South Shore Pentecostal Church

Intro Music/Voiceover: Welcome to the Apostolic Truth Radio program with Pastor Craig Ouellette, a radio ministry of South Shore Pentecostal Church, located in Whitman, Massachusetts. At a time when many Christians do not know what to believe, South Shore Pentecostal is honored to bring you clear biblical teaching on which you can confidently build your faith. Thank you for joining us.

J. Craig Ouellette: We're going to look at the joy of salvation today. We're going to read through these scriptures. I realize there's a lot of them there, but I couldn't pare them down, and I felt like these are the ones that the Lord wants us to at least start out when we lay a foundation.

Isaiah chapter 12, verses 2 and 3 says, "Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He is also become my salvation. Therefore, with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation." Then jumping to the New Testament in Acts 13:50, and most of these scriptures, I think every one of these, we will touch them again as we go through what we're talking about here this morning. Amen.

In Acts 13:50 through 52, it says, "But the Jews stirred up devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of their feet against them and came to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost."

Romans 14:17, which is a scripture I know that we focused on a little bit last week too, but it's here again. It says, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." In the book of Galatians, just a little further, Galatians 5:22 talks about the fruit of the spirit. It says, "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law."

Finally, in 1 Thessalonians 1:6, he says, "And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Ghost." We're going to talk about the joy of salvation today. Amen. Let's pray again. Lord God, I pray, Lord, that I can say things the way that you want them said. I pray that hearts can hear, Lord God, that they'll be able to get beyond traditions, background, and fears to receive what you've got. Give them faith, give them courage, Lord. Give us all faith and courage to hear and understand what the spirit's saying, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

A benefit of salvation, as we read in Romans 14:17, is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Amen. So a part of being part of the kingdom is the joy of salvation. When you got born again, you got put into a kingdom with a king, and part of his environment or his kingdom has joy, peace, and righteousness in it. So if I'm in a kingdom, I've got a right to expect that I can have the joy of being in that kingdom.

Being saved places us in a kingdom which includes that righteousness, peace, and joy. Since being saved includes receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost, as we grow in our relationship with the Lord, joy should start to become a part of the believer. Do you believe that? I believe the Bible says that. Amen. Joy should start to grow in us. It's one thing to be in the kingdom where that's part of the elements or the rule or the atmosphere or the environment, but it's another thing to have that's in us.

God wants us to have joy too. God wants some joy in us. Amen. I understand that every day is not a nice day or a sunny day or a good day, but that should not be the rule. That should be the exception to the rule, and there should be some level of joy undergirding what's in our spirits. As we read in Galatians 5:22, joy is an aspect of the fruit of the spirit. "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance."

The proper atmosphere and conditions for the fruit of the spirit to grow is the presence of the Lord. If I've got the Holy Ghost, then I should have the spirit in me. I should have the seed of the fruit, and the fruit should start to grow. Amen. Salvation gives us access to God's presence. Salvation doesn't just mean now we come to church and we're all praising God because we're all in the same body in church. There should be some you've got access to the presence of God. If a person never feels God in their life once they've come to God, I'm going to question whether they really did come to God.

When you come to God, you get the Holy Ghost. When you get the Holy Ghost, you feel the presence of God at different times in your life. The Holy Ghost will speak to you when you pray. The Holy Ghost will speak to you when you seek him. The Holy Ghost will speak to you when you read the word of God. The Holy Ghost will speak to you throughout the day if you've got the Holy Ghost. If you're only stuck up here in the head and your will, you're missing what God has got for you. You need the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

That Holy Ghost in you will start to develop the fruit of the spirit. Again in Psalm 16:11, David said, "Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." In other words, when I really get into God's presence, I'm going to have some joy. That's right. That doesn't mean everything's the way I like it. It doesn't mean all my problems are gone, but I feel God. I feel the joy of salvation and I'm able to deal with my situation because I know that God is in control. Hallelujah.

In thy presence is fullness of joy. That's why we need the presence of God. Many people go through life having had one experience in a church, if they've had one. "Oh, I felt God touch me 20 years ago. It was amazing." That's not the will of God. God wants you to have a regular experience. Amen. God wants you to have a relationship. Amen. Just having a touch 20 years ago is like marrying somebody and you haven't seen them in 20 years. It doesn't work, does it? No.

That's not a relationship, and marriage is supposed to be an intimate relationship. Amen. So salvation gives us access to God's presence. Because we're redeemed, justified, sanctified, adopted, we have the spirit of adoption. What that means is I feel something in me that lets me know I belong to God. I feel a closeness to God. I feel something in me that lets me know I belong to God. I feel something in me says I want to be part of God's family. If I'm adopted and I accept the adoption, I don't want to be in somebody else's family. I want to be in that family. Amen. Hallelujah.

In Romans 8:15 it says, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father." When you get the Holy Ghost, you feel God as your father. You feel God moving in you. You feel that God wants to do something for you. Amen. You feel different about life and God. God is now real. God's not a figment. You don't need somebody to tell you God's real. You've experienced him for yourself. Amen. You don't need to know if the Bible's real. You've experienced God and things come into your spirit. Hallelujah.

Amen. You've got the spirit of adoption. Because you've got the spirit of adoption, you know he's your father. You're not afraid to go to your father because you know your father loves you. You might had an abusive father, but God is not an abuser. Amen. God is a lover. Hallelujah. God will lift you up. Hallelujah. He's got your best interests at heart. God wants to set the captive free. He wants you to have an abundance of goodness. He wants you to have joy unspeakable. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Again in Hebrews 4:16, it says we have the privilege of being able to enter into God's presence. It says this: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need." In other words, when I can't do it, God can. When I don't know, God does know. When I don't have, God's got. Hallelujah. When I'm locked up, God's got the key. When I don't know what I'm going to do, God has got the map and the path. Amen. When I've failed, there's still blood at the throne. There's mercy there.

I can come to God and say, "Lord, I need some help. God, I need to be set free. God, I need you to lift me up. You're still my father. I'm coming to you because I've got a need." Hallelujah. Lift me, save me, heal me, energize me, raise me up. Give me that resurrection power. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

When you're saved, you got privilege to come to God. Amen. You don't need a priest to stand in between you. He is the priest. Amen. He is the high priest. Hallelujah. That doesn't mean you don't need a church and guidance and a pastor. We're not saying that. But when you need something from God, God expects you to come to him. He's your father. I'm not your father. He's your father. Hallelujah. Amen. He's the head. Amen. He's your head, your father. He's your life. Go to God. Believe in God. Believe he's able to deliver you. Believe he's able to give you what you need.

Joy is an essential element in successful Christian living. In Nehemiah 8:10, the last part of the verse says, "For the joy of the Lord is your strength." Got no joy, got no strength. You got to get into the presence. In his presence is fullness of joy. When I get into his presence, I get joy. Amen. If I don't have joy and I don't have strength, the problem is I don't need more word or more song or more people. I need God. I need the presence of God.

I need to apply God. Now, I might use the word to apply God. I need the word to know how to come to God. Amen. But when I reach that point, I need God in my life. The presence of God. That's why people ought to come to church is because we've got a common presence, a common God, and together we're seeking the presence of God as a body. If you just come because it's obligated, you're not going to get a lot from God. If you just come because that's the way you're raised, you're probably not going to get too much from God. But if you come because you're seeking, God's going to meet you. God's going to be there to give you what you need. Hallelujah.

We're to be witnesses. It's awful hard to sincerely witness if you got no joy. You might say all the right words, but the people you're witnessing to are going to say, "If that's the way they are, I'm not sure I want that." Right? If they look at your life and you're never joyful, you're never happy, and everything's wrong, that is not how your life should be. If you get up and someone can't say hi to you till you've had a pot of coffee, you need to pray through. Amen. Hallelujah.

I need God's joy. The joy is going to motivate me to witness. I want to tell somebody else so they can have the joy. I want them to be saved. I want them to escape hell, but the motivating thing is I want you to have what I've got. I want you to have that joy. I want you to know that God's real. I want you to know that God loves you. Amen. When you start to witness about God, that joy is going to motivate. That joy will give you strength when people reject what you give.

Even when you give the truth and you give it with a sincere heart, the right way, you're going to meet people that don't accept it and will come down on it. But joy will take you through. Hallelujah. Joy will give you strength. Amen. Joy will say, "Okay, I want them to know. I'll pray for them, but there's somebody else that's looking. There's somebody else that needs a witness. There's somebody else that needs to hear that God is real. There's somebody else in a place of darkness that is looking for light of hope."

When David sinned, he prayed, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation." It's taken from Psalm 51, verses 12 and 13. If you look at the headings and you study that out, you find out that Psalm 51 is David's prayer of repentance for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and for murdering her husband. God forgives him. David says, "Restore unto me a clean heart." Then he says, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Then, then, then shall sinners be converted unto thee."

He says, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy way, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." So I've got to get right with God. If I get right with God, then there's a joy of salvation. That joy is going to cause me to witness for God. It's that word spoken that sets people free. People are bound where they're at because they don't know the truth. But the truth makes you free. People worship God in ignorance because they don't know the truth of who God is.

They go to church and go through all kinds of manners and rituals and wear themselves out and not feeling God. But if I get right with God, there's a joy of salvation. Amen. I can't be the witness God wants me to be till I get that joy working in me. Amen. We're talking about the joy of salvation. Now, the devil's going to try to rob you of your joy. Oh, I guarantee you, you get that joy of God, and he's just waiting for an opportunity to try to pop your balloon or blow you over. He's waiting to do that. That's his job.

Don't be surprised. That's what the devil does. Amen. When evil men do evil things, are you surprised? They're evil. When good people do good things, are you surprised? They're good. So when the devil does things like that, we shouldn't be surprised because that's his nature. He's a murderer and a liar. So he's going to try to rob you of your joy. Amen. Why? Because the joy of the Lord gives you strength to pray. It gives you strength to worship. It gives you strength to read the word of God. It gives you strength to be a witness.

Hallelujah. You can wake up and wonder where God's gone even when you were in the presence of God the night before. You could have been in a service so good the pews were knocked out of the building, but you wake up the next morning and you wonder where God is gone. Amen. But if you'll get into the presence of God, the joy of the Lord will start to lift you up. You'll find some strength to pray. You'll find some strength to worship God. You'll find some strength to read the Bible. You'll find some strength to witness to somebody. Amen. To witness to them about God.

You're going to find out I've got to tell somebody. I'm not satisfied keeping this inside. Amen. Somebody else needs to know what I've received and what I've found. Amen. They need to know this joy is real. They need to know this God is a living God. They need to know this God can deliver and heal them. They need to know this God is worth living for. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

When you're saved, you got the privilege to come to God. Amen. You don't need a priest to stand in between you. He is the priest. Amen. He is the high priest. Hallelujah. That doesn't mean you don't need a church and guidance and a pastor. We're not saying that. But when you need something from God, God expects you to come to him. He's your father. I'm not your father. He's your father. Hallelujah. Amen. He's the head. Amen. He's your head, your father. He's your life. Go to God. Believe in God. Believe he's able to deliver you. Believe he's able to give you what you need.

The devil, he'll try to rob you by getting you focused on the wrong thing. A lot of it has to do with perspective and focus. You can think it's falling apart when God's about ready to put it back together. Yeah, you can think it's all gone because it's all smashed, but God knew the right puzzle picture, we didn't. We were trying to put it together and it wasn't working. God says, "I got to smash it, not because I don't love you, but I got a better picture." I got a better picture. Hallelujah. I got a better picture for you.

Amen. You've been trying to put it together. That looked good, that made sense, but I got a better picture for you. Hallelujah. Let me give you the picture. Sometimes God smashes it all apart and we think there's no hope to it when really God says, "No, you've got some things in the right place, but you've got to let me put them in place at the right time." Amen. Hallelujah. So he gets us to focus on the wrong thing. He robs us of our joy. He gets us to focus on our faults and our weaknesses. He'll say to you, "Amen, you're all full of the Holy Ghost," and he'll say to you, "You're not going to make it." Then he'll bring up some failure you had in the past or some weakness you had.

Amen. But what you need to know is I'm not the old man I was. I'm a new creature in Christ. Amen. The old man is dead. I'm a new creature. God's got a new plan for me. I'm not going by that map. I got a new map. I'm not going by that road. I got a new road. I'm not going by that story. I got a new story. I got the author and finisher of my faith. Hallelujah. Glory. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Glory. Hallelujah.

He'll say you can't handle it, but I can with God. Amen. And I can make it with God. Or he'll say God doesn't love you. He'll take your personal value. "You're not worthy." Well, that's easy to solve. None of us are worthy. We didn't get saved because we're worthy. We got saved because we believed God and accepted what he had for us. We said, "God, I'm not worthy, but I need what you got." Hallelujah. It's easy. We're not worthy. You can beat that one off real easy. I know I'm not worthy. I'm not trusting in myself. I'm trusting in him.

Amen. He's the one that's brought me this far. He's the one that pulled me out of the mess that I was in. He's the one that put my feet on solid ground. I was sinking, but he picked me up out of the mire. Hallelujah. I didn't get here by me. I got here by him. Amen. Oh, give him praise. Come on. He's able. He's able and he's willing. Hallelujah. Amen. We're not worthy, but he'll make us worthy to come into his presence by his blood and by his holiness. If I'll repent and humble myself under the hand of God, God will impute his righteousness unto me and to you. Amen. And I can come into his presence without fear.

The devil will try to rob your joy by getting you to focus on your failures. You've sinned. You failed. God won't hear you. But David sinned and he confessed his sin and the Lord restored him. It says in 1 John 1:9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us. He's writing to people that are already saved. "If we sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us. He's faithful and just to forgive us."

Peter started to sink. Again, it's what your focus is on. Your focus, what you're looking at. See the devil, when you're looking at God, joy's going to be there. When you're looking at God, hope's going to be there. When you're looking at the Lord and you feel his presence, love's going to be there. Amen. You're going to have what you need in his presence. But if the devil can get me to quit looking at God and look at earth and my problems and my limitations and my failures and my natural character without him, I'll start to sink. I will sink in the mire.

Peter got out of the boat. He had a word. "Come." "Lord, if it's you, let me come to you." Matthew says he got out of the boat and walked on the water. I don't know if he got one step, 10, 15, or what, but he walked on the water. That means he at least had one step without holding on to the boat. At least one, and I think he probably had more than one. Hallelujah. But when he saw the wind, when his focus shifted, he started to sink.

That's how the devil does us. You got joy. "Oh, here's a problem." "Oh, you got this problem." "Oh, you don't have this and this." He's able. He's able to take care of it. He's able to give you what you need, what I need. So he'll try to rob you by getting your perspective, your focus on the wrong thing. Again, having the proper perspective, life is going to have problems. Jesus said that. Yes. "In this world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world." You're going to have problems.

All right. There's going to be problems. However, if I'm living for God, I got a problem limiter. Hallelujah, Jesus. I got a God that's saying, "No, you can't put that problem on them because they're not ready for that." Or, "I'm just going to bless them. You can't do that." You got a God that's got everything in control. The devil might come to try to rob you, but God's not going to let him rob you if you're doing the right thing for him. You're living for God. There's going to be some times the Bible says there's night seasons. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says God is faithful, who will not suffer or allow you to be tempted above that which you are able.

But will with the temptation make a way of escape that ye may be able to bear it. God's faithful. If I'm following him, he's watching. We sang it. "The Lord is my shepherd." If I'm following him, I got a good shepherd. He's not letting a bear or lion or wolf come on me. I got a good shepherd. My problems come when I don't follow the shepherd. When I start to follow what I want, like a sheep. "Oh, looks greener over there." Got my focus on what I want. Now I get into trouble because I'm not going where the shepherd all of a sudden I look and the flock is gone.

But if I follow the shepherd, I might walk through the valley of shadow of death, but I'll fear no evil because thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. He's got a table prepared on the other end of the valley where my cup's going to run over. Hallelujah. Let's give him a little praise here just for a moment. Lord God, Jesus, help us here today. We thank you, Lord. We worship you, Lord God. Lord, you are the Lord. Lord, you know our needs. You see every heart here. Help us here today to hear, to receive, Lord God. Hallelujah.

Now sometimes we have problems because the Lord's correcting us. Not because he doesn't care, but because he sees we're on the wrong track and he wants to get us back on the right track. So sometimes some things that happen, we start blaming the devil, but we should blame ourselves because we made the choice to go where we wanted to go. Then we're crying to God and we're wondering where God is. But God doesn't say, "If you believe in me and do whatever you want, it's okay." He says, "If you follow me, if you let me be your shepherd, you let the word of God be your guide."

You get into the place that God has got for you. You're doing what God wants. The Bible says no weapon formed shall prosper. Amen. Oh, there's going to be weapons. The devil will raise them up. They'll look scary, but no weapon formed is going to prosper. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. It might even nick you, but it's not going to defeat you because no weapon formed shall prosper. Hallelujah. But that's when I'm doing the will of God.

So he'll chasten us. The Lord will allow problems to grow and mature us, again like sheep. "Though I walk through the valley of shadow death, I'll fear no evil, thy rod and thy staff." There are places where sheep don't want to walk because it's scary. Amen. But if I'm going to be the Lord's, I've got to follow the shepherd even if I don't want to go through that valley. So many times we reach a point in God where we quit growing because we will not go through the valley that God has ordained for us to go through.

Sometimes we want to bring all our other friends with us, but God's saying, "No, this is one where you got to go. You've got to go. You've got to trust me on this one." You must go there. Me and you through this valley. God's trying to grow us. If I never go through the valley of the shadow of death, I don't know if God really will protect me. I don't know how God is going to help me. When I'm saying shadow death, I'm not talking necessarily physical death by itself, but I'm talking about places where we've got to go through as Christians to live for God.

Roads we must go down, not because we're choosing them or feel competent or comfortable, but because God has ordained that. When I go through that, how do you think Paul gets to the point where he says, "I'm persuaded that he's able to keep what's committed"? The only reason he can say that is he's gone through so many things that God's delivered him out. He says there can't be anything that God can't take care of. But he had to go through those things to reach the point where he could say, "I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I've committed unto him against that day." Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

James says, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations," and that really means trials, not temptations. Amen. Because it's going to build us up. Hallelujah. It's not that I'm enjoying the situation, but I'm looking beyond the situation knowing that God has got something better for me. He's training me, teaching me. He's building you, growing you so that you can get to the point where he's purposed for you.

We've covered this, and we read these scriptures, but we're going to do them again. It is possible to have trials and still have joy. These scriptures are on the screen. Acts 13:50 through 52 says, "But the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable woman and the chief men of the city and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, expelled them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of their feet against them and came to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost."

They've just been rejected. They've just been sent away. They've been beat, but they haven't lost their joy. With Thessalonica, amen, he says when he's writing to them, "You became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost." In other words, while they were becoming Christians, they were being persecuted right then. But they weren't thinking, "Oh, man, if this is what this is about, I don't want to be in this." They got the joy of the Holy Ghost. That means they've been in the presence of God. Amen.

That means they're at the point where they're saying, "They might not like it. This is hard. I don't want this persecution, but the presence of God that I'm feeling is important enough to me that I'm going to hold on. I'm going to go through. Amen. I want that because I got the joy of God. I'm not going back where there's no joy. I'm not going back where there's fake pumped-up joy. I'm not going back where there's a former joy. I got joy." It's possible to have joy in tribulation. Amen.

The Bible tells us we're going to have night seasons. It doesn't say night time, it says night seasons. What's different? A season can be more than a day. For us in New England, seasons are generally three months give or take. You can have a season. A night season. That means there's times when living for God it's going to be dark. It doesn't look like the way you'd like it to look. You're going to wonder where God is at. You'll start to backtrack in your mind. "Did I miss God here, there? Is there something that's not there?"

Sometimes the night seasons don't come because you're out of the will of God. They come because God is trying to develop you. They come because God is trying to grow you. So there's a night season. Everything looks dark. Everything looks out of whack. And it seems like the sun's not coming up. You ever had a long night like that? I'm sure many of us have. You cannot wait for that first tweet of the bird, till that sun creeps over that morning light. Oh, I've been there, and I'm sure some of you have been there.

That's a night season. It has nothing to do with the physical rising and setting of the sun. It has to do with a spiritual situation that we're in. But the Bible says that we might have weeping for a night, but joy comes in the morning. In other words, if I can just get through the night season, I'm going to be where God wants me to be. Amen. When the sun comes up, it'll come up because the Lord shows up in my circumstance. Hallelujah.

There's going to be night seasons. Amen. The Lord wants us to have joy because on the night of the last supper, Jesus spoke these words in John 15:11. He said, "These things have I spoken to you that my joy," Jesus's joy, "might remain in you, that your joy might be full." How much joy did Jesus have? The Bible says he endured the cross for the joy set before him. Guess what? That means if I got his joy, I could endure a cross if I had to.

How did Jesus do it? Again, we talked about perspective. Look over in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2 there. It says, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your mind." He looked beyond his circumstance. He did not focus on his pain, his rejection, or his death. He focused on the resurrection. He focused on what his resurrection was going to bring, and that gave him enough joy to get through the circumstance.

That's how you deal with situations living for God. You got to focus on what God has said. We read Isaiah chapter 12, verse 2 and 3, and it told us that there's a well. It says, "With joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation." When I trust the Lord and I let God direct my steps and direct my life, the Lord becomes my strength. He becomes my song. He becomes my salvation. Now I can go to the well and draw water out of the well of salvation.

A lot of times we can compare salvation to water, the joy of salvation. Water, you got to drink it, right? One drink's not enough. One drink a day is not enough, is it? No. If I'm going to live, I got to drink again. If I'm going to live spiritually, I've got to drink from the well of salvation again. I've got to go to that well. I've got to go there and I've got to put in the effort to draw the water out of the well.

A lot of times people don't receive things when they come to church because they're expecting the preacher to give them something. They're expecting the song service to give them something. If they don't do it, then the people leave with nothing. But those that come hungry, we can all be playing in a different key and a different rhythm and not even know what song we're doing, and you can get the Holy Ghost if you're seeking God. You can get the joy and the peace that passes understanding because you're seeking what God has got for you.

If you come expecting now we're here to try to create an atmosphere, but it's ultimately God that does it. It's God that does it. It's God that gives revelation. It's God that raises up. It's God that saves. You've got to be hungry enough to reach. Again, sometimes we come to church and we're not hungry because we've filled ourselves up with spiritual junk food from the world. You're not hungry enough to reach. There's a good meal, but you won't get out of your pew for it. You won't raise a hand unless someone else does. You say, "I got enough. That's too scary." But when you're hungry, when you want something from God, God is going to meet you. Hallelujah.

In the last year or so, there's been some people here that received the Holy Ghost and when they got it, you ask them, "Well, I've been fasting." They were reaching. Amen. They were reaching. They weren't fasting because the church said to do it. They had read that. They were reaching for what God has, and God met them. Just as you got to refresh yourself with water often and again and time and again, you've got to do that, you've got to go to the well of salvation. To get water out of the well, I got to go to the well, right?

It's not good enough if I know where the well is. I own the well. I know where the bucket is. I'm near the well. That's not good enough. I still got to go to the well, put the bucket in, and do what I need to do to get the water out of the well. Amen. Well, that's what happens when you come to church. Amen. You're near the well. You know where the well is. But you got to be willing to put the bucket into the water and wheel it up. Hallelujah. Some wells are deeper than others, so you might have to wrap that bucket a lot longer to get it up there, but those that are thirsty are going to keep pumping till they get something out of the well. Hallelujah. You got to go to the well. Amen. The well of salvation.

Amen. Going to that well involves praying, reading your Bible, coming to church and worshipping. Amen. Worship at home, pray at home. Amen. Going to that well. You don't just wait till you get here on Sunday or Wednesday. Sometimes the well goes dry because it's not deep enough. There was water yesterday, but there's nothing there. Oh, it's a drought around me. I got to dig deeper. I got to dig the well deeper. Amen. Still got to put the bucket down, but I got to dig deeper. Amen.

Sometimes the well's blocked up by things that are thrown in the well. In Bible times, a lot of times they had to guard the well because the enemy would throw rocks in the well. Jacob had to deal with that with the Philistines. They came and filled up all the wells that Abraham had made or Isaac had made. They had to do that. He kept trying to dig a well and they kept fighting for the wells, and finally he got a well that was his own that he didn't have to fight for. Amen. That's what you got to do with God. You got to dig that well. You got to go for that well. You got to dig out sometimes you got to dig out the stuff that the enemy's throwing in. He throws the junk of your life into the well of salvation. I got to pull it out and say it does not belong there. God doesn't accept that junk anymore.

That's my well. God gave me that well. I'm going to drink water out of the well of salvation. Amen. I'm going to quench my spiritual thirst. I'm going to have what I need from God. Amen. I'm taking the junk out. I'm digging it again. I'm going to be refreshed in a dry place. We're talking about the joy of salvation. Do you know where the well is today? Let's stand. Do you know where the well is? We already said the well is in the presence, right? In thy presence is fullness of joy. Joy of salvation. Thy right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The secret of maintaining the joy of the Lord is getting into the presence of the Lord. Sometimes you need to pray through. You might not understand that phrase. People that have been Pentecostal churches for a while understand that. Pray through means they kept praying and worshipping till they got what they needed from God. You don't hear it very much anymore, but that's the way it used to be. People would say, "I prayed through." Songs about it, "I prayed through." Amen. They decided, "I'm going to keep praying till God gives me an answer." Not my predetermined answer, but the answer that God has got for me.

I'm going to keep praying till I get what God has got. If you're thirsty today for God, you need to come to the well and you need to start praying through till God gives you what you need. When you leave today, you may have exactly the same circumstances when you came in, but the joy of the Lord will lift you above the circumstance. Now, you don't know, God is able to fix things even this morning, so it is possible that you came in with a situation that God is fixing even now. Amen. Yes, thank you, God.

When you leave, you'll find out later today that's not there anymore. This altar is open here this morning. Is there somebody that wants a drink from the well? If you want something from God, amen, even coming to the altar is not saying that you don't have God, it's just saying, "I want a drink." That's all. Amen. Amen. "I want a drink." You start to worship God. You start to seek God. You start to pray to the Lord and God is going to meet you. Lord, I give it to you. I give my problems to you. Lord, I give my failures to you. Hallelujah.

Lord, I need a drink from the well. Hallelujah. Lord, I need a fresh touch today. Hallelujah. Come on, don't be afraid to cry out. Come on, God hears the cry of the hungry. Hallelujah. God, a drink from the well. Let it be living water that overflows. Let it overflow in her family. Let it overflow in her friends. Let it overflow wherever she goes. Let that living water, that joy of salvation work in a mighty way. Let it go back to her family. Hallelujah. Let it wash away all the things of the enemy in the name of Jesus, by the blood of the Lamb.

Tina Ouellette: Thank you for joining us today as we have studied the word on Apostolic Truth Radio. My name is Tina Ouellette, wife of Pastor Craig Ouellette of South Shore Pentecostal Church, located at 58 West Street in Whitman, Massachusetts. If you love praise and worship, you will love services at South Shore Pentecostal Church and we invite you to come and worship with us. Sunday school for all ages begins at 10:00 AM and our Sunday evening service begins at 6:00 PM. Adult Bible study and children's church is held on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. You can learn more about our church on our website at southshorepentecostal.org or you may call us at 781-447-1668. If you have been blessed by this radio ministry, you can help support Apostolic Truth Radio via online giving through Venmo at SSPCWhitman. Write us today and request a free copy of today's message and join us for another broadcast of Apostolic Truth.