A Joyful Community.

Steve Gentry

[0:01] All right, go ahead and have a seat. [0:02] Welcome to Village Church. [0:04] If this is your first time here, my name’s Steve. [0:06] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church, and as always, I’m glad someone showed up. [0:11] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Matthew chapter 13 this morning. [0:15] We’re going to be in verse 44.

[0:17] We’re also going to be elsewhere in Scripture, so if you want to hold your finger over in [0:21] Luke 6 verse 22, feel free to do that. [0:25] It’ll also be on the screen behind me. [0:27] Two things before we start this morning. [0:30] The first thing is, I am struggling to speak, so be forgiving this morning, especially [0:37] if this is your first time here.

[0:38] I don’t normally sound like this. [0:40] I may sound like this forever. [0:41] I have no idea, but be a little forgiving this morning if I start to lose my voice [0:47] throughout the morning. [0:48] The second thing is, I want to invite all of you back to come this evening at 5.30 [0:53] for something that we call Theology Matters.

[0:55] This is something that we try to do every other month or so, and what it is, it is a [1:01] time for a little bit of a deeper teaching in God’s Word about theological topics. [1:06] And tonight, we’re going to start a teaching on the nine traits of the Reformed tradition. [1:12] Now, I get lots of questions about Reformed theology all the time. [1:15] What does that mean? [1:16] What does it mean that you consider yourself a Reformed Baptist church?

[1:19] Tonight, we’re going to kind of give an introduction to that topic and talk specifically about [1:25] what kind of culture does the Reformed tradition call us into and call us to form, and what [1:31] happens when you begin to see God’s Word in the Reformed tradition. [1:37] We’re going to cover the first four this evening, and then we’re going to cover the next five [1:42] next month on March the 19th. [1:44] That’ll be a Sunday evening at 5.30 as well.

[1:48] There was no way I could get through nine points in one week, as I barely get through [1:53] three every week. [1:54] So I split them up into two different categories for this week, but that’s tonight at 5.30. [2:00] There will be Q&A following that. [2:04] So if you have any questions about the Reformed tradition, Reformed theology, prepare those [2:08] so that tonight you can start sending those in during the teaching over text message,

[2:13] and we will have a great time of teaching this evening. [2:17] But for our specific purpose today, we’re on week five of a series titled Gospel-Centered [2:23] Community. [2:23] And what that is, is that we are talking about what type of community is God seeking to form [2:30] through the local church of Jesus Christ. [2:33] And so the first question that you really have to ask is, well, how do you form a Gospel-Centered

[2:39] community? [2:40] So it’s important that you begin with the Gospel, in forming a Gospel-Centered community. [2:45] And we spent the first four weeks sort of unpacking what it means to form a Gospel-Centered [2:51] community and what is the Gospel. [2:54] And when you form a community yourself, understand with your preferences, with your tastes, with [3:01] everything that you want a community to look like, it’s probably not naturally going to

[3:06] be about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [3:09] And that’s why it’s very important for us to form an understanding and a basis of what [3:15] the Gospel is for us to ever get to a Gospel-Centered community. [3:18] Of all of the criticisms and critiques and thoughts on what communities should look [3:24] like that we receive here as elders of the church, I want to be honest with you, 75% [3:30] of them have nothing to do with the Gospel.

[3:32] Probably a higher number than that. [3:35] Most of the things that we get are preferential criticisms, or kind of personality-based critiques. [3:45] And so what I want us to understand going into the next few weeks, when we start talking [3:50] about what specific traits do we need to put into practice in our lives to have a Gospel-Centered [3:56] community, I want you to understand that the sole desire that we have for our community [4:02] is for it to be Gospel-Centered.

[4:04] We can debate preferences, we can debate practices, we can debate personality types, all that [4:12] we want to and never get to a conclusion. [4:15] But there is one non-negotiable, and that is that everything that we do as a community, [4:22] for it to be from God, and for it to be something that emerges out of the culture that His [4:29] Word is seeking to form, it has to be about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [4:34] And when you build a foundation of the Gospel, what you tend to see happen down the road

[4:39] is you start repenting of your preferences.

[4:44] You start repenting of desiring for everyone to have the exact same personality that you [4:49] have. [4:50] Because what you’ve done is, is you have built an ethic and you have built a culture [4:56] of basing everything off of the Gospel. [4:59] And so what happens is, is that your preferences and your personality and everything that you’re [5:04] that you think you want begins to become more formed to be like who Jesus is more than

[5:12] it is about who you think you are. [5:16] Because who you think you are without Jesus is a sinner. [5:20] Is someone who at best, every preference that you have is flawed. [5:25] Every desire that you have is radically corrupt. [5:29] And so when the Gospel comes in, it begins to form for you new desires, changed lifestyle, [5:38] and an understanding that everything that you’re trying to do with this group of people

[5:42] that you gather with, or this local church that you are building, has to be based on [5:46] something outside of you, because it is someone outside of you that had to save you. [5:52] Therefore, you are not the center of the community, nor are you the hope of the community. [5:58] And some of us kind of bring that kind of subconscious thread into community. [6:02] We talked about that the last two weeks. [6:05] Just this desire of I’m going to make it happen, just this desire of I’m going to fix all

[6:09] the problems, just this thought that I’m going to be the basis of change for everyone around [6:13] here, aren’t they lucky that I showed up.

[6:17] And while it is important to be a type of change agent, it’s not the type of change [6:21] agent that’s about you. [6:23] It’s the type of change agent that is obsessed with the truth of who Jesus is and what Jesus [6:29] has taught you through His Word. [6:32] And so, understand that Jesus calls us to build a new type of community based on faith [6:40] in Him and faith in Him alone.

[6:43] And that’s what we saw last week when we started talking about faith working through love in [6:47] our community. [6:48] That this is about Jesus and it is not about any less or more than who He is and what [6:56] He desires. [6:58] And so today we’re going to transition into kind of what is the second half of this series, [7:03] and that is what are the marks of a gospel centered community.

[7:08] What are the specific things that you can point at and you can reflect on to say these [7:14] are the traits that a gospel centered community should have. [7:19] And the first characteristic of that is joy. [7:22] That God is seeking to build a joyful community. [7:27] So number one in that, understand that a gospel centered community is marked by joy. [7:33] It is marked by joy.

[7:36] And what that means is that God’s people ought to be joyful. [7:40] They ought to be a people defined by joy. [7:45] And so that begs a very important question. [7:48] Because if I went through this room and I just said point blank, what is joy?

[7:54] The definitions would abound. [7:57] And I would probably have a headache at the end of it.

[8:02] What is joy? [8:04] Is it being happy all the time? [8:08] I sure hope not. [8:11] Is it being totally free of anything unpleasant entering my life? [8:16] I sure hope not. [8:19] Does it mean I have to walk around with a smile on my face all the time?

[8:23] I’m sore just thinking about it.

[8:29] And so what I want to do this morning is I want us to kind of just come together [8:33] and I want everybody just to have this kumbaya moment where you just agree with me [8:37] whether you agree with me or not. [8:41] I want you to agree with me that you have a faulty understanding of what joy is. [8:49] You have a faulty understanding of what joy is. [8:51] And the reason I think I can say this with any kind of inkling of knowing what I’m talking about

[8:55] is that in talking with people about their relationship with Jesus, [8:59] which I tend to do a lot,

[9:03] a key flaw that I see in everyone’s life with Christ [9:09] is that you’re not seeking what real joy is. [9:12] You’re seeking a type of joy, [9:16] but you’re not seeking joy defined by the Scriptures. [9:19] You’re not basing happiness on what the Bible bases happiness on. [9:27] And so what I want to do is I want to begin this morning by unpacking what is joy

[9:32] because if we are seeking to have a gospel-centered community, [9:37] we must have a gospel-centered definition of what a joyful community will look like. [9:44] Because I think most of us, [9:46] we either think that a joyful community is the least attractive thing in the world [9:52] because it’s a group of people that smile all the time, [9:56] are happy all the time,

[9:58] pretend there’s no problems in this world, [10:01] or you think that joy is something that’s in opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ. [10:08] And so you think that joy means that you’re going to walk into a group of people that are sad all the time, [10:13] that are depressed all the time, [10:16] that are denying themselves pleasure all the time. [10:20] And so it’s neither of those things.

[10:23] Because real joy is ultimately found only in the gospel, [10:28] and real joy is something that does coincide with what real life is all about [10:33] and what happens to you in absolutely every day in your life. [10:38] And I think Jesus has a great parable for us to begin to build an ethic of what joy really is. [10:44] And here’s what Jesus says in Matthew 13, 44.

[10:51] He says,

[11:07] What a strange story. [11:10] What a strange idea. [11:12] That joy would send you and compel you to sell everything that you have [11:19] in order to receive a field that has one treasure inside of it. [11:27] Now understand that what Jesus is doing in Matthew 13, 44 is he’s telling what is most commonly called a parable. [11:34] And these parables were stories with an underlying meaning about the gospel and the kingdom of God.

[11:40] And this particular parable, this particular story, is a parable that Jesus told about joy. [11:48] There’s a man who finds a great treasure in a field, he reburies that treasure, [11:53] then he goes and he sells all of his earthly possessions, [11:57] and he returns to buy the entire field so that he can be insured to have that treasure that gives him ultimate joy. [12:07] Now this is not a story about personal finance. [12:12] Understand that.

[12:13] So he’s not telling you what to do with your finances.

[12:17] Nor is it a story about any type of ethic. [12:19] Because some of you may say, well, how rude of him to bury that treasure. [12:22] He should have shared it with his friends. [12:25] You’re missing the point. [12:27] This is a parable about joy. [12:31] And what Jesus is doing here is he is connecting joy with value.

[12:38] Now this man values the treasure to the extent that in joy he sacrifices everything that he has [12:47] so that he can guarantee that he can’t lose that treasure.

[12:54] So the question that arises out of me is what is it that robs us of joy? [12:59] Well, based on this parable, I would say that the thing that would rob you of joy is either losing something that you value [13:08] or not being able to gain what you value. [13:14] Because what he’s doing by selling all of his possessions, he’s saying that the joy that he found in that treasure [13:21] is more valuable than any other possession that he has. [13:26] So his values system has changed.

[13:29] At one time, he valued all of his possessions and nothing convinced him that there was anything more valuable than what he already had [13:37] because he hadn’t sold it. [13:39] But now, something new has come into his life so that he finds such a greater value in this treasure than anything else [13:48] that he will do anything. [13:50] He will sacrifice anything. [13:53] He will depart with anything that he has in his life so that he can have that treasure.

[14:03] According to 17th century expositor Matthew Henry, he says that in this parable, Jesus’ point is that he is the treasure. [14:12] And the field around the treasure is the gospel. [14:16] Jesus is of such great value that our desire for him is so great that it is a joy to have him above absolutely everything else in your life. [14:35] And so the fact of the gospel is the reason for joy. [14:41] But having joy and living a joyful life is the effect of knowing the gospel, believing the gospel, and knowing that you have Jesus Christ in your life. [14:59] Here’s how the apostle Paul puts value in Philippians chapter 3 verse 8.

[15:03] He says,

[15:24] You see, friend, in comparison to knowing Jesus, everything else in this world seems to have much less value. [15:35] Therefore, the greatest joy that can be known in this life is to gain Jesus, even if it comes at the cost of absolutely everything else in your life. [15:46] And in this sense, joy is about obtaining what you value the most. [15:54] And so if you have an understanding of faith in Jesus Christ that points you to a place that it is about the absence of pleasure, [16:02] or that it is about the absence of joy, I would say that you do not have a biblical understanding of what Christianity is calling you towards, [16:11] nor do you have a biblical understanding of what pleasure and joy are all about.

[16:16] As John MacArthur once facetiously put it, he says that if you think sin is fun, you ought to try holiness.

[16:24] He’s saying that our understanding of what joy is, our understanding of fun, our understanding of happiness, is deeply flawed at an eternal level. [16:35] That we tend to measure those things by a basic human understanding, rather than an eternal understanding of the God who designed us, [16:45] and the God who understands us more fully than we understand ourselves. [16:49] So if we talk about joy to the Christian, we are talking about Jesus. [16:56] You see, where the parable is only communicating one aspect of the Gospel, though, is in how we get that joy.

[17:04] See, Jesus earns the treasure for us. [17:09] He gives of Himself to us that we may have the treasure. [17:13] Therefore, we can have ultimate joy. [17:16] Why? [17:17] Because we cannot lose it. [17:21] Because it’s something that’s secure.

[17:23] Because it’s something that’s not based on me. [17:26] It’s not based on you. [17:28] It’s based fully on what Jesus has done, and fully on what Jesus has restored to you. [17:35] And so this is where Gospel joy and human happiness, or our understanding of human happiness, typically part ways. [17:43] You see, typical human definitions of happiness are subjective and change with the weather. [17:52] They change with our mood.

[17:55] It changes with how I felt when I woke up this morning, or how someone treated me throughout my day, [18:02] or how much I thought someone thought about me, or how much I thought someone didn’t think about me, [18:07] how much I got out of something, how I felt about something. [18:11] That’s typically how we gauge happiness. [18:14] But Gospel joy is eternal and it is secure because Jesus has purchased that field for us. [18:24] So therefore, understand, our community can be marked by joy because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[18:32] And what I’m saying is, is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is sufficient.

[18:38] Nothing else is needed for joy.

[18:41] Nothing else is needed in your life for you to have real, lasting, eternal joy. [18:49] That is what Jesus is saying. [18:51] That’s what the Apostle Paul echoed in Philippians chapter 3. [18:56] And so, number two this morning, understand that a lack of joy is a Gospel issue. [19:03] It is a Gospel issue. [19:05] Friend, make no doubt.

[19:09] I understand that a sinful world can rob you of joy. [19:18] And that is a sin. [19:21] Let me repeat myself. [19:23] A sinful world can rob you of joy. [19:29] And that is a sin. [19:31] What I mean by that is that faith in Jesus produces a life of joy.

[19:38] It is a natural attribute of faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [19:46] So in speaking of the effects of trusting in Jesus, [19:49] Paul writes the kind of famous fruits of the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22. [19:55] Here’s what he says. [19:56] He says that of these fruits, the fruit of the Spirit is love. [20:01] Remember that? How faith creates love last week.

[20:05] Joy.

[20:08] So he’s saying that a fruit, an aspect, an outpouring of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, [20:17] which the Holy Spirit in your life is something that Jesus gifts you at the moment of salvation, [20:24] is not something you have to wait for down the road as Pentecostalism teaches, [20:29] which is a false teaching. [20:32] The Holy Spirit is a gift that God gives you at the moment of salvation. [20:35] What he’s saying is, is when you have the Holy Spirit,

[20:39] you will bear fruits of the Holy Spirit, and it will bear love. [20:43] But then for our purposes this morning, it will bear joy. [20:48] Not maybe. [20:50] Not it could happen. [20:53] Not if you ever get around to it. [20:55] Not if all the unpleasant things come out of your life.

[20:59] Not if everything that you ever want to happen in your life springs true.

[21:09] But it’s the gift of God into your life. [21:11] And it’s a fruit that God naturally will produce through the presence of the Holy Spirit [21:15] and the life of every single Christian. [21:19] So, this unshaking secret treasure belongs to you in Jesus. [21:28] It has been gifted into your life. [21:30] Therefore, to have the greatest gift and be completely secure in it,

[21:37] and to not have joy, is unthinkable. [21:42] It doesn’t make any sense. [21:45] You see, to be a Christian and not have joy is sin. [21:48] But you may retort. [21:50] And I like to kind of assume your retorts.

[21:54] But the world is a sad place with tragedy and turmoil. [22:00] You see, the things going on in my life are great evidence of that. [22:05] If you only knew what I was going through, you would understand why it’s not a sin that I don’t have joy. [22:11] Why it’s understandable that I have joy. [22:13] Why me and God are on the same wavelength and I’m the exception to his rule.

[22:19] You are not. [22:21] You see, while the world is a hard place, [22:26] because of the curse of sin, the world is a dark place. [22:29] And I don’t doubt that you have pain in your life. [22:32] I’m not telling you to deny that. [22:34] I’m not telling you you don’t have hard things going on in your life.

[22:38] If I went, every single person, all of you have, from one degree to another, [22:43] hard things going on in your life that are real, [22:47] that are undeniable, [22:48] that you need to admit, [22:50] that you need to believe they’re there. [22:54] You should not deny that they’re there.

[22:56] But the reason for it is the curse of sin. [23:01] That is the reason for it. [23:04] So if you, Christian, have the treasure that conquers sin, [23:10] if you have the cure for the curse that ails this society, [23:15] that gives you a secure and future hope in the Kingdom of God, [23:19] then you will have joy.

[23:24] And that is the role of faith in your life. [23:29] See, in 1 Peter chapter 1, starting in verse 8, [23:33] the Apostle Peter marks that it is our faith in what God has done and will do [23:39] that marks our life with a joy that is inexpressible [23:42] because of its size and scope. [23:47] He’s saying that faith is the root of that joy.

[23:52] He says, you don’t see Him, but you love Him. [23:55] You don’t know Him, but you believe in Him. [23:58] And you rejoice with joy that is what? [24:01] It is inexpressible and filled with glory. [24:08] Why?

[24:10] See, I love that verse. [24:12] I love the verses that use the type of language that I’m like, [24:16] I don’t even know what that means. [24:19] I can’t sit here right now and say, [24:22] man, I totally understand what it means that it’s inexpressible and filled with glory. [24:28] Why?

[24:29] Because it’s inexpressible. [24:31] I can’t express it. [24:33] It just goes with the Word. [24:36] If you can’t express it, you can’t express it. [24:39] But how could I have that type of joy? [24:44] Because I believe, I have faith that I will,

[24:49] verse 9, obtain the outcome of my faith. [24:55] The salvation of your souls.

[25:01] See, everything for the believer is rooted in faith. [25:07] He says, you haven’t seen God? [25:10] He says, you’ve never sat down and had a face-to-face conversation with Him in His presence, [25:15] but you believe. [25:16] Why? [25:17] Through Jesus.

[25:19] And in that, no matter what comes in your life, [25:21] because in 1 Peter, the context is, [25:23] He’s speaking to the persecuted church, [25:26] people whose persecution has been so severe, [25:28] they’ve been uprooted from their homes, [25:30] and they’ve had to be exiles into a country that was not their home.

[25:34] And He says, even in light of this, [25:36] you have a joy that’s inexpressible and filled with glory. [25:39] That sounds like a pretty bad state of affairs, [25:41] but He’s saying because of faith, they have real joy.

[25:46] And so Peter’s saying that regardless of the circumstances of your life, [25:49] if you have Jesus, you can have real joy. [25:54] But He’s going a step further than can. [25:58] He’s going a step further than you may.

[26:03] You must have joy. [26:07] You must. [26:09] You must. [26:10] It’s not a non-negotiable. [26:12] It’s not something that you can get around to. [26:15] It’s something that you must have,

[26:17] or you are in sin against the Gospel, [26:20] and it is saying something about your lack of faith.

[26:24] That is why in the midst of tragedy, [26:28] in the midst of illness, [26:29] a Christian can say in truth, [26:33] it has not taken my joy. [26:37] Why? My joy is secure. [26:39] My joy is in Jesus.

[26:40] My joy is in the gift. [26:41] My joy is irrevocable. [26:44] My joy is something that this world cannot take, [26:47] that sin cannot take, [26:48] the curse cannot take. [26:50] It is mine.

[26:51] First, because joy isn’t dependent on you. [26:58] Whew, thank God.

[27:02] Thank God. [27:03] It’s not dependent on me. [27:05] It is God’s joy. [27:07] It is a gift of God. [27:09] It is based solely on Him. [27:12] Second, because no matter what this life costs you,

[27:17] no matter what this life takes from you, [27:20] the gift of Jesus is secure. [27:25] The kingdom is coming. [27:28] We will obtain the outcome of our faith, [27:32] the salvation of our souls.

[27:38] That is why in the life of a believer in Jesus, [27:41] the devil can hit us hard, [27:43] sin can hit us hard, [27:45] this world can hit us hard, [27:48] but it can never have my joy. [27:51] And in the end, because of the wonderful sovereignty of God,

[27:54] every ounce of suffering, every ounce of pain, [27:57] every ounce of loss, everything this world has cost me, [27:59] in the words of Tbeedi Anya Abule, [28:01] all of that is a slave to God [28:04] to make His purposes for my good to happen.

[28:09] Nothing can take away the joy of God in my life. [28:14] But do not fall for the lie [28:18] that this is about smiles.

[28:22] That is not what this is about. [28:25] This isn’t about denying pain.

[28:28] This isn’t about painting a smile on your face, [28:32] and it certainly isn’t about you judging someone [28:35] based on mere facial expressions. [28:39] Those things can lie, and they often do. [28:44] See, Jesus commanded in Luke 6 [28:46] that the life of following Him will cost us much.

[28:50] But we should rejoice and leap with joy. [28:53] Why? [28:55] Why? [28:57] Our reward. [28:59] Jesus, His kingdom, secure in glory. [29:02] Look at what Jesus says in Luke 6.

[29:04] He says, bless her, you, when people hate you. [29:07] Well, that doesn’t feel very good, does it? [29:10] It’s not one of those stupid movies [29:12] where the bad guy’s like, bring on the hate. [29:15] It makes me feel good. [29:17] I don’t care who you are.

[29:18] It doesn’t feel good. [29:20] If it does, I need to refer you to a professional counselor.

[29:26] Bless her, you, when people hate you, [29:27] when they exclude you. [29:29] FOMO, fear of missing out.

[29:32] Revile you. [29:34] Spurn your name as evil

[29:39] on account of the Son of Man. [29:42] See, that part’s pretty important. [29:44] Some of y’all just jerks. [29:46] People don’t like you because you’re a jerk. [29:48] All right, so stop being a jerk. [29:51] It needs to be on account of the Son of Man.

[29:53] But know what He says. [29:55] But look at what He says.

[29:59] Rejoice.

[30:01] What?

[30:05] That’s crazy. [30:05] No, it’s faith. [30:07] He says, rejoice in that day, [30:09] and then He takes it a step further. [30:11] Jesus, wacky. [30:12] And leap for joy.

[30:16] I tried in middle school, didn’t work out very well. [30:19] All right, I’m a big boy. [30:22] All right. [30:23] Y’all think I got big. [30:24] I was always big. [30:25] I don’t know how it happened.

[30:27] All right. [30:30] He says, leap for joy. [30:32] Why? [30:33] For behold, [30:35] He says, step back, [30:37] take a look at truth.

[30:39] Your reward is great in heaven, [30:41] for so their fathers did to the prophets. [30:44] You see, friends, [30:46] we need to repent towards joy. [30:48] We need to turn towards it. [30:51] We need to, when we have faith in the gospel,

[30:54] we need to believe the truth about our circumstances. [30:58] So, our community should be marked by a joy that is immovable. [31:04] And so, when people gather with us, [31:07] they should notice a difference in us. [31:10] There isn’t despair where it normally would be.

[31:14] All right. [31:15] And here’s a big one for you. [31:16] [31:16] [31:16] [31:16]

[31:16] [31:16] There isn’t a frantic worry

[31:21] where most people would have it.

[31:26] Anxiety [31:28] is replaced [31:29] with trust anticipation [31:32] of God delivering on His promises. [31:37] There is the reality of a hard life. [31:38] There is the reality of cost.

[31:40] There is mourning. [31:43] But there is something that is countercultured. [31:46] [31:46] [31:46] [31:46] There is a cultural about the joy of a follower of Jesus Christ

[31:50] that in the midst of real life, [31:55] these people have joy that is supernatural,

[32:01] unshakable, [32:02] irrevocable, [32:03] unquenchable, [32:05] and a bunch of other words I don’t think of right now. [32:07] Because regardless of the situation, [32:11] you have a field

[32:13] and you have a treasure. [32:15] And you have a place to be. [32:15] And you have a place to be. [32:16] [32:16] [32:16]

[32:16] And that’s been given to you [32:19] by the Creator of all that is.

[32:24] So third this morning, [32:25] understand that resting in the work of Jesus [32:28] in the work of Jesus [32:29] is what produces joy.

[32:33] Resting in the work of Jesus [32:36] is what produces joy.

[32:41] Now here’s what I mean by that. [32:43] Do not allow your joy [32:45] to be dictated by your mood [32:48] or your position [32:51] or your current status [32:54] in this life.

[32:57] But also, [32:59] I want to take it a step further.

[33:02] Do not allow your joy [33:03] to be dictated by the current status [33:05] of your obedience [33:08] or disobedience. [33:11] You say, what? [33:13] Absolutely. Why?

[33:15] [33:15] [33:15]

[33:19] Because you have nothing left to prove. [33:24] That’s why. [33:25] You have nothing left to prove. [33:28] The joy is Jesus. [33:31] Okay, we already built that. [33:33] So if the joy is Jesus

[33:35] and you cannot lose Jesus, [33:40] why would your joy be based on something that’s changeable? [33:45] Why would your joy be based on something that’s changeable? [33:45] Or that’s changing? Why? [33:48] Why? [33:48] Here’s what I want you to understand.

[33:50] If you have faith in Christ,

[33:55] you have all of Christ.

[33:59] Nothing can change that. [34:02] You have no more of Jesus to earn. [34:05] You have none of Jesus to lose. [34:09] You have all of Jesus. [34:11] And here’s why, theologically, [34:12] that’s so important for your life.

[34:15] The Apostle Paul describes it this way. [34:18] He says, we have been justified by faith. [34:22] We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [34:26] Note the importance of the order of words. [34:29] We have been justified by faith.

[34:36] God has once and for all declared you forgiven.

[34:44] God has once and for all pardoned you of your sin. [34:50] And your sin was against him. [34:53] So he had the authority to pardon it. [34:56] You see, that term justified. [34:57] It is a legal declaration by God. [35:01] Because Jesus took the penalty for your sin.

[35:05] And because Jesus rose from the dead, [35:07] winning victory over sin and death. [35:10] And that is why your joy is immovable. [35:11] Do not base your joy on how good or bad you are doing or feeling.

[35:20] Base it on Jesus. [35:22] And that frees you to live.

[35:27] It frees you to have a real life of joy. [35:33] You see, too often our joy goes up and down [35:36] because of some position we have in life [35:39] or don’t have in life [35:41] because we are trying to prove how good we are [35:44] or we are trying to prove how bad we are

[35:46] or we are trying to prove how needy we are [35:49] or we are trying to prove how unneedy we are. [35:53] Wherever you fall in all of these spectrums [35:56] and more than that, [35:58] you need to understand that because of Jesus, [36:02] I am going to personalize this,

[36:03] because of Jesus, I have nothing to prove to you.

[36:09] Because of Jesus, I have nothing to prove to anyone.

[36:16] Because of Jesus, you have nothing to prove to anyone.

[36:25] It is all about Jesus. [36:28] You are free to live in joy. [36:33] Because my joy isn’t based on how anyone feels about me. [36:37] [36:37] Or how anyone doesn’t feel about me. [36:42] My joy is cemented in who Jesus is

[36:46] and what He has done for me. [36:50] And so friend, you are free to live [36:55] because of the joy that you have received from God. [36:58] Not the joy that you can earn from Him.

[37:03] Friend, many of you are on a treadmill of life. [37:07] Trying to earn God’s joy. [37:10] See, if I just read my Bible more, I will get joy. [37:13] If I just pray an extra 10 minutes today, [37:15] God will give me joy. [37:17] I just need to do something to earn God’s joy.

[37:24] It is not working, is it? [37:27] Friend, stop trying to make yourself joyful.

[37:31] Stop trying to earn the right to have joy. [37:38] And receive the gift of joy. [37:45] Because joy comes through faith in Jesus. [37:49] That is where it comes from. [37:52] I see so many of us [37:54] basing our joy in how life is going today.

[38:00] Basing our happiness on things that might not be around tomorrow.

[38:05] Basing our desires on things that are going to rust. [38:10] Things that are going to die with me.

[38:14] Basing our joy on things, [38:16] well I am good enough so God is going to give me joy. [38:20] Number one, no you are not.

[38:24] But number two, God hasn’t required you to be.

[38:28] God has said, number one, you are not. [38:32] And number two, my son Jesus is.

[38:36] And so on the cross, Jesus paid the price for my joy. [38:39] See, you look at it as just the negative. [38:42] That Jesus paid the penalty for your sin, and he did. [38:45] But on the other side of that cross, through the resurrection,

[38:50] Jesus gave you a new life of joy. [38:53] You see, in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1, [38:56] starting in verse 5, the apostle Paul describes it this way. [38:59] He says, our gospel came to you, [39:02] not only in word, but also in power, [39:04] and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction.

[39:08] He says, you know what kind of men we proved to be among you, [39:11] for your sake? [39:12] And you became imitators of us and of the Lord.

[39:18] See, here is the interesting thing, [39:19] I think sometimes we view that word power wrong.

[39:24] You see, we view that word power, [39:25] and we start thinking about, you know, an Avengers movie.

[39:32] You want to see what power is? Look at this.

[39:36] He says, for you received the word [39:39] in much affliction,

[39:44] with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

[39:49] He says, something unique happened among you.

[39:52] He said, Thessalonica. [39:53] He said, we came, proved to be sincere men, [39:57] proved that the gospel was joyful, [39:59] through much power, and what was that power? [40:03] He says, you received the word in the middle [40:06] of affliction,

[40:10] with the joy of the Holy Spirit. [40:12] He’s talking about counter-cultural joy. [40:17] You see, if we want to be a community that is filled with joy, [40:21] then you must be filled with joy. [40:24] Faith in Jesus is the basis for joy. [40:27] He has done all that needs to be done

[40:29] for you to have secure joy in Him. [40:33] And so I ask you this morning, what are you basing your joy in?

[40:38] Does it reveal a life of faith? [40:41] You see, as we join together to build a community [40:44] marked by faith in Jesus, [40:47] we must strive to have joy in Jesus. [40:50] And that is something that the world is indebted to. [40:54] And that is something that you have been gifted

[41:00] by the one true, eternal God. [41:05] As the band comes up, [41:07] friends,

[41:11] I so desperately want us to be a joyful community. [41:15] Sometimes we do pretty good at it. [41:17] Sometimes we don’t do pretty good at it. [41:20] But what I want you to understand this morning [41:21] is how good you are at it or how un-good you are at it. [41:24] I’ll use that word.

[41:27] I won’t use the other one.

[41:30] That’s not the point.

[41:33] The point is, number one, Jesus. [41:36] He has done all that needs to be done for you to be saved. [41:40] And that is a joyful conclusion.

[41:44] But then, number two, He’s gifted you the presence [41:46] of His Holy Spirit into your life. [41:48] And He says, a promise of the presence of the Spirit [41:51] in your life is you will have joy that is unshakable.

[41:57] And today I want us as Christians, [41:59] as followers of Jesus, to express our joy [42:01] in the most unique of ways. [42:04] To reflect on the death of Christ. [42:07] The bread represents His broken body. [42:08] The cup represents His shed blood.

[42:12] See, that’s the price He paid for your joy. [42:14] And when you eat and when you drink, [42:17] you express to everyone around you, [42:20] I have the joy of the Lord.

[42:25] And friends, if you have that, [42:26] if you’ve trusted in Jesus, [42:28] these tables are open for you. Come.