How to Have Fullness of Joy
John 15:11
DATE: 18
May, 2008 AM
PLACE:
BBC Ballincollig
I.
Introduction (John
15:11)
A.
Theme this
B.
Bible words for
1.
Glory
2.
Rejoicing
3.
Joy
4.
Pleasure
5.
Enjoyment
C.
These are words associated
these days only with drugs, and sex – but they describe a Christian’s powerful
feeling about their Lord! At least they SHOULD!
II.
Illustration (Psalm 34:8)
A.
One of the delicacies loved by
people everywhere, is chocolate. Lovers use it to express their affection,
husbands use it to make up after a fight.
B.
Let me share with you a set of
"Rules of Chocolate."
1.
If you've got melted chocolate
all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.
2.
Chocolate covered raisins,
cherries, orange slices & strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you
want.
3.
The problem: How to get 2
pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. The solution: Eat it in
the parking lot.
4.
Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar
before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite and you'll eat less.
5.
A nice box of chocolates can
provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Isn't that handy?
6.
If you can't eat all your
chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate,
what's wrong with you?
7.
If calories are an issue,
store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and
they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves.
8.
If I eat equal amounts of dark
chocolate and white chocolate, isn’t that a balanced diet? Don't they actually
counteract each other?
9.
Money talks. But Chocolate
sings.
10.
Chocolate has many
preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.
11.
Put "eat chocolate" at the top
of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing
done.
C.
Do you know what the truth is?
Only those who have actually tasted chocolate have delighted in it.
You will never just automatically delight in chocolate – you have got to
taste it!
D.
I want to understand how to
delight in God. I don’t want to just say it either… I want to experience it! But
you probably need to see it first in someone else
E.
So we are going to look at
some people who really HAVE tasted the goodness of the Lord, and fallen in love
with Him, and are addicted to Him!
III.
What Does it Mean to Delight in God?
A.
One might describe "delight"
this way - it's what happens when there is excitement inside, a tingle, a spark.
When you're doing what you really love to do, or you're with someone you really
love - "de light comes on."
B.
It is a perfect attitude –
something that over-rides every other feeling, and trial
C.
Does that ever happen between
you and God?
1.
It did with David!
a.
David called God his
"exceeding joy" (Psalm 43:4)
b.
David said that complete and
lasting pleasure is found in God alone: "in thy presence is fulness of joy; at
thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." (Psalm 16:11).
c.
David not only loved God, he
2.
It happened with Paul
a.
Paul triumphantly declared “we
glory in tribulations” (Romans 5:3).
b.
He was "sorrowful yet alway
rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10)
c.
He commanded Christians to
"rejoice in the Lord alway" (Philippians 4:4)
3.
It happened with James the
half-brother of Jesus said, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into
divers temptations" (James 1:2).
4.
Peter delighted in the Lord
(1Peter 1:8)
5.
Most of all, it happened with
Jesus! Jesus delighted in His Father – that was His whole life here on earth!
One long thrill!
D.
So, the truth is, to learn how
to
IV.
Message – What is it Like to Delight in God?
A.
You Love HIM (1Peter 1:8)
1.
You just want to please Him
(John 8:29)
2.
The first and most important
task is to
3.
David was a lover of God.
Period. That’s why God used Him, and blessed him. Whether in the desert with
some sheep, or running from cave to cave hiding from king Saul, or on his royal
throne, David just simply loved God!
4.
And it is true in your life
too – you give a lot of attention to those who just want to be with you and
honour you and bless you!
5.
You give less time to those
who only want to take from you and get from you!
6.
Do you love the Lord? What a
question!
7.
It is the first and greatest
commandment!
8.
It is the first sign that you
are
9.
Too many look to Jesus only as
a fix-it Man, but sinners, harlots,
publicans all found joy in Christ’s presence! They LOVED Him!
10.
If church is dull, and the
Bible a bore, then you are missing the point
a.
Jesus makes
b.
Jesus makes the Bible alive!
11.
Do you realise what preaching
is all about it? It’s to get everyone in this room more in love with Jesus –
look at 2Corinthians 11:1-3
a.
Sought-after love – the world
and the devil want that love that belongs to Jesus
b.
Simple love
c.
Steadfast love – like a
marriage – belongs to no one else!
B.
You Love Prayer (Luke 11:1;
Mark 1:35)
1.
Prayer is spending time with
God! If prayer is more than that, then it is soiled and ruined
2.
Prayer is time with God first,
asking for things second – when it is the opposite, it dies!
3.
A sign of
4.
When else do you spend time
just with God?
5.
Oh how we need to develop our
prayer time, not just our prayer lists!
6.
To pray is not hard. To love
prayer is the key
7.
To love prayer is to love God
through prayer!
8.
Jesus loved His heavenly
Father through prayer
9.
That’s how everybody knew
Jesus delighted in God!
C.
You Love Serving God (Luke
2:49)
1.
Just doing whatever God wants
done – no matter how hard
2.
Look at John 21:15-22
a.
Peter had denied even knowing
Jesus three times, and abandoned Jesus just before the awful tortures and death
of the crucifixion
b.
And here was Jesus now, alive,
sitting across from Peter, with a pile of some of the biggest fish Peter had
ever seen
c.
And Jesus plainly asks Peter,
“Do you love me?”
d.
Like I said – what a piercing
question
e.
But the question has a purpose
f.
Do you love me enough to do
something for me? No matter how hard?
3.
Jesus loved and
a.
No matter what He asks others
to do
b.
No matter if no one else
follows the Lord
c.
Will you love Jesus more?
4.
What has the Lord asked you to
do?
a.
Isn’t HE worth it?
b.
Didn’t He know what he was
doing when he asked you to serve Him?
c.
Can’t He be enough for you as
you serve?
d.
If HE cannot be enough, then
nothing ever will be!
e.
But if He IS enough, then
there is nothing you can’t do!
D.
You Endure Afflictions (2Cor
4:8,9; 6:5-10; 4:16-18)
1.
You easily put up with
troubles, hurdles, obstacles in your life – why?
2.
Because Jesus is with you like
He said (Matthew 28:20; Heb 13:5)
3.
In the midst of a sinking,
doomed ship in a hurricane in the
4.
So few Christians endure
afflictions today because of one reason only… because they make their own
comfort more important than their convictions (what is most important)!
5.
Hey… there is a cross before
every crown – period!
6.
Why did Jesus endure the
cross? For the joy that was AHEAD (Heb 12:2)
7.
Don’t miss the joy because of
your thin-skin!
V.
Conclusion
VI.
Part 2 next Week
Craig Ledbetter | Pastor |