Joy is Coming - Advent

From Repentance to Joy

Ben preached a wonderful message last week on repentance and peace. He explained, for us to experience the peace of God, we have to first experience true repentance. This is a type of preparation to receive, a kind of washing our hands before we feast with the Lord God.

This week of Advent is a week of Joy, it signifies a shift from repentance to excitedly awaiting the coming Lord. It’s a move from washing our hands to feasting with the King. Only those who are repentant should be excited for His coming, but oh how excited the repentant are to see Him face to face!

“Joy” is a tricky word in our, and will discuss it more later, but for now I want you to ask yourself, “How would I describe joy?”

We, as the Church, are in a season of Advent. In case you aren’t aware, the word Advent simply means “Coming.” And the season of Advent is a time when we rejoice in the first coming of Christ and we prepare for and excitedly await the second.

Our passage today is found in Isaiah 35:1-10, and I encourage you to turn in your Bibles with me. It’s a little past the center of your Bible, just after Song of Solomon and before Jeremiah.

As you turn, let me give you a brief background to this passage.

We believe Isaiah is speaking after the Assyrians have taken the Northern Kingdom of Israel into captivity. Ten of the twelves tribes of Israel were led out of their promised land and placed under Assyrian rule. To these Israelites, all hope seemed lost. It felt like the promises of God for them weren’t going to come true… But Isaiah’s message is clear: God’s promises haven’t been revoked. He is bringing deliverance to His people and He will undo the damage that sin has done to His creation.

Please stand for the reading of God’s Word:

Isaiah 35:1-10

Isaiah 35:1–10 ESV

1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The Word of God, for the people of God, and if you would say it with me “Thanks be to God.” You may be seated.

Passage Breakdown

It’s really interesting where Isaiah 35 is placed. Chapter 34 depicts a vision of a wasteland due to judgement and chapters 36-39 deal with war and sickness. But in the midst of all of these difficulties, Isaiah 35 proclaims the oasis of the coming of the Lord!

vv. 1 & 2 Paint a beautiful picture of a lush landscape. He take notes of the flowers blooming, the great trees providing shade, and the majesty of the mountains being on display. Why is all this happening? Because the glory of the Lord is coming!

vv. 3 & 4 Come with a command to strengthen and encourage those who are troubled. This command is paired with a promise that the Lord will bring vengeance and will save His people.

Then vv. 5-7 tell us what will happen to the least of these when the Kingdom of God comes. Let’s look at these verses again:

Isaiah 35:5–7 ESV

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

These miracles in vv. 5 & 6 might sound familiar. It’s probably been a few years since Pastor Kenny preached on it, but these miracles are reiterated in Matthew 11:4-5.

You see, in response to John the Baptist’s disciples asking Jesus if He was actually the Christ, Jesus responds, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”

This is an obvious fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah here, as the world is turned upside down and the effects of The Fall are reversed.

Coming back to Isaiah, he says that these miracles happen “for waters break forth in the wilderness...” and goes on to explain incredible reversals of nature. Places that were once worthless or desolate are now renewed and life-giving.

That is what the coming of the Lord does.

His coming takes the worthless and desolate things and turns them into springs of life, life better than ever. This doesn’t just happen to the earth and the deserts, but vv. 5-6 makes it clear to happens to people too!

May I suggest to you that if there are places in your life that are desolate wastelands, they may be places where you haven’t experienced the Coming of the Lord.

Let’s finish up our passage in Isaiah.

VV 8-10 say “8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. (What a blessing!) 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy. And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

So what does Isaiah say is the response of the people to the Coming of the Lord? They shall walk the Way of Holiness, they will not go astray, they will be protected from all threats, and filled with everlasting joy!

Future Joy Can be Ours Today

In contrast to Isaiah’s prophecy, we live in a world that is still suffering from the effects of sin. We experience heartbreak, loss, and sorrow, and that can be incredibly discouraging. But let me assure you: the Joy that is promised for tomorrow can be ours today in Christ Jesus.

The world defines joy in some pretty interesting ways. The best example I can give you is from a trailer for the movie Inside Out. Inside Out is an animated kids movie where we get to see what happens in people’s emotions behind the scenes of their lives. In a trailer for the movie, joy is describe as, “the emotion that takes control when everything in your life is going your way!”

The world paints this so definitively, but it goes so against what true joy is.

In contrast, the Lexham Bible Dictionary defines joy as “Closely related to gladness and happiness, although joy is more a state of being than an emotion; a result of choice.”

Did you catch that? Joy is a more a state of being than an emotion; it is a result of choice.

I will suggest to you that this choice is not a choice to “just be happy.” It’s not an affirmation that we make in the mirror, or a destiny that we manifest ourselves. This joy, this state of being, comes through a constant decision to gratefully surrender to Jesus.

You can have true joy, regardless of circumstances, when you know that the Lord has everything under control. Surrender means giving up our desire to control our destinies and allowing God to tell us what is best for us and His kingdom. Surrender means trusting Jesus in every single part of your life. We can do this with gratefulness when we trust Him to do what’s best.

This will look different for every one of us: we all have our own temptations and troubles, but we are all called to the same surrender. We are to submit to the will of God each and every day, and if you’ll let me say it, it’s for our own good. His will, His purposes, His desires do not restrict or burden us, they give us the only path to true freedom. We can have joy in the suffering and victory over temptation when we know in our bones that God is bringing everything together for our good.

As we come to a time of communion

Take time in your seat to assess your life.

What areas are you lacking the joy of the Lord?

Is there anything that has been left unsurrendered to Him?

You might be thinking to yourself, “I don’t know how to trust Him.” That’s okay, ask Him to help you trust Him, He is gentle and lowly in heart. He cares for you more than you could ever know. The first step to surrender is turning to Him for help.

Come to the One who cares for you most.

*Communion*

Benediction

May the God of all joy empower you to trust Him in all things. May His joy flow over you as rivers in a waste land. May His presence lead you to surrender and surrender to joy eternal. In the name of the blessed Father, the perfect Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.