Jesus Fulfills Our Joy

WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:07.750 Let's turn now to John Chapter Sixteen, Verses Sixteen through twenty four. John 2 00:00:07.790 --> 00:00:42.289 Chapter Sixteen, Verses Sixteen through twenty four. Let's hear God's word. A 3 00:00:42.369 --> 00:00:45.729 little while and you will see me no longer, and again a little while 4 00:00:45.850 --> 00:00:49.729 and you will see me. So some of his disciples said to one another. 5 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:52.840 What is this that he says to us? A little while and you 6 00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:55.640 will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me, 7 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:59.880 and because I am going to the father. So they were saying, 8 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.000 what does he mean by a little while? We do not know what he's 9 00:01:03.040 --> 00:01:07.989 talking about. Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him. So he said 10 00:01:07.989 --> 00:01:11.670 to them. Is this what you are asking yourselves? What I meant by 11 00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:14.989 saying a little while and you will see me, and again a little while 12 00:01:15.069 --> 00:01:18.939 and you will see me truly. Or I'm sorry, I read that wrong. 13 00:01:19.299 --> 00:01:21.980 A little while and you will not see me, and again a little 14 00:01:21.980 --> 00:01:25.500 while and you will see me truly, truly, I said to you. 15 00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:29.659 Or I say to you you will weep and meant, but the world will 16 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:34.769 rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 17 00:01:34.849 --> 00:01:40.450 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come. 18 00:01:40.810 --> 00:01:45.650 But when she has been but when she has delivered the baby, she 19 00:01:45.769 --> 00:01:51.120 no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into 20 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:56.239 the world. So also, you have sorrow now, but I will see 21 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:00.989 you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy from 22 00:02:00.989 --> 00:02:06.510 you. In that day you will ask nothing of me, truly, truly, 23 00:02:06.590 --> 00:02:08.430 I say to you, whatever you ask of the father in my name, 24 00:02:08.430 --> 00:02:12.430 he will give it to you. Until it now you have asked for 25 00:02:12.550 --> 00:02:16.419 nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive it, that your joy 26 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:32.009 may be full. A man well here in our passage, Jesus continues to 27 00:02:32.050 --> 00:02:38.129 encourage and speak to his disciples. Before he leaves, he says, in 28 00:02:38.169 --> 00:02:40.530 a little while I'm going and and you will not see me, and then 29 00:02:40.610 --> 00:02:45.759 in a little while I will arrive and and you will see me. And 30 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:49.360 they're confused by this and they don't understand. They will come to understand, 31 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:53.560 as Jesus promises. He's given them and will or will give to them, 32 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:57.159 the Holy Spirit, who will remind them of these things and will reveal them 33 00:02:57.240 --> 00:03:02.349 to him, to them. But in the midst of this confusion, in 34 00:03:02.469 --> 00:03:06.750 the midst of their sorrow. Remember, in our last passage he looked around 35 00:03:06.750 --> 00:03:10.189 and he saw the sorrow had filled their hearts. In the midst of this 36 00:03:10.349 --> 00:03:16.259 sorrow, Jesus promises them that when he arrives, our sorrow they are sorrow 37 00:03:17.139 --> 00:03:23.139 will be turned into joy and that joy will be full, which is an 38 00:03:23.139 --> 00:03:30.490 amazing statement, an amazing promise. It helps us to understand that promise even 39 00:03:30.530 --> 00:03:34.770 more when we think about that sorrow that they were experiencing, the sorrow that 40 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:40.169 we experienced too. By sorrow, Jesus means that deep sadness that his disciples 41 00:03:40.210 --> 00:03:46.520 were feeling with that news that he was going away, that they wouldn't follow 42 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:53.120 and they would be left in this sorry old world. Now we know that 43 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:55.389 we have the spirit and we are not alone. Jesus is promised that to 44 00:03:55.469 --> 00:04:00.590 us right. He's promised that he's given us a helper, that God is 45 00:04:00.710 --> 00:04:04.150 with us and that as and though he leaves us in the world, he 46 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:10.180 has not left us alone in the world. We dwell in the shadow of 47 00:04:10.300 --> 00:04:16.660 his wings, the cooling, protective shadow of his wings. But this life 48 00:04:16.779 --> 00:04:20.540 is still full of trials and difficulties. The scriptures remind us all over the 49 00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:26.769 place that the world is full of trials, of temptations. It is destined 50 00:04:26.850 --> 00:04:30.170 to perish and we are in it, though not destined to perish ourselves. 51 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:36.850 This life, as you know, has its difficulties, to put it mind 52 00:04:38.129 --> 00:04:43.079 mildly. Perhaps there are things in this world that are getting you down. 53 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:46.879 Maybe there are things in your life right now that six months ago, you 54 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.360 could not have predicted at all. And maybe there are things in your life 55 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:56.470 that, six months ago, you absolutely predicted and yet still aren't handling it 56 00:04:56.629 --> 00:05:04.189 well. Or take something that we are or take take something that we are 57 00:05:05.670 --> 00:05:10.779 struggling to think about and talk about and deal with, like racism, the 58 00:05:10.980 --> 00:05:15.939 sin from the pit of hell that is torn apart our country and countries around 59 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:19.819 the world, for our families, generation after generation. Even our churches are 60 00:05:19.899 --> 00:05:29.009 torn apart by this sin. And how do we handle it? Like we 61 00:05:29.089 --> 00:05:31.329 do with all other sins, like the world does with all of our sins, 62 00:05:31.889 --> 00:05:35.759 we ignore it, we pretended away, we justify it, or we 63 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:41.439 use it as a pretext for Morston, for more hate, for more violence. 64 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:46.639 And these are just some of the many things that we might be sorrowful 65 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:51.110 about. This world is a hard place. It's full of sorrows, that's 66 00:05:51.189 --> 00:05:56.990 full of sorrows. David Tell us, tells us in the psalms that from 67 00:05:56.990 --> 00:06:00.709 the moment we are bored, even from the moment we are conceived, sin 68 00:06:00.949 --> 00:06:05.899 unleashes its claws, digs into our hearts and doesn't let go and infects the 69 00:06:05.980 --> 00:06:11.220 entire system, we might say, of our bodies, our minds, our 70 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:17.850 emotions, are conscience, even our physical bodies. And it doesn't stop there. 71 00:06:18.850 --> 00:06:21.649 As it claws, as sin clause, its way into us, it 72 00:06:21.769 --> 00:06:26.649 doesn't leave us like a bunch of little sinful marbles sitting in a bowl. 73 00:06:27.689 --> 00:06:31.490 No, extends out of US and links us all together in unrighteousness. It 74 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:39.959 grips not only our personal lives but our community lives, our institutions, our 75 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:46.240 laws, our families, everything. Sin, as John Owen put it and 76 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:57.350 many others, is in dwelling systemic, pernicious evil, and this is what 77 00:06:57.470 --> 00:07:00.579 we are dealing with every day in our own hearts and our families and our 78 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:04.660 communities, in our world. Again, I'm telling you what you already know. 79 00:07:04.779 --> 00:07:09.980 Of course. This world is a really hard place. It is full 80 00:07:10.019 --> 00:07:13.779 of sorrows, and it is because of sin that it is that way, 81 00:07:15.180 --> 00:07:21.129 and it's why, when you hear Jesus say that when I arrive, when 82 00:07:21.170 --> 00:07:29.529 he arrives, our sorrows will be turned into joy, it should make you 83 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:35.480 just breathe a sigh of relief, because the one who promises this is not 84 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:42.040 just some person. He's not just another person with a plan, another person 85 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:46.269 with a an idea, another way that we might work a little harder to 86 00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:56.310 solve these problems. But Jesus comes and he solves the problems. He takes 87 00:07:56.829 --> 00:08:01.579 sin on himself, in his own body, as the wrath of God is 88 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:05.420 poured out on him, so that he might redeem us out of what the 89 00:08:05.459 --> 00:08:15.329 Bible calls slavery, bondage, oppression, evil unrighteousness. Why? So that 90 00:08:15.410 --> 00:08:20.089 we can be free, so that we can no longer be bound and enslave 91 00:08:20.370 --> 00:08:30.360 to sin gripping us, but instead we can fight it and win, guaranteed 92 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:35.600 not a not a hope if we try hard enough, but a guaranteed win 93 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:41.830 against sin. Why? Because we don't fight in our own strength, we 94 00:08:41.029 --> 00:08:46.269 fight in the grace that God has given to us, and that's why our 95 00:08:46.429 --> 00:08:50.190 sorrow can be turned into joy. Because of who Jesus is, because what 96 00:08:50.309 --> 00:08:58.899 he is about to do in going to the cross there's four other things I 97 00:08:58.980 --> 00:09:05.740 want to mention this morning to encourage you from this passage, reasons why our 98 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:13.649 sorrow will be turned into joy. The first reason is that because our sorrow 99 00:09:13.690 --> 00:09:18.850 will be forgotten. How awesome is that our sorrow will be forgotten? He 100 00:09:18.889 --> 00:09:24.200 uses this example of a woman in Labor. She is in pain, she 101 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:31.960 feels like she's dying, it's so hard. But then she gives birth, 102 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:37.200 her baby appears and all of the sorrows and the fear of death that was 103 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:45.549 there moments ago fades away as she looks into her baby's eyes. Something like 104 00:09:45.750 --> 00:09:50.149 that. It's an analogy. Something like that is what Jesus is promising us. 105 00:09:50.350 --> 00:09:54.500 It helps us to understand that, even though the sorrow we feel, 106 00:09:54.659 --> 00:10:00.980 even though the struggles we feel in the separation we feel, the lack of 107 00:10:01.059 --> 00:10:07.570 fulfillment we feel, feels so real and so certain and so final, he's 108 00:10:07.570 --> 00:10:11.529 saying it's not final. The word of God is like all those people who 109 00:10:11.649 --> 00:10:16.889 stand around a mother there as she's giving birth, saying it's going to be 110 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:20.720 okay, you're almost there. Just a little bit more, the baby's almost 111 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.799 here. That's what he's doing for us today. That's what he's telling you. 112 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:31.919 He's our birth coach or Dula. He's saying hang in there, your 113 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:35.950 sorrow will be forgotten, it will go away. Remember Psalm thirty, which 114 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:41.389 we read this morning. Already you have turned from for me my morning into 115 00:10:41.509 --> 00:10:48.309 dancing. You've loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory 116 00:10:48.389 --> 00:10:52.019 may sing your praise and not be silent. Oh Lord, my God, 117 00:10:52.019 --> 00:11:00.100 I will give thanks to you forever when we are in Christ. Sin Is, 118 00:11:00.259 --> 00:11:03.769 of course, still present in us, but it doesn't enslave us like 119 00:11:03.929 --> 00:11:09.330 it used to. We can fight it and we can win the battle. 120 00:11:09.409 --> 00:11:13.490 That will be tough, but it ends in victory and it is a great 121 00:11:13.730 --> 00:11:18.559 joy. Even the fighting, in a way is a joy. I remember 122 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:24.440 when I was a kid, my parents asked me to get rid of a 123 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:31.320 pest problem, cockroaches. It was awful. Put on these big irrigation boots, 124 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:35.230 think it was ten or something like that. I'd get a big fly 125 00:11:35.429 --> 00:11:41.389 swatter and I'd go out there in the backyard and just smash and every single 126 00:11:41.549 --> 00:11:46.269 one I smashed there was a little joy in my heart winning this battle and 127 00:11:46.350 --> 00:11:48.299 I was going to where I'd go inside. I put my tally marks on 128 00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:54.100 the board and the roaches that I killed, and there was there was gross. 129 00:11:54.139 --> 00:12:03.250 I'm sorry, fighting sin is gross too, but there was joy in 130 00:12:03.409 --> 00:12:05.370 that victory and there is that for us too. Is Christians, as we 131 00:12:05.889 --> 00:12:11.129 go into the dark places of our hearts, we say I'm gonna find it, 132 00:12:11.850 --> 00:12:16.159 I'm going to kill it, and I'm not doing it in my strength 133 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.919 but in Christ and so I know that I am going to win. There's 134 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:24.440 a kind of joy in that, even though it's hard, even though it's 135 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:30.429 a battle, and to remember as we fight that one day the the the 136 00:12:30.669 --> 00:12:35.789 the struggles of that real war will be over. What a joyful thing that 137 00:12:35.950 --> 00:12:43.549 was be no more haunting mistakes, no more remembered misdeeds, no more things 138 00:12:43.669 --> 00:12:50.740 hanging over your head, no more sorrow, only joy. The second reason 139 00:12:50.820 --> 00:12:56.340 Jesus gives is because we will see each other. Why will our sorrow be 140 00:12:56.539 --> 00:13:00.929 turned into joy? Because we will see each other. Notice what he says 141 00:13:00.970 --> 00:13:07.129 about the mother and the baby that they will. She will see this human 142 00:13:07.210 --> 00:13:11.090 being that has been born into the world. Knows what Jesus said in Verse 143 00:13:11.169 --> 00:13:15.559 Twenty Two. You have sorrow now, but I will see you again. 144 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:22.080 And of course, as he says earlier, you will see me. I 145 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.840 love this word. There these this these verse, sorry, these words. 146 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:31.070 I will see you again. It's a reminder to us that not only will 147 00:13:31.070 --> 00:13:33.590 we see him, is the one that we miss and we desire to see, 148 00:13:35.029 --> 00:13:37.429 like a loved one who's gone off to war or something like that. 149 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:41.220 We want to see them again so badly, and then finally we will and 150 00:13:41.299 --> 00:13:48.100 it will be so joyful. All that's true. And on top of that, 151 00:13:48.259 --> 00:13:56.649 he says I will see you, that the Lord Jesus will look into 152 00:13:56.690 --> 00:14:01.889 the eyes of his bride, the church and will see us. Maybe there's 153 00:14:01.929 --> 00:14:05.730 a way. And there's the Lord misses us too. I'm not sure how 154 00:14:05.769 --> 00:14:09.279 to think about that exactly, but it says that he will see us and 155 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:16.399 then, and that fact brings us joy. One, an amazing and wonderful 156 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:20.919 thing. Matthew Two ten, I love this. Matthew to ten tells us 157 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:28.429 that when the wise men saw the star of Bethlehem, they rejoiced exceedingly with 158 00:14:28.629 --> 00:14:37.110 great joy. They rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. If that's what it was 159 00:14:37.230 --> 00:14:43.379 like just seeing the star pointing to Jesus, can you imagine what it'll be 160 00:14:43.500 --> 00:14:52.340 like seeing Jesus to bring all of these things into completion, to take all 161 00:14:52.460 --> 00:14:56.889 of the sorrow in the battles and the trials and all gone. Can't even 162 00:14:56.889 --> 00:15:03.649 remember any more what a wonderful thing it will be to see him. Number 163 00:15:03.690 --> 00:15:07.000 three, a third way in which our sorrow turns to joy. Or another 164 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:13.279 reason is because we will be fully satisfied, lacking nothing. And, the 165 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:16.639 way he puts it, asking nothing. In Verse Twenty Three, he says 166 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:22.350 in that day you will ask nothing of me. Now, in a minute 167 00:15:22.710 --> 00:15:26.429 or right after that, he goes on to say you should be asking things 168 00:15:26.509 --> 00:15:33.309 of me now, but then, when he arrives, there's enough. No 169 00:15:33.470 --> 00:15:39.539 more asking things. We ask them now because we need things in this way, 170 00:15:39.500 --> 00:15:45.379 but he says in that day you will have everything. In our catechism 171 00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:50.370 we confess that man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, 172 00:15:50.490 --> 00:15:56.049 and that is the goal, the prize, the thing that we strive after 173 00:15:56.330 --> 00:16:00.490 every day of our lives. But there will come a day when we will 174 00:16:00.570 --> 00:16:10.879 have reached fulfilled our chief and fully glorifying God and fully enjoying him forever. 175 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:15.960 No more prayer requests about that pernicious sin that keeps getting you over and over 176 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:22.350 and over again, no more waiting for God to to heal your broken heart 177 00:16:22.470 --> 00:16:27.309 or heal your loved one or conquered death. And in the last and final 178 00:16:27.389 --> 00:16:34.419 way, this last week during morning prayer, we read about David Dancing before 179 00:16:34.460 --> 00:16:41.419 the Lord and Second Samuel Six is the ARC is brought into Jerusalem and there's 180 00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:45.460 a situation he finds himself in where Michael is wife is upset that he's doing 181 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:52.250 so and that he is that he's acting in this very unkingly way. It's 182 00:16:52.289 --> 00:16:56.850 just excited and full of joy and rejoicing, just like any of the other 183 00:16:56.009 --> 00:17:00.049 people. She's like, why are you doing this? Why aren't you dressed 184 00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:03.440 properly like a king in these kinds of things? And David's response is, 185 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:07.559 I'm paraphrasing, basically, it's like no one's going to take my joy away 186 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:12.920 from me. The Lord has come, the Lord is a writhing into Jerusalem. 187 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:18.549 And if that's how, again, David felt with just the ARC coming 188 00:17:18.670 --> 00:17:23.230 into Jerusalem, can you imagine what it'll be like for us to see Jesus 189 00:17:23.390 --> 00:17:29.430 with our own eyes coming to fulfill all of these things forever and ever? 190 00:17:30.180 --> 00:17:33.819 No one will take your joy away from you. As the Lord Says No, 191 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:38.140 and we'll take it away from you. They won't even try. You 192 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:42.220 will. We will be cut because we will be fully satisfied, lacking nothing, 193 00:17:42.619 --> 00:17:48.730 and it will be permanent. That permanence. That is the last thing 194 00:17:48.730 --> 00:17:52.650 I want to mention with just a few verses. The last reason our sorrows 195 00:17:52.690 --> 00:17:56.809 will be turned to joy and that joy will be full, is because it 196 00:17:56.930 --> 00:18:03.799 can't be removed. ECCLESIASTI seven, verse six, says this. For as 197 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.599 the crackling of thorns under a for as the crackling of thorns under a pot, 198 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:14.589 so is the laughter of fools. This also is vanity. Please you 199 00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:18.589 perhaps have started a fire before and you've you know, you got out in 200 00:18:18.630 --> 00:18:22.710 the desert and you get some things and they they build up really fast and 201 00:18:22.789 --> 00:18:26.859 than they died down. Like try again, start your fire. Maybe I 202 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:32.099 just need to get better building fires. But maybe you've seen this before, 203 00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:37.339 this way in which things can catch fast and seems like there's a lot of 204 00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:41.099 fire, a lot of heat there, than they're gone. That's what ecclesiast 205 00:18:41.180 --> 00:18:48.049 he says about the laughter of Fools, the rejoicing of fools. This is 206 00:18:48.130 --> 00:18:52.650 important because Jesus says in Verse Twenty. Truly, I say to you, 207 00:18:52.809 --> 00:18:56.519 you will weep and lament, but the will the world will rejoice. We 208 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:02.400 killed and we killed him. We finally got rid of our enemy. He's 209 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:07.799 in the grave. They're so excited. It feels like it's finally done. 210 00:19:11.069 --> 00:19:15.430 The fire goes out and the Lord rises from the dead and establishes his kingdom 211 00:19:15.470 --> 00:19:21.509 forever. That rejoicing, ecclesiast he says the rejoicing of fools is is just 212 00:19:21.750 --> 00:19:25.380 for a moment. It doesn't last because it's not based in anything real. 213 00:19:25.500 --> 00:19:32.500 It's based in counterfeit things. Similarly, job twenty four through five says this. 214 00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:37.619 Do you not know this from of old, since man was placed on 215 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:41.690 the earth, that the exulting of the wicked is short, that the joy 216 00:19:41.930 --> 00:19:48.970 of the godless is but for a moment? This is important for to us 217 00:19:48.009 --> 00:19:52.240 to recognize, because when we're lamenting and we're weeping in the world is rejoicing, 218 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:56.359 it may seem for a moment that Jesus has not fulfilled his promises. 219 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:00.839 You said my joy would be full, and yet it seems like exactly the 220 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:06.200 opposite is happening. But the scriptures warn us to see things in the right 221 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:11.470 perspective. They may be laughing, they may be rejoicing, but in a 222 00:20:11.509 --> 00:20:15.470 vain way, in a way that will not last, the joy of the 223 00:20:15.589 --> 00:20:19.269 Godless job twenty. Verse Five says this, but for a moment. Why? 224 00:20:22.819 --> 00:20:26.900 The answer goes on. Here's verse eighteen. He will give back the 225 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:30.980 fruit of his toil and will not swallow it down from the profit of his 226 00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:37.170 trading. He will get no enjoyment, for he has crushed and abandoned the 227 00:20:37.210 --> 00:20:41.730 poor. He has seized a house that he did not build because he knew 228 00:20:41.730 --> 00:20:45.329 no contentment in his belly. He will not let anything in which he delights 229 00:20:45.369 --> 00:20:51.960 escape him. You see what it's saying? You're saying that the person that 230 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:57.920 rejoices in these temporary things rejoices them then them Um in the context of sin 231 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:03.839 and his own sinning. And you know what happens with sinning. It ends 232 00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:11.109 in judgment. These thorns go out because the Lord extinguishes them. Verse Twenty 233 00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:15.750 Six of Job Twenty, utter darkness is laid up for his treasures. A 234 00:21:17.589 --> 00:21:22.859 fire not fanned will devour him. What is left in his tent will be 235 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:26.579 consumed, the heavens will reveal his iniquity and the earth will rise up against 236 00:21:26.619 --> 00:21:30.859 him. The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in 237 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:34.849 the day of God's wrath. This is the wicked man's portion from God, 238 00:21:36.329 --> 00:21:41.410 the heritage decreed for him by the Lord. So you understand the point right. 239 00:21:41.930 --> 00:21:45.809 The wicked will and do rejoice in this world, but what they rejoice 240 00:21:45.890 --> 00:21:51.440 in is sin, and what sin leads to is judgment, and God will 241 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:57.759 judge them for that and they're rejoicing will end finally completely. But for those 242 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:04.670 who sin has been forgiven in Christ. His righteousness is a joy to us, 243 00:22:06.269 --> 00:22:10.230 and the weeping in sorrow that is for a moment turns into a joy 244 00:22:10.349 --> 00:22:18.180 that is forever. And so if you think about your own life and where 245 00:22:18.259 --> 00:22:22.660 you are at, and if you see yourselves walking in the ways of this 246 00:22:22.859 --> 00:22:30.009 world, if you see yourselves enslave to sin and you laugh and you try 247 00:22:30.049 --> 00:22:34.569 to get by and you distract yourself, know that this joy is the joy 248 00:22:34.930 --> 00:22:40.970 of Vanity, the joy of fools, the joy of oppressors, the joy 249 00:22:41.089 --> 00:22:45.839 of idolaters. And you need to hear what God says in James, for 250 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:53.039 draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, 251 00:22:53.160 --> 00:22:57.829 you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. Be wretched 252 00:22:59.710 --> 00:23:07.750 and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy 253 00:23:07.710 --> 00:23:18.700 to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you if you 254 00:23:18.819 --> 00:23:22.099 are still enslave to your sin. It is not a time for rejoicing, 255 00:23:22.619 --> 00:23:26.859 it is a time for weeping, for mourning and for sadness. US Let 256 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:32.529 your counterfeit joy be turned into what it really is, gloom and sorrow and 257 00:23:32.650 --> 00:23:38.450 devastation. But know that that kind of sorrow that is seeking the forgiveness of 258 00:23:38.490 --> 00:23:45.759 Christ in the cross, that's Godly sorrow and it leads to godly repentance, 259 00:23:45.559 --> 00:23:52.000 which does not lead to judgment, but leads to joy that is everlasting and 260 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:59.069 final, and no one will take it away from you. I'll conclude simply 261 00:23:59.190 --> 00:24:02.869 with what Jesus commands us here. Truly, truly, I say to you, 262 00:24:03.029 --> 00:24:04.710 whatever you ask the father in my name, he will give it to 263 00:24:04.789 --> 00:24:08.390 you. Until you out, until now you have asked nothing in my name. 264 00:24:08.509 --> 00:24:12.779 Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full. Maybe I'm 265 00:24:12.779 --> 00:24:18.660 squeezing it a number five here, but I'll be quick. The Lord is 266 00:24:18.740 --> 00:24:25.650 saying pray, ask me things in my name, ask for the Kingdom of 267 00:24:25.730 --> 00:24:29.529 Heaven, ask for the forgiveness of your sins, ask for me to sustain 268 00:24:29.690 --> 00:24:32.970 you, and I will do that, and you know what will happen. 269 00:24:33.730 --> 00:24:37.880 This is how your joy may be full. Another way we might think about 270 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:44.720 it at that, when the Lord arrives, we will have the answer to 271 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:52.720 our prayers. So pray, pray and join us. Play and Um and 272 00:24:52.950 --> 00:24:57.750 pray and joy, rejoice in the Lord, enjoy the God of your salvation, 273 00:24:59.269 --> 00:25:03.630 fight the battles of this world, because the joy that you have now 274 00:25:03.829 --> 00:25:07.940 for the forgiveness of your sins, your adoption into the Lord, is a 275 00:25:07.019 --> 00:25:11.859 joy that will keep growing and growing. In one deeper day, people be 276 00:25:11.299 --> 00:25:18.859 perfected in a way that the sorrows will be all gone. That's what the 277 00:25:18.980 --> 00:25:26.210 world needs, that's what you need and that's what I need. Let's pray, 278 00:25:27.089 --> 00:25:30.730 our heavenly father, we thank you for the joy that you give to 279 00:25:30.809 --> 00:25:37.480 us in Christ that, as we are haunted from time to time about our 280 00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:41.759 sins, about the darkness and our lives and our world, about the sins 281 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:48.119 that are so pernicious and just won't go away, about the terrible ways in 282 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:51.549 which we handle our sin and deal with it, Lord, all of it 283 00:25:51.750 --> 00:25:56.829 is such a disgrace to the image of God and which you have placed on 284 00:25:56.950 --> 00:26:03.069 us and made us to show forth. Our sins against you are sins against 285 00:26:03.069 --> 00:26:11.660 your law. They're breaking our hearts. But, Lord, we do not 286 00:26:12.579 --> 00:26:21.289 despair. Instead, we we find that the spirit is within us, having 287 00:26:21.329 --> 00:26:29.490 already done miraculous things, having broken the power of sin in our lives, 288 00:26:29.609 --> 00:26:33.359 having established US firmly in the grace of God, putting us on a path 289 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:40.480 of victory, making us more than conquerors. Lord, by Your Spirit, 290 00:26:40.599 --> 00:26:45.039 even the in the darkest times of our lives, in the deepest depths of 291 00:26:45.160 --> 00:26:52.109 our despair, you are there interceding for us, praying on our behalf. 292 00:26:53.910 --> 00:26:59.549 Lord, in these things we do rejoice and we give you praise for your 293 00:26:59.630 --> 00:27:03.740 work in us, for the way in which you are gathering together your people 294 00:27:03.940 --> 00:27:11.980 from all tribes and tongues and nations, that together we might confess the name 295 00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:15.609 of the Lord, Jesus Christ and rejoice in the goodness of his name. 296 00:27:18.210 --> 00:27:19.289 Lord, we ask that you would bless us in these things, that you 297 00:27:19.329 --> 00:27:23.410 would help us to continue in these things, help us to enjoy and rejoice 298 00:27:23.569 --> 00:27:33.240 in these things, knowing and feeling the presence of God. Lord, how 299 00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:41.160 satisfied we are in you. We drink of you and of your grace like 300 00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:48.829 eternal, freshly refreshing streams of water. We asked that you would bless us 301 00:27:48.869 --> 00:27:51.509 and that you would help us to persevere, to not give up, to 302 00:27:51.670 --> 00:27:59.420 not sorrow, to not overly despair of this world, but to put our 303 00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:06.660 hopes in heaven, knowing that we are not trapped, but free, and 304 00:28:06.779 --> 00:28:08.460 the Lord is we think of these things. We do pray for those who 305 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:14.450 are brokenhearted, those who suffer under various circumstances. We ask that you would 306 00:28:14.490 --> 00:28:21.250 lift them up, that you would give them the the joy of your salvation, 307 00:28:21.970 --> 00:28:26.049 that you would fill their hearts with peace. We pray for the particular 308 00:28:26.170 --> 00:28:30.200 needs of those who have health difficulties right now. We ask for your healing 309 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:34.119 on them. Lord, we pray for those that are broken hearted. We 310 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:40.119 pray for those that are are in need of more work or better work. 311 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:44.509 We asked that you would provide for our daily bread. We know that you 312 00:28:44.950 --> 00:28:51.029 clothe the lilies, the flowers of the field, with more glory than Solomon. 313 00:28:52.710 --> 00:28:56.660 We know how much you care for us. Help us to trust you 314 00:28:56.779 --> 00:29:00.019 in all things. Help us not to give up or give tired, but 315 00:29:00.140 --> 00:29:06.380 to look to you in every way. And Lord, as we pray these 316 00:29:06.460 --> 00:29:10.690 things, we ask that your blessings would be poured out upon us, that 317 00:29:10.809 --> 00:29:12.930 you would answer our prayers, as you promised to do, and we pray 318 00:29:14.049 --> 00:29:15.970 this in Jesus name. Amen.