1 00:00:00,100 --> 00:00:03,100 We are to fight for Joy. It's a command. 2 00:00:03,100 --> 00:00:06,600 We are commanded here in the midst of our dependence. 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:11,600 In the midst of the Babylonians, coming to fight to rejoice. 4 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:20,800 We're going out to play in a church. 5 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:23,700 This is how you can help us in service Frontier. 6 00:00:23,900 --> 00:00:26,500 I've told you this every week. So here it is again. 7 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:29,100 Pray for us. We need your prayer. 8 00:00:29,100 --> 00:00:35,100 We need the holy spirit's help. We are not capable of doing 9 00:00:35,100 --> 00:00:36,900 everything that God has called us to do. 10 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:43,200 And when you plant a church, you feel that especially We're doing 11 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:49,100 the impossible bringing Heaven to Earth which is we need your 12 00:00:49,100 --> 00:00:51,000 prayer. So pray for us we have many 13 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,200 needs, we need Financial Resources, will pray and ask the 14 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,500 Lord would lay upon your heart to give to us. 15 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,500 We do we got a bank account this week. 16 00:01:00,500 --> 00:01:04,800 Boom, it's done. We'll be having our own stuff 17 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,200 set up on our website soon. But right now, on the Frontier 18 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,300 website, there is a byline for a mace. 19 00:01:09,300 --> 00:01:12,200 You can, you can give their if the Lord would so lead. 20 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:14,300 And then also, you could come and serve us. 21 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:17,500 Some of you have already been serving us and are committed to 22 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:21,500 serve Us in various ways. Not necessarily come along with 23 00:01:21,500 --> 00:01:24,600 us to commit to the church plant, but to come and serve us 24 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:26,700 as in the various ways that we need help. 25 00:01:27,300 --> 00:01:30,300 So, ask the Lord, if he would call you to do that, or if you 26 00:01:30,300 --> 00:01:31,900 would call, you just come and join us. 27 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,400 We'd love to have you as part of that team that you saw up here. 28 00:01:35,900 --> 00:01:40,900 So yeah, ask the Lord to do that in you and see see how he would 29 00:01:40,900 --> 00:01:43,400 lead you. So with that said, Zephaniah 30 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,400 chapter. 37 diet. Chapter 3. 31 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,000 The second best animated movie ever made is Finding Nemo, if 32 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:58,000 you didn't know Finding Nemo, is a great movie. 33 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,400 I loved the movie. And, you know, it's a movie 34 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:02,200 about a father looking for his son. 35 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,500 And there's this scene in that movie that I think of, when I 36 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:12,400 come to this text in the book of Zephaniah, Marlin the father and 37 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,800 Dory. The forgetful friend are out 38 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,300 looking for Nemo and they come upon a school of fish. 39 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,900 Ash and the fish tell the forgetful Dory. 40 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,900 When you see the trench go through it, but go through it. 41 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,100 Don't go over it. And what happens when they get 42 00:02:31,100 --> 00:02:35,200 to the trench, it's dark, it's scary. 43 00:02:35,900 --> 00:02:40,600 It looks like death and there and Marlins, like I'm not going 44 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:45,300 through there up above, it is blue, skies or blue water. 45 00:02:45,300 --> 00:02:48,200 It looks free and safe and open. I can see things. 46 00:02:48,300 --> 00:02:51,200 Things. But down that trench down. 47 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,300 Will that trench looks scary. He says, are you kidding me? 48 00:02:54,300 --> 00:02:56,400 It's got death written all over it. 49 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,300 And what he does. Convinces Dori to go up with him 50 00:03:00,300 --> 00:03:04,600 over it, and instead of finding safety above him, he finds a 51 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,300 field of jellyfish and nearly dies. 52 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,300 As we come to our text today, we find that much like Marlon our 53 00:03:13,300 --> 00:03:17,300 instincts don't serve us. Well our instincts, don't 54 00:03:17,300 --> 00:03:21,500 service while Marlins instincts told him that dark trench is 55 00:03:21,500 --> 00:03:25,900 dangerous and has death on it, but his instincts were wrong, 56 00:03:26,100 --> 00:03:29,400 his instincts were dead wrong and for us, I believe our 57 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,400 instincts, when we come to, this text would not serve us. 58 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,600 Well, through the book of Zephaniah, we have seen in 59 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:42,700 chapters 1 & 2 You just this raining down of God's Wrath 60 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:47,800 judgment anger, God's Wrath being poured out on Jews 61 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:52,500 Jerusalem and on the nation's around it and it's scary, it's 62 00:03:52,500 --> 00:03:55,400 dark. And then in chapter 3 last week 63 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:57,600 we saw at the beginning of chapter 3 that when God's 64 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,300 judgment comes, it doesn't just destroy. 65 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:05,000 But it transforms people into the kind of people that God is 66 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,400 pleased with, which is weird, right? 67 00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:10,700 We saw the miracle. Oil of God's transformation last 68 00:04:10,700 --> 00:04:15,300 week and what he transforms them into is peculiar what he 69 00:04:15,300 --> 00:04:20,399 transforms people into our people, that are on one hand 70 00:04:20,399 --> 00:04:24,100 self-sufficient, and he's displeased with them. 71 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:27,500 And he transforms them into dependent humble people. 72 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,700 He trains that forms them into people who are deeply and 73 00:04:30,700 --> 00:04:34,500 profoundly dependent and humble and low to the ground before 74 00:04:34,500 --> 00:04:38,500 God. And when I think about that, 75 00:04:38,700 --> 00:04:42,600 When I see that, I see a dark trench in front of me. 76 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:48,500 When I think about God, make wanting me to be humble and 77 00:04:48,500 --> 00:04:50,600 lowly. When I think about God wanting 78 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,300 me to be dependent. It sounds like I got someone 79 00:04:53,300 --> 00:04:56,800 with their foot, on my back, just pushing my face into the 80 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,800 dirt. It sounds like a dark deep 81 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:04,200 horrible Trench. When someone wants you to be 82 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:08,100 lonely, when someone wants to lower you, it does not sound 83 00:05:08,100 --> 00:05:11,100 like a happy experience. It sounds more. 84 00:05:11,100 --> 00:05:14,100 Like that's got death written all over it. 85 00:05:14,500 --> 00:05:17,800 That's the way it feels, but I have good news for you this 86 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:22,000 morning. I've good news for you, the life 87 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:25,000 of humble dependants in this text is not what your instincts 88 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,100 will tell you who it is. Just like Marlon looked at that 89 00:05:28,100 --> 00:05:31,600 trench, it was scared of it. That was actually the place of 90 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,100 safety and life and flourishing. And this morning, what I want to 91 00:05:35,100 --> 00:05:39,200 show you from this text, is that the life of humble, dependence 92 00:05:39,300 --> 00:05:43,700 is actually the pathway to Joy. It is actually the pathway to 93 00:05:43,700 --> 00:05:46,200 life. It's actually the pathway to 94 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,000 flourishing down in the dark Trench. 95 00:05:49,100 --> 00:05:53,300 A humble, dependence is life and joy and all that God is for us 96 00:05:53,300 --> 00:05:56,200 in Jesus. And so I hope to show you that 97 00:05:56,300 --> 00:05:57,700 this morning. So stand with me, we're going to 98 00:05:57,700 --> 00:06:01,000 read Zephaniah chapter 3 and we're going to be reading verses 99 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:11,200 14 down to verse 20. Starting in verse 14. 100 00:06:12,700 --> 00:06:16,900 Sing aloud o Daughter of Zion shout o Israel. 101 00:06:17,300 --> 00:06:21,500 Rejoice and exalt with all your heart o daughter of Jerusalem. 102 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,400 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you. 103 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,100 He's cleared away. Your enemies. 104 00:06:26,300 --> 00:06:29,000 The king of Israel. The Lord is in your midst. 105 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:32,600 You shall never again, fear evil on that day. 106 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:34,500 It shall be said to Jerusalem. Fear. 107 00:06:34,500 --> 00:06:37,700 Not o Zion. Let not your hands grow, weak. 108 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,600 The Lord, your God is in your midst of mighty. 109 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,200 One who will save He will rejoice over you with gladness. 110 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:49,400 He will quiet you by his love, he will exalt over you with loud 111 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,100 singing. I will gather those of you who 112 00:06:52,100 --> 00:06:54,600 mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer 113 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:56,900 reproach. Behold, at that time, I will 114 00:06:56,900 --> 00:07:00,800 deal with all your oppressors and I will save the lame and 115 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:05,900 gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise. 116 00:07:06,300 --> 00:07:10,500 And renowned in all the Earth. At that time, I will bring you 117 00:07:10,500 --> 00:07:14,500 in at the time when I gather you together for I will make you 118 00:07:14,500 --> 00:07:17,900 renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth. 119 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,900 When I restore your fortunes before, your eyes says the Lord, 120 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:30,700 this is God's word. You can be seated Let's pray. 121 00:07:31,100 --> 00:07:34,500 Lord, I Thank you for your word and man as I stand before it 122 00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:41,300 this morning, my voice is not capable of doing this text 123 00:07:41,300 --> 00:07:47,500 Justice. My notes do not have in them, 124 00:07:47,500 --> 00:07:56,100 the wisdom necessary nor the nor the arguments necessary or the 125 00:07:56,100 --> 00:08:03,500 depth of knowledge and emotion necessary to do, what this text 126 00:08:03,500 --> 00:08:05,900 is aim to do through your spirit. 127 00:08:06,100 --> 00:08:12,000 And Lord, I feel this morning in a position of great, dependence 128 00:08:12,100 --> 00:08:14,100 and lowliness before this tax East. 129 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,900 And so I just pray that your spirit would be pleased to use 130 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,500 the week. Mumblings out of my mouth, to 131 00:08:24,500 --> 00:08:29,000 excite the hearts of your people on to proper, worship of you, 132 00:08:29,300 --> 00:08:31,000 and we pray and ask this in Jesus name. 133 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:38,200 Amen. So this morning, as we come to 134 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,500 this text some Scholars call this text, the John 3:16 of the 135 00:08:42,500 --> 00:08:46,200 Old Testament, this is like the greatest text. 136 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:50,200 It's like it's like the mountain peak of the Old Testament. 137 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:55,700 It is an unbelievable taxed. It's so what I want to do is I 138 00:08:55,700 --> 00:09:01,500 want us to think through this morning, why we need this text, 139 00:09:02,100 --> 00:09:05,200 why? This text is so necessary for us 140 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:12,200 and how it answers for us and fixes in us, the wrong Instinct 141 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,500 about humble dependence. And so to do that, we're going 142 00:09:15,500 --> 00:09:18,700 to see two things in this text. We're going to see that Joy is 143 00:09:18,700 --> 00:09:22,300 commanded and we're going to see that Joy is grounded. 144 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,900 That Joy has commanded. Enjoy is grounded in light of 145 00:09:25,900 --> 00:09:27,900 everything that God has already said through this text. 146 00:09:27,900 --> 00:09:34,900 So first Joy is commanded. He says there in verse 14, sing 147 00:09:34,900 --> 00:09:41,500 aloud, o, Daughter of Zion, shout rejoice and exalt so 148 00:09:41,500 --> 00:09:47,900 rejoice as humbly dependent people that should cause our 149 00:09:47,900 --> 00:09:55,600 foreheads to wrinkle what. We don't sing and shout over. 150 00:09:55,900 --> 00:10:00,200 Lame broken. Shame filled, people that 151 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:03,900 doesn't make any sense. It shouldn't make any sense. 152 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,300 If you read this and you go. Oh yeah, that makes sense. 153 00:10:06,700 --> 00:10:09,600 You're not reading, you're not thinking this is crazy. 154 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,300 Why would God tell people that he's intentionally going to 155 00:10:14,300 --> 00:10:18,400 bring his Justice upon and then make them lowly and humble? 156 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,600 Hey, rejoice. That doesn't make. 157 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:23,900 It doesn't make any sense and it shouldn't. 158 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:28,100 It shouldn't make sense. To get this. 159 00:10:28,100 --> 00:10:31,400 We have to understand God's working through the scripture 160 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:36,800 joy in the Bible is experienced from beginning to end through 161 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:40,600 humble dependence, not through strong Independence. 162 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:46,400 Joy through the scriptures is not experienced through strong 163 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:50,800 Independence. Through overcoming it is 164 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,500 experienced through humble dependants. 165 00:10:54,500 --> 00:10:59,500 There's no training montage. Like In Rocky Cole, it's 166 00:10:59,500 --> 00:11:02,100 happening. I'm coming after Rocky this 167 00:11:02,100 --> 00:11:09,500 morning funding, you hear? That Emmaus is funding is on the 168 00:11:09,500 --> 00:11:17,700 line now, In Rocky, you got the training montage, he's building 169 00:11:17,700 --> 00:11:20,600 up his strength, you got that song in the background. 170 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,100 The beats are going right you got the eye of the tiger playing 171 00:11:24,100 --> 00:11:27,600 and he's climbing the steps to the Capitol and Philadelphia and 172 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:33,500 he's who there is, none of that before God that does not lead. 173 00:11:33,500 --> 00:11:36,700 In fact in this text that leads to death. 174 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:42,900 The road to Humble dependants is Rocky sitting at home, broken 175 00:11:43,100 --> 00:11:50,000 with holes, in his wall, crying alone, that is the path to life 176 00:11:50,100 --> 00:11:53,800 in the scriptures, which is mind-blowing. 177 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:58,600 It doesn't make any sense. It's through, utter dependence. 178 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,600 If you if you look through the scripture, you know, it's 179 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,100 through the waters of judgment in the flood that brought Noah 180 00:12:05,100 --> 00:12:09,000 and his family walking out into New Creation, they went through 181 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,500 the Judgment of God and stepped out into new create. 182 00:12:12,500 --> 00:12:17,100 It was through humility and being humbled and hearing death 183 00:12:17,100 --> 00:12:20,200 all around them. There's bloody sacrifice blood 184 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,700 being sprinkled everywhere. In the Old Testament, gross 185 00:12:23,700 --> 00:12:29,100 disgusting scenes of blood being sprinkled in sacrifices showing 186 00:12:29,100 --> 00:12:33,300 us that it's through death and humility and lowliness. 187 00:12:33,300 --> 00:12:37,900 That Joy comes that life comes. When you get to the Book of 188 00:12:37,900 --> 00:12:42,700 Daniel, it's through Daniel receiving the death penalty and 189 00:12:42,700 --> 00:12:47,900 being thrown into a lion's den that he experiences new creation 190 00:12:47,900 --> 00:12:52,200 and is cuddling with the lions that Joy comes through the death 191 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,600 sentence or just a chapter or two later with rad Shack and 192 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:58,500 Benny I've got too much Veggie Tales in my history. 193 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,600 It's a problem can never remember their real names rad 194 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,000 Shack and Benny are they defy the king don't worship him? 195 00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:08,900 They get thrown into the fiery furnace and they're partying 196 00:13:08,900 --> 00:13:11,800 with Jesus in the middle of a fire. 197 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,100 It is through death. It is through humility. 198 00:13:16,100 --> 00:13:21,800 It is through gross dependence. That joy and life comes. 199 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:23,700 And we see this all throughout the New Testament to. 200 00:13:23,700 --> 00:13:25,800 It's everywhere. It's everywhere through the 201 00:13:25,808 --> 00:13:29,500 scriptures, the Beatitudes. It says the meek are going to 202 00:13:29,500 --> 00:13:33,300 inherit the earth, not the strong, not the independent. 203 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:37,400 In Luke 14, 11, Jesus says whoever exalts himself will be 204 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:39,700 humbled. So the strong are going to be 205 00:13:39,700 --> 00:13:42,600 brought down but whoever humbles himself. 206 00:13:42,700 --> 00:13:46,800 Off whoever is low and broken, they're going to be lifted up. 207 00:13:47,300 --> 00:13:52,300 Mark 35, my 935 if any would be first he must be. 208 00:13:52,300 --> 00:13:55,000 What? Last. 209 00:13:56,100 --> 00:14:01,300 Luke 9:23, if anyone would come after me, Jesus says, you have 210 00:14:01,300 --> 00:14:05,200 to deny himself take up his cross daily, which is in our 211 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:10,500 day, like saying, put a gun to your head daily Do away with 212 00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:16,200 yourself and your pleasure. In the world. 213 00:14:16,900 --> 00:14:20,200 And follow me for whoever would save his life has to lose it, 214 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,500 but whoever loses his life will save it. 215 00:14:23,500 --> 00:14:31,300 It is through pain suffering, humility, dependence that God 216 00:14:31,300 --> 00:14:39,100 brings Joy, which is crazy. That's crazy in all of these 217 00:14:39,100 --> 00:14:41,300 verses and all these things from the Bible, what we see is that 218 00:14:41,300 --> 00:14:45,200 the pathway to life, the pathway to flourishing, the Pathway, to 219 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:49,000 exaltation is a very narrow dark trench. 220 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,500 The trench of humble dependence Upon Jesus. 221 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,600 And we see this most acutely in most clearly in Psalm 23. 222 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,500 We read it in all. It's one of the most famous 223 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:03,600 chapters in The Bible, right? We read it at funerals, we have 224 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,300 it printed on our walls and this is the message of Psalm 23. 225 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:09,800 Yay though. I walk through the valley of the 226 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:15,000 shadow of death death. I'm not going to fear any evil 227 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,700 God's going to put a table before me in the presence of my 228 00:15:17,700 --> 00:15:21,200 enemies who want to kill me. I'm going to lie down and party, 229 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:26,800 and green grass in the middle. In the middle of Horror. 230 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,400 There's life and flourishing, they're eating in the middle of 231 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:37,000 death and enemies and it's there where life it's there. 232 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,600 Where the real party is which our minds. 233 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:42,700 Just don't know how to put that together. 234 00:15:43,300 --> 00:15:45,400 We just we don't know how to do that. 235 00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:50,400 And cold this morning. He read chapter and verse out of 236 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:52,600 st. John Piper's book Desiring. 237 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,100 God, that's a joke for those who know it. 238 00:15:57,300 --> 00:16:02,100 That put this that I think really cap encapsulate this 239 00:16:02,108 --> 00:16:07,300 Piper says that there are capacities for joy that you can 240 00:16:07,300 --> 00:16:10,600 scarcely imagine. And that's the problem. 241 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:17,100 That's our problem is that we have capacities for joy that we 242 00:16:17,100 --> 00:16:23,300 think are only accessible in strength in strategy, and how we 243 00:16:23,300 --> 00:16:27,200 can exalt ourselves, and how we can figure out our way through 244 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,400 the The world. And what we don't realize is 245 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,600 that it's actually in the moments of greatest weakness and 246 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:39,500 lowliness that the greatest and most powerful capacities for Joy 247 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:43,600 exist in your life, it doesn't seem like it, it looks like a 248 00:16:43,608 --> 00:16:47,700 trench that's going to kill you but in reality it's in the 249 00:16:47,700 --> 00:16:51,600 darkness where the greatest party of your life would ever 250 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:55,400 be. Which is backwards but it's 251 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:57,600 true. We have a hard time. 252 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,700 Seeing that God knows. We have a hard time seeing that 253 00:17:01,700 --> 00:17:07,599 and that's why right here. In verse 14, He commands us to 254 00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:12,500 fight for that Joy, He commands us to have that Joy. 255 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:16,599 He commands us to enter into that party. 256 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:21,200 This, this verse here, feels like a whiplash from what we've 257 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:23,300 experienced last three weeks. If you've been here, the last 258 00:17:23,300 --> 00:17:26,900 three weeks, this feels really weird to read this passage 259 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,800 because it's just been so dark. And then all of a sudden 260 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,300 Rejoice, sing, everything's going to be great. 261 00:17:33,900 --> 00:17:37,700 It feels like whiplash. Judgment though. 262 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:45,100 In this text is leading to death and yet humble dependence is 263 00:17:45,100 --> 00:17:50,800 going to lead us into rejoicing. We find in Zephaniah, is what we 264 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,400 find for the rest of the Bible. It is through the judgement and 265 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:57,000 through the lowliness and through death, that we find that 266 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:03,000 we find life and we find the capacity here to enjoy God. 267 00:18:04,300 --> 00:18:07,500 And it's not because the circumstances have improved the 268 00:18:07,500 --> 00:18:10,700 circumstances for jute. The Jewish people here, the 269 00:18:10,700 --> 00:18:13,600 circumstance for the nation, they haven't gotten any better. 270 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,000 The Babylonians are still coming. 271 00:18:17,100 --> 00:18:22,300 In 586 BC, not long after this text is written the Babylonians 272 00:18:22,300 --> 00:18:26,200 come in and do everything. This text tells us, Jerusalem is 273 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:31,200 destroyed the nations are destroyed this. 274 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:35,800 The circumstances aren't getting any better life is still going 275 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:41,000 to be hard and so God. Graciously reminds them. 276 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:45,000 There's joy in your lowliness and in your dependents. 277 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,100 There's joy in the midst. There's a capacity for Joy. 278 00:18:49,300 --> 00:18:54,800 You have not yet realized you have to experience in your life. 279 00:18:55,700 --> 00:18:58,700 Humble dependants does not seem like a good strategy. 280 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:01,500 It just doesn't look like a good strategy to us. 281 00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:03,600 When we know the Babylonians are coming. 282 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:05,500 We know death is coming what we want to. 283 00:19:05,500 --> 00:19:09,300 What we want is a rocky Montage. We want to climb those Ups. 284 00:19:09,300 --> 00:19:14,000 And what this says is put your face in the dirt below. 285 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,700 Lee be humble, be dependent and it's through that. 286 00:19:18,500 --> 00:19:22,100 That got that there's joy and life and flourishing, our 287 00:19:22,100 --> 00:19:28,000 instincts don't serve us here. Our instincts, don't serve us 288 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,300 and instead we are commanded. That's why we have this lovely 289 00:19:31,300 --> 00:19:32,900 phrase painted on the back of our wall. 290 00:19:32,900 --> 00:19:36,600 Here, we are to fight for Joy. It's a command. 291 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,400 We are commanded here in the Midst of our dependence, in the 292 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:46,800 midst of the Babylonians, coming to fight to Rejoice to fight for 293 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:50,700 Joy. Jesus himself had to fight for 294 00:19:50,700 --> 00:19:53,500 joy and humble suffering, Romans 12:2 cells. 295 00:19:53,500 --> 00:19:58,400 It tells us that while he was suffering, Jesus chose to look 296 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:02,400 ahead to the joy that was set before him and endured the 297 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,400 cross. That is our calling in life to 298 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,900 join Jesus in fighting for the joy and Delight. 299 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,200 Delights of all that God has for us, in through in and through 300 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:16,500 the Cross of Christ Jesus, endured the cross in tears. 301 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:21,300 And through the Cross of Christ comes life through the, the 302 00:20:21,300 --> 00:20:24,800 crucifixion and the death penalty being exact Adan. 303 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,400 Jesus, there is life. There is flourishing, there is 304 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:33,100 joy and there is hope. Not only do these, people remind 305 00:20:33,100 --> 00:20:37,200 need to be reminded of the joy. It's also a way to push them and 306 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:39,800 US deeper into dependence upon God. 307 00:20:41,900 --> 00:20:45,200 You see, I can't just turn Joy on and off like a water spigot 308 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:49,100 in my soul. I can't just walk in here this 309 00:20:49,100 --> 00:20:52,400 morning and be like, yeah, life sucks right now and boy, I'm 310 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:58,200 happy that doesn't work. And so it puts us even in a 311 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,400 further and deeper place of dependence upon God because we 312 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:06,300 need help. If we're going to do that, And 313 00:21:06,700 --> 00:21:10,400 God demands it from us. And God demands all kinds of 314 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:11,900 things from us that we can't give him. 315 00:21:11,900 --> 00:21:13,900 I mean, Jesus tells us to be perfect like the heaven. 316 00:21:14,100 --> 00:21:16,900 Our heavenly father is perfect. We can't do that yet. 317 00:21:16,900 --> 00:21:19,800 God demands it from us. And here, he demands from you. 318 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:24,600 That you have joy in your heart, in the midst of the difficulties 319 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:26,900 in your life. And he tells us how to fight for 320 00:21:26,900 --> 00:21:29,100 that Joy. Here, he doesn't just leave us. 321 00:21:29,300 --> 00:21:31,900 Leave us groundless. He tells us how to fight for 322 00:21:31,900 --> 00:21:34,600 that Joy. He says, Sing aloud. 323 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:41,800 Shout Rejoice with all your heart singing and shouting in 324 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:45,500 worship or the tools that God has given us to fight for joy. 325 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,200 That's why we sing in church. We don't just sing in church 326 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:50,800 because God deserves our worship. 327 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:56,200 We sing because we need help in our souls to feel the joy that 328 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,000 he demands from us. And it is a feeling, it's not 329 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,600 just a propositional truth about the glory of God. 330 00:22:02,700 --> 00:22:06,400 It is a feeling. This is why he says to rejoice 331 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,200 and not just to think good thoughts. 332 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:12,000 This is why he tells us to do it with all of our hearts and not 333 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,700 just all of our minds. He wants us deeply, mmm. 334 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:20,400 Emotionally invested in and it's white, what singing is, there's 335 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:25,100 a reason you, sing you don't sing except for things that are 336 00:22:25,100 --> 00:22:29,500 so emotionally compelling that talking is no longer sufficient. 337 00:22:30,500 --> 00:22:33,300 The reason you sing is because saying something just isn't 338 00:22:33,300 --> 00:22:35,500 enough. This is why I love songs are 339 00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:39,000 written because telling your wife that you love her is not 340 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,400 enough. You need more, you need Chris 341 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,800 stapleton's. Tennessee, whiskey. 342 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,600 That's what you need to tell your wife, you love her, right? 343 00:22:48,100 --> 00:22:51,400 You need it Strawberry Wine, even gettin high, right? 344 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:55,000 It's the thing. That's the thing that we need to 345 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:59,200 tell our wives and our spouses that we love them because 346 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,600 talking, Thinking good thoughts is not enough. 347 00:23:02,700 --> 00:23:05,300 It must explode out of us, in song. 348 00:23:05,300 --> 00:23:08,200 It it's necessary. We need it. 349 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,700 You don't yell, except if you are overcoming overpowered by 350 00:23:12,700 --> 00:23:15,500 your emotions. Such that talking is not 351 00:23:15,500 --> 00:23:17,200 sufficient. This is why we're called to 352 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:23,900 shout Because just merely telling someone that you love 353 00:23:23,900 --> 00:23:25,900 them is not enough. You want to shout it to them 354 00:23:26,700 --> 00:23:31,000 your joy overflows in shouting. God demands of you that you 355 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:36,700 experienced overwhelming experiences of joy. 356 00:23:37,100 --> 00:23:41,400 Not a part from but as an attribute of your humble 357 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:46,400 dependence upon him. In the midst of your dependents, 358 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:52,200 you have the capacity a capacity as Piper says that is so far 359 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:57,700 beyond your imagination to experience joy unspeakable in 360 00:23:57,700 --> 00:24:03,200 the face of death itself. And we are called to, we are 361 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:09,000 commanded and God demands of us that we experience that with 362 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:17,200 him. I'm going to step on some toes. 363 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:19,900 Ready. Here we go. 364 00:24:23,500 --> 00:24:26,100 Frontier church is a great church because I hear a lot of a 365 00:24:26,108 --> 00:24:29,500 lot of loud singing but there's some of us in here that are 366 00:24:29,500 --> 00:24:35,400 mealy-mouthed than are singing. There's some of us That are more 367 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,500 concerned about the style of music, or lunch, or whatever 368 00:24:38,500 --> 00:24:40,800 else. And we're just unimpressed with 369 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:46,200 Jesus and we want to temper our emotion because we don't 370 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,400 understand that God created us to have strong emotions to be 371 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:52,800 expressed with shouting and singing. 372 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:56,400 And that worship is the most appropriate context for that. 373 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,200 And what ends up happening, what ends up happening is we just 374 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,000 Mumble through music either because we're trying to manage 375 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,300 your reputation. Ation or we're trying to, I 376 00:25:06,300 --> 00:25:08,600 don't know what we're doing, or where we use the excuse that 377 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,900 we're introverted or quiet. And we don't understand that we 378 00:25:11,900 --> 00:25:17,400 were literally created for the, your lungs exist for the purpose 379 00:25:17,700 --> 00:25:20,200 of shouting and singing the praise of God. 380 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,800 That's what they're there for. That's what they're there for. 381 00:25:23,100 --> 00:25:27,800 And you know that you can sometimes measure a person's 382 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,800 health by watching them watch football and then watching them 383 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:37,100 worship. If they Shout at football, it 384 00:25:37,100 --> 00:25:42,300 can be a measure that their lack of shouting in preaching or in 385 00:25:42,300 --> 00:25:46,700 print and well preaching to. But in singing, if there's not 386 00:25:46,700 --> 00:25:49,300 shouting there, it's an evidence that there's a greater 387 00:25:49,300 --> 00:25:53,000 excitement in sport and a greater joy in sport than there 388 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,700 is in the Lord and it can be a measure. 389 00:25:57,100 --> 00:26:00,500 That's one of many measures but it's one of many measures of how 390 00:26:00,500 --> 00:26:05,800 it is that our souls are warped. We just And we don't we've not 391 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,700 access that capacity for joy. As we've been commanded to, we 392 00:26:09,700 --> 00:26:14,600 are to fight for that. We are that's why we say let's 393 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:19,300 fight for Joy. We're calling you to access the 394 00:26:19,300 --> 00:26:23,300 capacities that God has given you that you do not have on your 395 00:26:23,300 --> 00:26:25,800 own that you have not been able to access. 396 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:32,200 Its why you were created. When we yell at spouses or when 397 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,500 we yell at our kids, which I guilty of my kids are here. 398 00:26:35,500 --> 00:26:37,400 They know this, they know I'm capable of this and they're 399 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:42,200 like, yeah, he's capable of it. In the scriptures in the 400 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:46,100 scriptures shouting is talked about as as something to be done 401 00:26:46,100 --> 00:26:50,100 in war, and it's something to be done in worship and preaching. 402 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,000 Those are like the categories that shouting happen though. 403 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:58,500 The most extreme expressions of human emotion in war because you 404 00:26:58,500 --> 00:27:02,500 want to kill somebody or in worship because of the highest 405 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,900 the highest good in all of your life. 406 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:12,600 And when our wives hear us shouting at them, but not 407 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,800 shouting, and worshipping Jesus. Well, first of all, it sends a 408 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,500 mixed message. But it shows just a level of 409 00:27:19,500 --> 00:27:23,100 unhealth in our souls, that is unhelpful. 410 00:27:23,100 --> 00:27:24,800 And so this morning, here's what. 411 00:27:24,900 --> 00:27:27,700 Here's my challenge. Here's my challenge to us. 412 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:34,600 Shout and worship. Open up your mouth and get loud. 413 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:37,700 It's what God's called you to do. 414 00:27:38,100 --> 00:27:42,400 And what's funny is the more you shout and worship? 415 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:48,500 The more we shout and worship the more we express our lungs in 416 00:27:48,500 --> 00:27:52,300 the way that God's created them. The more capacity we have to 417 00:27:52,300 --> 00:27:55,600 deal with our emotions and other areas more effectively. 418 00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:59,600 Our worship of God should be loud. 419 00:28:00,700 --> 00:28:02,800 It should wear out our throats each week. 420 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:08,100 It's not a suggestion. It's a demand God demands that 421 00:28:08,100 --> 00:28:13,400 you have profound emotional. Intensity expressed in shouting 422 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:16,000 and Loud singing for the praise of Jesus. 423 00:28:17,300 --> 00:28:19,500 I got a whole thing here. I'm not going to go into on the 424 00:28:19,508 --> 00:28:21,700 regulative principle and however, the people that are 425 00:28:21,700 --> 00:28:27,000 most excited about it, ignore all this for some weird reason. 426 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:31,500 But I'm gonna I'm gonna save that for discussions afterward, 427 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:39,400 so a life of humble dependence. Is not fearing that your face is 428 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,200 going to be pushed further into the ground by God. 429 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,800 It's a loud party. It's a loud party. 430 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,200 It looks like a dark trench from the outside. 431 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:48,900 It looks like the place where death would lurk. 432 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:53,200 But it's a place of joy and flourishing God tells us in this 433 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,800 text that we must fight to see that joy in the dark trench of 434 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,600 humble dependants. So now, what is the ground for 435 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:01,600 this? Because when we look at this, we 436 00:29:01,608 --> 00:29:04,600 think okay, well, that's good. God tells us to do that, okay? 437 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:09,300 We're going to try to do that. But how like, why, like what 438 00:29:09,300 --> 00:29:12,200 what's, what's the purpose behind all this? 439 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,200 So Quick things that we can see in verses 15 to 20. 440 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,600 That that point. This out the for the four quick 441 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,900 things. First verse, 15 shows us that 442 00:29:22,900 --> 00:29:26,900 there's no judgement for us verse 15. 443 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,100 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you. 444 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:32,900 We've heard over the last three weeks that God is going to 445 00:29:32,900 --> 00:29:36,700 destroy judge and condemn people for their sin in the most strong 446 00:29:36,700 --> 00:29:38,800 language possible. We've heard about God's 447 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:42,900 greatness his Justice and we're left wondering if I humble 448 00:29:42,900 --> 00:29:45,800 myself Myself before that. God that's going to do that. 449 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,600 That just sounds like an opportunity for him to crush me. 450 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:55,000 Am I not just asking to be crushed if I do that? 451 00:29:55,100 --> 00:29:59,500 And here's what we find, here's what we find when God comes to 452 00:29:59,500 --> 00:30:02,100 those who are humble independent, when he sees those 453 00:30:02,100 --> 00:30:04,600 who have renounced their own strength and are not 454 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,600 self-reliant, he takes the judgments away from them. 455 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:10,300 He takes her judgment wins away from them. 456 00:30:10,300 --> 00:30:13,500 And here, in verse 15, he removes their enemies. 457 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:17,600 He puts them into safety, he protects the humble from the 458 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,600 fire of judgment in our world. When we see people that are 459 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:25,900 humble and lowly, we see people with feet on their back with. 460 00:30:25,900 --> 00:30:30,200 This was the story of Jim Crow in the 1960s. 461 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,400 African Americans in our country, had the foot of the 462 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:40,800 American government on their back, pushing them into the 463 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:46,500 ground. What God does is, he comes and 464 00:30:46,500 --> 00:30:50,300 he brings a place of safety. He takes away the judgments. 465 00:30:50,700 --> 00:30:56,000 He take, he lifts up the face of that person and he and he 466 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:59,900 lovingly loves them. It's the image of Superman 467 00:30:59,900 --> 00:31:02,100 flying with Louis in his arms right? 468 00:31:02,300 --> 00:31:04,700 Superman. Great power. 469 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:07,600 Amazing capacity to destroy everything in the world. 470 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:10,400 And what does he do? He takes an innocent fragile 471 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:12,300 woman and carries her through the sky. 472 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,900 Why that is the image that we have here. 473 00:31:14,900 --> 00:31:18,600 It's the Avengers fighting to save little planet Earth. 474 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:23,500 Full of dependent week people and we pay lots of money to go 475 00:31:23,700 --> 00:31:28,300 and see that because it's so compelling to us and in the far, 476 00:31:28,300 --> 00:31:31,900 more glorious manner. God has done this for us in 477 00:31:31,900 --> 00:31:35,100 Christ. He's used his power, his 478 00:31:35,100 --> 00:31:38,800 strength, his Justice to send Jesus to weaken undeserving 479 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:41,800 Sinners and to take God's wrath upon himself. 480 00:31:42,500 --> 00:31:45,000 To protect us rather than put it upon us. 481 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:47,900 So that there's no judgments over us. 482 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:53,300 He used his power to defeat gods and oppressors of other nations 483 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,000 and drive out their influence and power. 484 00:31:56,100 --> 00:32:00,100 He's protected us. He's exalted us and lifted us up 485 00:32:00,100 --> 00:32:04,100 out of our judgments and notice in verse 15. 486 00:32:04,300 --> 00:32:07,900 He's presence here, drives out fear. 487 00:32:07,900 --> 00:32:12,500 You shall never again fear evil. He says there, R. 488 00:32:14,300 --> 00:32:18,400 In chapter 1 and verse 17. His presence is bringing death 489 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:25,100 and by some amazing Miracle here, it is driving out fear. 490 00:32:26,100 --> 00:32:28,800 This is the first of many reasons to rejoice and there's a 491 00:32:28,808 --> 00:32:32,800 lot of the Earth, but they're this itself is a reason to shout 492 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:35,700 and to sing. You have no more judgments over 493 00:32:35,700 --> 00:32:37,800 you. In Christ, that is the most 494 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,700 exciting thing, whether you know it or not, that you are that 495 00:32:40,900 --> 00:32:45,600 That Could Be Imagined. The god of the universe has used 496 00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:48,500 his power to preserve you from judgment. 497 00:32:49,300 --> 00:32:53,800 It's unbelievable. You are safe to be humble and 498 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,100 lowly before him. He's not going to exploit you, 499 00:32:58,300 --> 00:33:01,100 but also in verses 16 and 17, the second thing we see is the 500 00:33:01,100 --> 00:33:05,200 makes the weak and the humble, strong, and verses 16, and the 501 00:33:05,208 --> 00:33:07,100 beginning of 70s. And on that day, it shall be 502 00:33:07,100 --> 00:33:09,700 said to Jerusalem fear. Not o Zion. 503 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,700 Let not your hands grow. Weak. 504 00:33:12,700 --> 00:33:15,500 The Lord, your God is in your midst. 505 00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:19,800 One of the reasons we don't like being humbly dependent is that 506 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:22,200 we know that if we make ourselves vulnerable in that 507 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,900 way, a stronger person or a person higher position might use 508 00:33:25,900 --> 00:33:29,400 that vulnerability to cut us down further to just push our 509 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:33,100 face deeper into the dirt and look how God handles the humbly 510 00:33:33,100 --> 00:33:35,200 dependent when they're vulnerable. 511 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:38,900 He takes weak hands and he makes them strong. 512 00:33:39,700 --> 00:33:45,200 He gives strength to the week. When we are afraid we grow weak 513 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,100 and God acts to steal up our spine and strengthen us, he 514 00:33:49,100 --> 00:33:51,800 doesn't work to push us down further, but to lift us up. 515 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,400 This is why Matthew chapter 23? And verse 12 says it, like this. 516 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:58,600 Jesus speaking, he says, whoever exalts himself is going to be 517 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:04,200 humbled and whoever him humbles himself as what exalted, he is 518 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:06,200 going to give strength and lift up. 519 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:11,100 Those who are down, God uses his strength to strengthen the 520 00:34:11,100 --> 00:34:14,500 weaker to up. Lift the lowly and to bind up 521 00:34:14,500 --> 00:34:18,800 the broken, he is not looking to exploit our weakness, but to 522 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:23,900 heal it and Jesus knew that God was like this Jesus knew. 523 00:34:23,900 --> 00:34:26,900 And this is why he was playing. He's pleased to take the road of 524 00:34:26,900 --> 00:34:29,900 humility and to suffer death on a cross. 525 00:34:29,900 --> 00:34:33,800 It's white, Jesus was willing to be spat upon, it's why he was 526 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:36,800 willing to be beaten. It's why Jesus was willing to 527 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:41,199 experience human weakness, because he knew that as he laid 528 00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:43,800 in a tomb, on the other side of death, That God would raise him 529 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:46,500 up from the dead and give him strength and give him life. 530 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:50,699 And God is pleased. We should know. 531 00:34:50,900 --> 00:34:55,199 God is pleased. He is happy to bring strength to 532 00:34:55,199 --> 00:34:58,300 the week. If you're not self-reliant this 533 00:34:58,300 --> 00:35:02,300 morning, if you are humbly dependent upon God, and Jesus 534 00:35:02,300 --> 00:35:07,300 know this, he's using here or humility to show himself, strong 535 00:35:07,300 --> 00:35:11,600 in you. This is the reason, this is 536 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:15,000 reason for you to worship. You don't have to pretend to be 537 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,600 strong. You don't have to figure out 538 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:21,800 somehow how to overcome, you don't have to find a strategy to 539 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:27,100 figure out and to be flourishing in life, in verse 17, God is 540 00:35:27,100 --> 00:35:29,700 coming. He's coming into your midst. 541 00:35:29,700 --> 00:35:34,300 He's coming into your life to bring you his strength. 542 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,600 He is strong for you. He is the one who will save you 543 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,500 and this is how the Apostle Paul in second Corinthians 544 00:35:41,500 --> 00:35:43,300 experienced. It should be up here on the 545 00:35:43,300 --> 00:35:45,100 screen. Yes, listen to Listen to Paul 546 00:35:45,100 --> 00:35:49,900 described this in his life. God said to him, my grace is 547 00:35:49,900 --> 00:35:55,900 sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. 548 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,200 And he goes on to say for the sake of Christ, then I am 549 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:06,600 content with weakness, insults, hardships persecutions and 550 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,600 calamities for. When I am weak, then I am 551 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:14,600 strong. God uses his strength not to 552 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:19,800 push us down, but to make us strong, he is strong in our 553 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,500 weakness. This is why this is why God 554 00:36:23,500 --> 00:36:26,500 calls us to shout in worship and not in war. 555 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:29,600 Anymore. God is strong for us. 556 00:36:29,700 --> 00:36:35,100 He goes before us we don't have to strategize to figure out a 557 00:36:35,100 --> 00:36:38,800 way to be effective in life. Humility sounds like a horrible 558 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:43,300 strategy for Effectiveness in life lowliness and Brokenness 559 00:36:43,500 --> 00:36:47,600 seem like a horrible strategy for Effectiveness in life. 560 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:51,900 And yet with God it is the pathway to strength and is the 561 00:36:51,900 --> 00:36:56,700 pathway to life and flourishing and no this no this you do not 562 00:36:56,800 --> 00:37:01,000 I'd have to be strong. When Jesus rose from the dead 563 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:04,600 and ascended into heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to do what 564 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:09,500 verse 17 says to be in your midst, he is giving you the holy 565 00:37:09,500 --> 00:37:14,200 spirit for this purpose to make a home inside of you. 566 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:18,600 So that his power would be made perfect in you to uplift you and 567 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:22,700 to give you the strength that he demands from you and what more 568 00:37:22,700 --> 00:37:24,700 would you want need than God being in? 569 00:37:24,700 --> 00:37:28,000 You giving you his strength? What more do you need? 570 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:32,100 What more Um, do you need to worship to get loud and shout 571 00:37:32,100 --> 00:37:35,100 and worship. Third, reciprocal. 572 00:37:35,100 --> 00:37:39,800 Rejoicing verse 17 means is this verse 17. 573 00:37:40,500 --> 00:37:44,000 Goodnight, this is too much. He will rejoice over you with 574 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,800 gladness. He's going to quiet you with his 575 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:49,700 love. He's going to exalt over you 576 00:37:49,700 --> 00:37:52,500 with loud singing. That means we're not singing to 577 00:37:52,500 --> 00:37:56,700 a wall. God's not in heaven, sitting 578 00:37:56,700 --> 00:38:00,000 there thinking to himself. These annoying people won't shut 579 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,800 up. He's not sitting there thinking 580 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:06,300 these irritating. People need to chill. 581 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:16,500 He's singing back and your joy in him is reciprocated by his 582 00:38:16,500 --> 00:38:19,500 joy in you. There's a great Seinfeld episode 583 00:38:19,500 --> 00:38:22,100 George Costanza. I feel like him most days of my 584 00:38:22,100 --> 00:38:26,400 life. He takes the risk to tell a girl 585 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,500 that he loves her on a second date, I think. 586 00:38:29,300 --> 00:38:34,200 And she says, thank you. What a nightmare, right? 587 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:36,100 I love you. Thank you. 588 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:41,000 Horrible nightmare situation. And sometimes we feel like that 589 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:42,500 with our relationship with God, right? 590 00:38:42,500 --> 00:38:44,100 He's like, I've been having I guess. 591 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:47,800 Thank you. Look at what he says he's doing. 592 00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:51,500 He's going to Rejoice over. Your joy, is reciprocated by 593 00:38:51,500 --> 00:38:54,900 him. You're singing, you're shouting 594 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:58,900 is reciprocated by him. This is, I mean, good night. 595 00:38:58,900 --> 00:39:02,300 This is amazing. This is God showing us that he 596 00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:06,900 is, as he is more interested and more in love with you than you 597 00:39:06,900 --> 00:39:10,800 will ever be with him. This is why John 3:16 is the 598 00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,300 verse that we all look to the decentral. 599 00:39:13,300 --> 00:39:16,000 Verse that most people not even Christians have been said. 600 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:18,600 Football games. People know this verse that God, 601 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:21,200 so loved the world that he sent his only son. 602 00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:24,800 And he's proven it to us. He's proven his love. 603 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:27,600 He doesn't just say it here. He's proven it to us in sending 604 00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:32,500 his son, Jesus to die for us. And to be our propitiation for 605 00:39:32,500 --> 00:39:35,300 sin. He did it, he sent his son, he 606 00:39:35,300 --> 00:39:39,500 sent Jesus as an expression of his love for us before we were 607 00:39:39,500 --> 00:39:42,000 ever born. Before we ever did anything good 608 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:45,400 or bad, he chose to love you despite everything he knew you 609 00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:49,300 would be. He loves you period. 610 00:39:49,900 --> 00:39:53,800 And his love is expressed not in some mealy-mouthed. 611 00:39:53,900 --> 00:39:57,800 I mean, imagine this if you saw God singing to you the way 612 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:01,100 sometimes, you sing to God, you'd be scared for your 613 00:40:01,100 --> 00:40:04,100 eternity, right? I would be sometimes, right? 614 00:40:04,500 --> 00:40:09,500 God is shouting. His lungs out over you because 615 00:40:09,500 --> 00:40:12,700 he loves you and he loves you, deeply and profoundly. 616 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:16,300 God doesn't have to fight to love for you. 617 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:21,100 He does it out of who he is. And he loves you deeply. 618 00:40:21,100 --> 00:40:24,900 And, and so if there's any danger of a lack of 619 00:40:24,900 --> 00:40:30,600 reciprocation, it's God's saying I love you and you looking up at 620 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:34,000 him and saying, thank you. Right? 621 00:40:34,500 --> 00:40:37,800 And sometimes that's what we do with our singing, but we should 622 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:40,000 understand, we should understand. 623 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:43,700 God loves us and that should lead us to Great worship. 624 00:40:43,700 --> 00:40:47,000 With our joy is reciprocated. By him. 625 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:52,200 Or we are to reciprocate the joy that he has over us their last 626 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:59,000 then last then we see that God's work for the humbly dependent 627 00:40:59,900 --> 00:41:03,000 should give should be a ground for our joy. 628 00:41:03,500 --> 00:41:08,400 With it comes Restoration in verses 18 to 20, those three 629 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:10,100 last three verses that come down to this. 630 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:14,100 God is going to restore his people. 631 00:41:14,900 --> 00:41:17,300 He's not going to leave us in the dirt. 632 00:41:18,100 --> 00:41:19,800 He's not going to leave us on the ground. 633 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:26,400 Our eternity is not to be spent forever in the dirt, but he is 634 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:32,100 going to exalt us, he is going to lift us up out of the dirt 635 00:41:32,100 --> 00:41:36,900 and he is going to To exalt us. I will gather those of you who 636 00:41:36,900 --> 00:41:41,700 mourn for the festival, so you will no longer suffer reproach. 637 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:44,500 I'm going to deal with all your oppressors oppressors. 638 00:41:44,700 --> 00:41:47,800 I'm going to save the lane, the lame are no longer going to be 639 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:51,900 laying the outcast. Their shame is going to be 640 00:41:51,900 --> 00:41:55,400 turned into praise. I'm going to bring you in and 641 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:58,100 when I gather you together, everyone's going to look at you 642 00:41:58,100 --> 00:41:59,700 and they're going to be like whoa. 643 00:42:01,100 --> 00:42:07,500 The way we look at people who are independent self assured and 644 00:42:07,500 --> 00:42:10,800 stand with their back straighten the world, while we're in our 645 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:14,700 face, in the dirt, they're the ones that are going. 646 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:18,100 Jesus says, and what we find here are going to be the ones 647 00:42:18,100 --> 00:42:22,000 suffering reproach. And while we will be lifted up 648 00:42:22,500 --> 00:42:27,500 by God through his strength and his grace, and exalted, that is 649 00:42:27,500 --> 00:42:33,200 what Matthew 23:12 means. But the humble will be exalted, 650 00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:37,100 that God is not going to leave us in. 651 00:42:37,300 --> 00:42:41,000 We are going to be forever dependent upon God, but we 652 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:42,800 aren't going to be left in the dust before. 653 00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:46,700 God. Now, Prosperity preachers, the 654 00:42:46,700 --> 00:42:49,600 preachers on TV, that you see, they like to take this and twist 655 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:53,100 this and use it as a means to get money from you. 656 00:42:53,100 --> 00:42:58,400 And by Jets, But note this the reason why God tells you this is 657 00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:00,800 not too, so you give a bunch of money to the church. 658 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:04,400 The Reason God tells you this because he wants you to be 659 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,800 excited about your future with him and that Future Would 660 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:10,500 motivate you and fill your heart with joy. 661 00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:12,900 So that you would sing loud, praises to Him. 662 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:15,900 If I were to tell you that everyone in this room, when you 663 00:43:15,900 --> 00:43:17,800 walk out of here, is going to be handed a check for a million 664 00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:19,900 dollars. All of you would be like, we're 665 00:43:19,900 --> 00:43:22,000 singing. Right. 666 00:43:23,700 --> 00:43:26,700 Well, in Christ you're getting you're guaranteed much more than 667 00:43:26,700 --> 00:43:29,200 that. God has a future for you that 668 00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:36,200 you can't begin to imagine. and because of that, Because that 669 00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:40,900 reality is there, it transcends all of the pain and suffering 670 00:43:40,900 --> 00:43:43,700 and difficulty of being lowly and dependent? 671 00:43:43,700 --> 00:43:51,700 Upon God, God has given you the capacity to see with Clarity the 672 00:43:51,700 --> 00:43:54,700 joy that is set before you because of what Jesus has done 673 00:43:54,700 --> 00:44:00,100 for you so that you can enter into lowly dependents. 674 00:44:01,100 --> 00:44:07,500 With unbelievable joy and in the midst of it party, knowing, but 675 00:44:07,500 --> 00:44:11,100 on the other side, well, Jeff Bezos. 676 00:44:11,100 --> 00:44:17,300 Ain't got nothing on it. Know this, if you want to 677 00:44:17,300 --> 00:44:20,500 flourish as a parent, in your home with your spouse and kids, 678 00:44:21,100 --> 00:44:24,900 humble dependence upon God and quiet weakness with shouts of 679 00:44:24,900 --> 00:44:27,300 loud. Praise to God, is the pathway to 680 00:44:27,300 --> 00:44:31,500 flourishing. The most difficult moment as a 681 00:44:31,508 --> 00:44:35,300 mother, when your kids are crying and waking you up at 4:00 682 00:44:35,300 --> 00:44:39,400 in the morning and you're angry, God has given you the capacity 683 00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:42,000 to worship a loud. Shouts of Praise in that moment. 684 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:46,100 And that is the pathway to flourishing in your home. 685 00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:50,800 If you want to flourish as a single person know that humble 686 00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:54,800 dependence upon God and quiet weakness with shouts of Praise 687 00:44:55,100 --> 00:44:57,100 is the pathway to flourishing in your life. 688 00:44:58,500 --> 00:45:00,800 Is the pathway to flourishing when you feel lonely and 689 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:06,000 isolated? It's to feel that loneliness and 690 00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:10,500 in it to receive the ground of your hope in Jesus, and be 691 00:45:10,500 --> 00:45:14,900 filled with joy and singing. That is the pathway to 692 00:45:14,900 --> 00:45:18,900 flourishing, not to improve your circumstances. 693 00:45:19,300 --> 00:45:24,300 But in the midst of the circumstances that suck, To 694 00:45:24,300 --> 00:45:28,200 enter into Joy. It's crazy. 695 00:45:28,900 --> 00:45:32,000 It's amazing. You want to flourish it work? 696 00:45:32,500 --> 00:45:36,400 Humble dependence upon God and quiet weakness in the face of a 697 00:45:36,400 --> 00:45:40,700 really crappy boss. With sounds of loud. 698 00:45:40,700 --> 00:45:43,700 Praise and your heart to God is the pathway to Joy and 699 00:45:43,700 --> 00:45:48,400 flourishing in your work. And the good news is that our 700 00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:53,000 humble dependence upon God is for is for our joy is reason for 701 00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:56,900 us to stand up and shout and exalt and sing praises to God, 702 00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:02,600 there is more than sufficient reason to find joy, in the face 703 00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:04,900 of death. Then you would ever dream. 704 00:46:07,100 --> 00:46:10,000 And so I'm I'm one of my, one of the great things about preaching 705 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:12,800 this sermon as my last sermon, here is one of your pastures. 706 00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:15,900 Is I get to say that that fight for Joy thing. 707 00:46:15,900 --> 00:46:19,400 On the back of your wall, it means something for you. 708 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:23,100 And my hope is that every time you walk out of this church 709 00:46:23,100 --> 00:46:27,600 going into the future that you remember this and that you see 710 00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:33,300 that phrase across the back as the call to you in the midst of 711 00:46:33,300 --> 00:46:35,100 the most hot harrowing circumstances. 712 00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:40,000 Um stances of your life that there's hope there's hope that 713 00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:44,300 in the middle of that pain. There is joy unspeakable. 714 00:46:45,700 --> 00:46:49,500 That is sufficient for you to stand up and worship. 715 00:46:49,500 --> 00:46:52,800 No matter the circumstance. And I hope that that would 716 00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:57,500 motivate you and that would do, as it's done for me. 717 00:46:59,300 --> 00:47:03,800 Challenge me to use my lungs. The way God created them to be 718 00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:09,100 used to worship and blow my throat out in the process of 719 00:47:09,100 --> 00:47:11,600 doing. So let's pray and ask him for 720 00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:18,000 help to do that. Lord, we thank you for your word 721 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:24,600 and God, I admit that. When I look at humble 722 00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:30,800 dependence, it seems unimpressive. and I admit that 723 00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:39,100 when I think about a life of joy in the midst of pain, my heart 724 00:47:39,100 --> 00:47:45,300 is just so easily convinced that that's just Not only weird but 725 00:47:46,300 --> 00:47:50,600 like impossible. So I just ask that your spirit 726 00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:53,600 would now. Help us to see things that are 727 00:47:53,600 --> 00:47:58,400 weak, lowly unwise and silly Minds. 728 00:47:58,600 --> 00:48:02,600 Just don't have the capacity to grasp speak to our hearts. 729 00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:07,800 Lord, not just help us solve this in our minds, but I pray 730 00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:13,100 that our hearts would be convinced that your power is 731 00:48:13,100 --> 00:48:16,000 made perfect through our weakness and that, that would 732 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:19,000 shape our life, and it would cause our worship. 733 00:48:19,100 --> 00:48:23,400 To become ridiculously loud. We pray and ask this in Jesus 734 00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:21,800 name, amen. To become ridiculously loud. 735 00:48:22,200 --> 00:48:24,300 We pray and ask this in Jesus name, amen.