The King and the Joy of His People
The coming of the King • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
How would you define the word joy?
How would you define the word joy?
Maybe words like gladness, delight, happiness would be used as synonyms for joy?
Listen to webster’s definition
the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires
the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires
The fulfillment of one’s desires seems like a good definition to me.
the greek word xara can be translated the experience of gladness
Joy is the desire of human heart. Everyone wants to be happy, to have joy
well-being, success, delight; these are all words that are welcomed, right?
Joy is something that is talked a lot about during this time of the year
The joy of Christmas
Joy to the world is one of the songs that we hear played and sing at church
What will people be looking to for joy this Christmas season?
children will be looking for presents to bring them joy
we all know how short lived that is
maybe some adults are looking for joy in presents
many adults will be looking for joy in the gathering of family, but that is short lived as well right?
I have heard more than one person this year talk about how they dread Christmas, it is not a time of joy because a family member will not be there this year and so it is a time of sorrow
And that can be a hard thing for sure
But what I want to talk about is everlasting joy that is ours because of the coming of King Jesus.
Not a joy that is here today and gone tomorrow, not a joy that is shallow but a joy that is sure, that is solid, that endures
Four steps in this sermon
Joy in God’s Presence
Joy in God’s Presence
The first thing that I want us to see is that the Bible teaches us that true joy, joy that endures, is found in God.
In other words God alone truly satisfies the human heart. God alone fulfills the longings of the human heart.
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
True joy is found in God’s presence. This is a theme that we see again and again
You have put more joy in my heart
than they have when their grain and wine abound.
For you make him most blessed forever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
But let’s go back to
Notice the text says, in your presence there is fullness of joy
There is an abundance of joy,
When this word is used in reference to food it speaks of one having his or her fill, being content
One having all that they want.
It speaks of filling up or completing something, that which is brought to fullness or to completion.
Listen here is the idea,
In God’s presence there is perfectly complete joy.
There is nothing in this world, there is nothing in all of creation that provides perfectly complete joy.
Oh we might think this thing or that thing or this person or that person will satisfy us, that they will complete our joy but there is nothing or no one that can complete our joy other than God.
The loss of Joy
The loss of Joy
Listen to the prophet here
The joy of our hearts has ceased;
our dancing has been turned to mourning.
This verse is true for humanity. For Adam and Eve there was joy and dancing in the garden, but sin has turned dancing into mourning.
Of course we talk a lot about joy during this time of the season but it does not take much to realize that much of the so called joy around us is empty, that it is passing, that it is not complete.
The reality is that there cannot be everlasting joy outside of the Presence of God.
We saw a couple of weeks ago that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden
They were kicked out of God’s presence and outside of God’s presence life is full of heartache, frustration, sorrow, grief; all of the enemies of joy.
The world, unbelievers know nothing of this kind of joy.
It is really sad but as we look around us the world is constantly chasing or maneuvering or manipulating trying to find joy that will last and yet it is like the proverbial carrot on a stick.
It always seems to be right before them but it can never be grasped.
There sin has separated them from God, therefore it has separated them from lasting joy, from contentment.
Ironically the very things that they believe will bring them joy (idols) are the things that are keeping them from joy because they are keeping them from God.
But Brothers and sisters though we have tasted the joy of God’s presence the reason that we don’t experience perfect lasting joy in this life is because of sin, it is because we do not know the consummation of our salvation yet.
Sin separates from God and therefore separates us from true joy
But the good news of the Bible is the promise that though our joy has been turned into mourning, though we do not know God’s presence; God will turn our mourning into joy, God will welcome us back into His presence.
The joy of our hearts has ceased;
our dancing has been turned to mourning.
The Promise of Joy
The Promise of Joy
Promises of joy in the OT
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
The birth of Isaac, he laughs, and how this points to the greater seed of Abraham to come.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Psalm
Isaiah 9.
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,
of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
And he will swallow up on this mountain
the covering that is cast over all peoples,
the veil that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death forever;
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,
and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah 25.
.
Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
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.
“I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
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.
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.
Isaiah 40.
I
“For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
“For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival,
so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
Behold, at that time I will deal
with all your oppressors.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you in,
at the time when I gather you together;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes,” says the Lord.
Zeph. 3.14-20
The King and the Joy of His People
The King and the Joy of His People
In Zephaniah the people are exhorted to rejoice and exult. Joy has returned, God will have a people of joy and we are told why this is true, how is it that there is a people that will be marked by true joy
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you
How has the Lord taken away the judgments that were against us?
What is the language here?
You were guilty, justice demanded your blood, justice demanded your condemnation because of your sin and your rebellion against God and yet God has taken away the judgment that was against you.
The Good News that we celebrate as believers is this right,
This is the same type thing that we saw in
This is why the angels sang
that the Son of God became flesh and dwelt among, that He came and lived yes; but also that He died to take away our sin, that He died as a substitute in our place
This is what makes Christmas so joyful
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Col.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
This last verse leads to the next thing that we see in Zephaniah
2. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst (v.15b)
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst
We also see the restoration of God’s presence.
Brothers and sisters, we tend to think
coming of Jesus
came to die for us
in Jesus we have forgiveness of sin
and we just leave it there but that is not the end, if that was the end there would not be joy, if that was the end brothers and sisters then we would not have an infinitely glorious hope.
Ultimately why did Jesus come?
He came to bring us to God.
He came to restore us into God’s presence so that it could be said of us
The Lord is in your midst
The promise of Christmas is this brothers and sisters, that one day because of Christ, all who are in Him will know the perfect, everlasting, indescribable joy producing and joy increasing presence of God throughout all of eternity.
Oh Christian, why would you get distracted from your King and all that He has done for you this Christmas season.
Focus on Christ
Don’t fall for the lie again that there is more joy in this or that than there is in Christ
Pursue Christ
Use the Lord’s Day wisely, turn off the distractions today and focus on Christ and what He has done for you and the hope that you have in Him
Unbeliever, you can have this hope in Christ as well.