PREACHED: OL,
“HOW TO FIND REAL
JOY”
INTRODUCTION:
j It’s hard
to remember who comes in second, let alone the one who comes in third.
A. The
last round of the Master’s golf tournament ended today…
1. Who was “third” in 2004?
B. The
NCAA basketball tournament ended last Monday night…
1. Who came in third this year?...Last
year?
a. How
would you like to play in the consolation game to find out who
is third and fourth?
2. Did
you ever see a fan in the stands jumping up and down and holding up three
fingers?
C. There
is something “forgettable”—kind of bland and depressing—about being third.
D. Nobody
enters any kind of contest with the idea:
1. “Well, what I’m trying to do is to come in
third. That’s why I’ve always wanted to be…third.
And if I make that, I have reached my life’s ambition… I’m third!”
E. Can
you imagine living in a land that is called a “third world country?”
F. Do you
want to be called..“second-class citizen?” How about “third?”
k BUT, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, TO BE FIRST IN CHRIST, YOU
HAVE TO DESIRE TO BE THIRD!
A. Mark 9.33-35 “And they came to
1. Since
God is first, and others are second… they were to be THIRD!
B. Phil 2.3-7 “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more
significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not
only to his own interests, but also to the interest of
others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who,
though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be
grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the from of a servant, being born in
the likeness of men.”
1. But there’s another catch:
a. Heb 2.9 “…we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels,
namely Jesus…”
2. Since
he didn’t hold on to being equal with the Father, and was even lower than the
angels…doesn’t that mean he was THIRD?
l ARE YOU INTERESTED IN FIND JOY IN YOUR LIFE?
A. The
plaintive cry of many empty lives is, “I
just want a little joy in my life…All I want is to be happy…”
B. Most
people seek for happiness in some thing
or some one other than themselves.
C.
Joy is a
consequence, not a conquest!
1. It’s not winning something like the lottery, but being
something!
D. IT
COMES BY BEING THIRD!
1. JOY is
spelled J-O-Y: Jesus, first; Others second; You third!
DISCUSSION:
u To
find joy, JESUS MUST BE FIRST.
A. Psa 5.11 “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing
for joy…”
I Pet 1.8 “Though you have not seen him, you
love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and full of glory…”
B. Peter
had known the joyless agony of putting himself before the Lord when he warmed
by the Devil’s fire, while the Lord was on trial for his life!
1. He
failed the test; He thought only of his own welfare; He denied Jesus not once
but three times!
2. Later,
after his resurrection, Jesus made Peter come face to face with the issue of
being third!
a. John 21.15 “Simon, son of John, do you
love me more
than these…Feed my lambs?”
1) “I
have to be first, Simon, my lambs have to be second and you must be THIRD!”
C. Paul
spoke of the source of joy:
1. Rom 15.13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit
you may abound in hope.”
a. Joy,
peace and hope do not depend upon material circumstances by on spiritual faith!
v To
find genuine joy, OTHERS MUST BE SECOND.
A.
Matt 22.37, 38
I John 3.16 “By this we know love…”
Rom 12.10 “Love one another with brotherly
affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
1. The
only thing I want to be the best in is glorifying God and honoring the other
person!
a. And
it’s for HIS approval, not mine or that of others!
B. Great
example is Epaphroditus:
1. Phil 2.25-29 “I have thought it necessary to send to you, Epaphroditus
my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and
minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed
because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God
has had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on
me also, lest I should
have sorrow
upon sorrow; I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice
at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord
with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ,
risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.”
a. Can
you see the “order” of priorities in his life: 1. Christ and his work; 2. Paul
and the Brethren; 3. His own welfare and health?
C. Another
great example are the churches of
A. Vs 2-5 “…in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a
wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means and
beyond their means, of their own free will, begging us earnestly for the favor
of take part in the relief of the saints—and this not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and
then to us.”
1. Because
they loved the Lord first, they place the needs of others even before their own
extreme poverty!
a. What an example of being third!!
Ž To
find genuine joy, YOU MUST BE THIRD.
A. Everything
we have seen points to this last point!
B. But
let’s look at the attitude of Paul facing possible death if he journeyed to
1. Acts 20.17-24
2. He
wrote of the victory of being third:
a. Rom 8.35-39. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it
is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are regarded as
sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels
nor rulers, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything
else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.”
1) GEORGE
BAILEY it plainly and yet eloquently:
a) “Man’s true happiness then lies in God. Joy
is the consequence of seeking, seeing, and seizing the blessings of God!”