I believe that with all my heart. And I believe that God wants us to learn the Stephen kind of joy, so that when the bricks are coming and the persecution's on and the devil's power is unleashed a thousand times more than it is now and it's not all out yet, that then we'll have this exultant joy, exultant joy in the Lord. And it won't only be endurance and it only won't be patience, but it'll be this message being lived out in our lives. And then the world will say, watch this, watch this. Because they can grip their teeth as stoics in the world. Sure there are millions of people with courage who haven't got Christ that grip their teeth and bear it and go on. It's not realistic for us Christians to say anything else or less, right? Books are full of those who've done exploits and have had courage and endurance and patience, but they can't have the joy. There's no way they can have the joy of the Lord without Jesus. Jesus sends the joy of living, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in life. Another prayer, Acts 20, verse 24, but I do not account my life of any value, says Paul, nor as precious to myself, if only I might finish my course. And so many times that's all that's quoted that Paul says. He didn't just say that. It's not that I might finish my course. You can do that with endurance or with patience. But Paul says, I want to finish my course with joy. I want that same kind of joy on me that I saw on Stephen when I said, go on, stone that guy and have his coat at my feet. You see, Stephen's life was multiplied in Saul. Paul died with the same exultant joy I believe that Stephen did. You reproduce your own kind. It's a law of multiplication. When we speak to people about Jesus and they see the exultant joy upon us, and they see that there's a radiance because we've kept the secret of who he is, not the circumstance that we live in. And we leave them to the Lord, the imprint of that, as we speak to them, that they will never want anything less. And I believe that Stephen rinsed in the life of Paul. Paul finished his course and was martyred for Jesus Christ with this exultant joy. If only I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Jude 24. God's enabling power at work within us. Oh, this is so marvelous. When we've prayed, God, I want the joy of the Lord as well as the patience and the endurance for all that's coming of the difficult that I don't know now. I'm going to receive your grace. I'm going to fulfill these conditions. I will to rejoice in you. Then God says, all right, now I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do. Jude 24. Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you. This is God's part. We've chosen to do our part. This is his. Now I will keep you from falling and I will present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. It's God's turn. It's Jesus' turn to say to the Father with exceeding joy. Here they are. They've chosen to fulfill those conditions. And now I've kept them in my power and I'm presenting them faultless before the presence of the Father with exceeding joy. That's what Jesus