Sermon Tone Analysis

We are continuing our series on Advent.

As we saw last week it is unusual for a Baptist Church to celebrate Christmas using the word Advent.

But the word advent just simply means the coming of a notable Person, thing or event.

And as such we are celebrating the coming of the Lord in the past, present and future.

In the past He came as a babe that was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

In the present He comes through the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

In the Future He comes as King of kings and Lord of lords to rule and reign on this earth.

The advent candles is a long standing tradition in many churches and homes starting sometime in the early 1800’s.

Often shown on a wreath made with evergreen, holly and berries.

The evergreen represents everlasting life, the holly—the thorns, the berries—the blood of Christ, the pine cones—the resurrection or new life.

Although I am using the candles here on the table before us, I am not sticking to the traditional, often over ritualized order.

Last week we started with the candle of Hope.

We saw that we have hope in the person of Jesus Christ and the watchful expectation of His coming!

And What a day that will be!

Hope is vital for every human being!

We need hope, but we also can’t just sit around and hope!

While we wait, we work.

While we work the second candle here on the table reminds us of the Joy we can have as we look at the birth, life, and ministry of Jesus to us.

When the shepherds were in their fields that night so long ago, and the angel appeared to them, the first words from the angels were words of joy.

The result of this encounter, with not only the angels, but the the child Jesus Christ Himself, It was pure Joy!

I have struggled with having joy this last couple of weeks.

I’m not sure what has happened, but it has been difficult to get into the Christmas spirit this year.

The truth is, and I confess it now before you, I have not been obedient to God.

Having Joy is a command!

I could go on and on, because the Bible commands it often.

So if it is a command of God for us to rejoice, how do we get this joy, when we don’t feel it?

This morning I want to look at Scripture to see how joy is not dependent upon our feelings, but rather on our choices.

Let us see where our joy comes from...

I. Joy Comes through the Spirit

When we don’t yield to the Holy Spirit in our lives, we do not experience the fruit of the Spirit.

Yielding to the Spirit is an every moment thing!

Joy is dependent on our choice, are we going to choose to yield to the Holy Spirit and thereby receive the fruit of the Spirit, including Joy.

The Holy Spirit enables us to live joyfully no matter what the circumstances.

In the book of John chapter 1, the record of John the Baptist is given.

Turn with me to John 1:19-27

19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

21 And they asked him, What then?

Art thou Elias?

And he saith, I am not.

Art thou that prophet?

And he answered, No.

22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us.

What sayest thou of thyself?

23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

John is a great example of joy, from the earliest age, John was filled with the Holy Spirit.

In fact, John was filled from his mother’s womb

After Mary was told that she would give birth to Jesus, she went into the hill country, to Judah.

When she entered the house of Zacharias and greeted her cousin Elisabeth, the Bible says that John leapt for joy inside Elizabeth’s womb.

Elisabeth was about 6 months along when this happened.

The baby inside her, John the Baptist, filled with the Holy Spirit already, was filled with joy at the arrival of the woman who was carrying the Messiah.

So, John was filled with joy because he was filled (controlled) by the Holy Spirit.

Joy comes through the Holy Spirit.

If we will just yield…everyday…all day…we will be filled with joy as well.

It is easy to become addicted to negative feelings of anxiety or despondency.

According to scientific research 80% of the average persons thoughts are negative, and 95% of our thoughts are repetitive.

They discovered the more negative a thought, the more often we return to it.

This is the natural man, but the old man was crucified, we need to be controlled by the Holy Spirit and live in newness of life!

Yield to the Holy Spirit and have Joy!

II.

Joy comes through Obedience

One of the great lessons from John’s life is that he was obedient to God’s calling, no matter the outcome.

As he is questioned by the Pharisees, here in this passage we read earlier, he remains firm in his convictions.

It’s clear that when God called him to go, he did so with great confidence and assurance that God’s plan was still in effect.

We often curb our ideas, which are formulated often through fear of outcome, according to our desires.

But instead we need to obey God’s commands, and find out what He wants and go there and do that!

Eugene Peterson, an American theologian that I don’t often quote, but he said “The assumption of spirituality is that always God is doing something before I know it.

So the task is not to get God to do something I think needs to be done, but to become aware of what God is doing so that I can respond to it and participate and take delight in it.”

In other words, my task in the Christian life is not to try to get God to do what I want Him to do, but to find out what God wants and Obey that.

John was obedient to his call from God.

He was called to be the one that Isaiah prophesied about in Isaiah 40:3

John obeyed even in the face of Danger.

He called out Herod about his immoral relationship with Herodias.

This eventually led to his death, and yet John was obedient.

“But what does this have to do with Joy?”

You ask.

I’m so glad you asked!

Look at these verses!

Jesus said these words have I spoken unto you…what words…If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love...

So these words Jesus spoke SO THAT the Joy of Jesus might remain in you…that your joy might be full.

Joy is directly dependent upon obedience.

We can see this in the life of backslidden Christians if you look carefully.

People often display their happy mask, but when you get down to the heart of it, the disobedient Christian does not have joy.

Because Jesus said, if you obey his commands, your joy will be full.

I have said often that growing up I didn’t want to be a pastor, but I don’t want to leave the impression that I am stuck being a pastor.

The truth is I can’t imagine doing anything other than pastoring the Mills Memorial Baptist Church.

I don’t want to give the impression that this is second choice!

The truth is pastoring is now my first choice!

I was just too thick headed to see it at the time.

The truth is obeying God, no matter what it is that He asks, is the best way to be happy—to have real joy!

So if you want to have joy, you must be filled (yielded) to the Holy Spirit, and you must be obedient.

Then the third principle I see about Joy is perhaps from a different perspective than you might think...

III.

Joy comes through Anticipation

Timothy Paul Jones from the Gospel Coalition reminds us in his article, “Why Celebrate Advent” that Advent is really a season of waiting, and the waiting is critical to appreciating the arrival of Jesus—in any context.

“In a religious [social environment] that has fixated itself on using Jesus to provide seekers with their most convenient lives here and now [live stream services, hot coffee waiting, church info available now on websites or apps, etc], Advent is a particularly awkward intrusion.