Pursuing Joy.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] And it is a joy each and every Sunday to be able to have the privilege of standing before [0:06] you and sharing God’s Word with you. [0:09] I don’t know if you were here last week. [0:10] I hope that you were. [0:13] But if you were not, please go listen to the podcast. [0:16] The stories of life change were remarkable.

[0:20] One of those stories included the phrase in the Steve International version that once [0:28] the grace of God became apparent, it’s like the rest of the world changed. [0:33] And I think that’s true of what redemption does to us and what it looks like because [0:39] it is entering into the life of God. [0:41] It is coming out on the other side with a new life, a life that’s been changed by the [0:46] resurrection of Jesus, which is the greatest change of going from death to life, going

[0:51] from the darkness into the light of who Jesus Christ is. [0:56] If you are new here, if you’ve been here for a while and you’re still trying to figure [1:00] out what is this church all about, and the reality is last week what you saw was what [1:06] we are all about. [1:07] We are about change lives through the gospel of Jesus Christ. [1:11] That is what we are about.

[1:12] So it’s this reality that we all bring our preferences, we all bring our traditions and [1:18] the way we want things, and I wish it was like this or I wish it was like that. [1:22] And what we call you to do is sacrifice that for what is better, and that is seeing lives [1:28] changed. [1:29] That is our preference. [1:31] It’s the ultimate preference because that is the life that God is leading each and every

[1:35] one of us into. [1:37] It changed lives is what this is all about. [1:41] We should enter into this this morning and into the life of following who Jesus is out [1:46] when we really talked about who Jesus was, what he had done with this bold expectation [1:53] of how God would use us for his glory. [1:58] That we could possibly be part of what God is doing in this world to draw all people

[2:05] to himself through the finished work of who Jesus is. [2:11] And that as a church that is who we are. [2:16] That we have all of these competing affections in our lives. [2:21] All of these competing thoughts in this world, all of these competing loves. [2:25] And when we read a verse like we read a little bit earlier, the reality that this man found [2:30] a treasure hidden in a field and he reburied it, and it’s like doesn’t that sound stupid?

[2:35] He found it and then he buried it and left. [2:37] So why don’t you just take it with him? [2:39] Wouldn’t that have been a lot simpler? [2:41] And this parable that Jesus gives us is this thought provoking realization that when you [2:48] see the treasure that is the kingdom of God, that which Jesus brought, that which he gives [2:55] us through his death as a sacrifice for our sins, and that which he ushers in through

[3:00] the resurrected life as we’re headed towards eternity, we’re headed towards all that he [3:05] has to offer us to himself. [3:08] This man goes and he sells everything that he has. [3:10] He buys the entire field because he wants everything that is connected to the treasure. [3:17] He doesn’t just see it as a treasure, he sees it as a life. [3:21] And so he has to forsake that which is behind.

[3:23] He has to forsake everything in his life that he has. [3:27] He has to rid himself of it because what he sees in the kingdom of God is better. [3:31] And that is the story of the gospel that God through Jesus shows himself as better [3:38] than anything else we could have in this world. [3:42] And that whatever it is in my life that is competing with the gospel of Jesus Christ, [3:48] that is competing with my devotion for him, is a less than and it is a counterfeit joy.

[3:55] It is a counterfeit happiness that will not satisfy me.

[4:00] And the gospel isn’t as called to get rid of that which will actually make us happy [4:05] and so we can begrudgingly follow God with our lives, but instead it is saying Jesus [4:10] is so much better that we will gladly rid ourselves of anything that could possibly [4:16] create a barrier in our lives to who he is and all that he has for us. [4:23] And so when we look at the changed life, this new life that we talked about last week, [4:29] I thought it was a great time to enter into 12 or 13, give or take, hard weeks of learning

[4:38] what that new life looks like. [4:41] And I love the book of 1 John and I also kind of despise it a little bit because of what [4:46] it calls me to in my life. [4:49] And that what we have in the book of 1 John is John writing in the aftermath of everything [4:58] that he talks about in his first book which was the gospel according to John. [5:03] So he spends these times writing about who Jesus is, what Jesus did, what it was that

[5:11] he did in this life, and then in 1 John what he does is he writes five chapters about what [5:15] this does in his life and what this will do in everyone’s life who actually has legitimate [5:20] faith in Jesus Christ. [5:22] That this is what a legitimate life in Jesus looks like and there is no other kind. [5:30] And so what we see in the book of 1 John is it’s written about 50 or 60 years after the [5:36] resurrection of Jesus.

[5:38] The church in that time has grown and has spread throughout most of the world and what [5:43] has happened at that point is that a lot of people that are coming to faith in Jesus [5:47] were not even alive when Jesus was on the earth. [5:52] This is about a generation removed. [5:54] So what has happened in that time is that a lot of false teaching has begun to enter [6:00] into the church because there are people who weren’t alive and when you pass on a story

[6:06] from one generation to the next it tends to get watered down because you kind of lose [6:12] those primary sources. [6:13] And what John is doing is he is writing this book to prevent that. [6:19] He’s writing this book to kind of right the ship. [6:23] As a follow up to the gospel of John he’s going to tell us in these first four verses [6:27] to look back at everything that he has reported about who Jesus is and what Jesus did and

[6:33] now look forward into the life it’s going to give you. [6:36] It is a hard and convicting book that looks like radical faith but it’s simply about legitimate faith. [6:43] It draws a hard line between death and life, darkness and light. [6:48] He calls us into a ruthless trust that Jesus is the true God and that Jesus saves completely [6:55] and I want to warn you that it is a weighty book. [6:59] It will put weight on you because what it’s going to do is over the next few weeks if

[7:03] you go through this book and I pray that you will with me that it is going to point [7:08] out areas in your life where you need to change.

[7:15] But frankly that’s what God’s word should do because what it’s going to do is it’s [7:20] going to show you what life in Christ looks like. [7:24] What it is to live in the light. [7:26] What it is to have the life of Jesus in your life and you are going to have the choice

[7:34] to love it and turn from your sin and follow it or to follow that which is an illegitimate [7:40] life. [7:41] You are going to have the choice to continue in ignorant bliss living for things that aren’t [7:47] joys. [7:48] Living for things that are less than desires and less than happiness and not know the true [7:54] joy.

[7:56] And what I want us to understand this morning is that this is something that never stops [7:59] in our lives. [8:01] That over the next 12 weeks I’m going to experience change that I need in my life and I’m going [8:08] to be confronted with my own sin. [8:10] And what God is calling me into is a path of repentance. [8:15] Continued repentance in my life as I learn more about him and more about myself and how

[8:20] I need to change to be more like him and less like me. [8:23] But often times we are so ready to stay stagnant in our faith. [8:28] We are so ready to kind of academically agree, yes Jesus is God, yes he rose from the dead, [8:35] yes he gives me new life, yes he will take me to heaven. [8:38] But then in my life I live as if none of that is true. [8:43] And it’s hard to admit but open your heart over the next few weeks and let’s just be

[8:48] honest with ourselves. [8:50] Hopefully maybe it will make you honest with others but more so I pray you will be honest [8:54] with God. [8:55] So go ahead to 1 John chapter 1 verse 1 and what you are going to see is that there are [9:00] basically three sections in this book and three main thrusts that this book is going [9:04] to have in our lives.

[9:05] The first one is about what is true doctrine. [9:09] A lot of false teaching about Jesus has entered into the church at this time and the apostle [9:14] John is riding the ship of those errors and he is telling us that true doctrine that we [9:19] must believe what is true and then secondly it’s about obedient living. [9:22] What does it mean to believe in Jesus in everyday life? [9:26] If he is God then that changes the entire direction of my life.

[9:30] And then third it’s about fervent devotion. [9:32] God does not save us from sin and then leave us to continue in a meaningless life built [9:36] on things other than him. [9:38] Instead he commands the destiny of my life in eternity and that starts in the present. [9:45] So let’s read the first two verses of 1 John together. [9:48] Well I’ll do the reading you don’t have to.

[10:18] The overarching theme that we are going to see in those two verses is point number one [10:22] this morning that what you believe about Jesus determines what you do with him in your life. [10:28] What you believe about Jesus determines what you do with him in your life and there are [10:33] five things I want to point out in these first two verses this morning. [10:36] The first one is a little bit of a recap of last week that Jesus is the eternal God. [10:41] That is what John is very quick to point out that is where he goes immediately in this

[10:45] text. [10:45] He says that which was from the beginning. [10:49] So he is immediately calling us to remember everything that he talked about in the gospel [10:54] according to John. [10:56] John 1 1 says it this way in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and [11:00] the word was God.

[11:03] So he starts off immediately by reminding us of what he said in John 1 1 that we are [11:09] dealing with the God of the universe when we deal with Jesus. [11:13] Now I am not going to review the entire book of John with you because you probably want [11:18] to go to lunch at some point but take some time and review the book of John this week. [11:25] And what you will see is a testament and testimony to who Jesus is and what it is that he did [11:32] in this world and the reality that he is the eternal God.

[11:36] And the second thing we see in this is that Jesus showed himself as God on earth. [11:41] John does not just offer us a philosophical viewpoint about who God is. [11:46] He does not just say Jesus is God. [11:49] He goes further and he points out in 1 John 1 1 and 2 that we saw things that the only [11:56] explanation for what we saw, what he did and that we physically were with him show that [12:04] he is God.

[12:07] Look in the book of John chapter 1 verses 2 through 4 that Jesus was in the beginning [12:14] with God all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that [12:18] was made. [12:19] In him was life and the life was the light of men. [12:23] And verse 4 is this amazing claim that Jesus when he came he brought eternal life. [12:30] He brought that which was real life with him.

[12:35] But then what John says in 1 John chapter 1 he says which we have heard, which we have [12:41] seen with our own eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning [12:47] the word of life. [12:49] So Jesus brings what is real life with him and then he exhibits that life. [12:54] He heals the sick. [12:55] He makes the crippled to walk.

[12:58] He does miracles but then ultimately he does the greatest miracle that anyone has ever [13:03] seen. [13:03] He under his own power rises from the dead. [13:07] So what John is writing here he is saying I was a witness to these things. [13:12] And then he says not only that but I saw him risen and then kind of referring to doubting [13:17] Thomas when Jesus has come and see the scars touch my wounded side.

[13:22] We touched an energized dead man. [13:27] That Jesus came back to life and we experienced that. [13:31] He isn’t just theoretically God. [13:34] He did things that only God could do. [13:38] Then ultimately the apostle John watches Jesus ascend into heaven physically.

[13:46] If you see that you may have something to talk about later on. [13:50] And that is what John is saying here. [13:53] He is saying I heard it. [13:54] I saw it. [13:55] I touched the guy. [13:56] I think he is God.

[13:59] And thirdly Jesus shows what real and eternal life with God are. [14:06] When John 1-4 states that in Jesus was life and that life would lead men as a light into [14:11] what the legitimate purpose for life exists for. [14:14] John is saying that as he walked through this earth we view him as an example for what a [14:20] legitimate life looks like. [14:23] That naturally left to ourselves we do not live as God would have us to live.

[14:31] No. [14:32] We waste time. [14:35] We waste effort. [14:36] We waste energy. [14:38] We pursue life in other places.

[14:44] And so what John is saying here is that when Jesus came he confronted us with what real [14:51] life looks like and it is only found in him. [14:56] So he gives us eternal life by showing that he has power over death. [15:03] And then he gives us a meaningful life in the here and in the now by showing us what [15:10] it is that we exist for and what it is that we are to do with our lives. [15:14] The negative side of this is an assumption that there was no light leading men and there

[15:19] is no light that can lead men apart from Jesus. [15:23] Any other way is simply a stumbling in the dark down a path of illegitimacy. [15:28] Only Jesus has life. [15:31] And so what we often do is we believe that but then we walk down the pursuits that we [15:36] see most beneficial to us.

[15:41] That is not faith. [15:44] Faith is coming into contact with Jesus, trusting he is who he said he is because of what he [15:52] did and then rearranging and repenting of a life of meaninglessness and pursuing a [15:58] life that shows faith in him. [16:03] And that leads to the fourth thing that you see in these first two verses and that is [16:06] that these realities change the way life is lived.

[16:10] John believes that Jesus is God and that if that is true the only possibility is that [16:16] all of life undergoes a revolution in order to live as if he is God and nothing else is.

[16:23] See what we see in the metaphor that James shared with us earlier about selling all [16:27] that we have and buying the entire field is that is the value of Jesus. [16:33] That is the value of knowing God. [16:37] That it is greater than everything else that we have and no matter what we have to endure [16:42] to write the ship of our lives to live for that which actually has purpose, that which [16:47] is only found in Jesus Christ is worth undergoing because in him is life and nowhere else can

[16:54] life be found. [16:57] Everything else is just stumbling in the dark. [16:59] Death upon death upon death upon death. [17:02] But while we will assent Jesus as God we just pursue what we want and hope he gives [17:08] it to us when in the end if he does it will lead us straight to hell.

[17:13] That in Jesus alone is life and anything that will hinder us from knowing him, from following [17:21] him and loving him is not simply worth sacrificing. [17:26] It is a glad sacrifice because we believe he is the greatest treasure of all time. [17:33] And fifthly these realities change the way that you speak. [17:39] Notice in verse 2 that he says we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the [17:48] eternal life.

[17:50] That term proclaim is the same word for report. [17:54] What it is, it is news that is being shared about what has done. [17:59] And so what John obviously understands is that not only is it going to change my actions [18:05] but one aspect of that is going to be that I have to testify to what Jesus has done. [18:11] Because he brings life and so when we naturally find that which offers life to everyone we [18:17] take it to others and we proclaim it to others because it has so overwhelmed our lives that

[18:24] it is the most important thing to us.

[18:28] Because that is what we talk about right? [18:31] We talk about the things that interest us, we communicate about the things that have [18:35] our passions and our affections. [18:38] So what John is talking about here is that it is going to change your life so much so [18:42] that you cannot help but speak of the glories of God. [18:46] I don’t know about you but if one of you rose from the dead I might tell someone.

[18:50] I might start talking about it. [18:52] I hope you don’t want me to keep it secret because man I have loose lips. [18:55] They are going to go to others. [18:59] But here is the reality.

[19:02] How often do you speak of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? [19:05] Because He is the only man that has ever done it. [19:08] And everybody else that did it did it by His power. [19:10] So He is the source of that. [19:12] There is no greater news than this. [19:15] There is no greater passion than this.

[19:18] Everything else is a less than news.

[19:22] Jesus should command every part of our lives especially that which we communicate to others.

[19:33] Secondly this morning I want to get into verses 3 and 4 and that is where we are going to stay the rest of the time. [19:39] In verse 3, that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you. [19:44] So that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the Father [19:50] and with His Son Jesus Christ. [19:52] And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. [19:57] There are two terms in there that I am going to spend the rest of our time together unpacking.

[20:03] The first one is fellowship and the second one is joy. [20:06] That is what I am going to focus on because that is really the predominant message in these two verses is fellowship and joy. [20:14] And what He is telling us number one is that real joy can only be found in fellowship with God. [20:20] Real joy can only be found in fellowship with God. [20:24] It can’t be found anywhere else. [20:26] It is what commands His life.

[20:28] If you came in here this morning and you are trying to understand what Christian life is all about. [20:33] What is it at its core? [20:35] Here it is. [20:36] Fellowship with God is the essence of Christian life. [20:40] Fellowship with God is the essence of Christian life. [20:43] There are two aspects to that fellowship that is going to give us joy.

[20:47] The first one is the predominant one. [20:49] It is the superior one. [20:50] It is the overarching theme of Genesis through Revelation. [20:53] The entire arc of scripture is obsessed with fellowship with God. [20:58] And that is what is going to drive life according to verses one through four here. [21:02] Is that we know who God is.

[21:05] Everything that Jesus did and the light that He brought to lead people to redemption was for the purpose of reconciling people with God. [21:12] True relational unity is only possible with God. [21:20] Ultimately because that is what we were created for. [21:23] If you look back to the Genesis account of creation. [21:25] Humanity was created to be connected relationally to God. [21:31] And when we disconnect ourselves with that through sin.

[21:36] We cannot hope to have the life that we were designed to live. [21:40] That is why we pursue so many other things other than God. [21:44] Because we are sinful. [21:45] And we are disconnected from God. [21:47] But Jesus came to reunite us with God with a fellowship that is completely the way that we were designed to have it. [21:56] When Jesus takes our sin to the cross.

[21:59] He takes that which separates us from God and gives us His fellowship with God. [22:05] So that we can go through life with the greatest treasure of all time. [22:08] And that is a reconciled relationship with God. [22:13] That is what fellowship is all about. [22:16] But then secondly He talks about fellowship with others. [22:20] Notice in verse 3 here is what He said.

[22:22] He says that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you. [22:25] So that you too may have fellowship with us. [22:30] But He gives us a very important thing here. [22:32] He says so that you too may have. [22:35] It is a very important phrase. [22:37] What it means is that without the faith of the one to whom John is writing being in Jesus.

[22:43] Then fellowship with them will not happen.

[22:48] Here is how we unpack that. [22:50] Our relationships with others. [22:53] If you have faith in Jesus that is what defines you. [22:59] That is what your identity is in. [23:03] And so relationships then tend to be about what we have in common. [23:07] And so if the most important identifying thing in your life is Jesus Christ.

[23:15] Then it is not possible for you to have completely united fellowship with people who are not following Jesus. [23:26] The only way that that can change is if either A. [23:32] That person comes to faith in Jesus or B. [23:35] Your life ceases to be about Jesus. [23:37] And you begin to find a commonality around something else. [23:42] True fellowship between the follower of Jesus is only possible if it is about Jesus.

[23:52] But the goal here is not segregation. [23:57] So what John is not saying here is that you can’t talk to people who don’t know Jesus. [24:04] [24:06] You can’t have relationships with people who don’t know Jesus. [24:08] No. [24:09] That phrase is so important.

[24:12] So that you too may have. [24:17] What he is saying here is that when you are a follower of Jesus. [24:22] You spend your life pursuing unity with others in Jesus. [24:31] So you seek fellowship with others. [24:34] You pursue others for fellowship. [24:38] But you make the determining factor and the uniting factor of that fellowship.

[24:45] Jesus.

[24:48] When John is writing here the goal is that fellowship. [24:54] And his emphasis is on proclaiming or reporting the reality of that fellowship. [25:02] Because here is the key. [25:04] There is no way if I have faith in Jesus according to scripture. [25:08] For you to stay in a relationship with me and not know that Jesus is the end all be all about me. [25:20] You can’t do it.

[25:22] Because if you get to know me what are you going to get to know? [25:24] Ultimately you want to know the most important thing about me. [25:26] What is the most important thing about me if I am a follower of Jesus? [25:28] Jesus.

[25:30] So here is a question that you have to struggle with. [25:33] John is writing fellowship is about Jesus. [25:37] Not just in a church service. [25:40] Everywhere.

[25:42] So here is the reality. [25:44] Who is in your life that would call that to question about you? [25:50] But that is the most significant thing about you.

[25:54] Fellowship is ultimately a missional thing. [25:58] Because if John writes that we desire for you two to share fellowship with us. [26:05] He then puts this condition on it. [26:09] Look in verse 4. [26:11] And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

[26:21] So John gives us this interesting reality. [26:23] He says I am writing so that you can have fellowship with me. [26:29] Because God understand my fellowship is all about our Lord Jesus Christ. [26:33] He is God. [26:34] He has given me fellowship with him. [26:36] So that is what fellowship is determined by.

[26:38] I am writing so you can have fellowship. [26:40] But then he finishes and he says I am writing so that my joy can be complete. [26:45] By you having fellowship with God.

[26:49] So what he is doing here is he is bringing us into what is the meaning of that term fellowship. [26:57] It is the term koinonia in the Greek. [26:59] And that is just a cool way for me to sound smart. [27:01] And to let you know there can be a few different phrases here. [27:05] Our way of understanding fellowship is really lame. [27:09] Because we can have fellowship about anything.

[27:12] It can be about the traditions that you have.

[27:21] Or you can have a fantasy baseball team. [27:24] And I am experiencing the best fellowship I have ever experienced in my life. [27:27] Because it is all about baseball. [27:28] It can be about Tuesday night bowling night. [27:30] And we have fellowship around a bowling ball. [27:33] We have really watered down the term fellowship.

[27:38] To really make it meaningless in our culture. [27:41] So let’s redeem it right now. [27:43] So let’s deal with what is it really worth. [27:44] [27:44] [27:44]

[27:44] What is fellowship all about? [27:48] Fellowship also means two other words. [27:51] The first one is participation. [27:53] And the second one is partnership. [27:55] So when he says fellowship with God and fellowship with others. [28:00] He is talking about we are participating together.

[28:04] We are made partners on this great purpose that God himself has. [28:09] Because if I am in a loving relationship with God. [28:12] What matters to God matters to me. [28:15] And so I do not come to Jesus and just stay in a stagnant life of being with Jesus. [28:20] No, Jesus is doing something. [28:23] Jesus is moving on a mission of redeeming sinners by his work.

[28:30] So in Philippians chapter 2. [28:33] Paul really unfolds it like this for us. [28:36] He says so if there is any encouragement in Christ. [28:38] Any comfort from love. [28:40] Any participation in the spirit. [28:43] Same word.

[28:46] Any affection and sympathy. [28:48] Complete my joy by being of the same mind. [28:51] Having the same love. [28:53] Being in full accord and of one mind. [28:56] So here is the type of fellowship he is talking about. [28:57] It is a participation in the life and the movements of God.

[29:03] He is writing about the mission of redemption. [29:05] He is saying that those who trust in Jesus will live so others may have that life. [29:11] The only way that will happen is if all of life is united with God’s missional mind set. [29:17] So he is calling us to participate with God.

[29:22] Finally this morning. [29:24] Partnering with God gives a joyful mission. [29:28] Of making others joyful in Jesus. [29:32] That is a big phrase. [29:33] So let’s just talk first about partnering with God gives us a joyful mission. [29:38] What that ultimately means is that joy comes through a life of pursuing God.

[29:44] No one would disagree with that. [29:46] We want God. [29:47] We want to be in a relationship with God. [29:49] We are looking for ways to be in a relationship with God. [29:52] We are pursuing God with our lives. [29:53] What we do though is we go about interesting ways of pursuing that relationship with God.

[29:59] Whether it be heading down a life way, buying the newest best seller with the newest secrets. [30:04] Having a quiet time more. [30:06] Trying to pray before every meal. [30:08] It’s like I want to pursue God. [30:10] All of those things are included. [30:13] Maybe not some of those best sellers.

[30:15] But the scriptures and prayer, those are all included. [30:19] But for the energy and the strength to join God on the pathway that he is headed down. [30:28] Here’s how I want you to understand this. [30:31] If you are married or if you think about marriage or if you have any thoughts about marriage. [30:36] Here’s the reality. [30:37] You cannot have a good relationship with your spouse headed down two different pathways.

[30:45] You can’t head north and your wife heads south. [30:49] And you guys are united. [30:51] You better call the lawyer in that situation or don’t call him, call me. [30:54] And we’ll figure something out. [30:56] But here’s the reality. [30:58] That just doesn’t work when you are on different paths.

[31:01] Here’s what good, united marriage, you’re hand in hand on the same path. [31:06] Scripture says, to become one flesh. [31:09] So you’re heading down the same pathway, united. [31:13] Are there compromises that will happen? Oh yeah. [31:16] Are there sacrifices that both parties will have to make? [31:19] You betcha. Especially husbands.

[31:21] But you are headed down a path together, united. [31:29] And that is the only way to participate in one another’s lives and experience fellowship. [31:38] It’s the same with God. [31:41] For us to pursue God with our lives, we must be on his path. [31:49] Will that require sacrifices of you? Absolutely. [31:55] Will it require sacrifices of him?

[31:57] The cross of Jesus Christ.

[32:01] You see friends, true unity is about participation in the life and purposes of God as he is on his mission of redeeming sinners. [32:11] Pursuing other people’s joy then, in Jesus, is the only faithful response to Jesus. [32:21] See, if you are going to follow Jesus, it is on a path of redeeming other people. [32:27] And so when Jesus calls us to joy, he calls us to fill our joy with the same thing that he is filling his joy with. [32:36] And that is the redemption of other people. [32:39] Therefore, life can only find meaning when everything is taken captive to proclaiming Jesus through word and deed to others,

[32:49] so that God can continue the work of redeeming sinners. [32:54] Everything else is ultimately worthless and serves only to reveal a lack of faith.

[33:03] This is how Paul puts it in Acts chapter 20 verse 24, speaking of his own life. [33:08] He says, But I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, [33:21] to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. [33:26] So here is what Paul is saying. [33:27] Paul is saying, The only true joy that I can pursue with any meaning in this life is to be used by God to show the truth of his gospel of grace to a world that desperately needs it. [33:44] Paul is not masochistic.

[33:49] Paul is seeking joy with reckless abandon. [33:55] The only joy that exists through faith in Jesus is to follow after Jesus, to join him in his mission, and to say, Yes, Father, what matters to you is ultimately that which matters to me, [34:10] and I must then sacrifice everything that would keep me from joy,

[34:17] which is what we think we’re doing when we lie to ourselves and pursue other things that are less than Jesus. [34:27] We think we’re chasing after joy, but we have been deceived. [34:34] Finally, pursuing other people’s joy in Jesus is the only real love. [34:43] It’s the only real love. [34:47] It’s not loving to know the truth of eternal life in Jesus and not take it to others. [34:52] The scriptures reveal that salvation is only available in Jesus.

[34:55] He is God, and in love, he comes to save us from eternal death in order to give us eternal life. [35:01] This is what John is writing about. [35:04] In that mindset, if I have any love in me for others, it is then lived in light of this reality. [35:12] Real love is always seeking another person’s joy in Jesus. [35:18] There is no other love around that’s real. [35:23] Here’s the reality.

[35:25] If I do not seek my wife’s joy in Jesus, if I know that apart from that, you’re headed for the wrath of God, [35:37] if I know that apart from that, there is no hope, and I spend my life not sharing that with her, do I love her?

[35:47] What about my children? [35:48] If I know redemption is found only in Jesus, [35:51] if I know that without him, they will live lives of counterfeit evil and head straight for the wrath of God, [35:57] apart from the hope that is found in Jesus, do I love my children?

[36:03] You cannot, as a follower of Jesus, proclaim to love anyone,

[36:11] if you do not live to give them the joy that is in Jesus Christ. [36:16] Real life and real love is about the exchange of the joy that two people are sharing in Jesus Christ.

[36:30] That is the only love that legitimately matches the scope of the story of Scripture and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [36:39] To follow Jesus is to pursue the joy of others in Jesus, because that is God’s pursuit in this present world.

[36:51] I cannot beg you enough to stop following counterfeit joys. [37:01] But then ultimately, as a follower of Jesus Christ, I plead with you to love others.

[37:12] Because loving others is you finding joy in God and then saying, [37:19] if God is right now in pursuit of redeeming others for his joy, [37:25] the scripture tells us that he is, that it is God’s joy to redeem sinners. [37:31] That means that the joy of Jesus is right now incomplete and he is pursuing it in his mission of redeeming sinners. [37:41] And so if I trust in him, then what I am saying is that my joy is incomplete. [37:46] That is what John is saying in verse 4.

[37:48] When he says, so that our joy may be complete, he is inferring that his joy is incomplete. [37:57] And that in pursuing God, he is pursuing joy by pursuing other people with the Gospel of Jesus, so that they may have joy.

[38:10] Love is the beautiful exchange of joy in Jesus from life to life.

[38:19] It is the only one that exists, because it is the way that God designed us.

[38:27] Because ultimately I believe that if you do not have faith in Jesus, that you are dead in your sin, [38:33] and headed towards not eternal life, but eternal death apart from God, [38:38] and you need to turn from your sin and trust in Jesus, that is the only hope that you ever have of having real joy.

[38:49] It is what we want, because it is what we spend our lives pursuing, [38:53] but God has designed us so that the tank of our joy can only be found complete and can only be filled by him. [39:05] It is the only one that exists. [39:08] And I tell you last week, I was so thankful that God has used us so that others can have joy.

[39:19] And it begins to complete my joy.

[39:24] Jesus is inviting us on a path of real joy. [39:28] And he calls his church together to have fellowship with one another while we pursue that joy. [39:39] As the band comes up, the reality this morning is every week we proclaim the death of our Lord Jesus through communion, through the Lord’s Supper.

[39:56] The juice represents the shed blood of Jesus, and the bread represents his broken body. [40:03] But this morning, it is so interesting, when we enter into a book like this, [40:06] and we are on this path for the next 12 weeks of really the spiritual life boot camp,

[40:14] and we look in this, and what we see is this great metaphor, this great representation of what Jesus did for our joy. [40:24] He is not inviting you into a life this morning of misery. [40:30] He is not inviting you into a life this morning of really just throwing off that which is really going to make you happy, [40:37] and pursuing that which is going to make you really sad. [40:40] In faith, I trust that for the joy set before him, in my joy, Jesus shed his blood. [40:49] His body was broken on the cross.

[40:54] And if you do not know him this morning, I want to invite you here and now today to know Jesus Christ, [41:01] to know the joy that is in the life of God. [41:05] Because ultimately, I so want your joy.

[41:10] I so want you to have joy. [41:13] I plead with you to have joy, because it gives me joy. [41:20] It gives me such great joy.

[41:24] And this morning, we are all in here, and we are all carrying some kind of counterfeit joy that we are pursuing with our lives. [41:32] Something that we are wasting our time in an eternity. [41:34] It is just not going to matter.

[41:38] And if you are a follower of Jesus, I invite you to come forward today in just a moment in one of the stations around the room. [41:45] And I want you to metaphorically, I want you to bring that false joy with you. [41:51] And when you take the cup, when you take the bread, I want you to offer it to him. [41:56] You say, God, take this from me. [41:58] Give me more joy in you, because it is better. [42:00] Because he is.

[42:01] He is so much better. [42:03] He is life. [42:05] It doesn’t get better. [42:08] If you are not a follower today, and something that has come from God’s Word has kind of pricked your heart, [42:14] and you are just sitting there, and you have doubts, you don’t think you have that joy. [42:19] You want to know Jesus.

[42:20] You want joy. [42:21] Well, I invite you this morning in faith to come. [42:23] And I would love to talk to you about it. [42:26] There will be people in the foyer that would love to talk to you about it. [42:30] I am not going to embarrass you. [42:31] I just want your joy.

[42:36] When you are ready, come.