Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): Today on Telling the Truth with Stuart and Joel Briscoe, Stuart Briscoe teaches about where you can find true stability, security, and well-being. Stuart has that message in just a moment, but first, joy is an integral part of the Christian faith, and we want to help you navigate the ups and downs of life with an attitude of joy by sending you Stuart and Joel Briscoe's five message series, Rediscovering Joy. It's our way to thank you for your gift to help more people experience life. Call us today and request your copy, 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388 or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org.

Now here's Stuart with his message, The Road to Joy.

Stuart Briscoe: It's a difference between happiness and joy. Now we need to go a step further on this. We can't just talk about joy. That's rather amorphous. Joy needs to be rooted in something. Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 10 says this. It's right at the end of the verse. The joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength. So it's not just joy, it is joy related to the Lord. So what it means is this, that instead of your life being governed by your happenings, to determine whether you're happy or unhappy, your life is now focused on the Lord and what he is doing.

Okay? If your happiness is dependent on your happenings, the more you focus on your happenings and try to organize your happenings, the more of a roller coaster you're going to have. If you have a different orientation entirely and your focus is on the Lord and what he is doing, then you're going to discover something that is not akin to happiness. It's called joy. So you may actually be able to say something as weird as this. Oh, what a terrible morning. Oh, what an awful day. I've got a nasty, low-down, sneaking suspicion. Nothing is going my way.

And I'm so joyful in the Lord because I know it's the day that he gave me. And I know who he is in it. And I have got an inkling as to what he is doing. See the difference? We talking joy here, sisters and brothers, not happiness. Now I want to look a little further into this cuz you take a text out of its context, you're left with a con. So let's read it in its context. Nehemiah chapter 8. When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, that that is referring to the fact that the Israelites are being kicked out of the promised land.

They have lived in exile for about 70 years. And now through a remarkable set of circumstances, a group of them have been allowed to return with explicit orders to rebuild the temple to the Lord. The reason for this was that they had been kicked out of the promised land by the Babylonians, but the Babylonians had been kicked out by the Medes and the Persians. And the Medes and the Persians had an entirely different foreign policy. Their foreign policy was not to dominate the places that they had overrun, but was to cooperate with them and get the people on their side.

So it was more of a meeting of minds than a butting of heads. The Babylonians, their foreign policy was a constant butting of heads. The Medes and Persians, it was more a meeting of minds. And so Cyrus, the head guy there, whom God had predicted would come to this position, had told them to go back and to rebuild the temple. Okay. When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, all the people assembled as one man in the square before the water gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand, presumably kids. He read it to loud I love this. It's such an encouragement to preachers who go on a bit. He read it allowed from when? Daybreak till noon. That's what you call a marathon preach. He read it allowed from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the water gate in the presence of the men, the women, and the others who could understand.

And all the people listened attentively to the book of the law. Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right hand stood a group of very nice men with unpronounceable names. Verse 5. Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them. And as he opened it, the people all stood up. Now notice something very important here. He hasn't started reading it yet. This is all preparatory. All the people could see him because he was standing above them. As he opened it, the people all stood up.

Ezra praised the Lord, the great God. And all the people lifted their hands and responded, Amen, Amen. Preparation to hearing the reading and the teaching of the word of God requires an attitude of focus on the Lord and adoration of him that leads to prayer that concludes with the people collectively saying, Amen, Amen. I agree. That's where we start. Then they bowed down and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. This is interesting. They've been standing, raising their hands, celebrating. And then they are bowing down with their faces to the ground over and over and over again in the Old Testament.

You'll find worship and bow down inextricably bound up in each other. Come, let us bow down and worship. Worship is not just adoration and celebration. Worship is also prostration. When it says with faces to the ground, it meant foreheads in the dust. They prostrated themselves. And so before they even start the reading and the preaching of God's word, guess what had happened? Their hearts were in tune. They want to hear from the Lord. Why? They want to hear from the Lord because they look at where they are. And it is a disaster on every hand.

The economy is shattered. One of their prophets puts it this way, very graphic. Some of you might relate to this. He said you earn money and you put it in bags with holes in. Guess what? Oh, here's here's my here's my day's wages. All right, here's a little bag. I keep it in. Put it in. Yes. Then now go home to my wife. Open the bag. Gone. Where'd he go? That's the picture of their economy. Their marriages were a disaster. People were getting into a fight with their spouses, divorcing them and shacking up with somebody else.

All over the place. Not only that, as far as their security was concerned, they had been there a hundred years and they still hadn't built walls. And they lived in the most volatile place on earth. Where's that? Well, have you been reading the news lately? The Middle East.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Stuart Briscoe on today's Telling the Truth. He's coming right back with more in just a moment. But before he jumps back in, are you living in the joy Jesus has chosen for you? For many, joy is something that's become lost or clouded by life circumstances. So many all over our world are way down by loneliness, grief, and worry. And people are longing to find the joy that Christ promises all who follow him. We want to help you live in complete joy by sending you Stuart and Joel's five message series, Rediscovering Joy. In it, Stuart and Joel examine the lives of several people throughout scripture and show you how to re-encounter the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ.

Rediscovering Joy is our way to thank you for your financial support of Telling the Truth today. So request your copy when you call and give, 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388 or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. For many, our smartphones have become our social connection. But we want to help you make a spiritual connection with the Telling the Truth mobile app. You can listen to daily programs, engage in Bible reading plans, journal, and share your thoughts and prayers on the community wall. Get the Telling the Truth app through your app store or log on to tellingthetruth.org/mobileapp. Now here's more from Stuart.

Stuart Briscoe: What had happened in the Middle East? Well, the Assyrians had risen to power. And they had created chaos, but the Babylonians had come along and clobbered the Assyrians. And they had created chaos and the Egyptians had got in the mix and they'd created chaos. But then the Medes and the Persians had come along and they'd handled the Egyptians and they'd handled the Babylonians. And they were doing okay. And now on the horizon looms Alexander the Great and the Greeks. And behind them waiting is turn is Mark Anthony and the Romans. This is the Middle East and stuck right in the middle of it is little Israel.

And stuck right in the middle of little Israel is Jerusalem. And stuck right in the middle of Jerusalem is the temple, the place where God is going to meet with his people. And it's absolutely defenseless after a hundred years. And they've got themselves totally wrapped up in building nice houses. But they haven't dealt with the spiritual issues and as far as spiritual issues were concerned, they were going through the motions, but they were empty motions. They would do all the prescribed sacrifices, but the prescribed sacrifices were that they should bring a yearling lamb, a lamb one year old, a male that they should have bred it specifically and checked it so that there was no flaw in it at all.

It was a perfect, costly sacrifice. So what they were doing, they were bringing mangy, blind, lame, old sheep that were pastured. And very piously they were offering it to the Lord. And the Lord said, I can't tolerate your worship. This was the mess they were in. For 13 years Ezra had been quietly teaching them. But it had taken 13 years for the message eventually to get through. Eventually they got the idea that they would don't have an economic problem here. We don't have a security problem here. We don't have a social problem here. We have an incredible spiritual problem here.

And if we've gotten in terrible in incredible spiritual problem here, we've got to be looking for some spiritual answers. And if we've got to look for some spiritual answers, we'd better look where we're going to find them in the book. Bring the book. And that's what the people did. And as Ezra continued reading, we're very intrigued to know what he was reading. And he was reading from the book of the law. He's reading from the book of the law. Now that can mean different things. Sometimes when we read of the law in the Old Testament, it's summarized in the Ten Commandments.

I used to think, oh, he's read he read the Ten Commandments. Now I thought, boy, that must have been boring reading the Ten Commandments from daybreak till noon. And I realized, no, no, that wasn't what he was doing. Actually what he was doing was reading from the book of the law, which can also mean the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. That's what he was reading. Can you believe it? All the men and all the women and the kids standing there listening. They've forgotten. They didn't know a lot of them.

And those who did know it forgotten. And now they say, bring the book. We got a spiritual problem that's here from the Lord. What was he reading? Well, what he was reading was the grand narrative of God. The grand narrative of God revealing himself, the grand narrative of God revealing himself in his dealings with his people. Get that? That's the key to understanding the Old Testament. It is the narrative of God revealing himself in his dealings with his people. That's what he he shows us what he's like. And where does it start? Well, it starts with creation.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. That's where he starts. If you're going to read the book of the law, that's where you start. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. All right. There's some people who believe that. There's some people who say, no, we were not intentionally created by an intelligent God for an intelligent purpose. We are simply the chance accident that comes about through the collision of molecules. There's nothing intentional about it. There's nothing intelligent about it. We just happened. All right. So you have your option here.

You either believe that you are an intelligent person created by an intelligent God intentionally. And that becomes your focus or you believe I'm just an accident suspended between accidents lurching from one set of circumstances to the other that I try to control and can't. So you take your pick. The people are listening. The kids are listening. Wow. Creation. And they read on. They discover about creation that what God actually did was create this wonderful universe and he declared everything very good. And he put at the pinnacle of his universe humanity. Humanity that had a unique affinity with God.

The Bible uses the term man was made or humanity was made in the image of God. And that was in order that they might relate to God uniquely. And they needed to relate to God uniquely because God was going to make them stewards and overseers of the whole of the created order. That 's why Christians of all people should be green. And they were not only to be stewards of the created order, but they were to discover its riches and unearth them and use them to the glory of God and the benefit of humanity. And you know what?

That was how it all started out and that was the way it was supposed to be. But then humanity did a stupid thing. Humanity decided it didn't want God to be God. They preferred to be God themselves. Does that sound familiar? And so they started to do it their way like Frank Sinatra. They could all sing, I did it my way. And the result is what we call the fall. And what you see all around and what you see in Israel as they've returned and have been back in the land a hundred years and they've got a disaster on every hand.

Wherever they look, you see the fall. And as you look around America today and as you look around Europe today and you look in the Middle East today, you'll see the fall wherever you look. You just got to make sure you understand what you're seeing. And so the grand narrative is all about creation and fall and then redemption. That's God not sitting with his arms akimbo in heaven saying, well, they asked for it. They've got it. It is God saying that's my world and I want it back. And he's intervening in the person of his relations with the people of Israel that will come to fruition in the sending of their Messiah Jesus.

And in him all the nations of the world will be blessed because it will all end up this redemptive process in a new heaven and a new earth characterized by righteousness, which means he'll put the whole rotten mess to rights ultimately, finally, irrevocably, and eternally. Glory. Creation, fall, redemption, glory. Stop looking at your circumstances. Stop trying to manipulate your happenings so you can be happy and get your eyes on who God is and what he is doing. And then learn to say this is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Cuz the big question that would come to their minds over and over again was who is this Lord? Who is this God? And that's the question Moses asked one day. Who what's your name, God? He said, I am that I am. He said, beg your pardon. I am that I am. Well, what what what what does that mean? We'll just cut it down a bit and say I am. That's my name. I am. Odd name. Incidentally, the it goes on to say, I will be known as the Lord your God. The word Lord is translation of Yahweh.

Yahweh is related to the verb to be. All right, this is not a grammar lesson, but just think for a minute. Can you see the connection between the verb to be and the statement I am? Of course you can.

Guest (Male): That's Stuart Briscoe with a message from the series Rediscovering Joy. He's coming right back to close out today's message. But before he does, when you support Telling the Truth, you make life change possible for people all over the world by encouraging and challenging listeners to study the word of God. In fact, Telling the Truth broadcasts reach men and women in every corner of the globe. And by giving today, you can help impact even more listeners with sound biblical teaching so they can experience life in Christ. When you do, we'll say thanks for your gift by sending you Stuart and Joel's five message series, Rediscovering Joy, which examines the lives of several people throughout scripture and shows you how to re-enter the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ.

So request your copy today when you call and give, 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388 or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now here's Stuart to finish up today's message, The Road to Joy.

Stuart Briscoe: How does God want to be known? He wants to be known as the Lord, the one who is, the one who is the I am. If I were to talk about a human being, we'd have to say I was, I am, I will be. If I talk about God, I just say I am. For he lives outside of time and space, he transcends circumstance and happenings. He overarches all things from eternity to eternity. The word is transcendent. And he is the one who before the creation of the world had everything in place of what he intended to do and bring about ultimate glory through the gift of his son.

And you focus on him, you say, oh, wow. There is a transcendent Lord. There is one who lives outside circumstance. And what he tells me to do is to focus on him, not on my happenings. In other words, the joy of the Lord is my strength means and joy who the Lord is and what he is doing. And you'll discover that to be a source of unspeakable strength. Actually the word is stronghold. In an utterly defenseless Jerusalem with a pitiful little wall around it that didn't stand a chance against the mighty forces that were always rolling over poor little Israel.

What they wanted was a stronghold, a place of stability, a place of security, a place of well-being in the midst of chaos. And Ezra says, I'll tell you where to find it. It's not in manipulating your happenings. It's in focusing on the great I am. And what he is doing and just enjoying him. Doesn't mean that your circumstances will suddenly be fixed. That's what we usually ask for. Oh, God, fix my circumstances. God says, no, but I will fix your attitude. And when God fixes your attitude, you trade in happiness for joy. And that's what we talk about when we open the book of the law.

Pray with me. Oh, Lord our God, the great I am, the one who transcends time and space and circumstance. We know how easy it is to become absorbed by our circumstances that we long to control by our happenings which we have an insatiable desire to manipulate. And it doesn't happen so often. And what a joy it is to know that you are in control, that we can know you through your written word which we study assiduously and through the living word, our Lord Jesus, whom we get to know through this book. Lord, lead us in the way of righteousness.

Give us a desire so that we're constantly saying, bring us the book and show us Jesus. And as we do, help us to enjoy what we're discovering. And they're in discover our stronghold in uncertain days. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Thanks, Stuart. Before we close today's broadcast, remember that when you call and give to help more people experience life, we'll send you Stuart and Joel's five message series, Rediscovering Joy as our thanks. So please request yours when you call 1-800-889-5388. 1-800-889-5388 or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Thanks for listening today. We hope you'll come back again for more encouraging biblical truth with the Briscoes. Experience life next time on Telling the Truth.