Excited Joy

Birthday Candles  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  17:23
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This Advent season - look at Jesus Birthday candles
Not about his age like ours
About attributes and benefits that are ours for knowing Him.
First week - Prophets’ Candle - Promised Hope
Last week - Bethlehem Candle - Grounded Faith
Today - Shepherds’ Candle - Excited Joy
Are we excited for what God can do for us?
Do we look to Him for our Joy?
Even in the midst of this crazy 2020 - we can have Joy.
That is the message Isaiah has for Israel in our scripture reading today.
Please honor the reading of God’s Word
Isaiah 35 NIV
1 The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow. 8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
The WORD OF GOD for the PEOPLE OF GOD
Years ago, a Scotchman lived in Liverpool where he was to embark for his journey to America. He fingered the few coins that made up his entire earthly wealth, and decided that he would save as much as he could on food during the trip to have more money on hand when he reached New York. He went to a small store and bought a supply of crackers and cheese to get him through his days at sea. But as the voyage progressed the sea air made him very hungry. To make matters worse, the dampness in the air made his cheese hard and his crackers soft. He was almost desperate with hunger. The last straw came when he caught the fragrant whiff of delicious food on a tray a steward was carrying to another passenger. The hungry man made up his mind that he would have one good, square meal, even though it might take several of his shillings. He awaited the return of the steward and asked him how much it would cost to go to the dining room and get a dinner. The steward asked the Scotchman if he had a ticket for the steamship passage. The man showed his ticket, and the steward told him that all meals were included in the price of the ticket. The poor man could have saved the money he spent on crackers and cheese; he could have gone to the dining room and eaten as much as he liked every mealtime.
This too often is a picture of people who believe in Christ as Savior. By faith they are saved, but they go on their dreary way without enjoying any of the blessings God has for them in Christ!

Reason to Rejoice

In our scripture today, we read the desert will be glad and the wilderness will rejoice and tells us why - for “They shall see the glory of the LORD, and the splendor of our God.”
The Lord had raised up the Assyrians in Isaiah chapters 1-34 to punish His unfaithful followers in the Northern Kingdom. In later chapters Isaiah predicts how God will use the nation of Babylon to chastise the nation of Judah.
In the middle of these chapters filled with doom and gloom God gives His people a reason to rejoice.
This third week in Advent emphasizes the theme of joy. Excited Joy like the Shepherds had when they saw and heard the angels. When they found the newborn King in a manger in Bethlehem.
For the people of Israel, this joy didn’t mean that the present world would be perfect for them, but there would be a new sense of God’s presence among them. Despite imperfect conditions, they would see a new joy spring up. Isaiah is giving them REASON TO REJOICE even in an imperfect world.
Scriptures point to how we can recover the joy of the Lord in our lives. We REFOCUS on God. A good way is to pray as David did in Psalm 51. He asks for forgiveness and mercy and that God would create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him. Verse 12 goes on to say,
Psalm 51:12 NIV
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Words of David - words Phyllis reminds us to do in her prayers at church.
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation.”
Not only at this advent season but as a regular part of our daily life throughout the year, let us pray about the things that steal the joy right out of our lives--it’s an ongoing process--not just once in awhile.

Joy in the Bible

I. How the Word ‘Joy” is Used in the Bible
The word joy is found 155 times in the King James Version of the Bible. The word rejoice is mentioned 183 times.
Joy in the Old Testament is centered around three ideas according to H. Van Broekhoven Jr. in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1981) Vol. 2 pgs 1140-1142.
First, there was Personal Joy.
This joy spoke of the inner emotion of a person who was in the state of well-being, and the person’s outward expression of that inner joy (rejoicing).
The sound of joy often heard in shouting and cheering.
In the Psalms, especially the Davidic ones, personal joy reaches its highest expression in having joy in God.
Second, there was a National Joy
This joy centered on being part of the Nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. Military victories, feast days, coronations, and the completion of construction projects all brought joy to the nation. But these celebrations were secondary to the joy that the Lord gave the nation through His salvation, vindication, and prosperity.
Third, there is Messianic Joy.
While the Nation of Israel reached her pinnacle during the reign of Solomon, she never achieved the promise of greatness that the Scriptures speak about. But when the Messiah comes to Jerusalem to set up His kingdom, all the eyes of the world will focus on Israel and His reign. Joy is a product of obedience and when Messiah reigns, all will be obedient; therefore, all will be full of joy. The Messiah will bring joy not only to Israel, but to the entire world as well.

Joy in Our Lives

II. How Can We Experience This Joy in Our Lives Today?
Biblical joy is centered on God and His commitment to us. While we may not always be happy, we can decide to rejoice independent of our circumstances.
First, joy comes from having a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Nehemiah 8:10 informs us that “the joy of the Lord is our strength.” You already have a relationship with God right now whether you realize it or not. The question is, “How good is it?”
Second, Biblical joy is centered in God and is not found anywhere else. You will never experience the joy of the Lord if you are looking to find joy outside of Him.
King Solomon was the wisest man there was. He said, “I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven.” Yet his quest for knowledge got him nowhere. The conclusion he reached at the end of his search was this: “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.”
From the quest for knowledge, he moved on to the quest for pleasure. But again, he came away empty-handed. He said, “Laughter is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?”
Then, he turned to other projects: houses, vineyards, and worldly wealth. He said, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused myself no pleasure.” Yet, in the end, he was no better off. It was all empty and meaningless—a chasing after the wind.
Solomon is like many people today who are desperately searching for happiness, only to find that the search itself has left them empty and dry, making them more unhappy than they ever were before.
Third, we utilize God’s gift of joy by choosing to be joyful despite our circumstances. Biblical joy is a decision of the mind as well as an emotion felt by our spirits. Our happiness and joyfulness comes from God’s Spirit within us and does not come because our world is all nice and tidy—that ended at the fall when the first sin was committed. Paul admonishes us to rejoice always!

Joy in the Journey

If you are looking for God’s joy as an escape from the problems of life, you are going to be disappointed. God’s solution to our problems goes deeper than just saying, “Don’t worry—be happy!” The path to true happiness often winds through the desert, where we experience times of testing. There is pain. There is grief. There is sadness. There is no getting around it! If you’re going to get to where you want to be, there is a desert to cross.
But there is also good news. God can even make the desert bloom!
What was once a desert can suddenly bloom, and God brings us new life in abundance.
Conclusion:
By grace God gives us joy in the journey.
Some of you may remember, but can you picture taking a trip to visit your far away relatives before there was an interstate highway system, or even smoothly paved roads? It would be a long, dangerous trip.
God Doesn’t Just Point the Way--He Goes With Us. At the First Advent Jesus came into the world to not only point the way but to live among us and walk with us.
Isaiah describes a highway where people can travel in peace and safety:
Isaiah 35:8–9 NIV
8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there,
It is important to notice that there is only one way to get onto this road: “Only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return.”
This is a toll road with a price so high that you and I can’t possibly pay it ourselves. Someone else must pay it for us—and that’s what Jesus did:
Ephesians 1:7 NIV
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
The highway of Joy taht Isaiah describes can only be traveled on by grace, through faith in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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