“Joy Unspeakable and All That Other Stuff”
Emojional Week Four
Pastor Kris Freeman
Revolution Church
March 25, 2018
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-12
To watch the service, go to the bottom of this post...
To watch the service, go to the bottom of this post...
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
To live with a great expectation is a FOUNDATION for worship.
Many of the people who comprised the books of the Bible were writing with INSPIRATION of the Holy Spirit but had yet to see many of the things they talked about.
6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
How could the writers of the Bible be HAPPY about the things they saw around them?
- Immense persecution of the early church
- Threats and realistic issues of violence
- Prejudice, hatred, racism, sexism, classism
- Extreme poverty
- Government corruption
And yet… they turned it into PRAISE! Does this feel like you today?
You cannot truly worship when you are just happy, you need to possess JOY.
Barney E. Warren wrote this in 1900:
I have found his grace is all complete, he supplies my every need. While I sit and learn at Jesus feet, I am free, yes free indeed. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory, full of glory, full of glory, it is joy unspeakable and full of glory, oh the half has never yet been told.
Now read the next scripture…
10 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
12 They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
The Biblical writers and prophets understood the power of HOPE in our worship. They had to write about things they could not see, could not use, could not explain and could not hold - yet all of those things brought them great joy!
Happiness won’t ENDURE.
My happiness can change in a moment. I can receive bad news. Encounter a tragedy. Fight a battle that’s bigger than my ability. Deal with a crisis. Experience brokenness or lost. Mess up. Make a mistake. Sin. Get my hopes and dreams crushed. Happiness is all RELATIVE.
But joy is a different story. Joy is a deeper sense and realization of hope that lives inside of your circumstances. And true joy will produce longer PERIODS of happiness even when the circumstances don’t call for it!
Be happy, because you have hope, and hope produces joy! And then worship in it!
#emojional #revwhitehouse
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