Equipping Eve: Unshakeable Joy

Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

Well, it's true there's no shortage of candy -coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies.

But beyond Sunday morning, are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed

Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women,

No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name is Mike Ebendroth, and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

Well, hello, ladies, and welcome to Equipping Eve, the show that seeks to equip you with fruits of truth from God's Word, because God's Word is the only objective source of truth, right?

And so anything that comes from God's Word, anything that is spoken from God's Word, we know that to be true.

Why? Because it's God's Word. It's kind of by default true, because God cannot lie.

That would go against His nature. Sometimes people ask, you know, the atheists who aren't real, because you always worship something.

But anyway, they like that title. So the atheists want to say, oh, well, can God do, is

God capable of not doing anything? Well, He's not capable of going against His nature.

And so that means that He is not capable of lying. God keeps His promises. God always tells the truth.

He is the source of truth. Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate,

He is truth incarnate. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the

Father except through me, said Jesus in John 14, 6. And we love the truth here at Equipping Eve, and so we talk about the truth, because is there really anything else worth talking about?

There just isn't. And so it's my prayer, ladies. You know, we can't be immersed in Bible study 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We cannot always be doing spiritual things. Some of us would love to be doing that.

I think all of us would. But you know, there's life to be lived. There are jobs to be done, whether it's being a wife and mother, whether you have a career outside of the home, whether you are a student.

There's life to be lived. We have to wash dishes, we have to do laundry, we have to do our jobs, we have to interact in the world, we have to go grocery shopping, et cetera, et cetera.

I'm preaching to the choir. But we come back to God's Word, don't we, for times of refreshment.

That is why we go and meet with the body on Sundays and perhaps another day during the week, whether it's through another church service or through some sort of a

Bible study. And we meet and we are refreshed by God's Word and fellowship with the saints, with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And it's my prayer, ladies, that this time here together, even though it's over a recorded medium and we're not sitting in a room together, it is my prayer that this is a time of refreshment for you as well as we open up God's Word and talk about the things that matter for eternity.

You know, not everything we do has eternal consequences. And that's okay.

That, again, is the nature of life on this earth. You know, washing the dishes in and of itself doesn't have eternal consequences, but do all things unto the

Lord, right? So we serve the Lord by serving in even those practical capacities.

Our jobs, the jobs that our husbands go to, the jobs that we go to, my job has no eternal consequences except that I do it unto the

Lord and for His glory. And that I serve Him well in that job.

And that I represent Him well to my coworkers. Whether or not we're having some sort of spiritual discussion, that's actually beside the point.

It's how do I conduct myself among others? It's how do you conduct yourself among others, right?

And so, being out in the world requires refueling and refreshment, and that is what

God's Word is for. And so I pray and hope that Equipping Eve is one source of that refreshment for you.

Of course, it does not replace your Bible study, your daily devotional time, whatever you want to call it, quiet time, noisy time,

I don't know, whatever you want to call it. It does not replace that, but I hope that it is a welcome supplement for you.

Okay, so, what to talk about today? Well, let me start out with a book recommendation.

I like to do this every once in a while. I do not read near as much as I used to or near as much as I want to.

That's for a couple of reasons. My job keeps me pretty busy, but also,

I think grad school kind of burned me out. I had to read a lot of books, and I got tired of reading.

I'm just going to be real honest. My grammar just was terrible in that sentence.

I am just going to be really honest there and say that grad school kind of burned me out, but it took a little time, and I'm now far more excited about books than I was when

I first finished grad school. So anyway, I'm trying to read a lot more. Perhaps it's a

New Year's resolution that's not a formal resolution for me. Anyway, all that aside. Here is a book recommendation for you.

This is a book I got for Christmas from my brother and sister -in -law, and it's Elizabeth Prentice's biography by Sharon James.

So Sharon James is a really good biographer. I really appreciate the way that she writes.

I read another book of hers that contains, I think it's four, maybe it's more, shorter biographies.

It's called In Trouble and In Joy by Sharon James, and so I recommend that book as well.

But this biography on Elizabeth Prentice, More Love to Thee, many of you may be familiar with that hymn, and so she wrote that.

And I'm not finished with the book yet, but I'm about halfway through and I highly recommend it. It's just very well written.

It's very interesting. It really helps you get to know Elizabeth Prentice. So if you like biographies,

I recommend it. I never liked biographies growing up and in college and beyond.

I never cared for biographies, but probably the last four or five years or so, I've started to appreciate them much, much more.

So now that's kind of my first go -to, actually, if I'm looking for a new book to read, is just to read a biography and get to know some of these people, some of these heroes and heroines of the faith.

So I recommend that to you. I commend that book to you, as well as In Trouble and In Joy by Sharon James.

She's a fantastic biographer. I'm very, very thankful for her. That's a gift that not everyone has.

So there you go. There's my book recommendation for the day. And I can't always recommend the books

I read, I have to tell you. Did you ever pick up a book and, you know, maybe there's nothing inherently wrong with the book.

It's not, like, it's heretical or, you know, anything weird like that. It's just not well written and you just don't appreciate it.

Does anyone else find that annoying? That bothers me. Because then I'm to a point, you know, I usually give it a fair shake and I'm a couple chapters in and I'm thinking, this book should never have been published.

Not because of its content, just because of its style. But by then I'm kind of invested and I think, okay, do

I waste time finishing this book to say I finished it because I don't like to leave things unfinished?

Or do I just set it aside? I think I usually end up setting them aside. I probably have a few unfinished books in my repertoire.

Okay, so anyway, back to business. Back to business. So, okay, book recommendation, check.

That is done. So what I wanted to talk about today, ladies, was a little bit about joy.

We spoke recently about persecution and how we still have joy in the midst of trials.

And you know, here's the thing, and let me just say right off the bat that I do not intend for this show to focus on our trials and tribulations and the same old, same old, trust

God in all circumstances, blah, blah, blah. And I don't mean to belittle that or ridicule that because it's actually true.

We do trust God in all circumstances, and that's part of what we'll touch on today. But you know, kind of when that's all you hear about is the trials and tribulations of life, you pretty much just want to swallow a bottle of Prozac to feel better.

So I don't want us to get there today. But there is this concept of joy.

And joy in the Christian life. And I just see it lacking in Christianity today.

Now, not necessarily in, you know, the secret -driven churches where everything is hunky -dory all the time and all smiles and you can't ever be sad because you go to the world's most amazing church and, you know, you go rock climbing and they have like man cave day for the men.

And I don't know what they do for the women. I don't know. It's just, you know, everything's all happiness and sunshine there at those churches.

So I'm not talking about that. But I'm talking about generally in professing

Christendom. I just, I'm seeing this lack of joy. Christians can be just the gloomiest, down in the dumps, down in the dumpiest.

I know that's not a word, but we're going to go with it. Down in the dumpiest bunch of folks. What is that about?

I don't, I just, I do not understand that because as Christians, we are the only people on the planet who have a legitimate reason to have joy.

And I'm not talking about happiness. Lots of things make us happy. Getting a present makes us happy. You know, our children do things that make us happy.

Our spouses do things that make us happy. We get a good parking spot at the mall, Joel Osteen, and we're happy.

That's not joy. That's just happiness. Transient happiness. It comes and goes. It's fleeting. Christians have lasting joy.

And yes, joy, whether circumstances in your life are currently favorable or unfavorable.

We have joy. So why it is that I see Christians walking around just blue and depressed and not joyful,

I don't know. My only conclusion can be that they do not understand, number one, the gospel.

Number two, the God of the gospel. Number three, Jesus Christ, who goes with number two and number one.

Because if you have a full, comprehensive, right, biblical understanding of Jesus Christ and who

He is and what the gospel of grace is, you must be filled with joy.

Now, this doesn't mean I'm not saying that we need to bounce around with great big goofy grins on our faces all the time.

I'm not saying that. We will be sad and we will be angry and we will be depressed at times.

And so I'm not saying that I want everyone to plaster a smile on their face and be Susie Sunshine all of the time.

That's not real either. But there is an inner joy and an inner peace that is experienced by Christians alone.

Isn't there? And when we are not displaying this, not necessarily by, you know, smiles and jumping jacks,

I'm coming up with some weird things today, my apologies, but you know, when we're not displaying it and it doesn't have to be through these fake things, like a fake smile on our face, but just in the way we handle ourselves in certain situations, then we're doing a disservice to Christ.

Think about it for a moment, ladies. Think with me. Let's turn to the

New Testament. Turn with me to Luke in the New Testament. Chapter 2, verse 10.

We're going to the Christmas story here. You'll see why in a moment. Luke 2, verse 10.

But the angel said to them, the angel, it has appeared to the shepherds in the fields, but the angel said to them, do not be afraid for behold,

I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. Good news of great joy.

Turn now to Matthew 2. So right at the start of the New Testament, Matthew 2, again, verse 10.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. Great joy.

It seems to me that perhaps joy should be the

Christian starting point. Do you think? In an article by Matthew Miller at the tabletalkmagazine .com,

the article is actually called The Mega Joy of Christmas. So it was a Christmas -themed article, but what stuck out to me was this theme of joy.

And the author notes that here in these verses, in Luke and Matthew, that the literal rendering of the

Greek in each case, the literal rendering of the Greek that we read as great joy is actually mega joy.

And then he says, those two words stand out even more when we recognize that they will not be paired again until resurrection morning, when we read not of shepherds or wise men, but of the women who departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell his disciples.

So then this article goes on to speak about the joy of Christmas, that it's no ordinary joy, but the mega joy of redemptive history.

And think about it. So you don't see this combination of words again. You see it at the incarnation of Christ, and then you see it at the resurrection.

So those are nice little bookends, aren't they, of Christ's life here on earth.

And this is, as the article indicates, redemptive history, the incarnation of Christ, Christ born into the world, because he needed to come as a man so that he could save men, fully

God, fully man, lived the perfect life that we cannot then die, the death that we deserve, rose again to demonstrate

God's acceptance of his sacrifice, and that birth, that incarnation brought great joy, and that resurrection brought great joy.

So shouldn't this be the Christian's starting point, that we have great joy, mega joy?

You see, joy in the Greek is kairos, and it's related to the Greek word kairos, which means grace.

So think about that. Think about that relation. Okay. So we have rejoice, the word rejoice, and we have grace.

So we rejoice in God's grace, which of course is fully and finally demonstrated in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

So we have great joy, and that can be expressed through the verb of rejoicing in God's grace, especially as personified in the person,

Jesus Christ. In Philippians 4, Paul commands us to rejoice always, rejoice in the

Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice, rejoice in the

Lord always. And that's the key, isn't it, ladies? We rejoice in the Lord, not in our circumstances, not in our family, not in our children, not in our jobs, not in our earthly successes.

We rejoice in the Lord. Again, I will say rejoice. And notice here in Philippians, Paul is not just making a suggestion.

It's actually a command. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice.

And we can do that, can't we? We can do that because of God's grace.

We can do that because of the mega joy of Christ. The Christian is the recipient of God's grace.

The Christian has been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, saved from sin, death, hell, the wrath of God, not because of anything he did, but simply because it pleased

Christ to do so. The Christian is the recipient of God's grace, and therefore the

Christian is uniquely positioned to experience true joy always.

And if we are experiencing true joy, we then rejoice in the Lord always. Again, this doesn't mean we plaster a fake smile on our face.

Nothing annoys me more than feeling like I have to do that around someone or knowing that someone is doing that.

It's not about being fake happy. It's about rejoicing in the Lord. And we can rejoice in the

Lord while we're crying. We can rejoice in the Lord in the midst of deep sadness or fear.

We still rejoice in the Lord because we are the recipients of God's grace. And we rejoice in the

Lord because of who he is, not just because of what he's given us, but because of who he is.

Think about it. The unbeliever has no true reason to rejoice anytime, let alone always, because they have not been the recipients of God's grace, and they do not know who

God is. They have no reason, no motivation, no understanding of why or how to rejoice always, and that's, again, not to say that we rejoice in the tragedy.

Oh, hey, yay, I'm so excited that I was in this terrible accident. It's such a blessing that my arm has been severed off because now

I get to be in the hospital and share Christ with these people. Well, you may be able to have the opportunity to share

Christ with those people, but let's face it. No one would be happy that their arm was severed off in an accident. I wouldn't be.

It would be really difficult to rejoice over that circumstance, but we can rejoice in God who is sovereign over that circumstance and has a purpose for that tragedy, whatever it might be.

We look beyond the immediate circumstances and rejoice in God's grace in spite of our current situation or even in light of our current situation.

We are commanded to have unshakable joy.

Paul says it again in 1 Thessalonians 5 .16, rejoice always. He gives this list of commands to the

Thessalonians. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do not quench the spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Examine everything carefully. Hold fast to that which is good.

Abstain from every form of evil. These are imperatives. I'm not trying to give you law.

Please understand that, ladies. I'm trying to turn your focus to who God is and to his mercy and his grace and why that then flips our focus off of ourselves and our circumstances, good or bad.

Let me make that clear. Good or bad circumstances. It puts it back on Christ and we rejoice in him.

If you think about it, Christ actually gave us the ultimate example of joy in all situations.

In Hebrews 12, we'll just start with verse one.

If you turn ladies to Hebrews 12, just a reminder, I read from the New American Standard Version, Hebrews 12, verse one, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Christ gave the ultimate example of joy in spite of his situation, in spite of his current circumstances, he was looking forward, right?

He knew the outcome of his sacrificial death and that he would sit down at the right hand of the throne of God.

So ladies, we're going to come back to that, of how we can have joy because of what is to come.

We rejoice in who God is and what he has done, what he is doing and what he will do.

God's sovereignty over all things should cause us joy. Romans 8, 28, all things work together for good, for those who love him and who are called according to his purpose, right?

The culmination of all of God's attributes sets the foundation for our trust in him.

So it's not even just that he's sovereign over our circumstances. Consider the fact that we can rejoice and have joy, unshakable joy, in spite of circumstances, good or bad.

It's often easy to take our eyes off of God and Christ when things are going pretty well, isn't it? It's like we don't need him because everything's going great, but we should rejoice in the

Lord in the good times and in the bad times because God is sovereign and consider because he is immutable, he is immutable.

He does not change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13, 8 says,

James 1, 17, every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

We can rejoice in his power. If you turn back to the

Psalms in Psalm 60 to 11, once God has spoken twice, I've heard this, that power belongs to God. That's just one of countless verses that speaks about the power of God.

God is all powerful. He is omnipotent and we can rejoice in that.

We can rejoice in his faithfulness. Can we not? Lamentations 3, 23, his mercies are new every morning.

Actually, let's go back to verse 22. The Lord's loving kindness is indeed never cease. His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Psalm, I think it's

Psalm 136 and there are, there are more than, there's more than one

Psalm that does this, but just repeats over and over that his loving kindness is everlasting. His loving kindness, his goodness is everlasting.

So we can think about his goodness and how it is eternal. It is everlasting. It is forever.

He is faithful. If you turn back to Romans chapter three, verse 21, you can think about the fact, consider the fact that we rejoice because of God's grace, we've just talked about that, right?

Verse 21, but now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all those who believe, for as there is no distinction, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, very familiar passage, but it behooves us to go back to it often for by grace, you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not as a result of work so that no one may boast. We rejoice in his grace, his goodness, his patience.

Our God is a patient God. Numbers 14, 18, the Lord is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, which we already spoke about, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations.

Second Peter 3, 9 says, the Lord is not slow about his promises. Some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

So you see, we see these attributes of God in both the old testament and the new testament. Sometimes people are afraid to go to the old testament to, to use the old testament to talk about something like the attributes of God.

Well, does that apply to me? It's the old testaments talking to Israel by and large. They're true, true.

So we have to be mindful of God's promises. You know, Jeremiah 29, 11. Well, unless you're Israel, that promise isn't for you, but the principle, we can find that elsewhere in the

Bible. We can find the principle to be true to all of God's people. And when we see the attributes of God, this is applicable to God throughout all generations because he does not change.

We started with that attribute, didn't we? God is immutable and because he is immutable and unchanging, he is, has always been, always will be all powerful.

He has always been, always will be faithful, has always been, and always will be gracious, good, patient, merciful.

He will always demonstrate loving kindness toward his people. He will always be righteous and always has been righteous.

He will always, and always has executed his justice and his holiness.

Hopefully you see where I'm going there. Ladies, we have joy. We rejoice always and have unshakable joy because of who

God is. And that is who God is. And that is who our Lord Jesus Christ is because our

Lord Jesus Christ is. God. So we rejoice in our circumstances, regardless of what they are, because of who

God is, because of God's grace, because we are the unique recipients of God's grace, and we also rejoice because of what is to come.

We can rejoice because of what is to come. It's interesting to me that in John 16, if you'll turn there with me, ladies.

In John 16, Jesus is spending the last few hours with his disciples. And he says to them, as he foretells his death and resurrection, he says in verse 22, therefore, you too have grief now, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and no one will take your joy away from you.

And so here he's telling the disciples some very heavy truth. And yet he's saying, you will rejoice when he resurrects, they will rejoice.

And no one can take that joy away from you. They could have incalculable hope in the promises of Christ.

And think about it. He had just spoken to them just a couple of chapters earlier about how they would be with him forever.

In chapter 14, John chapter 14, that's where he spoke and said, do not let your heart be troubled, believe in God.

Believe also in me and my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would not have, if it were not so,

I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you so that where I go, you may be also. He had just given them that promise.

And then later he tells them all this horrible stuff that's going to happen and they will have grief, but it will be replaced with joy, immeasurable joy, and no one can take that away.

And that is the promise of Christ to his disciples. And Christ makes promises to us as well.

And no one can take our joy from us because we know those promises to be true and they will come to pass.

We can have joy. We can rejoice always because of what we know is to come.

And we know it will come because it is in God's word, just as we spoke about at the beginning of the show,

God's word is truth, and so we can trust it. We know that as believers, as recipients of God's grace who have been redeemed and purchased by the precious blood of our

Savior, that we can never lose that salvation, John 10, 27 to 30.

These are just some of my favorite verses. I was just going to discuss the concept, but you have to turn there with me ladies.

John 10, I just love the picture in John 10 of Christ as shepherd.

And then in verse 27, Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand.

I and the father are one. We can never be plucked from the father's hand.

Jesus Christ will return for his own one day. We just looked at that in John 14 and he will take us to be with him forever.

In Philippians chapter one, verse six, we're promised that the good work that was begun in us by the

Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation, that that good work initiated by the

Holy Spirit will be perfected one day in glory. That ongoing sanctification of the

Holy Spirit that is ongoing. The Holy Spirit dwells within us. He enables us.

And one day we will be perfected in glory. Philippians 1, 6,

I am confident of this very thing. He who began a good work and you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. In Ephesians 1, 3 to 14, we won't read all of those verses, ladies, but read those verses, read

Ephesians 1, the blessings and inheritance that are ours in Christ that are promised to us, the eternal inheritance that is ours, it's unfathomable.

You can have your gold, you can have your silver. I'll take what Christ has promised me. In Matthew 25, turn there, ladies,

Matthew 25, verse 31. But when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats and he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

And we'll skip ahead. Matthew 25, verse 31.

But when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats and he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

We will be ushered into the kingdom by the king himself. We can have joy because of what is to come.

In Revelation 20 and other places, we are promised that God will judge the wicked.

How often do we cry out about the injustices of this world? We are promised that God will judge the wicked, even here in this

Matthew 25 passage. There will be justice dispensed.

In God's time. And in Revelation 20, 21, we are given a glimpse into the eternity that is promised to all who belong to Christ.

These are just a few of the promises that we have to look forward to. Just a few of the things that we, we enjoy

God's blessing now, don't we? The blessing of fellowship with other believers, the blessing of, of resting in who he is, and the blessings and the promises that await us, ladies, our joy should be unshakable and we should rejoice always, sometimes through tears.

And maybe not with a smile, maybe not with laughter, but within us we rejoice because we serve a sovereign, good, gracious, merciful, loving, powerful, loving, righteous

King. He will return one day, and that is our ultimate blessed hope.

Is it not? Titus 2, in his letter to Titus, Paul speaks about the blessed hope.

Turn to Titus 2 with me. Verse 13, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great

God and Savior, Christ Jesus, the blessed hope, we live looking for our

Lord, we look toward him from the Old Testament on, believers were looking forward to that promised

Messiah. And now we look back to his first coming, but we look forward to his second coming. And that is another ultimate source of hope and joy for the

Christian. So we rejoice always, we do not hesitate. And if you pray, if you struggle with that, ladies, we all do.

So don't feel like less of a Christian, don't feel like you need to doubt your salvation, we all struggle with this because we are human, but we can rest in the promises of Christ.

And if we pray and ask for that assurance and ask for that joy and that hope, he will be faithful to answer that prayer.

And so that's my prayer for you ladies this week and always, that you would find joy and rest and be looking for that blessed hope, rejoice always because of who

God is, because of what he has promised us, because of what is to come, because of what he has already given us, rejoice always.

All right, ladies. Until next time, get in your bibles, get on your knees and get equipped.

Thanks for listening. Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

Well, it's true. There's no shortage of candy -coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies, but beyond Sunday morning, are

Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed

Eve in the garden in an attempt to address the need for trustworthy biblical resources for women?

No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name is Mike Ebendroth, and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's word.