When Joy Has Come
Advent • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 46:56
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· 73 viewsGrief and sorrow are a product of the brokenness in the world due to sin. In this message by Pastor Mason Phillips, discover what it looks like when joy has come to the world and how you can enter into the joy of the Lord.
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When Joy Has Come
When Joy Has Come
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
I want to talk to you about entering into the joy of the Lord.
Advent is a season where we are looking towards the coming of our Savior.
Why do we need a Savior? Our hope and need for a Savior is because we have seen and felt the impact of a fallen world which is wracked by sin.
And we too have been touched at times by sorrow and grief. Sprinkled throughout our lives are moments of joy that create a longing for something more.
Truthfully, death and loss are a product of the fall (Romans 6:23).
Even though that is true, the good news is that God made provision for our redemption even when that had happened. In the face what looked like certain defeat, God spoke words that would end in triumph and victory. And He declared that the Seed of a woman would destroy the enemy of our souls.
From the moment that promise was made, humanity has been looking for a return to the garden and to what is right and good. In the Spirit the Apostle John shares this hope for us:
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”
Think about what that day will be like—when our grief and sorrow are wiped away and all things made new. Consider the joy we will experience in the redemption and renewal of all things.
What God wants to do is set this joy before us so that we live an anticipation. No matter what we face, we have joy prepared and waiting for us.
Chasing Joy
Chasing Joy
The thing about joy is that we can’t get it by pursuing the experience itself. Joy is elusive and it isn’t generated the way we would expect. True joy is found in connection to the presence and person of God.
Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.
C. S. Lewis
We often try to generate joy in various ways, but deep and abiding joy is a quality of God’s kingdom.
Instead of chasing joy, we need to learn how to abide in it.
Because Christ has come, we have access to the joy of the Lord. It is His joy which gives us strength (Nehemiah 8:10).
Finding Joy
Finding Joy
We don’t find joy by chasing it.
Happiness depends on what happens; joy does not.
Oswald Chambers
So then, how do we find the joy of the Lord?
Recognize the Source of Joy
Recognize the Source of Joy
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
God is the source of joy. In His presence and in His person we find joy.
This is why Advent—the coming or arrival—of Jesus is the coming of joy.
20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Jesus is God with us. It is in His presence that we find joy.
Illustration: Billy Bray was a miner who encountered Jesus and became a Methodist preacher. Previously he had live a drunken and wild life. One day he was gathering potatoes from his garden the the devil came and spoke to him. The devil said that God didn’t love him because if He had He wouldn’t give only a couple of little potatoes. Billy responded by saying that he had served the devil better than anyone and during that time the devil never gave him any potatoes, or anything good for his service. Later, he was quoted as saying “I would rather be in Hell with Jesus than in Heaven without Jesus. For Hell with Jesus would seem just like Heaven to me and Heaven without Jesus would seem just like Hell to me.” —Dr. R. B. Ouellette, ministry127.com
It is not in the stuff that we get, whether good or bad, that brings us true joy. It is the goodness of God in the face of Jesus. When we are in His presence, His joy becomes ours.
Our joy is found in the God that came to rescue us and in the Spirit that dwells within us.
Discover What Brings Joy
Discover What Brings Joy
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Joy is found in the presence of God and it flows from relationship.
Did you notice that it was the joy that was set before Jesus that strengthened and helped Him endure the cross? What was that joy? It was that many sons and daughters would enter into the kingdom (Hebrews 2:10).
The cause of joy in the heart of God is His relationship with us.
7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. 8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Joy was the reason that Jesus came. He came to redeem fallen humanity and bring them into relationship with Him.
There is rejoicing in the restoration of relationship.
Illustration: Losing something precious and the moment of relief and joy in finding it again.
The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
The joy of this season is the joy of restored relationship. The more you consider what God has done for you and why (remember that it was the joy set before Him) the more you can see what really results in joy.
You will find joy in the relationship you have with the Lord.
Enter Into the Joy of the Lord
Enter Into the Joy of the Lord
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Jesus wants us to enter into His joy. He invites us to join us in His work.
And what was His work (cf. Luke 2:49)? It was to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). It was to restore relationship between God and man and to bring the kingdom of God.
How do we enter into the joy of the Lord? By entering into His work to reach people.
Illustration: When Dwight L. Moody was in London during one of his famous evangelistic tours, several British clergymen visited him. They wanted to know how and why this poorly educated American was so effective in winning throngs of people to Christ. Moody took the three men to the window of his hotel room and asked each in turn what he saw. One by one, the men described the people in the park below. Then Moody looked out the window with tears rolling down his cheeks. "What do you see, Mr. Moody?" asked one of the men. "I see countless thousands of souls that will one day spend eternity in hell if they do not find the Savior." — Today in the Word, February 1, 1997, p. 6
Consider how you can enter into joy by bringing the good news of Jesus to others. Remember the joy you experienced in salvation (cf. Psalm 51:2)? God wants to use you to bring that joy into the lives of others.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Joy is God’s answer to the sorrow and grief of sin.
True joy is found in the presence of God Himself. Jesus came as Immanuel, God with us to redeem us and restore us to relationship.
He is our joy. Our relationship with Him is what brings joy into our lives.
This time of Advent offers us a reminder of where we can find joy and how we can continue in the joy of the Lord.
The coming of the Lord is the coming of the Savior. And His salvation causes to rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8).