Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, joy.
[00:00:03] What is joy?
[00:00:07] I think it's helpful for us to think through some of these fruits. And I guess I'll say at the outset as well, if this is your first time to the class, let me kind of give a bit of a.
[00:00:23] Bit of a. Kind of a setting truth here for us as we're talking about the fruit of the Spirit, this is not nine individual fruits that we're kind of taking and picking up and marveling at. This is actually one fruit that has multiple facets that we're getting to marvel and wonder at.
[00:00:43] I think it was Nick when he first. When he kind of intro'd this session. He talked about it like a diamond and how the light shines on the diamond and there's different prisms and refractions and I don't know all of the scientific words, but it's beautiful. And you get to see different facets of the diamond as you turn and look at it. And that's what we're talking about with the fruit of the Spirit, not fruits of the Spirit. This is a singular fruit that we get to marvel at.
[00:01:13] And so we're talking about joy. Then this morning we talked about love first, and then we talked about peace. And now we're jumping into joy. And before we walk through, in what I would suggest would be a Christian definition for joy, I think it would be helpful to do just to take 5, 10 minutes and talk about what the world perceives as joy, because it's helpful to compare and contrast. But also, we are all in a context in our world. We are ministering to our neighbors. We are ministering to those at work. We are discipling kids. And so it is helpful for us then to know where is the world trying to look and find joy, and what is the world actually trying to defining joy as? So that way we kind of know what are some of the ways. What are ways that we can approach and minister to a world that, as I walk through this, is under a significant burden, attempting to find joy apart from Christ.
[00:02:13] So the GQ magazine. I don't know if any of you are subscribers to GQ magazine. I am not. Just for the purpose of this talk, they.
[00:02:25] I almost made a joke about borrowing Nick Roark's subscription, but I decided not to.
[00:02:31] Gq, about five years ago, put out. They published the Happiness Project. And it was fascinating. What they did was they took a broad survey of multiple pop culture, secular culture icons, TV hosts and actresses and actors and playwrights and authors and artists in the secular world, and the Gist of it was, where do you find joy? What does joy feel like? Where do you find true happiness? And this was a year after everything with COVID And so it was fascinating them trying to kind of gin up and put together some sort of. This is where we find joy and happiness in the midst of suffering and trials.
[00:03:16] And as I was reading through this, and there's a part of this that might sound comical, please know that this is a world that is broken and they are desperately looking to find joy. And we, as Christians, we have the antidote we have.
[00:03:33] What we can offer them is true joy where they're not under the burden. So know that if any of this does feel comical, I understand, because what else do they have to look for? They do not have Christ. So as I'm going through the Happiness Project, I'm looking for a.
[00:03:50] An answer that kind of summarizes what is the crux? What is the core of what the world attempts to think about, to define joy?
[00:03:59] And David lynch, he's a filmmaker, he said, this bliss is our nature.
[00:04:07] Stop right there.
[00:04:08] You already see how it counteracts to what we believe is fundamentally true about our nature.
[00:04:13] Bliss is our nature.
[00:04:15] We're supposed to be happy.
[00:04:18] We're not supposed to be sad. We're not supposed to be suffering. We're supposed to be happy campers enjoying life, being kind to one another and getting along and making sure that we're all happy and that we're all together on this beautiful trip.
[00:04:35] Do you see how the world then kind of takes that and plays it out like you are free to do and go be happy just as long as you don't infringe on anybody else's happiness and joy. Go do what you want.
[00:04:50] And they would say that we are supposed to be happy. And so let me. Then let's take this position. Let's try it on for a second.
[00:04:58] How then do we reconcile sufferings and trials? Yes, we have an answer for when somebody infringes upon my happiness.
[00:05:06] But when a loved one is lost, when you receive an unfortunate diagnosis, when you have natural disasters, or what then ought this position do?
[00:05:16] Right. And I think the Happiness Project kind of fleshed out. There were two answers.
[00:05:22] The first attempt that our world makes is to find joy in the midst of suffering.
[00:05:28] The first attempt is to remove the suffering and pursue the pleasures of life.
[00:05:32] The world attempts to remove the suffering and pursue the pleasures of life.
[00:05:37] This was not in the Happiness Project. But all of you hopefully know the contemporary theologian Kenny Chesney.
[00:05:43] Kenny Chesney sings about this in his song, Happy Is as happy Does. He's talking about a man in the song, okay? And listen. Listen to the man.
[00:05:51] He could be another one cussing the government. Nah, but he smiles. He's got a hundred reasons not to but he's the poster child for happy is as happy does Grab a six string, Find a rope swing Hang a palm tree in your truck Drink a beer just because Steal a slow dance in a rainstorm and a kiss from who you love Laugh and live with a half full cup yeah, happy is as happy does.
[00:06:20] That's it. Grab a beer, kiss your loved one.
[00:06:24] Forget about the trials and sufferings and just pursue the pleasures of life.
[00:06:29] There's an escape, right?
[00:06:32] But we know, we know as Christians. He's got it backwards. What does James say? Consider it pure joy. My brothers and sisters, whenever you face what trials, right? Of many kinds, for you know that they faith. Your faith produces perseverance. Friends, joy is found through suffering, not apart from it.
[00:06:53] And that's what the world misses. And so there's the attempt to escape and go and pursue the pleasures of life.
[00:07:00] I think there's another attempt that the world makes, and that's to find joy within themselves. To find joy within themselves. This was one of the more common themes in GQ's Happiness Project.
[00:07:12] Goldie Hawn, who's an actress, she said this.
[00:07:16] She said true contentment and joy and deep feeling that you can connect to at any time you want that's inside of you.
[00:07:26] Jeremy Harris, he's a playwright, he puts it like this. Speaking of joy. And this, again, this is sad. It's heartbreaking.
[00:07:33] I don't go looking for it in things. I look for it within myself.
[00:07:39] If you can't find it within yourself, then you don't have it. There's nothing in the world that can give you joy, but something inside of you.
[00:07:50] Just for a second think about that.
[00:07:53] We know.
[00:07:54] How hopeless is that to think that the joy is found within our hearts. And again, we know this too, friends. Our heart is sinful. If someone were to take my heart and break it open, there's not a whole lot of joy they would find. They would find lawlessness and selfless selfishness, greed, pride.
[00:08:13] Jeremiah 17, 9. The heart is what?
[00:08:16] Deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
[00:08:21] And so again, here's what's troubling here. I think in these two. And there's several other attempts that the world makes. These were just kind of the common two that I keep finding. But here's what's troubling is that our world without Christ attempts to take on the sole burden of finding joy.
[00:08:40] And friends, we were never made to bear that burden.
[00:08:45] Imagine, in the midst of the trials and sufferings of this life, you also are responsible for fostering and mustering up and maintaining joy in your life.
[00:08:58] Friends, we crumble underneath that weight. And so as we walk through today, as we, as I give, suggest a biblical definition of joy and we analyze the life of Christ, know that, yes, be encouraged as we marvel at Christ and his joyful life, but also know that we are ministering to a world that is being crushed as they are trying to muster up and find joy in this life.
[00:09:27] And I would say too, that the world.
[00:09:29] There was no common theme of what is joy in that GQ happiness Project.
[00:09:35] It was all very subjective.
[00:09:37] Some folks would say it's this elevated, constant position or disposition of contentment apart from sufferings, apart from trials. I'm always just kind of, you know, okay, there's others that would say, like, you're always kind of just supposed to be walking around with a big smile, you know, and nothing can actually shake you.
[00:10:00] There's others would say that that's actually not even possible to define.
[00:10:04] Everybody has their own definition, right? Joy is waking up in the morning with a cup of coffee, right? Those are some of the types of answers. And so what I got from the Happiness project, it was very clear where folks were looking for. They were looking either internally or they were looking in the pleasures of life. But what it also revealed, the world doesn't have a good definition for joy.
[00:10:25] And so we as Christians, not only do we know where joy is found, but we can also give a good definition of joy that the world can cling to and that the world can see and hope in, in the midst of trials and sufferings. So let's then move into Christian joy, and let me suggest this definition to you.
[00:10:52] Joy is the soul's delight in God, which is fixed upon the unchanging ground of God's love and Christ's work for us. Joy is the soul's delight in God, which is fixed upon the unchanging ground of God's love and Christ's work for us.
[00:11:14] In short, Christian joy is anchored in the truth of Christ's own joy.
[00:11:20] Christian joy is anchored in the truth of Christ's own joy. And what I would love to do this morning is walk through and unpack this in two steps, right? We've the pattern that we've kind of established for as the class is there's this analysis and marveling of the fruit in the life of Christ and then seeing Christ's fruit in us. And so that's kind of how we're going to progress. And so for the first two, or for the first section, when we're talking about looking at the life of Christ, we're going to talk about the embodiment of joy, and we're going to talk about the source of our joy, the embodiment of joy and the source of our joy.
[00:11:57] Then we'll look at the aspects of a joyful life on the second half.
[00:12:02] So let's move then to the embodiment. The embodiment of joy.
[00:12:11] And this is Jesus.
[00:12:16] The embodiment of joy. And this is Jesus. And before I get in there, just kind of quick question and we can dialogue a little bit. As you think about the life of Christ, are there any moments or areas in his life where you might call out or see that. Him.
[00:12:35] Of him being joyful or of him rejoicing? Give me some. Give me some moments in his life where Christ was joyful or where he rejoiced.
[00:12:45] I think when he said stuff with little children.
[00:12:49] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where he's working, he's going back and forth with the little children. Yeah. That there's this. This spark of joy that you have to draw children in and to draw. Yeah, that's good.
[00:12:59] Other moments in Christ's life where he rejoiced or was joyful.
[00:13:04] I sense a Joy in John 17.
[00:13:09] Yeah. Where he thinks of us. That the prayer, thanks God for all he's given and the joy of the gifts of the Father. Yeah. From the.
[00:13:21] The apostles. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The high priestly prayer where he's talking right before. Yeah. There's a lot. There's a. A joy and.
[00:13:31] Yeah. A sense of delight and contentment. Yeah, yeah.
[00:13:43] Right, yeah. And in the midst of what he's about to go and do. Right. He still is exhibiting that. Yeah. No, that's good.
[00:13:50] What else?
[00:13:51] Other moments in Christ's life.
[00:13:57] Yeah, yeah, yeah. When Mary anoints his feet with the oil.
[00:14:00] Yeah, yeah. He was what John Piper would say is the happiest man to ever live.
[00:14:08] He is, again, the embodiment of joy.
[00:14:15] And there's a lot of evidence, and I put some up here, of moments and places in the Gospels where Jesus embodies joy, where he is Joy. In Luke 7, he is charged with being a glutton and a drunkard. Right. Where he's at festivals and he's at parties with criminals. And he's accused by the Pharisees of being a glutton and a drunkard. And so he's enjoying life. Obviously, according to the Word, he's not actually drunk actually being a glutton, but is being accused of it. Right.
[00:14:49] He's not just walking around being staunch and grumpy. I guess that's what I'm saying. I don't know the theological word for grumpy, but it's not that. Right.
[00:14:58] Which, by the way, I think as we walk through Christ's life, I think being joyful and. Or being. Being kind of a Christian and grumpy aren't very compatible. Right.
[00:15:08] I think you can be serious about the Word and about faith and about theology, and that's good.
[00:15:16] But I think sometimes we can overcorrect and be grumpy about theology. And I don't know if the Bible has a category for a grumpy Christian. So that's just to the side.
[00:15:27] Other places we mentioned it, but there's several instances in the Bible where Jesus draws children to him, where children feel comfortable to come up and they're. I don't know. For those of you who are in teaching at early ed, there's this spark of joy that pre K and kindergarten teachers have to just break down any sort of wall. I mean, my child can have the worst morning. And man, all it takes is just something that a teacher has and it all melts. And she's comfortable, walls broken down and she's in the presence and she's happy. And it takes a spark of joy to be able to draw that out. And we see that in the life of Christ, not only when he's ministering and rebuking, but also when he's just being present around children.
[00:16:15] We also get to look at the Book of Hebrews. The Book of Hebrews has several instances in which Christ is. Where it talks about the joy of Christ. Hebrews 1, 8:9, it says, but of the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. And that you is Christ. So Christ is anointed by the Father with the oil of gladness beyond his companions.
[00:16:53] Later on In Hebrews, Hebrews 12, 2, looking to Jesus, or it says, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. It was his joy that was set before him that he could endure the cross.
[00:17:18] I think one of the other stories that sticks out to me is where Jesus is telling the story of the lost sheep and that there is the shepherd that rejoices in the finding of the one lost sheep.
[00:17:30] Jesus is our joyful shepherd who rejoices.
[00:17:34] He was the happiest and most joyful person to ever live. And we'll unpack this a little bit later, but I want to give it to you now. I think that Christ's joy is rooted in his perfect communion with the Father and confidence in the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan. That's a lot. Christ's joy is rooted in his perfect communion with the Father and his confidence in the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan.
[00:18:05] You see Pause.
[00:18:07] Is that not a much better foundation upon which joy ought to be found? The world says, escape suffering, pursue life's pleasures, or you already have it. It's within you. It's in your heart. You just have to go find it.
[00:18:24] Those don't hold. What does?
[00:18:27] Perfect communion with the Father and confidence in the fulfillment of his redemptive plan.
[00:18:32] Friends, the reason why that's a good foundation for joy is because it does not change God's plan. God's redemptive plan has been the same since. For the foundation of the world. Since the foundation of the world. And so joy can persist through suffering.
[00:18:46] Because true joy is not dependent upon favorable circumstances. It's based on unchanging realities.
[00:18:54] Jesus knew that.
[00:18:56] But we have to ask the question. Ben, we get it. Jesus is a happy guy. Jesus is a joyful guy. I don't think that's like shocking anybody here. That's not novel, it's not new. Why is that important?
[00:19:07] Why is it important that we're talking about Jesus being the embodiment of joy?
[00:19:12] I think for a few reasons. Number one, and I love this is what Jonathan Cruz says in his book. He says it informs our understanding of what it means to be Christian, of what it looks like to grow in Christ likeness. If we have the spirit of Christ and he is producing fruit for Christ in our hearts, it will come with the very joy of Christ.
[00:19:37] We are being recreated to reflect the character of Christ. And Christ was joyful.
[00:19:43] So he's saying, if we're growing in Christlikeness and we have the spirit of Christ, it is going to produce in us that which was produced in Christ, that which Christ exemplified. And so it's important for us to understand and see just in what ways was Christ joyful. That ought to be the same joy that is exemplified in our own life.
[00:20:04] If we have an inaccurate view or incomplete view of Christ's joy, then our joy will be incomplete as well.
[00:20:10] If we have an inaccurate or incomplete view of Christ's joy, then our joy will be complete as well. Incomplete as well.
[00:20:16] And then I mentioned this earlier. But knowing that Christ was the embodiment of joy gives us then a category for how we can be sad and still joyful like Christ grieved.
[00:20:29] Christ experienced a broad array of emotions, right?
[00:20:33] He grieved. There was suffering, there was anger, there were trials, there was temptations, right? There was rebuking, there was a seriousness that he took to God's word and teaching in discipleship. Jesus experienced all of those things and yet remained the most joyful person to ever live.
[00:20:52] It's hard for us to imagine a situation where we are both dead, devastated and distraught for whatever reason, and yet we remain joyful.
[00:21:02] It feels a bit hard if I'm being honest. I know it intellectually to be true, but that's hard to experience in the moment, but Christ lives it and shows it of how you can be joyful in the midst of unfortunate circumstance. In the midst of unfortunate. That's too soft of a word. Painful, devastating circumstances, we can still be joyful.
[00:21:25] In fact, we're commanded to be joyful.
[00:21:28] Philippians 4. Rejoice in the Lord always.
[00:21:31] If there's anybody that has the has the right to complain about the Christian life, it's probably Paul.
[00:21:37] And yet what's his command to the Philippians? Rejoice in the Lord always.
[00:21:47] So Christ as the embodiment of our joy, let's then move to Christ being the source of our joy.
[00:21:55] The source of our joy.
[00:21:59] Turn with me if you will.
[00:22:00] Luke 10:17 through 21.
[00:22:04] Luke 10:17 21 and I'll put it on the screen.
[00:22:08] And if Scott's two minute tutorial on this pen works great. If not, then we're going to be fine.
[00:22:16] Okay, Luke 10:17 through 21.
[00:22:20] Now a little bit of context. Jesus has sent the disciples into into the city to go two by two to do ministry. Do you remember this? He's kind of bestowed on them his power to go. And now they are returning and they are high fiving, fist bumping. Let's go. Look what we've done. So this is their return back from ministry. Okay, Luke 10:17. It reads this way. The 72 returned with joy, saying, lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
[00:23:00] Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven in the same hour. He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, saying, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
[00:23:26] So they come back, they're excited about this ministry success, about this newfound power that they've now been able to wield, and they're able to go and do what they've been watching their master do, right?
[00:23:41] And Christ's response to them is telling, right? The disciples are clearly drawing on some sort of false joy, a sense of, look at what we did to warrant Christ's response to say, do not rejoice in this. And I think what the disciples had, they. They had two errors in their celebration, I guess.
[00:24:02] Number one, their joy was circumstantial. Their joy was circumstantial. Their excitement was driven by results.
[00:24:08] A fundamental part of our definition of joy is that it's rooted in the unchanging love of God, not ministry success.
[00:24:17] Do we think the same reaction could have occurred had they gone into town? Half of them been killed for what they were preaching and didn't come back. I don't know if they would be responding the same way.
[00:24:27] Now, I'm not saying here that we ought not celebrate ministry success. Yes, and amen. We should. We should encourage that and, you know, and cheer one another along to faithfulness, to the moral commands of the Old Testament, to the New Testament? Not saying we shouldn't do that. What I am saying is that ministry success is a pretty poor foundation to find joy in, because there are plenty of moments where you might be going through and not experiencing ministry success.
[00:24:54] That doesn't mean that we ought not continue on, but it just makes a poor foundation for joy. And I think the disciples, again, I resonate with them. I don't look at them and see like, yeah, what were y' all doing? I look at this story and be like, I would have been doing cartwheels right after the work, that they would have gone coming back. And Jesus rebukes them. I think also, you See that the joy was in themselves.
[00:25:16] They were proud that they were wielding the power. And the emphasis of the exclamation is, look at what we did.
[00:25:22] Look at the glory that it brought us. And Jesus rebukes him, right?
[00:25:27] And he says. He says, do not rejoice in this. But what does he say in verse 20? What ought they rejoice in? Look at it nevertheless. Do not rejoice in this. That the spirits are subject to you. But what? Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
[00:25:42] Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
[00:25:45] What's he referring to?
[00:25:47] He's referring to the book of life, right? Those who will be with him in eternity. Those who God has predestined before the foundation of the world that will spend an eternity with him.
[00:25:58] Revelation 17:8.
[00:26:01] That is what they are to rejoice in, that your eternity is sealed, your names are written in heaven. And Then look, verse 21, Jesus. It says, jesus, full of joy. Right at that same hour, he rejoiced. And this is also, by the way, one of the actually times where the Bible calls out specifically that Jesus rejoiced and uses that phrase. So Jesus rejoiced.
[00:26:25] And it says in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden things from the wise and understanding revealed them to little children. Yes, Father. For such was what your gracious will, Friends, I think what Christ here is saying and what he is rejoicing in, he's rejoicing in the will of the Father.
[00:26:47] Or said another way, God's plan makes Jesus joyful.
[00:26:52] God's plan makes Jesus joyful. And so if God's plan brings Jesus joy, then we ought to spend a little bit of time reflecting on his redemptive plan for us.
[00:27:05] For it is upon these truths that our joy, the delight, our soul's delight in God stands. It is on these truths. And I am going to put forth Ephesians 1:3 14 to walk through this. And as I walk through Ephesians, as I read this, Ephesians 1:3 14, reflect then on the number of times it calls out God's plan. And according to God's will and according to God's counsel.
[00:27:34] So we're talking about now, what is God's redemptive plan? This is what we're talking about. Ephesians.
[00:27:41] Yeah, Ephesians 1:3 14.
[00:27:46] Make sure I don't have a slide on this.
[00:27:48] Okay. Ephesians 1:3 14. And it reads this way.
[00:27:53] Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he has blessed with us and the Beloved in Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the ministry of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as the plan of fullness for time to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth in Him.
[00:28:42] In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory in Him. You also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him.
[00:29:04] We're sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
[00:29:16] Friends, I think there's three Acts and I called them out earlier. The past and the present and the future redemptive work of God that is on display in Ephesians 1:3,14. It is upon these truths that our joy that Christ's joy is found. Right? Christ's joy. God's plan makes Christ joyful.
[00:29:39] Look at God's plan in verse 5. In love he predestined us for what? Adoption.
[00:29:46] We are adopted by the Father before the foundation of the world. He chose you and I.
[00:29:52] Let that sink in.
[00:29:54] Before the foundation of the world he chose and adopted us as slaves to be in his house. No, as a means by which we might work to earn sonship.
[00:30:04] No.
[00:30:06] Sons and daughters adopted us with full rights that that comes with.
[00:30:12] Even while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Now God, knowing full well how we would reject, how we would sin, still chose us to be sons, adopted us to be sons into his family. If I had more time, I would go into the context of the affair, Ephesian church and time, and what adoption would have meant. It's. I don't have the time, but it is.
[00:30:32] It will make you love God even more when we think about how that message would have landed on the Ephesians talking about adoption.
[00:30:41] But we are adopted by the Father. And that is what has been done in the past, right? He adopted us.
[00:30:47] And then in verse 7, in him Christ we have redemption, what through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace.
[00:30:56] So we're adopted by the Father, and we are redeemed by the Son. Adopted by the Father, redeemed by the Son.
[00:31:04] We know this, but we ought to continue to rehearse it. Christ lived the perfect life that we could not, and he purchased our freedom, paying the full penalty of our sins on the cross.
[00:31:14] He died the death that we deserved. He conquered death once and for all.
[00:31:19] And we are now credited with everything that he has done wrong or sorry, done right and forgiven of everything that we have done wrong.
[00:31:29] And we did nothing to deserve it. Friends.
[00:31:32] And this is the gospel. And it's the gospel that saved you and I.
[00:31:37] And I'll talk about it a little bit later. But it is good for us to rehearse the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:31:46] It feels elementary, it feels very simple. It's all words that we've heard. But I pray that there is not a day in our life that that lands on dull ears internally, but that we are constantly refreshed by the love of God and by the love of His Son dying for us on the cross.
[00:32:05] But that's not all. We're adopted by the Father, we're redeemed by the Son. And then in verse 13, our eternity is sealed, guaranteed by what? The Holy Spirit. So you do see a little bit of a triune act of God here in the redemptive plan. Adopted by the Father, redeemed by the Son. And then our eternity is sealed, guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. When I proposed to my wife, I gave her an engagement ring and said, there is one like this that is coming at a later time, I promise. And it is far more significant.
[00:32:36] Same type of deal that the Holy Spirit guarantees and seals our eternity for what? When we will spend an eternity in heaven, all manner of suffering, all manner of sadness, gone. And in a sense, as I was prepping this, I was reading this and thinking that first, the first guy, the quote that talked about we're supposed to be happy, we're not supposed to be sad. He almost kind of got it right in that, like prior to sin, yes, we are supposed to be happy and glad with the Lord. And we are now looking forward to an eternity where we will be glad and always happy in worshiping the Lord. And there will no be, there will not be sadness and there will not Be suffering and all of that. Secured by our works. No. Secured by our faithfulness to the Word. No, thank God.
[00:33:25] Secured by the Holy Spirit.
[00:33:28] What else do we know of God's will and plan? Friends, we could sit here and talk for days about how good and perfect God's will and redemptive plan for us is. Let me suggest a few. Psalm 33. The plans of the Lord stand firm forever. The purposes of his heart through all generations.
[00:33:45] It will never change, it will never fail. It does not waver like our feelings, and it is not dependent upon our circumstance.
[00:33:53] Friends, God's redemptive plan is permanent. And therefore the grounds upon which our joy rests is permanent.
[00:34:03] Romans 12:2. Do not be conformed by this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. That by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
[00:34:14] God's will. Good, acceptable and perfect.
[00:34:18] Praise God for His redemptive plan.
[00:34:21] And again, the reason we were talking about God's redemptive plan is because we saw in the story where he's rebuking the disciples and then he turns and rejoices to the Lord for the Lord's gracious will. Because God's redemptive plan makes Jesus joyful. And friends, if it makes Jesus joyful, it ought to make us joyful. It is the grounds upon which our joy stands, upon which our soul delights in God, the redemptive plan of God, our foundation.
[00:34:50] So that is kind of the look of the fruit of joy in the life of Christ.
[00:34:58] We saw evidences of it, of where he is the embodiment of joy. We find where he finds the source of his joy. Now let's turn to the joyful life. And again, I want to remind us of the definition. Or. Yeah, of the. Of the definition and also where the source. As we're moving into this, the definition that we put forth was that joy is the soul's delight in God fixed upon the unchanging ground of God's love and Christ's work for us.
[00:35:26] And then we know that Christ's joy is rooted in his perfect communion with the Father and confidence in the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan.
[00:35:37] Joy is rooted in his perfect communion with the Father and his confidence in. In the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan.
[00:35:45] So if joy then is rooted in the communion with the Father and in a settled confidence in his plan, then we must be on guard for the elements and aspects of sin that disrupt our communion with the Father.
[00:36:01] There are things in this life that disrupt the communion with our Father.
[00:36:05] One of those being not killing sin.
[00:36:09] Sin disrupts our communion with the Father. Isaiah 59:2 but your iniquities have separated you from our God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear.
[00:36:20] Friends, the sinful attitudes of our hearts darken our understanding. They cause a callousness to the blessings of the Lord. They damage our communion with the Lord. And all sin must be dealt with. All sin must be dealt with. And so for you in this room, and maybe it's a question you think on today, what sin must you go and deal with?
[00:36:44] Is there envy or anger in your heart? Is there a covetousness?
[00:36:50] Do you have an unforgiving or critical spirit?
[00:36:54] Analyze your heart.
[00:36:56] Ask your spouse to analyze your heart.
[00:37:00] Reveal.
[00:37:01] Pray that the Lord reveals in you sin that must be dealt with.
[00:37:07] Not killing sin is a way in which that our communion with the Father is disrupted.
[00:37:13] Another one is trusting in other sources of joy. We've talked about the two at the beginning, pursuing the pleasures of life and this inward dependence. We've also talked about depending upon ministry success. These are all false sources of joy that will fail us again. I probably sound like a broken record. But the only, only ground upon which our joy can stand firm on is the unchanging love and redemptive plan of God, grounded in the character of God and nothing else. That is a far more solid foundation than the pleasures of this life, my internal heart, or my ministry success.
[00:37:53] So not killing sin, trusting in other sources and friends, even trials and sufferings that we don't handle or perceive properly. Trials and sufferings that we try to bear on our own, trials and sufferings that we don't take to the Lord, they wear on us. If I'm just. If I can just speak to you as a human.
[00:38:14] Trials and sufferings wear on us.
[00:38:17] That is a reality. It doesn't mean we can't be joyful. But don't they wear on us now? God uses them in our life. Yes, and amen. He will not waste suffering.
[00:38:29] But they still test us. They still wear on us.
[00:38:34] Rejection and opposition from someone in your life you receive or a loved one receives an unfortunate diagnosis.
[00:38:43] Maybe there's a loved one or one close of you that is now no longer practicing Christianity has left the faith. In a sense, these are not just hard struggles. These are not sufferings that are just immediately fixed. These wear on us.
[00:39:02] These are real pains. And without a gaze fixed on Christ.
[00:39:06] Trials and sufferings they can keep us from experiencing the fullness of joy, not killing sin, trusting in other sources and trials and sufferings. So then, friends, what might it look like then on the other side, to deepen our communion with the Father, thus leading to a fullness of joy?
[00:39:27] And this isn't going to be novel.
[00:39:30] It's ordinary, faithful obedience to the commands of the New Testament for a long period of time.
[00:39:36] It's modeling our life off Christ. It's marveling and modeling.
[00:39:43] Well, I guess let me put it three ways. Meditating, marveling, modeling. Gosh, I should have put that in my notes. That just hit me right there. And it is alliteration. How about that? Bonus points.
[00:39:54] Meditate on the life of Christ, marvel at the life of Christ and model the life of Christ.
[00:40:01] That is what we ought to do. Friends, if that is what characterizes our life, let that be put that on my tombstone. That Ben Shuffield meditated on the life of Christ, marveled at the life of Christ, and modeled the life of Christ.
[00:40:16] That's worth committing our life to so practical ways that we can go about doing that.
[00:40:25] Right there. Yep, the marks of a joyful life. So, number one, confess and kill sin.
[00:40:32] Confess and kill sin. We wage war against sin. Colossians 3, 5, put to death. Therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Now, are we free from the condemning power of sin? Yes, and amen. Christ has dealt with that on the cross. And yet the presence of sin still remains. And it is a hourly struggle that we fight. And we ought to look to. Not only is Jesus the example of joy, the embodiment of joy, but also in the ways in which our lives are marked. We ought to look at the way that Christ fought sin. Now, obviously he didn't sin, but he fought temptation. Right. He went into the wilderness. He was tempted by the devil. What was his weapon that he used? He used the word of God. Right. He used scripture. That's his weapon. So it should be with ours as well.
[00:41:23] We ought to kill sin in our life, commanded to kill sin in our life. I think the Puritans would say, mortify sin our life.
[00:41:34] Number two, we meditate on the life of Christ. We delight in the story of the Savior. And I know I mentioned this. If I could take you to a, most likely a holiday gathering that you have been to here in the last couple of years.
[00:41:47] Do you ever tell the same stories over and over with your family?
[00:41:50] I. So I've got two brothers. We're Kind of all in new family, like, you know, we've all gotten married, we now all have young kids. So now we're all kind of getting to come back together and we'll go back to some of the same stories. And I am sure our spouses hate it.
[00:42:07] We have heard the same story 10 dadgum times. Why are we listening to it again?
[00:42:12] But don't those stories well up in us? A fondness and a gladness, friends. We ought to do that with the life of Christ.
[00:42:24] We ought to. That ought to stir. If me talking with my brothers about a late trip elicits in me a thankfulness and a love for my brothers and a joy, ought not that be the same for what we do when we reflect on the life of Christ and what he has done for us?
[00:42:43] Meditate on the life of Christ, rehearse and study the life of Christ, and let that well up in us.
[00:42:50] Joy, an overflowing joy.
[00:42:54] On that same note, remember the Gospel. I do think it's weird to say. I think remembering is a lost art. Today.
[00:43:00] We don't remember well and we are very forgetful people. We love talking about one year, three year, five year plans. What's the vision? What's the future?
[00:43:09] And I think to the Old Testament the prophets would come. And yes, they would speak to what is coming in the future. But do you know what else the prophets that implore the Israelites to do? Look back to what your God has done for you in bringing you out of Egypt.
[00:43:25] Look back, friends. We ought to do the same to remember the Gospel. And we build rhythms of remembering into our lives. You think about the feast of the Old Testament. Not all of them, but a majority of them were meant to have the Israelites stop when their normal daily cadence of life and reflect and thank God for provision of a harvest for what he has done for them.
[00:43:51] They had to put that in the calendar, right?
[00:43:54] Put rhythms of remembering the gospel in your calendar.
[00:43:59] It's important to remember how God has saved us regularly.
[00:44:03] Secondly, trust God in trials. Trust God in trials.
[00:44:08] He is faithful to complete his plan that he has purposed from the beginning. He uses trials and sufferings to accomplish that plan.
[00:44:17] Contrary to what the world sees, joy is not found by avoiding trials, it's found by finding God in them.
[00:44:23] And I already mentioned this, that Paul commands it in Philippians 4. Rejoice in the Lord always.
[00:44:31] And then lastly, have an eternal perspective.
[00:44:36] Remember, at the end of all this, Christ wins and we know it, and that we will spend an eternity with Him One day All sadness, all brokenness, all pain, all death will be gone. There will be no divisions, there will be no weariness, no hunger, no persecution, no suffering, no toils. None. It's all gone. The only thing we have left is God and the glory of God. And we will spend an eternity worshiping him forever.
[00:45:05] And while we don't have the fullness of that yet, we do have a snippet of it. And we get to live with an eternal perspective with eternity stamped on our eyeballs today, knowing that that's where. That's where we're headed.
[00:45:19] Secured by own works. No, secured by the finished work of Christ on the cross.
[00:45:28] And so as I close here, and I'll kind of send us to groups in just a second in our search for joy. In the search for joy.
[00:45:39] When the world says to look inside yourself, the Bible says look to Christ.
[00:45:45] When the world says to forget trials entirely, the Bible says to remember the faithfulness of God.
[00:45:51] And when the world says to run from those trials, the Bible says endure and trust God, friends. Do you struggle to be joyful in times of trials?
[00:46:04] Do you struggle to be glad when you feel sad?
[00:46:08] Do you struggle to obey the command to be joyful when you are angry and bitter?
[00:46:14] I opened our time with a Kenny Chesney song. I do apologize. So I'll close with one that's a little bit. Got a little bit more spiritual teeth to it.
[00:46:22] And as I read these lyrics.
[00:46:24] Reflect on your own testimony just for a minute.
[00:46:29] Reflect on how God saved you.
[00:46:31] Go back.
[00:46:32] Go back to that moment of where God saved you, of the position that you stood before the Lord prior to that moment and now where you stand because of what he's done.
[00:46:43] Reflect on what he has done in your life.
[00:46:46] I'm going to read the lyrics, some of the lyrics to All Sufficient Merit.
[00:46:52] Just think.
[00:46:54] Think about the way that you have been saved by God.
[00:46:57] I lay down my garments in any empty boast Good works now corrupted by the sinful host.
[00:47:05] I'm dressed in my Lord Jesus, A crimson robe made white.
[00:47:10] No more fear of judgment. His righteousness is mine.
[00:47:15] It is done, it is finished.
[00:47:21] No more debt I owe, paid in full all sufficient merit now my own all sufficient merit firm in life and death.
[00:47:34] The joy of my salvation shall be my final breath.
[00:47:39] And when I stand accepted before the throne of God, I will gaze upon my Jesus and I will thank him for the cross.
[00:47:49] When I think about where we find joy, it's right there in those last two lines.
[00:47:55] Standing before the throne of God, accepted solely on the basis of the finished work of Christ. And what is our response?
[00:48:05] Marvel.
[00:48:07] We marvel at Jesus and we thank him for the cross. And so, regardless of where you might find yourself today, the pains and sufferings that we find in life and family and work and church, even if it's through tears, even if we don't feel it, take heart.
[00:48:27] We have joy because we have Christ.
[00:48:34] Let me pray.
