Jesus, Our Joy

All right. Well, how many of you are ready to get into God’s Word this morning? Are we good? How are we feeling, church? Are we good? I think some of you are a little bummed because it’s cold again. I don’t know about you, but I came out this morning and I was like, “Man, I’m just ready for it to be warm again.” It is what it is. Welcome to Wisconsin, where you have second, third, and fourth winters. It’s wonderful.

All right, well, let’s do this. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Psalm chapter 51 this morning. Psalm 51. And as was mentioned, if you do not have a Bible — we love to read our Bibles. We like to read our Bibles every day. We now have the reading plan on our website, and so we have a daily reading. And there are three different plan options. You can read through the New Testament only in a year. You can read through the Old Testament and New Testament once in a year. Or you can do the one-two plan, where you read through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice.

But it is such an awesome time to just invite the Lord into your daily life. I like to do it in the morning, to kind of give Him that first part, because as soon as the day starts, your mind wants to go everywhere else but the Lord, right? Anybody else relate? And so it’s just an awesome way to let the Lord fill you and to speak to you. And we believe that His Word is Him speaking to us. And so get in the Word. But if you don’t have a Bible, please let us know. We would love to get you a Bible.

All right. So, Psalm 51. Let’s just pray and invite the Lord. Lord Jesus, we give You this time. We ask that You would speak to us by Your Spirit, as You always do, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen.

Joy is who He is

We’ve been in a study called the Names of God, and we’re going to talk today about Jesus, our Joy. Everybody say that: “Jesus, our Joy.” Let’s say it together. Ready? “Jesus, our Joy.” And we’re going to talk about what that means. What does it mean to have joy?

Because I don’t know about you, but if you’re like me, you’ve been walking with the Lord for some time — for me, it’s been really my whole life, and I’m so thankful for that — but I don’t always feel joyful. Can anybody relate? There are times where things just don’t seem to be going well, where maybe you get some disappointing news. And that news can be disappointing not just for a day or a moment, but even for a season. But Scripture talks about how joy is something we are to have, something that’s available to us.

And so I want to look at one of the names of God, as Him being our joy. And while this isn’t a direct name of God, we see throughout Scripture that really joy is who He is. And so if we are ever in search of joy, we need to look no further than Jesus. Amen.

We see in Psalm 16:11, Scripture says, “In Your presence is fullness of joy.” How many of you have ever been a part of a service, and maybe we’re in our time of worship? Scripture is very clear that when we gather together and we give thanks to the Lord, that is the entrance, or the pathway, into His very presence — by the blood of Jesus. But we enter into His presence by singing to the Lord, by giving thanks to the Lord. And one of the things that we encounter in His presence is joy. We also encounter peace. We encounter freedom, right? Everything that He is, is what’s available in His presence. And one of those things is joy. It’s who He is.

In Psalm 43:4, the psalmist describes God as “my exceeding joy” — that He is joy. In Galatians 5, joy is listed as one of the fruit of the Spirit, one of the evidences of the Holy Spirit. In John 15:11, Jesus identifies Himself as the source of joy, saying, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” And so there is something called not just joy, but full joy, in the person of Jesus Christ.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation

And so I want to start at Psalm 51, starting at verse 10 this morning. We’re going to read through verse 12. This is a prayer of David, okay? This is after he had committed sin. He had committed adultery with Bathsheba, and to cover it up, rather than confessing his sin, he put her husband at the front of the battle lines and basically had him killed, trying to cover his sin. And the prophet Nathan calls him out and says, “You have done this thing.” David confesses it.

But here it is. This is after that moment. He had hidden his sin. He had been rebuked. And David makes this prayer. He says in Psalm 51, starting at verse 10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

How many of you know when there is undealt-with sin in your life, you are on shakable ground — that things can get really confusing really fast? All of a sudden the love that you had for the Lord, or the affection that you had for Him, maybe some of the things that you received in the presence of the Lord, whether that’s on a Sunday or in a time in your daily reading — the things that He had spoken — you’re like, “Did God even really say that? Did He really mean that?”

How many of you know sin is darkness? And when we allow sin to stay in our lives — which is unnecessary, by the way; didn’t we just receive communion together? Amen. He paid for that — but when we don’t confess that and bring that to the Lord, it sits with us unnecessarily. And when that happens, we’re not in that steadfast place. We’re in that distorted, confusing place.

And so David’s calling out to the Lord. He says, “Lord, would You create a clean heart in me? Lord, I’ve sinned against You, and I didn’t come to You. I tried to cover it up and to hide it from You and from those that were around me.” And he says, “Renew.” What does that mean? “I was steadfast before, but because of my sin, things are uncertain. I’m filled with fear. I’m filled with anxiety,” right? He says, “Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.”

He says this, though, in verse 12, and this is what we want to focus in on. David says, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.” How many of you know there is joy in the salvation of the Lord? And who is salvation? It is Jesus. “Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation.”

And how many of you know that when we receive what Jesus has done for us, and we commit our lives to Him, and we say, “Lord, forgive me of my sin,” and we confess Him as the Lord of our lives — how many of you know that is the moment of our salvation? Amen. And what is happening on the inside is that dead spirit — because when we were born into this world, we’re born into a sinful, fallen world where we are disconnected from God — when we are born again, our spirit is brought to life by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we are now alive in Him.

And how many of you know that is the biggest deal you could ever make? Amen. Saying yes to Jesus, saying yes to what He paid for. It’s not something that you earn. It’s not something that you deserve, because Scripture says no one deserves this. What did Jesus give up? He gave Himself. And who is He? He is joy. And so when we receive Him, we are receiving that joy. Amen.

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”

Joy and perspective

You know, you’ve probably heard it said that as a believer, joy really has nothing to do with your circumstance. And we sort of equate it to a peace that passes all understanding. And I’m going to be honest: I was really actually wrestling with the way that I had initially worded this in today’s sermon. And I don’t want us to get caught up in the idea that joy is just about putting on a face of gratitude. Because how many of you know you can be thankful but not actually have joy, right? You can be grateful but not actually be filled with the joy of the Lord.

And I was like — it’s circumstantial, because it’s not based on just what’s going on around us; it’s based on how we perceive what is happening around us. And really the goal of every believer should be to navigate the trials and the tribulations of life with our eyes on the Lord. And if we can fix our eyes on the Lord, then there is something called joy that is available. But even as believers, we may not always feel joy.

Many people would associate joy with peace. But really, peace is the absence of fear or anxiety. Joy is actually something different. You see, joy is connected to what you see. It’s connected to what you know. It’s connected to what you value. It’s also connected to what you hope for.

Now, how many of you know that something that can bring joy to one person doesn’t necessarily bring joy to another person, right? I don’t know what happened — in my family home there’s a little bit of discord, because for some reason my sons are not Packers fans the way that I am. I don’t know where I went wrong. I trained them. I taught them when they were young. I don’t know where it went wrong, but they are not Packers fans. They are other teams’ fans, and to name that in the church would probably be blasphemy, so I’m not going to even do it. So when the Packers win, there’s not the same level of joy that I have, because they don’t value that the way that I do, right?

And so, depending on what we have value in — we can have experienced the same result, right? The Packers win. All right? And they’re going to win a Super Bowl soon. We’re going to just speak that out, okay? It’s the same circumstance, all right? But there’s a completely different response based on our value. You see, what you value can also change. Therefore, what brings joy can also change.

How many of you are like me, and there are maybe foods that you thought were absolutely disgusting when you were growing up, and now today you’re like, “Man, that’s pretty good,” right? For me, it’s cottage cheese. I don’t know what it is. I despised cottage cheese. And now today I’m like, “This is heavenly. This is glorious. I love cottage cheese.” Nothing actually changed about the food. Something changed about me. And when we have a change of perspective, what happens? Joy comes. Okay? So joy doesn’t depend on your circumstances, per se. It has to do with our perspective. I’m going to say that again: joy doesn’t necessarily have to do with our circumstance, but it does have to do with our perspective.

Listen to what Jesus said in John 16:21. He says, “A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow” — everybody say, “Sorrow” — “because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy” — everybody say, “Joy” — “that a human being has been born into the world.” Notice, as the circumstances changed, joy came. Something had changed. The pain was real, right? Maybe the fear and the anticipation of that moment was real. But there was the hope of what was coming, and when the fruit definitely came, there was joy. There was a celebration, right?

And verse 22 — Jesus is talking to His disciples about how He was about to leave, and the disciples were very sorrowful, so He’s using this example — He says in verse 22, “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. And in that day” — this is talking about a future day — “in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.” That’s a whole other teaching. “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be” what? Full.

Jesus is saying, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” He’s saying, “Listen, I want the situations in your life to change. I don’t want you struggling with the things that are holding you from Me. Whatever doubts, whatever cares, whatever concerns — would you come to Me and lay them at My feet? Because when you ask of Me, you will receive.” And Jesus is saying, “so that your joy may be full.”

Now, we know that the Bible talks about — and we’re going to get to this in a moment — considering it joy when we face trials and tribulations. But God connects joy to a change of circumstance, but also to how you see the circumstance. Amen.

And so Jesus says, “that your joy may be full.” So if you were to have a joy-o-meter — okay, here it is, everybody visualize this with me: empty, full, right? Where do you think Jesus wants your meter level to be? He wants it full. He wants it full. That doesn’t mean everything in your life is perfect. In fact, Jesus said, “You will face trials and tribulations.” And how many of you know that’s holy to the Lord? I said that’s holy. We don’t like that one, do we? But in the midst of all of that, we can still have joy, because He is joy. Amen.

Present joy tied to future joy

I want to look at Luke chapter 6, and this is where Jesus is talking about how our present joy is tied to our future joy. Jesus says, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.”

Now, I just need to point this out real quick. Persecution is not just when you’re going through a difficult time or things aren’t working out. This is talking about when you are standing for what is true — when you are standing for what God has spoken, when you are declaring the gospel, the good news, and people revile and reject you because of that. Okay? Did you guys know that? Do you see the difference? People can just not like you, or not like a decision, and talk trash and all those things — that’s not what this is talking about. Jesus is talking about when “you stand up for Me, and you declare My truth, and you declare what I’ve done, and people will hate you. They will reject you for that message.” Jesus said, “They rejected Me; surely they’re going to reject you.”

And Jesus says, when that happens, consider it all joy: “Rejoice in that day.” Everybody say, “That day.” What day are we talking about? We’re talking about the day they speak against you. Rejoice in that moment. I don’t know about you, but when people are trashing my name, or speaking against me, or speaking lies about things that maybe I had said or had done, I don’t feel like rejoicing in that day. I feel like defending myself. I feel like speaking up. I feel like I want to give him a piece of my mind, right? Whatever it is.

But Jesus is saying, “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!” For indeed — why? — “your reward is great in heaven.” So Jesus is saying, listen, your present joy can directly be tied to a future joy and that future reality. He says, “For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.”

And so if you are standing for righteousness, if you are preaching the gospel, if you are, in love, bringing correction and watching out for your brother and sister in the Lord — how many of you know it has to always be in love, by the way? Did you know that? I’m actually just going to go there real quick: Jesus rarely started with people’s sins. He asked them what they needed. Did He address the sin? Yeah, He did. But that wasn’t His starting point. His starting point was always love. He would see them. He would love them. He would heal them. And then He would say, “Go and sin no more.” He would restore them.

But here it is: in that day, we are to rejoice. We’re to rejoice. Jesus is saying, “Listen, rejoice. Leap for joy.” Why? Because if you could only see the rewards being stored up for you in heaven — these are eternal rewards. Amen.

I don’t know about you, but the older that I get, the better grasp I have that this life is but a flash in the pan. It seems like just yesterday I was taking my kids to the park and pushing them on the swing. And if I did that today, it would be kind of weird, right? We’ve got full-grown men, okay? And a daughter who’s going to college. Okay. So it goes by in a moment. In a moment. And we get so caught up with what consumes us here, thinking that this is so important — the struggles, or the things that I see, or the things that I am concerned about. How many of you know it all pales in comparison to eternity with Him?

That’s why Scripture says don’t worry or be concerned about the things of this earth. Put your mind and your heart on the things that are in heaven, because that’s where our reward is. Amen. And when we have that idea, and we have that perspective, we can, even in the difficult times, have joy.

1 Peter 4:13 says, “Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed” — talking about a later time — “you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” In other words, Scripture is saying, “Rejoice now. Have joy now.” Why? Because joy is coming. Scripture talks about how Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. What was that joy? Well, it was you being reconciled with Him. I don’t think Jesus was taking pleasure in dying on a cross. In fact, we know that, because in the Garden of Gethsemane He was asking the Father, “Lord, if there’s any other way, would You take this cup from Me?” When His disciples asked Him for a place at His side in eternity, on the throne, He said, “Are you able to drink the cup that I’m about to be baptized with?”

There is a direct connection between how we live for the Lord right now and our eternal reward. And how many of you know He is the reward? I think there are some believers who say, “Well, as long as I just get into heaven, I’m good.” You know, that’s better than the alternative. But it’s going to matter to you how close you are to that throne. And the reality is, there are going to be janitors — there are going to be people who maybe don’t even have a home, who are homeless — that are closer to the throne than pastors and preachers. Because it’s about the heart. It’s about: Did you truly, truly die to yourself and say yes to the Lord? It’s not about our performance. It’s about: Do I belong to Him?

The joy of anticipation

We can have joy now because of the joy that’s coming. So, in terms of planning a vacation — I just recently went on a vacation. It was glorious. There’s this three-week window in Wisconsin — I love Wisconsin — there’s a three-week window where I have to get out. Anybody else? Right? End of January, February: take a break. Okay? We’re good, but I need my space for a second. Okay?

So we went on vacation. Is there joy in going on the vacation? Everybody say yes. Or there should be. But how many of you know there’s also joy in planning a vacation, right? Why? Because you’re dreaming about: What are we going to do? What are the fun things that we can do as a family? What are those memories that we can create? And there’s this anticipation in the planning process.

Now, I am not a big planner. Surprise. I like to just kind of go with the flow. But there is something about planning and being ready. So my wife, for this vacation, put so much time into looking for the perfect place for us to stay. She spent so much time looking for things to do. And for weeks leading up to this vacation, she was like, “What if we do this?” And I’m like, “Oh, that sounds fun,” right? I think she probably spent hours and hours just trying to find — “We could stay in this part,” or “We could stay at this place, and this is what’s accessible.” You see, there is not just joy in the reward of the vacation. How many of you know there’s joy in the anticipation? Amen.

And so we can have joy now because of what Jesus has done for us. The Bible teaches us that we should have this extraordinary joy right now, because we know for a fact that we’ll be with the Lord forever and ever and ever. There’s that anticipation. And if we really believe that our eternity is going to be as amazing as Scripture says, our perspective would have just a little bit different of a filter on our circumstances today.

When you know what’s ahead — let’s say your circumstance is right here, right? It kind of can be this lens that you look at life through. And so if your circumstance is dark and gloomy and you have that lens and that filter, everything that you see is going to be dark and gloomy. Anybody get what I’m saying? No matter how good something might be: “Because of this bad thing, I can’t even really celebrate this. I can’t actually fully identify with just how awesome this is.” But when we allow the Lord to give us His eyes, and we see through the circumstance and we see Him — how many of you know we have a whole different perspective now? Because we’re not looking at this thing to the right or this thing to the left. Now I have my eyes fixed on Jesus. And when my eyes are fixed on Jesus — oh, what a glorious thing. What a wonderful, wonderful gift that He has given, and that He is. And so we rejoice in the great things He has done, and we stop sweating the small things.

How David lost his joy

So when David says this in Psalm 51:10 — we’re going back to that — he says, “Create in me a clean heart. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence. Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” He says this: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.” Why is David saying “restore to me the joy”? Because he had lost it. He had lost the joy.

Doesn’t Scripture, in Revelation, talk about the church that lost its first love? You know, sometimes we look at the book of Revelation as a script for what the end times will look like. I used to read it like that. I remember being a young, young boy, and I would read it, and I was like, “Oh man, what’s that going to be like?” Right? And the more that I read it, the more that I realized, no, it’s the revelation of Jesus. It’s who He is. And there’s this part where He’s describing the churches at the end time. He’s describing the church that was faithful, that did the right things, that served Him. But He says, “But this one thing I have against you: you have left your first love.” There is something about having a heart that is so desperately in love with Him.

And David had lost that joy of his salvation. He had lost it, and he’s saying, “Lord, it’s gone. Would You restore to me the joy of Your salvation?” How did David lose the joy? It was because he tolerated the sin that was in his life. He tried to cover it up. He justified it. Anybody ever been there? “Well, I wouldn’t have done it if…” or “I wouldn’t need to do that if…” Sometimes it’s harder to trust the Lord and say no to yourself. But David was trying to hide his sin. He had committed adultery with Bathsheba. He had her husband killed. And we can even hear that and be like, “Well, at least I haven’t killed anybody.” No — how many know sin is sin?

You know, one of the things that I do often — because there are days where it’s like, “Man, I just don’t sense the Lord the way that I did maybe last week, or yesterday” — and even though I might not know, “Oh yeah, I definitely did this,” I ask the Lord, “Lord, would You search my heart, and would You show me where I’ve gotten off track?” Because sometimes we don’t actually always see our own sin. It could be attitudes. It could be the way that we said something. It could be not walking in love, maybe not forgiving someone, right? It could be multiple things.

But how many of you know David had lost this joy? He refused to confess his sin. He refused to take responsibility. He continued to go on like sin wasn’t there, and he didn’t humble himself before the Lord, day after day after day. And now the joy of his salvation is gone, and he’s living under a cloud of guilt. He’s living under a cloud of shame. And he’s feeling disconnected from God. How many of you know when we feel disconnected from God, God didn’t move — we did?

And so often we’re like, “Is God even there?” I would encourage you: if you have already given your life to Jesus, and you would say, “I am born again,” then you should come to the Lord and say, “Lord, would You just show me if there are places in my life that have not lined up with what You have said, or what You are asking of me?” Why? “So that I can repent, so that I can confess that, and so that I can be in fellowship with You.” Amen.

And so David is disconnected, and Nathan the prophet confronts David about this sin. And David calls out, and he says, “Lord, restore to me the joy.” I kind of went into this earlier, but if there is unconfessed sin in your life, it doesn’t mean that you’re not saved. But you are a little bit disconnected.

Relationship and fellowship

I’ve been married to my wife now for 22 years. Everybody say, “No way! You look so young, man.” I look at the pictures and I’m like, “Who let us get married? We were babies.” We were so young. We’re going on 22 years, and we have been in a marriage relationship for 22 years. Amen. That’s awesome. But I’m going to be honest with you: we’ve not always had fellowship every day. We’ve been in a marriage relationship, but we haven’t always been in fellowship.

Meaning there are days that go by where we’re a little bit disjointed. We’re not very connected. We’re not seeing eye to eye. Maybe there’s a disagreement. Maybe there was an offense. Maybe there was something that happened, or something that was said — you name it, right? In order for a marriage to go beyond just relationship, we want to have fellowship in the marriage. Because when we have fellowship in our marriage, that’s where we are together. That’s where things are flourishing. That’s where we are invested, and there’s intimacy, and there’s joy, and there are all these things. But when fellowship is broken, the relationship doesn’t change, but there’s no fellowship. Do you guys see the difference?

And so sometimes we can get out of sync, and there can be broken fellowship. So how do we get back into fellowship? I’m telling you, it always starts with someone humbling themselves and saying, “You know, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I said that.” How many of you know for there to be restored fellowship in a marriage, it requires humility? Even if you don’t fully know that you were wrong, there is still a humble way to come to the other. Amen. It takes humility to be married. But how many of you know it takes humility to walk with the Lord?

How did Jesus — God Himself — when He came to the earth, how did He come? He came humbly. He was born in a manger. How does the King come? Humbly. How did He go into Jerusalem, His triumphal entry? On a donkey. When Jesus comes, He comes humbly. So when we come to the Lord, how should we come? Humbly.

Meaning, if you feel that there’s a disconnection between you and God, I would encourage you: God didn’t move. What He did for you didn’t change. Jesus still died. He gave His life for you. He loves you. He forgives you. But maybe you’re here today and you’re like, “Man, I don’t even know if I’ve heard God speak to me for a while.” Maybe you’ve never heard Him at all. And I would say, invite the Lord into that and say, “Lord, are there things that I’ve allowed in my life and in my heart that are keeping me out of fellowship with You?”

Now, here’s the deal: it is not comfortable when we do that. Scripture says that God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Meaning, if you’re coming to God and you’re saying, “God, it’s on my terms,” or “God, I don’t need to do that. I don’t need to do it Your way” — what kind of attitude would receive anything from God? It can’t. It’s not who He is. So when we are filled with pride, yeah, you’re going to feel disconnected from God.

And the tragic reality is that many who are a part of the church will blame it on something or someone else. When we’re out of fellowship, we will even go to the point where — I know so many believers that, unfortunately, this has come out of their mouth — “I don’t even know if God is real.” How do we get there? How does it ever get to that point, where we have these real encounters with the Holy Spirit, and He fills us, and He speaks to us, and He forgives us, and He cleanses us — and yet we allow our hearts to get to the point where we speak profane things, and we worship other idols, and we say, “I don’t even know if God exists”? Because that’s the consequence of tolerating sin in our lives.

If you allow it to just linger, if you allow it just to be there, then yes, it’s going to harden your heart, and you’re not going to hear Him, and there’s not fellowship. And then all of a sudden you’re like, “I don’t really need to go to church. I don’t really need to worship. No, I’m just going to listen to Spotify in my car. Okay, that’s my time with the Lord.” And we do the bare minimum. And then we wonder why we get to the point where we’re saying, “Where are You, God?” He didn’t move. We did. Do you see it?

And this is so important, because people will say, “Well, that person offended me.” Or they’ll say, “Well, the pastor — he just doesn’t preach good enough. I’m not being fed there.” Man, His Word is food. We should just be able to read this, and it’s good enough. And we blame everybody else. What is that? That’s pride. So we want to have fellowship with the Lord. Somebody say amen. We don’t just want to be saved. We want to have fellowship with the Lord, because fellowship with Him is what sustains us.

Abide in Me, that your joy may be full

I’m going to close with this. Turn with me to John 15 real quick. John 15. How many of you would say, “I want a real relationship with Jesus”? Amen. It’s not just a title. He has feelings. He has love for you. Somebody say amen. Amen. You’re like, “He says that a lot.” I know. All right.

This is Jesus, and Jesus says this to His disciples. He says, “I am the vine” — “I am the true vine.” There are a lot of other vine options out there. Amen. There are a lot of things in this world that you can tether yourself to outside of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is saying, “No, I am the true vine. Life is found in Me.” He says, “My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”

How many of you know the Word of God cleans us? It prunes off those areas in our lives when we receive it humbly. It knocks off those things in our lives that should not be. And the heart of the Father is that you would bear more fruit.

He says this, though: “Abide in Me.” Everybody say, “Abide.” What does Jesus want? He wants you to abide with Him. He wants you to be in fellowship with Him. He says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you” — what? His Word — “you shall ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I have loved you; abide in My love.” That should be enough for some of us right there.

“If you keep My commandments” — if you keep what? If you keep what? Does it matter how we live our life as believers? Our salvation isn’t determined by it — hear this — but our fellowship can be. He says, “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.”

Listen, the reason Jesus can ask this of you is because He did it perfectly. He was perfectly submitted to the Father. He’s the definition of humility. “I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you” — notice — “that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

I’m going to read that again: “These things I have spoken to you.” What things was Jesus speaking to them? He’s saying, “Abide in Me. Abide in who I am, because I am joy. Because in Me you will find life. Because I am love.” And so keep My commandments. Why? So then we can have fellowship with one another.

And listen: repentance doesn’t mean you’re never going to get it wrong in the future, okay? Just because you repented and then down the road you did it again doesn’t mean your repentance wasn’t sincere. Everybody needs to hear that. But when you fall, what do you do? Repent again. Confess your sin again. Because He’s faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Repentance is a lifestyle. It’s an everyday thing. It’s not religious. It’s saying, “Lord, I want fellowship with You, and when I did that, I was not walking with You.” Okay?

What is Jesus saying? Listen: “Abide with Me.” Notice: “that My joy” — everybody say, “He is joy” — “that My joy may remain in you.” Meaning you do not have to go through life without this joy. You don’t have to face life alone. “That My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” Everybody say, “Full.” What is the Lord’s will for your life? He wants you to be filled with joy. Is this okay? He is joy.

And so what I’d like to do, if we can stand together — I’m not going to script what this looks like, but honestly, I think every person, in some way, shape, or form, should respond to the Lord this morning, and not just allow this to be, “Oh, that was a good message,” or “I really enjoyed this verse.” No — that we would respond to the Lord Jesus Himself.

And so with every head bowed and every eye closed, I just want us to reflect for just a moment. Can we do this? Can we just lift our hands to the Lord one more time and just tell Him how much you love Him? Just say, “Lord, I love You. Jesus, I need You. Lord, help me to see You. Help me to know Your love.” Come on, just in your own words, just say, “Lord, I need You.”

Lord Jesus, we love You. And Lord, we don’t want to just be disciples in title only. We don’t want to just be followers in title only, Lord Jesus. We want to have true fellowship with You, Lord — to know Your heart, to abide with You, because You are joy, Lord. Because when we recognize what You’ve done, when we recognize what we have been saved from — death, eternity apart from You, Lord — there is not only a joy of what is to come in eternity. Lord, we are to have joy now, because You are with us, because You saved us, because You love us.

And so, Lord Jesus, I pray that You would do a work in our hearts today, Lord — that if there is sin in our lives, and maybe we’re not even aware of it, Lord, would You search us, and, Lord, show us the adjustments we need to make. Lord, I thank You that we don’t need to go on a witch hunt, Lord, that we don’t need to overthink it. Lord, if there is sin, You will show us. And if there’s not, Lord, we just trust You — that You are Savior, that You are good, and, Lord, that You are our joy. But Lord, if there are things, we just bring them to You right now, in Jesus’ name. Lord, we confess our sin before You. We repent of it.

Lord, repentance isn’t just confessing sin. Lord, repentance is turning away from all that is not You and turning to You. And so, Lord, we choose You today. We say yes to You today. We say yes to Your heart, yes to Your call — yes, Lord, to this invitation of fellowship with You. Because, Lord, when we abide with You — oh Lord, we’re filled with joy. Lord, it is the better part. Lord, we don’t just want the blessings that You have to offer. Lord, we want You, more than the answered prayers. Lord, we want You, because, Lord, You are everything. So, Lord Jesus, we give all things to You, and in all things we give thanks. In the mighty name of Jesus we say, amen.

Amen. Amen. Can we thank the Lord this morning? Thank You, Jesus.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.