Joy To Your World! - Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. Notice, it is more happy to give than to receive. It's a tremendous statement because it means this, we all have a capacity because He promised us an abundant life to be happy.

And I don't know about you, but I find that comforting in a very real sense. You see, what I like about it is I can't control my genetics. I can't control my IQ. I can't even control the circumstances or opportunities in my life.

But this is something I have control over. If you're a child of God, you have a capacity to be perpetually happy and joyful. That's what Jesus Christ is saying. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again, he shows us how God's word meets our world. There's so much in life that make you unhappy. I mean, there's diseases that take your health.

The economy can take your job and he or she can break your heart and take your heart. And so you find that happiness becomes a real challenge for an awful lot of people. But we all want to be happy. The single most popular course at Yale University in the Ivy League. This has been given to the students for over decades now is a course on happiness.

Why? They want to be happy. Everybody wants to figure out what's the key to being happy.

And of course, you and I both know that the marketing people know this. You know, if you really want to be happy, sleep on our mattress. If you really want to be happy, drive our car. If you really want to be happy, wear our clothes. If you really want to be happy, drink our beer. This is the key to happiness because we all want to be happy.

And it's good to be happy. I mean, our culture recognizes it's good to be happy as a person. Happy people are healthier than unhappy people. And the reason is, they tell us, is that your immune system is much, much stronger on a happy person than it is on an unhappy person. Social indicators research even says that happy people, by and large, make more money than unhappy people. According to Harris and his Harris polls, they have done these polls for decades now. And according to Harris, only one out of three Americans are happy. In fact, over all the years they've done it, the highest percentage of happy people they've ever polled in America is 35%.

So that tells me that two out of three of you are unhappy as Americans. But I want you to understand that happiness is serious business if you're not happy. Clinical depression has gone up ten times, ten times since the last century.

Ten times. And in fact, the World Health Organization states that depression is the second meeting of cause of disease in the world. So the whole world's not very happy. They also found out that age, education and wealth don't move the needle on happiness at all.

Wow. So we know that happiness is not what you hang in your closet or park in your garage or have deposit in your bank account. We keep thinking it is.

But it's not. Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard professor, says this. We think money will bring a lot of happiness for a long time. Actually, it just brings a little happiness for a very short time. And he said, if you don't believe me, ask lottery winners.

And I thought, wow, that's an interesting comment. And yet, in spite of all this doom and gloom so far, Jesus Christ said in John 10, 10, I have come to give you life and did abundantly. He's not talking about just eternal life here.

Yes, he's coming if we put our faith and trust in him, we have eternal life. But he said, no, I've come to give you life here and give it to you abundantly. Now, that's without a great inheritance. That's without credit cards. That's without a great job.

That's without college degrees. In fact, that's even without psychoanalysis. It's without Botox. It's without hormone therapy.

It's without any of those things. Jesus said, I've come to give it to you. And here's what's most interesting. He tells you exactly what to do to have it.

Wow. He added one great statement that he made. It's even repeated in the book of Acts. He says this, it is more blessed to give than receive. And that word blessed, we studied it in the Beatitudes on the Sermon on the Mount, is markeos. And that means happy, joyful, happy. Notice, it is more happy to give than to receive. It's a tremendous statement because it means this. We all have a capacity because he promised us an abundant life to be happy.

And I don't know about you, but I find that comforting in a very real sense. You see, what I like about it is I can't control my genetics. I can't control my IQ. I can't even control the circumstances or opportunities in my life.

But this is something I have control over. If you're a child of God, you have a capacity to be perpetually happy and joyful. That's what Jesus Christ is saying.

It shouldn't surprise us. Remember when he was born? Remember what the angel said? The angel said, we bring you good news of great joy. That's what Jesus Christ offers us. Not just eternal happiness, but temporal happiness.

Not just happiness for one day, but happiness for this day. There are so many passages in the New Testament that use words just like this. Joy, happiness, gladness, celebration, cheer, delight, blessing, and exaltation. In other words, God wants you to be happy.

And he tells us how to do it. And it's an interesting thing because over 50 times in the New Testament, God says the happiness is linked to its more blessed or happy to give than receive. And so over 50 times in the New Testament, he says you're going to be happy by giving yourself away.

That's how you're going to be happy. He tells us one another's, one another's, in order if you want to be happy, there are certain things you can do to give yourself away so you can experience the abundant life that Jesus Christ spoke of. The first one I want to look at today is in Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 13. The writer of Hebrews writes this. He said, but encourage one another day after day as long as it's still called today so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. So the first thing he tells us, and it's more than in one place in the New Testament, is to encourage other people. Now, if you've ever been encouraged, you know how good that feels. What I'm saying is when you are an encourager, one of the side products to you is you'll be happy. Encourage, the word is really a compound Greek word, parakletos, and you get the word paraklet. Holy Spirit, remember Jesus said in John that the paraklet will come.

Para means come alongside you, and kletos means to call out affirming words. Someone who comes alongside you and calls out affirming words to you. In other words, that becomes to you an encouragement.

He says it all the way through the New Testament. 1 Thessalonians 5, he tells us to encourage one another. In Romans 15, 5, he even says God will give us encouragement, that he likes to encourage us. Encouragement is good for people. You see, but I want to say this morning it's good for the people you encourage, but it's good for you. Dr. Barbara Fredrickson wrote a book called Positivity, and she said this, People have a way of becoming what you encourage them to be, not what you nag them to be.

She's right. Encouragement has an effect on people. You see, there's no question about it, but what I want to say is encouragement has an effect on you.

You see, because that's one of the ways you give yourself away. When you give, you become happy or blessed by God. Secondly, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 2. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 2.

This one's more difficult, I think, for us. Paul says this, With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. Showing tolerance for one another. Are you intolerant? You see things and people act in certain ways, because if you want to be intolerant, you're living on the right planet.

There's no question about it. You can be intolerant every day of your life. You can be intolerant with your family. You can be intolerant with your neighbor. You can be intolerant on the highway. You can be intolerant where you shop. You can be intolerant where you work.

Everywhere, there's things that people do that you can be intolerant of. And that's okay. That's your choice. But I can tell you one thing you aren't. You're not happy. Intolerant people are not happy.

It's amazing how they're not. You see that word, notice the conditions. Do it with humility. Do it with gentleness. And do it with patience.

Why? Because it's hard to tolerate us. We do a lot of things that make people intolerant. That's just people. That word, patience, is interesting.

It means long-tempered. You see, don't get angry. Because it's so easy to get angry with people in the way that they act, in the way that they do it. Think about the Pharisees, Jesus' enemy. They were intolerant of anybody who didn't keep the law the way they kept it. They were always intolerant.

Remember what Jesus said to them? You go out of your way to take a speck out of somebody else's eye. And you have a log in your own. You see, that becomes a very important part. It becomes a very critical personality. And it won't make you happy at all.

Because you have to be tolerant of people. And that becomes a very important thing for us to do. D.L. Moody, who is the founder of Moody Bible Institute, great evangelist of the last century, he said this, Right now, I'm having so much trouble with D.L. Moody that I don't have time to find fault in my fellow men. That's the way we all should be. You want to be intolerant? Be intolerant of the sin in your life. That's what you should be intolerant of. Not other people's behavior. So you have to encourage one another.

You have to show tolerance for one another. And I want you to go to Philippians chapter 2 with me in verse 4. Philippians 2, verse 4.

We'll actually start there. Apostle Paul. Verse 3 actually says this, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. With humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves.

Not merely looking out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others. You need to have this attitude in yourselves, which is also in Christ Jesus, who although he existed in the form of God, he did not require equality with God a thing to be grasped. He emptied himself and he took on the form of a bondservant being made in the likeness of men. And being found in the appearance of men, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the cross. And for this reason, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him a name which is above every name.

Wow. He says you and I have to regard everyone else as more important than ourselves. Is that what our culture teaches you? I mean, what's our culture say over and over? You need to look out for number one. And who is that?

That's me. That's what the culture says. You've got to look out for number one.

Jesus would say exactly the opposite. You have to regard everybody else as more important than you are. Gee, this is hard for us. This kind of thing we find to be a very difficult thing for us altogether. It's interesting that what happens to us is we become preoccupied with ourselves. And once you have that attitude, then it's easy to be selfish.

It really is. I think one of the things I've found over all the years and all the marriage counseling I've done is even in the context of marriage, most of the time what I hear in struggling marriage is my rights. She's not meeting my needs and my rights. And she's not meeting my needs and my rights. Once you do that, that's a prescription for marital failure.

It doesn't work that way. You hear often this when it comes to marriage. I'll tell you what a good marriage is. It's 50-50.

It's not. It's 100-0. That's what a good marriage is. 100-0. By the way, if both of you live with 100 for them and 0 for you, guess what you get?

50-50. You see, but that's what it takes. But you start demanding that your needs or your rights aren't being met. Well, if I have to regard all of you as more important than me, I surely should regard a person I'm married to as more important than me, don't you think? You see, that's the point that he's trying to make.

Regard everyone as more important than you. And it's interesting that he gives us this tremendous example in Jesus Christ. I love what Isaiah wrote. 700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah wrote this. Can an axe boast greater power than the one who uses it?

I mean, Isaiah, of course not. Well, that's what you and I are. You and I are just axes.

All the glory goes to the one who uses it. You see, we're just a tool of God. That's the way this whole thing works. In other words, we're just the conduit in which God flows through.

Think of this. If you share a gift, your gift, with someone, a really wonderful spiritual gift, you know why you can? Because God shared one with you. When you give someone the gospel, it's because God gave you the gospel. When you love somebody, it's because you were first loved by God. When you teach somebody something, it's also because you were already taught by God the same thing. So that's the way this whole thing works. You see it over and over and over again.

It's wonderful to think more of other people than it is of ourself. And it's not easy. You see, it's not easy.

We live in such a hierarchical society. We just believe there are people up here, then people here, then people here, then people here. The Word of God doesn't say that. In fact, the Word of God doesn't even say there's a whole lot of tears at all. The Word of God just says there's only two kinds of people in the whole world. There's saved people and lost people. That's it.

There aren't a lot of others. You see, it doesn't work that way. So we need to regard others as more important even than we are. Fourthly, Romans 16 and verse 3.

Now I want you to remember something. This is Scripture. It's just not like an add-on. It's not a P.S. This isn't a person. This is Scripture. This is just as much God's Word as the Ten Commandments are.

And it's interesting when you think about it from that point of view. Watch what happens. Verse 3. Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks but also to all the churches of the Gentiles. Also, greet the church that is in their house. Greet Epaphanus, he says, my beloved, who's the first convert to Christ in Asia.

Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. Greet, he said, Adronochus and Junius, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, he said, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ Jesus before me. Greet, he says, Ampelitis, he said, my beloved and the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stagius, my beloved, and greet Apollos, the approved of Christ. Greet those, he said, who are of the household of Aristopolis.

Greet Herodian, my kinsmen. Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. Greet, he says, Tryphaneia and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Perseus, the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord. And greet Rufus, a choice man of the Lord, and his mother and mine. And greet, he says, Asinocritus, he said, and Philege, and Hermes, and Peritropus, and Hermes, and the brethren with them. And greet Philogius, and Joia, and Nerus, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them. And greet one another with a holy kiss, all the churches of Christ greet you.

Did you notice any redundant word in there? Greet. Greet. Greet one another, that's why he said, greet one another with a holy kiss. Greeting one another. Wow.

Being, he said, in a sense, kind to one another. We're not exactly a greeting culture, are we? If you had to say a word that sort of typifies America now, it's rage. That's America. Hey, you don't have to be very old to realize when you were young you never heard of road rage. You never even heard of it. You hear it all the time now.

Hmm. We have road rage. We have airline passenger rage. That's always interesting on the news, a bunch of people laying on top of some guy trying to stop him on an airline because he's full of rage.

We have checkout line rage. People get really upset like that. I mean, it's amazing how angry we are. And maybe the worst, social media rage. That's kind of what social media is about, rage. I'm just so angry. I'm so mad.

Wow. Paul says twice to the Corinthians, you need to greet one another. And he uses the term holy kiss. You need to greet one another with a holy kiss. By the way, a lot of people have asked me this. What's a holy kiss?

Okay. Well, a holy kiss is a cultural kiss that you do it because of your love for the Lord. In other words, how did this culture often greet itself culturally with a kiss? That was the culture. He says, yeah, but for you as a child of God, you do a holy kiss.

Why? Because this is what God expects of you. He wants you to do this. Greet one another with a holy kiss. For instance, if you're in Europe, a lot of times when you greet people, they kiss each other.

On the cheeks, they kiss each other. That's just the way it works. You go to the Asia, and often when you greet someone, you bow. That's your greeting. In America, well, America has no standard thing. I used to think that a handshake was standard. Then I moved to New Orleans.

And there's a lot more kissing in New Orleans than there is in other places. But the point of it is simple. You need to greet people.

Why? It's good to be greeted. You see, it makes you feel good that you're greeted. Now, this is the one place where you do probably more greeting than you do any other place. And that's a little bit sad.

But there's a problem with it. You look forward to greeting people who are your friends. You see, you come to church, and you find your friends, and you're greeting them, and you're real friendly. But what if you're new to church? You see, and you say, well, they were real friendly to each other. You know, they didn't say a word of me.

Churches have tried to fix this. And I've been in churches where they'll say, okay, anybody here for the first time today? And then they have you, please stand. And then you stand up. And then they go, greet this person. And it's like, oh, my, hi, hi, I'm doing great.

It's wonderful. Good to see you here. And then next week, you're nothing. The next week, no one's greeting you. It's just like it's our duty to greet. Now we've got a new person standing up, and that's a person we'll greet. No, it means greet people, because it makes people feel really, really good about themselves. That's the way this works.

That's the way a greeting is. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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