Protect Your Joy I Aaron Marshall

0:31 if i haven't had the honor and privilege of meeting you uh my name is aaron marshall um and i am on staff here at free chapel i get to lead in a variety of different ways one being young adults ministry as well as our men's ministry can the men make some noise this morning Yeah. God is doing something in our men's ministry. This past Thursday, we had an opportunity to get together, and we had 320 men in the room where 12 got saved. Amen. So God is doing something in our church and in that ministry. But I'm excited to be before you. As I said, pastor is an OC, but I'm honored to attempt to walk in the footsteps of a giant. All right? but I am honored and can we celebrate our pastor, him and Cherise for what they do.

1:27 We wouldn't be able to do what we do without the vision that God has given him, but he will be back here next Sunday with another incredible word. So bring somebody and be ready to be encouraged. And then lastly, tonight we have our prayer and worship night. It will be at 5 p.m. in this room. How many of you know a praying church is a thriving church, amen? So we want to continue to pray and allow the Lord to lead us and guide us in everything we do. So be here tonight for that. We're going to go after the Lord. You guys ready for the word? All right. We are going to start in a familiar passage of scripture. Go to Galatians 5 if you have your Bibles. We'll also have it up on the screen. And for the sake of time, we will not read the whole thing. but we'll kind of stop and go and end up down at verse 24.

2:24 But starting with verse 22, it says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy. Let's stop right there. Look at your neighbor and say joy. Look at your other neighbor and say joy. Let's go down to verse 24. And it says, and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. We'll stop there. If you had to give a title to my message this morning, it's simply this, protect your joy.

2:59 I don't think y'all heard me. Protect your joy. I've been thinking about joy a lot lately, especially with everything that's been going on in the world. You know, the murders, the violence, the division, not to mention the things that I've been dealing with in my own personal life. And as I was reflecting on life and reflecting on this idea of joy, it hit me that it's so easy to get overwhelmed with life. it's easy to develop a heaviness and a sadness about life that if we're not careful will bring us to lose hope and allow us to step into this slim space of depression but the Lord reminded me though that as a believer and a follower of Jesus that that doesn't have to be my portion and that doesn't have to be your portion.

4:00 And we can lock into a reason why that is. And one reason is, is because we have joy. Joy is a major part of our faith. And sometimes we forget this. We forget about the fruit of the spirit. We forget about joy. And we must be reminded that joy is at hand. Joy is not optional. It's a fruit of the spirit where as believers, we are expected to allow God to produce fruit, i.e. joy, in our lives. I love what C.S. Lewis says. This is a great quote. He said that joy is the serious business of heaven. Joy is the serious business of heaven. See, I know C.S. Lewis was reading Paul's letters because this has the same tone that we see in Romans 14, 17, where Paul tells us that for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace.

5:01 And I'm gonna say it like the Baptist, joy in the Holy Ghost. Yeah, you know they say it like that, the Holy Ghost. But I love Pastor Samuel Shoemaker. He said the surest mark of a Christian isn't their faith, isn't just their faith, it isn't just their love, but their joy. Wow. And I was thinking about that. There was a friend of mine I was talking to recently. He was talking to a friend of his and his son had just got back from college. And his son was excited. He was like, dad, I met this girl. I met this. And before the son can get into it and explain who this young woman was, the dad stopped him. He said, let me ask you something, son. He said he didn't ask the son if she was pretty, like my wife. God bless you. Love you, honey. She was beautiful. He didn't ask that. You would think a dad would ask, is she pretty, son? Does she have long hair? What does she do? Is she an athlete? He didn't ask any of those things. You know what the dad asked the son? Does she have joy? Does she? What a dad. What a question to ask your son because the dad knows that joy is attractive.

6:13 And God will use joy to attract people to himself. Now, hear me, single people. Please note that don't be out here sad because nobody wants a sad, frowning sack of potatoes. Hear me. I didn't find my wife on these looks. It was my joy. Ain't that right, honey? Y'all, I'm gonna just be myself this morning. I just got the joy of the Lord. Amen. But just like any fruit, joy is attractive. And as I was thinking about this attractive fruit, this attractive joy, I started thinking about people in our church. Big Rich, who sits right here on the right in the 9 a.m. service. Big guy. I mean, you see him. He's like, he plays no games. But he walks into this church with the joy of the Lord. And he'll walk and smile, and he'll look at you, and he'll say, I ain't mad at nobody.

7:08 I'm like, go ahead, Rich. I ain't mad at nobody either, baby. I ain't mad at nobody either. But here's the thing. Big Rich can break you in half, and he'll even do that with joy, but grace, grace, grace, grace. But I was thinking about even Mr. Weaver out in our parking lot, who went, he was battling, he was literally in the middle of battling cancer. He was out in that parking lot dealing with you crazy people, talking about grace, grace. But he was doing it with joy. I'm thinking about Michael Pottson, one of our greeters. Every time our doors is open, he's at the doors ready to greet people and smile and say, welcome to church. I was thinking about Michelle McKenzie, who's in our bookstore. Right now, she's battling a diagnosis. But guess where she's at? In the bookstore with joy, leading, serving, and honoring God with all that she has. Believing and hoping that God is going to heal her.

8:03 But it isn't the circumstances that she's locked in on. It's the joy of the Lord that she's holding on to. So with that, I pose this question this morning with all humility. If joy is a major part of our Christian faith, why aren't we more joyful?

8:23 Why aren't we more, why don't we smile more? And it's interesting to me, I'll be at different places, I'll meet different people, and I'll come across people and I may have something that may signify, I may wear a hat or a shirt that signifies I'm a Christian. and they'll say to me, oh, you're a Christian? I'm a Christian too. And I'll be thinking to myself, and this is no judgment, I'm like, you're a Christian? Because the Christianity I know says the joy of the Lord is my strength, but you might need to tell your face.

8:54 And don't act like you haven't heard that before. My pastor be up here telling people about themselves, talking about, man, people just be so grumpy, like, why is the sky blue? Why is green green? I don't get it. Why isn't pastor preaching on Sunday? Like too soon? Too soon. I ain't gonna miss. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot. But why don't we have joy when we wake up in the morning to a day of new grace and new mercy? Why don't we have joy about work? Why don't we have joy about serving like the individuals I just mentioned, why don't we have joy about giving? Because according to the word of God, the Bible empowers us to be cheerful givers, joyful givers. Now hear me, I'm not trying to be negative this morning, but I just want us to be real that we can allow life and all of life issues, which are significant, to bring us to a place of being downcast and sad. And hear me, I'm not pointing the finger at you.

10:01 I'm not saying it's just you. It's me too. I've been guilty of it, of myself. Ask my wife because there have been times where I would be overwhelmed about life. I would complain about life. I may have some conversations and pray to the Lord and seek the Lord about life, but I would still allow life and all of life issues to keep me down, sad, and stuck. Hear me, free chapel. I'm not saying that we have to ignore our problems. I'm not saying we have to suppress our emotions or not think things. But what I'm saying is, according to Scripture, the Bible tells us, 2 Corinthians 6.10, that as sorrowful, yet still rejoicing. That I can have emotions and feelings, but yet let me still rejoice. I can have the world around me going crazy, but yet let me still rejoice. we need consistent joy and we need to talk about joy more so can we talk about joy this morning i said can we talk about joy this morning And I want us to look at a unique place in Scripture as we unpack this idea of joy.

11:18 And I want us to go to Genesis 21. And what you will find here in Genesis 21, and it'll be up on the screen, we find here a type and shadow of New Testament Scripture and a type and shadow of this picture of protecting your joy. And we'll start with verse 1. It says, male. Keep that in mind. Hold that note. But here it tells us whom Sarah bore to him. They're making a distinction. Isaac. We see here that Abraham and Sarah was given a promise in the form of a seed.

12:20 Now we know that that promise came with challenges, difficulties, setbacks, even at times shaky faith. Is there anybody in the room that at points in your walk where God had a little shaky faith? Anybody? Or is it just me? But we see that eventually that promise, that seed was activated and it led to Sarah giving birth to Isaac. Now follow me, watch this. We know Isaac's name means he laughs or laughter. And in some translations, it carries the idea of joy. Catch it. That through everything Abraham and Sarah have been through, God kept his promise, allowing the seed of joy and laughter to develop and mature despite everything they had been through. The promise of joy through difficulties was birthed. And again, this is a type in shadow. And I want you to see that when the Holy Spirit is given full access to your lives, your mind, your heart, your will, your emotions, your decisions, the seed that is connected to the promise is activated. And even though everything around you may seem bleak, even though the world around you is going crazy, even though it may seem that what you're praying for is impossible, God is saying, trust me, seek me, walk with me, and I will allow my spirit to invade your soul. And I will produce fruit in and through your life. And that fruit will be joy.

13:50 That fruit will be joy. Look at your neighbor and say joy. Look at your other neighbor and say joy. I want to remind us this morning, joy isn't happiness. Because happiness is based on conditions and circumstances. Happiness is rooted in people, places, and things. And we all know, based on life experiences, people, places, and things can disappoint us. leave us and forsake us. But God won't, won't he? He will not do it. But happiness is fleeting. Sometimes it's just for a moment. But let me tell you about joy. Joy is different. Joy is a seed of inner gladness. Joy is this deep delight. It's dependency on Jesus. Joy is rooted in Jesus, breathed on by the Holy Spirit. And catch this, joy is anchored in God's goodness and his presence.

14:48 And this is scripture because Psalm 1611 declares that in your presence, there is fullness of joy. So what that means is when you get into the presence of God, worry can't stay. When you get into the presence of God, anxiety can't stay. When you get into the presence of God, overthinking can't stay. But just get into the presence of God and he won't just give you a little joy. He won't just give you half a joy. He'll give you the fullness of joy.

15:18 The fullness of joy. This is why it's called the joy of the Lord. Because it is not based on what I've done or you have done. It's not based on what we possess. But it is developed and birthed through encounters with a living God. Encounters with a living God. Through hope of promises planted by God. Through trust that God will and has fulfilled his word in our lives. And we see Abraham and Sarah in their journey. It shows us that joy comes in the stretching, that joy is produced in the waiting, that joy is activated as our faith is activated to believe that God and what he said and promised he will come to do it. And y'all, we see this type of joy all throughout scripture.

16:13 I bring your attention to the apostle Paul. this man had been robbed, beaten, flogged. He had been rejected, not to mention the several shipwrecks, but even while he was in prison. Hear me, somebody's watching this morning. You're in the prison and you think all hope is gone. No, have hope because Paul, while he was in prison, wrote a letter in Philippians 4-4 that says rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. How can he rejoice when he's in the prison? How can he rejoice when he has been beaten and rejected even by his own people? Because that's that joy that my grandma used to talk about. That joy when she would tell me this joy that I have the world didn't give it and the world it can't take it away. Does any Anybody want that joy that no matter what you go through, no matter what life throws at you, the world can't take it because the world didn't give it.

17:19 As believers of Jesus Christ, we can't allow the world or the cares of the world to take away what it didn't give us. But I believe this morning that the Holy Spirit is tugging on our hearts and saying, I want to produce the fruit of joy in your life. Why? Because I have given you a promise of joy. So again, I ask, why aren't we consistently walking in joy? I want to show you something that the Lord showed me. Maybe you've seen this before, but it shocked me when I saw this. Verse eight in Genesis 21, it says the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. Verse nine, this is where it gets real.

18:14 But Sarah saw the son mocking. Again, the Bible is making a distinction. We saw earlier, it showed that the one Sarah had born and it was Isaac. Now it says the one Hagar, the Egyptian, had born to Abraham. Now let me paint this picture for you and show you what's going on.

18:36 Isaac had come to this place of overcoming that stage of weaning. What that was is at that time, a lot of babies and infants didn't make it past the weaning stage. And all that is, is infants and children going from being solely dependent on mom for milk to now stepping into a place of maturity. So we see that Isaac, a.k.a. joy, is maturing. Joy is growing. Joy is now not depending on mama's faith, but God's faith in his relationship with God. but then it was such a big deal because again at that time infants wouldn't survive at times the weaning so they threw a feast they're like man we are going to celebrate the maturing of Isaac we are going to celebrate the maturing of our joy so they throw a feast and they're having a good time I could see Abraham doing his holy ghost two-step he's just moving but as he's having a good time mama Sarah is watching and as mama Sarah watches she looks and she see Ishmael mocking Isaac but if you just look at it for face value you'll miss the revelation what she saw is Ishmael who was born out of the flesh mocking Isaac that was born out of the spirit Thank you.

20:01 No, no, no, no, no. I want you, because this is all scripture. And as she's seeing what was born out of the flesh, mocking what was born out of the spirit, let me show you what she does. Let's go to Genesis 21.10. Sarah said to Abraham, drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be co-heir with my son Isaac. The Bible teaches us that the flesh and the spirit cannot live together. The flesh and the spirit cannot be at peace. So what that is communicating as we protect our joy is that we have to let the things of the flesh go. And this is Bible Galatians 517. It tells us for the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish.

20:56 If you are going to live with consistent joy, the Ishmaels and the Hagar's in your life have to go. They cannot stay. They cannot be a part of the feast and the party. Hear me this morning. There are things in your life that may have been birthed out of a season of sin. There are things in your life. Maybe you're this in this morning that there are things in your life where you had a human moment, a fleshly moment. and you just made a mistake. You yelled, you got mad, you did something just out of your flesh. Or maybe this morning you birthed something in a season where you didn't have the faith to believe that God was gonna do it, so you had trust in yourself and trusting in yourself allowed you to birth an Ishmael. But hear me this morning, Free Chapel, that Ishmael is mocking your joy. That Ishmael, that Hagar is mocking your joy, making fun of your joy, trying to remind you of your past, trying to bring heaviness and sadness, trying to get you to forget everything that God has done for you.

22:02 So I asked this morning, why aren't we more joyful? It's hard to be joyful when you're being mocked by your past. It's hard to be joyful when you're being mocked by your mistakes. It's hard to be joyful when fleshly thoughts, feelings, and emotions are lying and screaming in your ear, telling you're no good, that God doesn't love you, that, oh, God could never use you. The devil is a liar. God has given us grace to overcome, and all we have to do is repent and allow the Holy Spirit to do a work, and that work will produce fruit, and that fruit is joy. Look at your neighbor and say joy. Look at your other neighbor and say joy. here's the encouragement this morning though you don't have to live with these things mocking you we go back to galatians 5 24 paul told us now those who belong to christ i want to ask another question do we have any people in the room that belong to christ i said no online and in this room Do we have any people that belong to Jesus Christ?

23:11 And Paul goes on to tell us that if you are in Christ, which we are, we have crucified the flesh with his passions and his desires. Free chapel, the things of the flesh must be crucified. They have to go. If you want to protect your joy, the Ishmaels must be crucified, the Hagar's must be crucified, and they must go. The things mocking your joy, they have to leave. That relationship must go. Those negative thoughts must go. Those old habits must go. Those things that you have been watching and consuming that's bringing you this heaviness, they must go. The hurts and the wounds, don't neglect them, but they can't stay. They have to go. Because it's time for a body of believers to start protecting their joy.

24:05 Hear me this morning. There are things that will consistently try to rob you of your joy. But we got to protect the promise and protect the seed and drive out every area of sin. Drive out things that are poking holes in your renewed mind. Drive out the old habits that you've become comfortable with, that keep you overthinking, that keep you sad and that keep you anxious. God has not called us to live with these Ishmaels. but he wants to empower us to crucify them and tell them that they must leave and he's not asking us to do something he hasn't done because our savior went through something similar and i want to make sure this is understood the bible is clear he was tempted but he did not sin but we see that in the garden of gethsemane he was tempted with the flood of emotions with the flood of anxiousness, with the flood of heaviness about going to the cross.

25:10 But what I love about what Jesus did, he did not let the negative thoughts stay there. He didn't hold on to the negative thoughts and emotions. He did not stay there in the garden complaining about the cross, but he removed everything that was mocking his decision to please the Father and die for you and me. he removed everything out of the way. And he said, not my will, but your will be done, God. This is why we can read scripture like Hebrews 12 too and know that God is real because the Bible tells us looking onto Jesus, he is our example because he's the author and finisher of our faith. And the Bible says, for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. So he didn't look at the cross and allow the cross to keep him from staying stuck, sad and anxious and emotional. No, he looked past the cross and looked at the joy of heaven.

26:07 He looked at the joy of being with the father. He looked at the joy of being obedient to the father. He looked at the joy of like, no matter what this world may give me, I'm not going to be here. I have the joy that's before me. And that joy allowed him to go to the cross. And that joy produced fruit that we now get to eat off of. The joy that's within us, the fruit that's with us, that God wants us to now give to the world.

26:38 Don't you want joy this morning? I don't know about you, but I want that joy that when the whole world has dumped on me, the enemy is kind of confused. because the enemy's trying to figure out why I'm still smiling and laughing and why I still have hope because I'm holding on to the joy, not of the circumstances, but of God that can help me overcome those circumstances. So I asked this morning, what's mocking your joy?

27:12 What's trying to steal your joy in this season? Because my prayer for every single one of us this morning, as the body of Christ, that we will protect our joy. That we will be the people that will bear fruit of joy. That the joy of the Lord can truly be our strength. that we won't let circumstances or the enemy or any of the things happening in the world rob us of the seeds that God has put in us and the promise that he has given us. God has given us a promise. God has given us a seed. And all we have to do is allow his spirit to do the work. And I can say this with boldness and faith. If you do that, joy is coming. if you allow God to have his way, if you allow the Holy Spirit to invade you, joy is coming.

28:08 Look at your neighbor and say, joy is coming. No, say it with your chest. Say, joy is coming. And the band can come up at this time. The joy, come on now. That's that young faith right there, believing that the joy is coming. I don't know what you're going through, young man. I don't know your family dynamic and situation, but I stand in faith with you that the joy is coming. Now, I do, I have to be honest. I'm not speaking something this morning that I haven't had to wrestle with. I'm not speaking something that's just something I'm like, oh, this is cool. No, I've had to walk this and live this.

28:58 Because there have been times, even as of recent, where life and all that life is bringing wanted to steal me of my joy to where the overwhelming things of life, the busyness of life, wanted me not to have joy in my marriage. That the busyness in having to take my daughter to practices and games and my son to practices and games to lose the joy of being a parent and watching my kids do a sport that they love and that they're passionate about.

29:36 The enemy wanted me to lose the joy of even speaking this morning. The reality is I recognize that I'm looking at the footsteps of a giant, Pastor Jensen. But at the core, it should be a joy to come and share with you and direct you to the word of God to where all I'm called to do is either plant or water, but God gives the increase. But the enemy wanted me to not have joy. The enemy wanted me to get in my flesh and overthink and get emotional. I looked at those Ishmaels and those Hagars. I said, you have to leave. You can't stay here. You're not going to get the glory out of this. The joy of the Lord is my strength.

30:30 And I'm going to get into the presence of the Lord. And whatever the Lord does in my family, in my marriage, and in this ministry.