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Truth by itself creates controversy, which we see when we try to prove our point rather than extending God’s grace. But when we combine truth with love and the other fruits of the Spirit, then we become appealing ambassadors for Christ.
Study Gateway's First Listens: Find your next Bible study! Join host Shelley Leith as she curates first sessions of Bible studies on various themes each season, taught by some of the world’s most influential Christian authors, teachers, and pastors. To learn more, visit https://StudyGateway.com.
First Listens Season 3: Episode 2
Truth Plus Love
By Matt Brown
[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY LEITH: Hi there everyone! Welcome to First Listens! I’m your host, Shelley Leith, and every week I get to bring you first listens of the first sessions on Study Gateway so you can find your next video Bible study.
We’re in Season 3 of First Listens, which is all about the Key Bible Passages Everyone Should Know. In this season, we’re hearing the first sessions of Bible studies on the seminal Scripture passages that are important for every Christian to understand, such as Jeremiah 29:11 (everyone’s favorite verse, which we heard about in our last episode), the Fruit of the Spirit, the Sermon on the Mount, the Armor of God, the Prodigal Son, the Promises of God, and the Lord’s Prayer. I hope that you’ll enjoy these episodes so much you’ll say, I’ve got to go watch that whole Bible study and learn about the rest of that passage!
In today’s episode, we’re looking at the Fruit of the Spirit from the Bible study called Truth Plus Love, by Matt Brown. This study looks at the fruit of the spirit through a different lens than normal. Matt Brown is an evangelist, and he contends that in order to have the most influence with people, we need to pair truth with the fruit of the spirit. In Episode One, he focuses on the fruit of JOY. He explores 4 obstacles in our lives that keep us from experiencing God’s joy, and he gives us 4 practical ways we can get our joy back. Let’s listen in on Episode One, Truth Plus JOY.
[MUSIC PLAYING] MATT BROWN: Being here in a math class takes me back, but not necessarily to good memories, because math was not my best subject. But you do learn helpful things in math, like formulas you can take with you the rest of your life. Paul in the book of Ephesians, he gives us a formula I believe that will help us to be influential in the world for the sake of the gospel.
He says in Ephesians 4:15, speaking the truth and love will grow into every way into Him who's the head, Jesus Christ. So he gives us this formula, truth plus love. And what I believe is, it will equal influence in our world.
If we have truth but we don't have love, then we're just going to be a noise to the culture around us. If we have love without truth, we're going to move away from the truth of God's word. And the power to save and the power to change is the power in the word of God. But if we have both, we'll be influential for Jesus. Have you ever met a person with a lot of love and a lot of joy and peace and kindness and fruit
of the spirit? Who doesn't want to be around that person? They gain influence with everybody around them.
For the past 17 years, I've been spending my life doing evangelistic ministry, telling people the gospel story, about Jesus, and what He can do in their lives, and also helping people build their life around the gospel. Started an organization called Think Eternity, and we've really just been dedicated to that.
And we've come to the point where we feel like half of the ministry that we do now, thanks to the internet and social media, is online. And so we're ministering to people through those means. Which is kind of surprising for me, because I was actually-- I don't know about you, but I was slow to get on social media.
But I quickly realized as we began to do social media how it is an amazing tool of ministry. And we're really just doing all of this to help people know more about Jesus, and to help people build their lives around the great truths of the gospel.
In Galatians 5:22 and 23, it talks about how joy will be a natural result of putting our trust in Jesus Christ. And I've seen how when people come to faith in Jesus Christ that didn't have it before, there's this amazing new joy that comes in their lives.
No one had to tell them they had to have it. No one had to explain to them how to get it. It just appears. You hear Christians talk a lot these days about does God want us to be happy or does He want us to be holy? And there's all sorts of answers to that question.
Many people will say, God wants us to be holy. He doesn't care very much about our happiness. That's not a big deal to Him at all. And the reality of what I believe is that from the scriptures, that both things are true. Because the Bible says God wants to give us joy.
I believe God wants us to be holy in different areas of our lives so that we'll be ultimately happy. I think God wants us, like a good father-- the Bible talks about God as our Father in Heaven-- and He wants us to be holy in areas of our lives so that we won't hurt ourselves, so that we won't hurt others, and that will walk in the joy that He has for us-- this great happiness.
C.S. Lewis once said, we've been offered this happiness, this joy in our lives, and we mess around like kids in a puddle in a slum, like this is the greatest thing there is. When someone's offering us a holiday by the ocean, we just don't know what that is. And so we're sitting here playing in our little mud puddle thinking this is the best it gets.
That's a great definition of why God wants us to be holy, why He brings truth into our lives. So important. Billy Graham said this powerful statement as well. God hates sin like a father. He hates the things that will pull us away from Him and will keep us from happiness. And that's so powerful. That
actually changed my perspective on all of this and what it means and why God calls us to His truth. He calls us to be holy because He wants us to be happy.
This joy that you have, it's not a joy that, again, anyone needs to explain to you. It's this joy that rises up in your heart because of Jesus. 1st Peter 1:8 and 9 talks about this incredible joy. And it says, for though you have not seen Him, you're filled with this inexpressible and glorious joy.
Paul talks about this in Ephesians. I love the book of Ephesians. He spends the first half just talking about the glory of this gospel and what it's done in his life, and what it can do in the believer's life. There's actually in those few chapters the longest run-on sentence in the Bible.
He's just talking and talking, can't stop explaining the glory of the gospel. Twice in the first three chapters of Ephesians, he breaks out in intercession in prayer for the church-- that God would just open their eyes to the glory of the gospel, the beauty and the wonder of all Jesus has done for them.
And actually, in the first half of Ephesians, there's no imperative commands at all. He's not telling them to do anything. He's only telling them to remember what Jesus has done for them. And that's a real picture of the Christian life, that everything that we're called to do is built on this joy that we received and what he's done for us.
And as you study Ephesians, and you think back on when Paul wrote that, he was imprisoned at that moment for the gospel. He was under house arrest in Rome for the gospels. He wrote that letter to the church in Ephesus. Paul was brilliant.
But he has this amazement at the gospel in those hard circumstances of his life. I don't know if you can imagine even that kind of circumstance in your life. I don't know if I can. Whatever your circumstances are in life, the joy is promised, even in the midst of those circumstances. That's the amazing thing. But I don't want to leave you there, because the reality is, there might and there can be for all of us roadblocks that try to get in our way of our joy in Christ.
Matthew 13, Jesus tells a story about a farmer. And He says that this farmer is out scattering seeds, and seeds land on different types of soil. Some of the seeds land on rocky soil, and birds pick it up. And He goes on to explain that that's when people hear the message about Jesus and this great joy in God, and the enemy comes and steals away the seed before it has a chance to settle into the ground. And they miss the point. They miss the thing-- this great opportunity that's been presented in the message.
And then He says that some of the seed of the farmer lands on shallow soil, and it sprouts up really quickly. But because it doesn't have deep roots, the joy that it once had diminishes and goes away. And that's like believers who believe in the gospel, but they get caught up in other things, they don't put
deep roots down into the church or into the word of God, and the joy that they have in the gospel diminishes and goes away.
And then He says that some of the seed lands on soil, and the roots go down, but there's weeds alongside of it they begin to choke out those plants from flourishing. And He goes on to explain that the weeds are like the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, the pursuit of other things outside the joy in God that choke out all the life that you've experienced in Christ.
But then He talks about the good news is the seed that lands on good soil. That's like the gospel, the word of God, falling on hearts and lives like you and I, who are sitting here today. And it's done a great work in your life.
And you go on to make an impact on countless people around you. And he says that that seed goes on to produce a harvest of 30 or even 100 times what was sown into it. I heard a story about this recently from a good friend of mine named Ryan.
And he talked about how his family in Arizona actually didn't grow up in church. They might be in church on Christmas, but most of the time, not even an Easter did they attend church. They were an unchurched family. And he had a friend when he was a teenager who invited him and said, hey, I'd like you to come to our church small group, and I'd like you to lead worship.
Well, Ryan wasn't a believer, but he did play guitar. And the idea that he could come and play his guitar for an audience excited him, and so he went to this small group. And he said, yeah, I would love to lead worship for you.
I'd love to play these songs for you. All I need is the chord charts.
[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY LEITH: I’m interrupting this story before you find out what happened when Ryan, who wasn’t a Christian, went to play his guitar for the church small group. You’re listening to the first session of Truth Plus Love by Matt Brown, which is published by HarperChristian Resources and it streams on Study Gateway. Study Gateway is a streaming video service, and we’re the only one that has a subscription plan especially for small groups. For our First Listens listeners, we offer you an exclusive rate on our small group plan. When you use the promo code FIRST at studygateway.com, you’ll get a 20% discount on a small group plan for up to 20 people, and that discount lasts for the life of your subscription! And, for a complete experience with Truth Plus Love take advantage of our publisher-direct pricing on the essential Bible study guide designed to be used with the videos. You’ll get the group discussion questions and leader materials, the Scripture text and key ideas, and personal Bible study and reflection exercises to do between sessions. Get all the details at Studygateway.com.
And now, let’s pick up the story of Ryan and find out how everything turned out for him after he played his guitar at the church small group.
[MUSIC PLAYING] MATT BROWN: And after being around this group of believers and seeing their joy and seeing the great work that God had done in their lives and the excitement of what they were doing, he ended up putting his faith in Jesus Himself.
And he was filled. He told me just a few weeks ago, he's just filled with this incredible joy in his life, and is filled with his excitement for what God was doing in his local church. And he said, my church isn't this huge church, and it wasn't this super hip or cool church.
But it didn't matter to me. I was just excited about what God was doing there. And he spent many years serving in there. He eventually did work as the worship pastor at that church. And this time, he was a believer. And he just continued to see the great impact the church could have not only on him but on the people in his community.
Some of the best parts of his story is the seed of God's word didn't just land on his heart, but it went on into other people's lives around him. And he actually began to lead his siblings to faith in Jesus Christ. They came to faith in Christ.
Now they're married and have kids, and they're all serving Jesus. And it went both ways. He was actually even able to lead his parents over the years to faith in Christ. And he told me personally how that's some of the hardest things to do, is have evangelism conversations and talk about your faith with your parents-- with your own parents.
But eventually, he was able to do that. And they came to faith in Christ. Later, his dad, before his grandfather passed away, was able to lead his grandfather to faith in Christ. So you see this trickle effect in all these people's lives around them.
And it didn't even stop there. Ryan for years had this dream of a worship night and a tour that could take place across America. And he ended up being able, after years of doing this, to launch this with some friends. And they've now gathered nearly a million people around America for worship nights, and 50,000 people have come to faith in Jesus Christ through them.
So you see what Jesus is saying when the farmer puts seed on good soil, what God can do in our lives when we allow the soil of our heart to be open before Him, and we remove the things that cause obstacles to the joy in our lives.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
And so I just want to talk with you for a moment about some of the obstacles to joy that you might be experiencing in life, and talk to you about how you can remove those. One of the big obstacles these days to the joy in our Christian lives is comparison.
It's so easy on social media. You'll look at somebody feed, you look at their posts, and they're only posting their highlights. We know that. We know they're just posting the most happy, exciting moments of their lives. But we see it and we go, I don't feel that happy today in this moment.
I'm actually a little sick today, and I don't feel that joy. Why is their life so perfect? And of course, they've got the filters and the edits on their photo, and their kids are all smiling. And you think, I can't even get my kids the smile and both look at the camera at the same time, right?
So you're, man what is this? But that's a big problem in our culture today, is we look at social media, we look at these platforms and we compare ourselves. And God didn't mean for us to live that way. He doesn't want us to compare our lives to others.
He wants us to find the joy in His place and His purpose for us. So I just encourage you to be careful of comparison, and to keep your focus on all the amazing things God's done in your life, and be happy for others in the process.
Another roadblock today to our joy might be the uncertainty and the fear in our world. We don't know what's going to happen next. You know, you turn on the TV, and you get freaked out that the whole world is burning down. Because somehow, we're just in this news cycle where things seem scary.
And so uncertainty-- and maybe it's simpler things in your life. The uncertainty of what's going to happen tomorrow with your job, or maybe it's the uncertainty tomorrow of how your kid is doing in their classroom in school, or the uncertainty tomorrow of different areas of your lives.
And what Jesus says is that we don't have to worry about tomorrow. We don't have to worry about tomorrow, that He will take care of us. He cares for His children, and He loves you, and He's got that thing that you're worried about in His hand.
And He's got you on His hand. The Bible says, don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. And so that's really the answer to anxiety and uncertainty, is to bring it to God in prayer, and to trust in Him again.
Another thing that can try to steal our joy is busyness and stress in our lives. When we get caught up in our schedule and we're not taking those rhythms that God has intended for us. And when we do that, we get worked up. And it can be easy to get off track of joy.
But we can get back on track pretty quickly and simply by reducing that in our lives, and being careful about our schedule. And a fourth thing that I want to share with you that can be an obstacle the joy is-- and this is the most common; I think all of the others really result in this-- is distance from our Savior, distance from Jesus.
You know, we come to faith in Jesus. We're just so excited about what He's done. But time and the world around us-- you know, the three things, really, the world, the flesh, and the devil can cause distance. And it can pull us away.
And what we need to do to get back is get back to those first things. Read our Bible again, spend time in prayer and worship again. That's what it means to walk with God. When we spend time with God, I promise there's new joy that's available every single time.
So let me just share four practical ways this coming week that you can work to get your joy back, if you're wanting a greater joy of God in your life and more of the happiness the God wants for you. First of all, take time to rest and reset your schedule this week.
You know, we talked about how our schedules can get overwhelming, and we can run ourselves thin. And so I want you to look over your schedule this week and think about how you can take some time for yourself and some time to rest.
Number two, plan a party. It doesn't have to be this week, but plan a party to celebrate life. You know, maybe it's for an upcoming birthday party or a holiday, or maybe it's just getting together with friends. Because we don't need to be ashamed to pursue joy in our lives, to pursue happiness, because God wants that for us-- obviously in the right kind of things. So do that. Plan a party.
Number three, take time to make a list right now this week of all the things that you're grateful for. Try to write down like 20 or 30 things that you're thankful for in your life. And this is a good thing. You can come back to it or you can make new lists, and you can just keep going if you want. But write down the little things of life that you're just so grateful for.
And number four and lastly, take time this week to remind your own heart of all the good things God's done for you in Jesus-- all the eternal promises you have because of the gospel. You could even read through Ephesians 1, 2, and 3 and think about the things that Paul says that you have in your life because you trusted in Christ.
My hope and prayer for all of us is that we live with the maximum amount of joy that God has offered and promise to us because of Christ, because of His love for us, because what He's done for us. And so I'm excited for you as you pursue new joy, new happiness in your life. I pray and hope that you'll be able
to remove those obstacles and to walk this week and the coming months in fresh joy that God has for you.
[MUSIC PLAYING] SHELLEY LEITH:
How many of those obstacles to joy are you experiencing? Comparison…fear…busyness…distance from Jesus. I hope you can rest, make a list, remind yourself, and plan a party! to get your joy back and experience more of the happiness God wants for you.
You have just enjoyed a first listen to the first session of Truth Plus Love a video Bible study by Matt Brown, published by HarperChristian Resources and streaming on Study Gateway.
It might be interesting to go to Study Gateway and WATCH this session – we have it unlocked so our First Listens listeners can watch it for free. What you’ll be able to see is Matt setting up the premise of the study from a math classroom in a school, and his main points and Scriptures are reinforced on the screen. You can go to studygateway.com and watch the entirety of Session One at no charge.
Here at Study Gateway you can find your favorite authors, pastors and Bible teachers, all in one place. We’re the only streaming video subscription service that offers a small group-sized plan, AND has user-based pricing for churches, no matter what the size. And don’t forget, you can use the promo code FIRST to get a 20% savings on a small group plan for the life of your subscription. What does 20% mean to your pocketbook? It means you’re going to save $4/month, so instead of $19.99/month, you’ll pay only 15.99/month for your entire small group of up to 20 people, which works out to only 80 cents per person per month!
With Study Gateway, you also get a direct link to our store, where you get publisher-direct pricing on the essential Bible study guide for Truth Plus Love. The study guide gives you what you need to have a great group experience with watching the videos and discussing them, then you have between-sessions activities to help you dig deeper into the Scriptures and apply them to your life. Is Truth Plus Love going to be your next study? Get started right now by going to studygateway.com, click start free trial, choose the monthly small group plan, and use the promo code FIRST.
Make sure you rate and review this podcast so other people can find this show too. And come back next week for our next episode in the season on Key Bible Passages Everyone Should Know. Next time we’re on the Armor of God, and we’re going to be hearing from renowned pastor and Bible teacher Dr David Jeremiah in his study called Overcomer. See you next time on Study Gateway’s First Listens.