Text: Is. 35:10, 61:7
INTRODUCTION
This week my
thoughts turned away from miserable Cain to joy, especially that joy is
eternal, as our texts show us. I decided to take a look at joy: its meaning, origin,
and scope, and it’s been a rewarding study. Many times the things that we take
for granted will bring great rewards if we pause long enough to notice them.
Someone said, “Men go abroad to wonder at
the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of
the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the
stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.” Didn’t David say in
Ps. 139:14, “I will praise thee; for I
am fearfully and wonderfully made:”?
In
this spirit, I’d like to take a longer look at joy itself, with the goals of (1)
understanding it better, on the doctrinal side; and (2) on the practical side, appreciating
it more, and grasping more firmly where it should be centered. This first
lesson will primarily deal with defining and understanding joy better, while
the next lesson (or two) will deal with where our joys, as members of the body
of Christ, should be centered,.
MEANING: DEFINITION
Firstly, what is
joy? Tough question, isn’t it? It’s something we know exists, and we know that
we’ve experienced, but what exactly is it? C.S. Lewis said that his life before
his conversion was essentially a quest for joy; he felt the longing for
something more than what he could see, and when he finally came to know true
joy, what a pleasant surprise it was. The autobiography of his early life is,
appropriately, entitled, Surprised by Joy.
I’d like to show you three scriptures
which I think unite to give us a good definition of joy. Let’s begin in the
curious book of Ecclesiastes, 2:1, “I
said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy
pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.” Notice carefully, “enjoy
pleasure.” So there’s a connection between joy and pleasure. We also see this in Ps. 16:11, “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy
presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for
evermore.” See it again: joy…pleasures. One more from the general epistles,
Heb. 11:25. Of Moses it says, “Choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for a season;”
So based on these “two or three witnesses” from
scripture, I see joy as pleasure.
What you enjoy or rejoice in is what brings you pleasure. Listen to the first
question and answer from the Westminster
Shorter Catechism, a doctrinal primer of Reformed churches:
Question 1: What is the chief end of man?
Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him
forever.
This Q&A, to me, magnifies joy even
more. The context here is the chief, or most important, purpose of man. Joy is
bound up with that. Wow! This chief end is twofold: (1) for man to glorify God; that is where everything
should tend and where everything will end: the glory and magnification of
Almighty God; if what you’re doing isn’t for that ultimate end, it’s not worth
doing; (2) for man to enjoy God; for
God not only to be our authority or who we answer to, but someone we truly have
pleasure in, more than anything else.
In Ps. 43:4, David said, “Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto
God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.”
See the joy that goes with the glory? If the answer stopped at “glorify God,”
it wouldn’t be complete, and you know that by looking at the universe. God
didn’t make myriads of heartless, emotionless creatures to puff him up,
respectfully. He designed us so that our joy or pleasure in him would bring him
the most glory. John Piper puts it this way in his book Desiring God, “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied
with him.” It magnifies his importance when we rejoice in him and put him
before everything else in our affections. So, in light of man’s chief end, joy
is something we should definitely seek to understand better and ensure that
it’s centered where it should be, my primary goals for this short series.
ORIGIN: AN ATTRIBUTE OF GOD
Ps.
104:31 says, “The glory of the LORD
shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.”
All
three members of the Godhead are seen rejoicing or producing joy at some point:
(1) Father (Ps. 104:31, e.g.);
(2) Son (Luke 10:21; even as “a man or sorrows” he did,
occasionally, rejoice); and
(3) Spirit (Rom. 14:17; 1 Thes. 1:6)
And
in the spirit of the catechism, in support of scripture, the Godhead is also to be rejoiced in by creation:
( (1)
Father (Rom.
5:11); “in God (i.e. the Father) through
our Lord Jesus Christ”
(2)
Son (Phil. 3:3)
( (3)
Spirit (gratitude
for his ministry and presence)
Joy
is an attribute of God, so it’s eternal. It always has been. In the beginning,
there was joy, true. Job 38:6-7 says that the angels rejoiced when God created
the original earth. But long before even the angels were created, there was joy
in the heart of God. And isn’t it awesome that that spiritual joy, from God and
in God, now lives inside of you? What an unspeakable gift! We were made for joy, since our God is a God of
joy. He takes pleasure in what he does (Ps. 104:31), and he made his creatures
to take pleasure in him, forever. Let’s now take a look at the general scope of
joy among God’s creatures. This will also include a brief description of false
joy for completeness.
SCOPE: GOD’S CREATURES (for ever)
God
rejoiced when he made angels, men, and creation. He also made all of his
creatures to rejoice: from highest to
lowest order, for ever. There will be joy for ever in the creature as well as
the Creator, as our text shows, and other verses. Paul said simply, but
profoundly, to the body of Christ: “Rejoice
evermore” (1 Thes. 5:16), and we read in Rev. 21:4, that “there shall be no
more…sorrow.” Well, the opposite of sorrow is joy, according to Jesus (John
16:22), so in absence of sorrow, all must be joy, hallelujah!
·
Angels
Beginning with the highest
order of beings, we see that they were made to rejoice. I’ve already mentioned
their presence and joy at the original creation, but their joy isn’t limited to
that. In Luke 15:7 we read of “joy in heaven” over a sinner’s repentance, but
v. 10 makes it clear that the angels are among those rejoicing. So they rejoice
not only in creation, but also redemption. Richard Baxter, the Puritan writer,
wrote a massive volume on Christian practice entitled, A Christian Directory, and one chapter dealt with angels’ relation
to men. I had never thought about this, but he took passages like this as proof
of angels’ love for us. They’re not emotionless toward lower orders of beings.
If God loves us, why wouldn’t they? If they didn’t love us, why would they care
one way or another about our well being? So they’re not robots any more than we are. They have a mind,
will, and emotions like their Creator and the order just “a litter lower” (Ps.
8:5) than them, men. One final thing that they rejoice in: God’s judgments.
It’s great to rejoice in creation and redemption, but not complete. Holy joy
includes pleasure, albeit a negative sort of pleasure, in God’s severity as
well as his goodness (Rom. 11:22). God tells
the inhabitants of heaven to rejoice over Babylon’s fall in Rev. 18:20, and
they do it themselves in 19:1-4. It’s not that we have pleasure in the pain
resulting from the judgment, but we do have pleasure in God’s holiness being
upheld by it. That’s how John Piper explains perhaps the most terrible verse in
scripture, Deut. 28:63, “And it shall
come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to
multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring
you to nought;” etc. God tells us in Ezek. 33:11 that “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked
turn from his way and live…” So it’s not the negative outcome for those
judged that God takes pleasure in, but rather that the outcome upholds his holiness
and glory, his highest priority.
·
Men
Moving on now to those whom
David said in Ps. 8:5 were “a little
lower than the angels,” i.e., men, we see that they were made to rejoice
also. Neh. 8:10, “…the joy of the LORD
is your strength”; 1 Thes. 5:16, “Rejoice
evermore” are aimed at men, so men are made to rejoice, and that eternally,
as 1 Thes. 5:16 and our texts show. Hearkening back to the Shorter Catechism, God made each part of
the human family for his glory:
o Israel: Is. 43:5-7
o Nations: Rev. 21:23-26
o Body of Christ: Eph. 3:20-21
He also made all men for his pleasure
(Rev. 4:11), and he wants us to glorify him and take pleasure in him, just as
we read in the Shorter Catechism. Men
also share in the joys of creation (i.e. afterward), redemption (Luke 15:32),
and even judgment (Rev. 18:20). I don’t see any joy at the white throne
judgment in Dan. 7 or Rev. 20, but in light of Rev. 18:20 and 19:1-4, it might
be there.
False joy
Men and fallen angelic
beings are capable of a false, evil joy, which is not eternal, but temporary.
In Job 20:4-5, Zophar the Naamathite asks us, “Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon the
earth,/That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite
but for a moment?” So since Adam’s creation, the observable, consistent
outcome for evil joy was its brevity. Case in point: the cross. The only joy at
the cross was false, evil joy. The devil, his kingdom, and his human allies
likely rejoiced over that, but only for 72 hours. Once Christ arose, the
applecart was upset, the miracle had to be explained away, and the Satanic
kingdom suddenly realized that it had mortally wounded itself by killing
Christ. Satan’s joy was thwarted and so is any other false joy that men or
devils may hold, after a time.
· Animal world
You’ve heard it called the
animal “kingdom.” Who’s the king? Simba? The lion may be “strongest among beasts” (Prov. 30:30), but God is the high king of the animals. All of them answer, and have
answered, to him since they were created. There’s sense that they can rejoice,
e.g. the horse in his own strength (Job 39:21), but I think that they also
rejoice in their Creator, as well as obey him. He rendered them mute at the fall, as indicated by a talking
serpent (Gen. 3:1-2)—note that the serpent didn’t reply to God once judged.
However, I believe that their voices may be restored when the Lord returns, and
at that time they’ll praise the Lord intelligibly. The four cherubim
representing them in heaven are referred to as “beasts,” and these beasts speak
and join in universal worship of God described in Rev. 4-5. Some verses that
might support this idea: Ps. 96:12a, 148:7-14, 150:6; all, I would argue,
having prophetic, millennial applications.
· Plant and inanimate worlds
Lastly, and as the preceding
passages have already hinted at, God calls everything else he has made to
rejoice in him, not only vice versa. Look again at Ps. 96:11-13, 98:7-9, 148:3-9,
and Is. 55:12. Sure sounds like a call to active praise, doesn’t it? It doesn’t
say, in context, for us to praise him for these things; cf. Ps. 103:1-19 (men),
20-21 (angels), 22 (everything else). I don’t know exactly how this will be done, but felt I’d be
remiss if I didn’t mention the beings lower than angels and men praising and
rejoicing in God in some manner, which is simply an awesome thought. Even
though everything in the universe is not God, as pantheists believe, everything
that God made in the universe will, with the exception of the damned, rejoice
in him in its own way.
Praise
God for the gift of joy! Next time we’ll look at where our joys, as members of
the body of Christ, should be centered, and bring God the most glory thereby.
THE GIFT OF JOY (Part II)
(Phil. 3:1-3, 1 Thes. 1:6)
Moving
on to the practical application of what the Bible tells us about joy: Where
should our joys, as members of the body of Christ, be centered? As men, we’re
one of the groups that God has blessed with the gift of joy, but what, more
specifically, are we to rejoice in? I’m going to being with the obvious things,
which are also the most fundamental, using
the texts I just read, then develop the list further from there, though not
exhaustively. My intention is to present some things that you may not have
thought about, using a variety of passages from Paul’s epistles.
1. God himself
God is the source of
our joy, according to our texts and others (Rom. 14:17, 15:13; Gal. 5:22). So
it’s our native air, if you will (2 Cor. 6:10). But God is not only the source
of our joy, but the most fundamental object
of our joy. The other joys I’m going to talk about all spring from this one.
It’s natural for us to rejoice in the Lord, since the Holy Spirit produces it
in us, but it’s still a choice. That’s why Paul exhorts believers to rejoice;
we must yield to that joy and so make God the object of it.
That said, what does it mean to rejoice in
the Lord? I think that the easiest way to explain it is to look at a few verses
from Psalms (119:68; 107:8). God’s character determines his actions (119:68),
and both of these things are praiseworthy (107:8). It’s pretty easy to praise
the Lord for the things that he’s done. Do you remember the old Andraé Crouch
song, “My Tribute”? “To God be the glory…for the things he has done…” But I
think what we often forget to do is praise the character that inspired those
deeds, and the Bible encourages us to do that. Since we’re in Psalms, look over
at Ps. 136. If you got nothing else out of this psalm, and it’s actually the
main takeaway, it’s that God is merciful, right? Verses 4-25 give proof of that
by things that he’s done. But the opening and closing praises are aimed
directly at his character as the source of all these acts of mercy. See the
balance? Now look at 2 Chron. 20:21. Here’s that praise again, “for his mercy endureth for ever,” from
the singers at the head of Jehoshaphat’s army. Notice what precedes that
phrase, though, as a lead-in: “that
should praise the beauty of holiness…and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy
endureth for ever.” God’s mercy is
part of his holy character, and that’s what they’re praising here, not any
specific deed.
So we need to appreciate God, most
fundamentally, for who he is, because that determines all of his wonderful
works to the children of men. Spend time thinking about God’s character as well
as the things that he’s done for you. I think that, in general, the more deeply
you think about the Lord, the more you’ll appreciate him and likely have a
proper view of him. I realize that some deep thinkers can have erroneous views
of God, but that’s a heart issue and should not be a deterrent to this type of
thought. Let’s hear from Frederick Faber, who wrote the hymn, “Faith of our
Fathers”:
Only to sit and think of God,
Oh, what a joy it is!
To think the thought, to
breathe the name,
Earth has no higher bliss.
2. God’s word
This one probably
comes as no surprise either, from our text verse in 1 Thes. 1:6. As member of
Christ’s body, we should obviously rejoice in the word of one we find so much
joy in personally. And I think that there’s a circle here. Rejoicing in God’s
word will deepen your joy in him, and vice versa. If someone is lacking joy in
the Lord, there’s a good chance that they’re not engaged in his word like they
should be, since the natural outcome of that engagement is a deeper joy in the
Lord, despite any circumstances.
Let’s
look at Rom. 15:1-5 for an example of this. In the first three verses, Paul
exhorts stronger, more mature believers to bear with the infirmities of weaker,
less mature believers, for the sake of Christ. That’s the spirit of v. 3, which
is a reference to Christ bearing something for God’s sake (the reproaches of
others). So mature believers will have to bear the infirmities of younger ones,
but that’s not the end of the passage. Comfort is offered through the
scriptures for whatever we’re bearing (v. 4), and the comfort comes from “the God of patience and consolation”
(v. 5). See how God’s actions arise from his character? His word harmonizes
with his character too. Since he himself is a God of patience and consolation,
he offers that to believers through his word.
Both testaments, especially the old, refer
to saints’ joy in God’s word. It’s really an ageless hallmark of a saint.
Sinners care little to nothing for God’s word. But saints do. Look at Ps.
19:7-10, a great passage on the word of God (read). Verse 8 speaks of the
righteous statutes of the LORD “rejoicing
the heart,” while v. 9 refers to “the
fear of the Lord…enduring for ever.” The word of God is meant to inspire
fear, purity, and joy…for ever. So we’re back to our original theme of eternal
joy. Where can it be found? In God and his word, most fundamentally. Next we’ll
take a look at sundry joys that spring from these two most basics joys as
members of Christ’s body.
THE GIFT OF JOY (Part III):
Some Joys of the Body of Christ
Last
time we covered the most fundamental joys of believers in Christ: God himself
and his word. We saw God as the source of our joy and the object of our joy.
True, lasting, spiritual joy comes from God and his centered upon him, i.e. his
character and his actions. Since God’s word is an expression of his character
(Mt. 12:34b) and a record of his actions, then to rejoice in God is to rejoice
in his word, and vice versa. These are our most fundamental joys as believers,
from which all of the others really spring.
In this lesson, I’d like to survey several
of these joys. Some I omitted for the sake of time but also to encourage you to
search for them yourselves privately. Some basic goals of teaching are not only
demonstrating but also stimulating it. Good teaching will make you hungry to
get in the Bible for yourself and “Prove
all things” for yourself (1 The. 5:21), and that’s what I hope to provide.
1. Salvation
(Rom. 5:11; 1 Thes. 2:19-20)
First of all, we
rejoice in our own salvation (Rom. 5:11). It’s a cause for joy that we “have now received the atonement.” Under the law, there were numerous atonements.
Each time certain sacrifices were made, an atonement was made for the
offender(s), i.e. they were reconciled (or made at one with) to the party
offended, i.e., God.
This joy is basic and important. How can
you influence others if you’re not sure of and rejoicing in your own salvation?
I think that we find a spiritual example of this in David’s great penitential
prayer, Ps. 51. Notice vv. 12-13, where he asks God to restore “the joy of [God’s] salvation” and “renew a right spirit within [him].”
David was the only one this affected. In v. 13, we see that one reason he
wanted this joy restored was so that he could bring others to God. It would be
hard, if not impossible, to win them without this joy, since it’s a great
adornment of the gospel message. The gospel is to bring joy (Acts 13:52, 1
Thes. 1:6), and if we’re not joyful, we’re really not living consistent with
our message, lessening its appeal to others.
But is that where our joy in salvation
stops, merely in our own? Of course not! Just as the holy angels rejoice over
every sinner that repenteth (Luke 15:7), holy brethren should rejoice over
every sinner that receives Christ as well. Paul certainly did. He called the
Philippians his “joy and crown” in
Phil. 4:1 and the Thessalonians the same in 1 Thes. 2:19-20. Isn’t serving the
Lord a blessing? You not only have joy down here for obeying, but also up there
and eternal rewards to boot. Whatever you do to effect sinners’ conversions
will be rewarded. Some encouraging verses on this are 1 Cor. 3:6-8, where Paul
mentions his sowing, Apollos’ watering, and God’s giving the increase. Notice
v. 8 especially, where it says that “every
man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” Sounds
pretty fair, amen? Let’s get busy telling others about Christ so that we can
not only rejoice in our own salvation, but in others’ as well.
2. Hope of
glory (Rom. 5:2, 12:12)
It’s interesting
that Rom. 5 mentions another joy for us. Look at v. 2: “we…rejoice in hope of
the glory of God.” This theme, our hope of glory, runs all through Paul’s
epistles, and I don’t have time to run all of the references. Another is found
in Rom. 12:12 among other basic instructions for godly living in this age. So
it’s fundamental like joy in God and his word, but what makes us rejoice in
hope of glory is whose glory we’ll share. There’s an older contemporary song
called, “The Road to Zion,” and the last verse goes like this: “Sometimes it’s
good to look back now/We’ve come so far, we’ve gained such ground/But joy is
not in where we’ve been/Joy is who’s waiting at the end.” Christ is the source
and object of our joy and this blessed hope, as Paul shows us in Col. 1:28 and
1 Tim. 1:1. Christ is what we hope for, but he also generates the hope. What a
blessing! Are you rejoicing in hope today, hope of the glory of God? Or are
your hopes fixed on things below? Some people think that if a nation just gets
the right leader, it will turn things around. The only leader that’s going to
bring lasting peace to any nation is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of
Peace. Ps. 46:9 says that “He maketh
wars to cease unto the ends of the earth…” and that “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end…”
When? “upon the throne of David, and upon his
kingdom…” You won’t have world peace until Christ is seated upon the throne
of David, which he is NOT right now. He’s seated at the right hand of God, but
not upon David’s throne.
3. Opportunity
to fellowship (Rom. 15:32; 1 Thes. 3:9-11; 2 Tim. 1:4; Rom. 1:10-12)
So to summarize the
last two points, we rejoice in retrospect (looking back) but also in prospect
(looking forward). But what about joy in “the nasty now and now,” or as others
refer to it, “the precious present” (depending on your outlook). We learn from
that past, but we don’t live there. We plan for the future, but it’s not here
yet. We must live now, so we must have joy now. What are some things about the
present that we can rejoice in continually? I’m only going to give you three,
but they’re all important and, as I said before, will hopefully inspire further
study.
Firstly, we should rejoice in the
opportunities we have to fellowship with other saints. Fellowship with other
believers is absolutely vital to your Christian life. There are no Rambo
Christians, living out the Christian life in a vacuum. Whether you realize it
and apply it or not, you’re part of a body of connected members that live
together, work together, and rejoice together (1 Cor. 12:26-27).
Many saints take their ties and
relationships with other saints far too casually. They can take them or leave
them, or so they think. Not Paul and saints through the ages. In Rom. 1:10-12,
Paul expresses his yearning to get to Rome to minister to the saints there, but
also to be ministered to by them. You see the same thing in 1 Thes. 3:9-11,
with the same intensity, and finally in 2 Tim. 1:4. The last time that Paul
mentions joy, it’s the joy he anticipates from seeing and being with another
brother. That’s noteworthy. To the end, Paul rejoiced in the fellowship of the
saints.
Our hymnody captures these longings as
well. Most of you know the song, “Blessed Be the Tie that Binds,” but do you
feel this way: “When we asunder part, it gives us inward pain…”? Does it pain you to walk out those doors, to be
separated from other believers? Another old hymn, “The Parting Hand,” talks
about saints having to “take the parting hand,” or shake hands farewell, by the
constraints of living in this world. The spirit of the song, though, is the
sadness that comes with that, not the relief of getting out of church. You
don’t know what you’re missing when you won’t spend time with other believers.
You can excuse yourself all you want, but you’re just cheating yourself and
others by not spending time with them and bonding with them the
best that you can. I want to be as close to every brother and sister as I can,
within the bounds of propriety, all the while fulfilling my family and worldly duties.
My family is great, but they’re not the body of Christ. You have to connect and
bond with people outside your family
if you’re going to receive the fullness of grace that God has for you, and
fulfill your duty to other saints. Paul tells us in Phil. 1:7, “ye are all
partakers of my grace,” and like it or not, saints are means or channels of
God’s grace, and if you avoid them, you avoid God. Part of your holy vocation
is “lowliness…meekness…longsuffering,
forbearing one another in love” (Eph. 4:2). I’m sorry, folks, but you
cannot develop and express those graces apart from other believers. You must
engage them, if you wish to mature like you should. All that aside, it’s a
great joy to fellowship with other believers. Some of the most joyous times of
my life have been the times where I actively fellowshipped with other believers
over the word of God and the things of God. Seek that type of fellowship,
y’all, every chance you get, and see how much joy it brings to your life
overall.
4. Opportunity
to give (2 Cor. 8:2)
Paul begins
his exhortations to the Corinthians on giving with an example: the churches of
Macedonia (v. 1). He describes how their afflictions, by God’s grace (v. 1),
abounded unto joy and liberality, despite their poverty. Wow, what a marvelous
example of grace! With affliction and poverty against them, they produce boundless
joy and liberality. That’s supernatural, and that’s why Paul calls it “the grace of God.” Note the connection
between joy and liberality. Joy leads to liberality, and liberality brings joy.
We should rejoice at all
opportunities to give, either of our time, talent, or treasure, since giving
brings not only joy, but grace. According to 2 Cor. 9:8-10, the more you give,
the more grace God gives you to do everything that you need to do, as well as
supplying your physical needs (v. 10; Phil. 4:19). So you cannot lose by wisely
giving. It should be joy when it’s time to give, however God asks, in light of
the certain rewards (1 Tim. 6:19) of giving up “uncertain riches” (1 Tim. 6:17).
5. Maturity of believers
Lastly, something
that should bring us deep joy as saints is seeing other believers mature in
Christ. The apostle John said, in a kingdom context, “I have no greater joy, than to hear that my children walk in truth”
(3 John 4). Do you have not just joy, but great joy, to see other believers
going on with God and growing up spiritually? You should. The apostles
certainly did, and their joy was inspired by God, the same God living inside of
us. Let’s look at some examples.
·
Col. 2:5—orderly
walk, stedfastness in the faith
·
Phile. 7—saints
refreshing other saints
·
Phile. 20—deeper
refreshment: having grace with an erring brother
·
Phil. 2:14-16—right
with God, right with each other, right with the world, and holding forth the
word of life to all
So there will be joy
at the rapture not only about the salvation, but also the maturity of saints after salvation. Col. 1:27 speak of “the hope of glory,” but that’s followed
by Col. 1:28 “that we may present every
man perfect in Christ Jesus.” That will be part of the joy—seeing those
that we helped save, but also seeing those that we ministered to after
salvation mature, when the Lord returns.
This concludes my
series on “The Gift of Joy,” and what an unspeakable gift it is. Peter exhorted
the kingdom saints to “rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pt. 1:8), and so should we as mystery
saints, every way we can, beginning with joy in God and his word, followed by
joy in our salvation and others’, in our hope of glory, and in things of the
present like fellowship with other believers, opportunities to give, and the
maturation of saints. The Christian life is, fundamentally, a life of joy, so
let’s not miss out on the joys that God has for us now and in the ages to come.
Hallelujah!
