The Christmas Life: Joy (Luke 2:10-12)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:07.150 Well, let's hear God's word tonight from Luke Chapter Two. Luke two, 2 00:00:21.820 --> 00:00:26.019 I'm going to be thinking about a one particular phrase in verse ten, but 3 00:00:26.300 --> 00:00:35.770 I'll read from eight to eight to twenty. And in the same region, 4 00:00:36.090 --> 00:00:40.250 there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch over their flock by night, 5 00:00:41.130 --> 00:00:44.729 and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord 6 00:00:44.929 --> 00:00:50.399 shone around them and they were filled with fear, and the Angel said to 7 00:00:50.439 --> 00:00:57.320 them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great 8 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:02.399 joy that will be for all the people, for unto you is born this 9 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:06.870 day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord, 10 00:01:06.909 --> 00:01:11.709 and this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped 11 00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:15.909 in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the 12 00:01:17.109 --> 00:01:22.900 angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying glory to God 13 00:01:23.219 --> 00:01:27.420 in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. 14 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:33.769 When the angels went away from them and to Heaven, the shepherd said to 15 00:01:33.890 --> 00:01:37.849 one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has 16 00:01:37.930 --> 00:01:41.890 happened, which the Lord has made known to us, and they went with 17 00:01:42.049 --> 00:01:45.530 haste and they found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger, 18 00:01:46.209 --> 00:01:49.120 and when they saw it, they made known the saying that was told them 19 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:55.120 concerning the child, and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds hold 20 00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:59.519 them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart, 21 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.390 and the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard 22 00:02:04.790 --> 00:02:09.509 and seen, as it had been told to them. May God bless his 23 00:02:09.629 --> 00:02:29.860 word to us. Please be seated. Was We continued to think of things 24 00:02:30.449 --> 00:02:38.129 that typically accompany this time of year, Christmas time to name it. One 25 00:02:38.210 --> 00:02:42.770 of them is joy, and it's the thing I want to focus on this 26 00:02:42.969 --> 00:02:47.439 evening in particular, joy as it comes in the news of the incarnation, 27 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:53.599 joy which spreads to us and comes to us in all of our lives. 28 00:02:53.680 --> 00:03:00.069 Joy is one of the great emotions that come, I'm with the incarnation. 29 00:03:00.909 --> 00:03:04.469 We have that here, as I mentioned earlier. In verse ten, the 30 00:03:04.590 --> 00:03:07.069 Angel Appears to the shepherds and he says, fear not, for behold, 31 00:03:07.110 --> 00:03:13.460 I bring you good news of great joy. You know, we often talk 32 00:03:13.539 --> 00:03:17.460 about the Gospel is being good news well from this particular phrase. We might 33 00:03:19.139 --> 00:03:23.259 define it as great joy news, not just good news, but great joy, 34 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:30.689 great joy news. The angels Harold it, the News as joy. 35 00:03:31.009 --> 00:03:37.370 The wise men, I'm felt the joy that the angels proclaimed in the news 36 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:43.960 this morning when we considered the wise men following the star to go and give 37 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:49.280 gifts to Jesus. We read, we read there that they rejoiced exceedingly with 38 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:54.560 great joy. The angels heralded it, the wise men felt it. Jesus 39 00:03:54.639 --> 00:04:00.110 is cousin. John the Baptist leapt for joy even in his mother's room. 40 00:04:00.629 --> 00:04:05.229 Luke one hundred and forty four tells us when Mary came and greeted her sister. 41 00:04:08.030 --> 00:04:12.020 And this makes sense because, as proverbs fifteen thirty reminds us, good 42 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:16.339 news refreshes the bones. When you hear a good news, it make you 43 00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:19.860 happy, it makes you feel good. If you get a phone call this 44 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:24.850 evening, a family member calls you up and says I've got some good news, 45 00:04:26.050 --> 00:04:30.170 you can barely wait to hear the rest, to know what is what 46 00:04:30.370 --> 00:04:32.730 is to be told. Even before you hear the news, just knowing that 47 00:04:32.850 --> 00:04:39.959 it's great, just knowing that it's good, brings that joy well, all 48 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:43.800 the more so with the incarnation of the son of God, with the birth 49 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:48.199 of Jesus, this great joy news, this good news that brings joy. 50 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:55.910 Joy is an emotion that we all want, isn't it feels very good. 51 00:04:56.149 --> 00:05:01.910 It's something we seek, but it's not always found. We often find ourselves 52 00:05:01.949 --> 00:05:08.819 in places and in times where we don't have joy that we want to know 53 00:05:09.019 --> 00:05:13.740 how to get it, where it comes from. Well, tonight we want 54 00:05:13.779 --> 00:05:18.060 to think about this. Has it a joy, in particular as it connects 55 00:05:18.100 --> 00:05:24.889 with Jesus. We want to think about the different kinds of joy, sinful 56 00:05:24.970 --> 00:05:30.410 joy, earthly joy and heavenly joy. We want to hear why the birth 57 00:05:30.449 --> 00:05:36.120 of Jesus is news that is so, that is news to be joyful about. 58 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:41.839 Now I'm going to tell you in advance that I'm going to be quoting 59 00:05:41.879 --> 00:05:46.199 a lot of scripture, and here's one reason. and Jeremiah, fifteen, 60 00:05:46.360 --> 00:05:51.389 seventeen says, your words were found and I ate them and your words became 61 00:05:51.509 --> 00:05:57.629 to me a joy. There is a way in which the word of God 62 00:05:57.790 --> 00:06:02.910 itself brings delight to our hearts. It helps remind us of the truth of 63 00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:11.819 the good news. Sometimes news that we hear we become hardened to it, 64 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:18.810 desensitized because of our own sinful natures. There's all kinds of reasons for this, 65 00:06:19.009 --> 00:06:24.810 but whatever the reason may be, this happens with the Gospel as well, 66 00:06:25.930 --> 00:06:30.370 and it we lose a sense of its preciousness, of the goodness of 67 00:06:30.449 --> 00:06:34.399 it, of the delight in it, and hearing the word of God, 68 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:41.360 we are reminded of why that is, of what makes it delightful, what 69 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:47.029 it is that fills our hearts with joy. This morning is in our Sunday 70 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:51.269 school hour, we were considering pilgrim's progress and we thought about this, didn't 71 00:06:51.310 --> 00:06:57.269 we? It's Christian lost his sword. That sword was the word of God. 72 00:06:57.389 --> 00:07:00.459 He struggled, but upon picking it up again, he was he gained 73 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:06.500 some strength. So we'll do that this evening, considering joy in the word 74 00:07:06.579 --> 00:07:15.420 of God. First consider sinful joy, and we'll get it quickly out of 75 00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:20.329 the way, not because it's unimportant but because it's somewhat obvious. We find 76 00:07:20.370 --> 00:07:29.050 joy in dark places. Joy is an exceedingly good thing, but we not 77 00:07:29.250 --> 00:07:34.680 all joy is derived from good things. We must recognize this, admit this, 78 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:39.959 that sometimes we take pleasure and delight in the wrong things, and this 79 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.279 is not something to be joyful about. This is not the kind of joy 80 00:07:44.990 --> 00:07:50.189 we should seek to instead, we should avoid it. The Bible Warns Us 81 00:07:50.310 --> 00:07:56.990 and tells us about this kind of sinful joy. Proverbs to fourteen speaks of 82 00:07:57.069 --> 00:08:03.500 those who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil. They 83 00:08:03.579 --> 00:08:09.100 have fun, they enjoy the bad, they enjoy the sinful. Proverbs fifteen 84 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:16.610 twenty one says folly is a joy to him who lacks sense. The fool 85 00:08:16.170 --> 00:08:20.769 gets in trouble and where the wise person learns from it and says, I 86 00:08:20.250 --> 00:08:24.649 was an idiot. Why did I do that? The fool enjoys his folly 87 00:08:26.370 --> 00:08:31.160 and falls into it all the more. This is a bad and evil kind 88 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:37.799 of joy. Proverbs twenty or seventeen warns us of a very particular kind of 89 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:41.909 sinful joy, though there are, of course, others. Proverbs twenty four 90 00:08:43.190 --> 00:08:48.909 seventeen says do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not and let 91 00:08:48.110 --> 00:08:56.179 not your heart be glad when he stumbles. God even attaches a sort of 92 00:08:56.340 --> 00:09:01.460 consequence to this when he says less Jehovah see it and be displeased and turn 93 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:07.299 his anger away from him. I think the implication of that is toward you, 94 00:09:07.340 --> 00:09:11.289 that you laugh at your enemy, and God is displeased and you become 95 00:09:13.049 --> 00:09:18.250 the enemy. This is the kind of sinful joy the Bible warns against. 96 00:09:18.289 --> 00:09:24.399 Joy In sinful things, joy in folly, joy at the fall of others, 97 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:30.360 even the fall of an enemy. It's sinful joy and it is to 98 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:37.200 be hated. There's something better, though. There is, of course, 99 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:41.029 earthly joy, and the Lord has filled the world with many, many, 100 00:09:41.110 --> 00:09:48.269 many things that bring us joy. When I spent time reflecting on this this 101 00:09:48.389 --> 00:09:54.139 this week, it doesn't take long when you start counting your joy or thinking 102 00:09:54.179 --> 00:10:00.980 about things that you're joyful about, that that smile inside begins to work its 103 00:10:01.059 --> 00:10:07.289 way outward. I'm not sure what things in particular bring you joy. Maybe 104 00:10:07.370 --> 00:10:11.370 it's coffee and a cold morning, maybe it's when the weather finally cools off 105 00:10:11.690 --> 00:10:18.090 here in Tucson. Maybe it's a sunset, all kinds of things that we 106 00:10:18.210 --> 00:10:22.679 can rejoice in, and the Bible mentions many in particular proverbs. Again, 107 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:28.639 it speaks of joy when justice is done, a kind of pleasure that we 108 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:37.309 find when righteousness happens, particularly in justice. Proverbs twenty proverbs also says that 109 00:10:37.389 --> 00:10:43.070 in apt answer brings joy. That kind of perfect word at the right moment 110 00:10:43.149 --> 00:10:48.070 and the right way and the right time, it makes you smile. The 111 00:10:48.389 --> 00:10:54.700 the the Bible talks about marriage as bringing joy and even commands it in great 112 00:10:54.820 --> 00:11:00.980 ways. Let Your Fountain Be Blessed and rejoice in the wife of your youth, 113 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:05.769 a lovely dear, a graceful dough. Let her breasts fill you at 114 00:11:05.809 --> 00:11:11.970 all times with delight. Be intoxicated always in love with her. These earthly 115 00:11:13.049 --> 00:11:18.169 joys that the Lord gives to us are are wonderful. Even the creation is 116 00:11:18.289 --> 00:11:22.759 said to exhibit a kind of joy. In Psalm six, five twelve, 117 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:28.399 we read that when the Lord provided AIDS in a great abundant way on the 118 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:33.190 earth, through rain and vegetation, things like that, that the hills, 119 00:11:33.830 --> 00:11:41.429 the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothed themselves with flocks, the 120 00:11:41.509 --> 00:11:48.379 valleys deck themselves with brain. They shout and sing together for joy. The 121 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:54.899 Way, the Bible speaks even of the non human elements of creation as just 122 00:11:56.379 --> 00:12:00.980 glorying in the Lord and the things that he is given them. The hills, 123 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:07.450 the meadows, the valleys, the earth. Maybe it's chocolate during a 124 00:12:07.570 --> 00:12:11.769 difficult day a shoulder rub from a friend, five bucks that you find in 125 00:12:11.889 --> 00:12:16.320 your pocket, or the Scythe of a horse standing among the trees. There 126 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:22.039 are all kinds of wonderful, wonderful things that the lord fills the earth with, 127 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:31.070 things for which we are joyful. But this earthly joy has its limits. 128 00:12:31.110 --> 00:12:37.509 It has its limits. Proverbs and speaking about the joy of justice and 129 00:12:37.710 --> 00:12:43.990 marriage and apt answers and other things has this dark proverb as a well. 130 00:12:43.269 --> 00:12:50.860 Proverbs fourteen thirteen. Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end 131 00:12:50.899 --> 00:13:00.129 of joy maybe grief. ECCLESIASTES to verses ten through twelve. Here the preacher 132 00:13:00.529 --> 00:13:05.929 expresses his project and which he went out into the world and sought these joys 133 00:13:07.970 --> 00:13:13.080 to the Max in every possible way he could, and he finds himself frustrated 134 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:16.759 in the end. He says in Chapter Two, verses ten and eleven, 135 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:22.840 and whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I kept 136 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:26.629 my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, 137 00:13:26.950 --> 00:13:31.470 and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all 138 00:13:31.509 --> 00:13:37.149 that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, 139 00:13:37.309 --> 00:13:41.980 and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind, and there 140 00:13:41.059 --> 00:13:48.659 was nothing to be gained under the Sun. This aching in the heart, 141 00:13:48.820 --> 00:13:52.740 even in the midst of joy that proverbs describes, and the way that the 142 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:58.210 preacher describes in Ecclesiastes of going out into the world and setting his hand in 143 00:13:58.289 --> 00:14:03.610 his mind and his heart to do good work, to learn, to grow, 144 00:14:03.970 --> 00:14:09.490 to experience, he also finds that in all that toiling and all that 145 00:14:09.649 --> 00:14:15.799 good work that was supposed to bring him lasting joy, he finds it all 146 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:26.029 vanishing well, going away even as in the wind. And this is not 147 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:30.750 the experience of him alone. Many, many people feel this the every day 148 00:14:31.509 --> 00:14:35.909 and it's what keeps people searching. It what's keeps them searching for the next 149 00:14:35.990 --> 00:14:39.620 best thing, a kind of joy, a kind of thing that will finally, 150 00:14:41.100 --> 00:14:46.940 finally bring things together, whether that's a certain amount of money or a 151 00:14:46.299 --> 00:14:52.690 perfectly optimized schedule or a certain kind of relationship or family. The list goes 152 00:14:52.809 --> 00:14:58.250 on and on and on. Maybe sometimes we put it in even very low 153 00:14:58.610 --> 00:15:05.129 things, cars or or gadgets, or even in base things, sinful things. 154 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:15.799 But though God deck's the earth with all kinds of good things, things 155 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:20.919 for us to enjoy, there is a kind of greater joy that goes even 156 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:26.429 beyond the earthly. That is the joy that people really want, the joy 157 00:15:26.549 --> 00:15:31.470 that ultimately, at they are after. It's a heavenly kind of joy, 158 00:15:31.509 --> 00:15:41.700 a heavenly joy. It's called this because it both comes from heaven and it 159 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:46.139 transcends the thing of the earth. There's no vanity in it, there's no 160 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:52.490 moment in which it seems to exist and then vanishes, just crumbles under you, 161 00:15:54.690 --> 00:16:00.570 sifts out from between your fingers. There's no other side of the coin 162 00:16:00.610 --> 00:16:07.159 when it comes to heavenly joy. It's perfect, it's complete, it's eternal 163 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:14.240 and it's that kind of joy. Not Sinful Joy, not good earthly joy, 164 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:19.629 but this eternal, heavenly joy that is being announced by the angels in 165 00:16:19.789 --> 00:16:25.669 our passage tonight, when the shepherds are are there in their fields and this 166 00:16:25.870 --> 00:16:32.350 angel appears and announces to them this good news of great joy. This is 167 00:16:32.470 --> 00:16:38.539 what they are describing. It's what the shepherd's experienced and felt when they went, 168 00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:42.700 what the wise men experienced and felt. It's what John, I guess, 169 00:16:42.980 --> 00:16:49.690 felt when he was in the womb and he leaped for joy. It's 170 00:16:49.730 --> 00:16:56.529 a heavenly kind of joy and it's an eternal kind of joy because it's from 171 00:16:56.769 --> 00:17:03.440 God and it's in God. Listen to Psalm forty three, versus four and 172 00:17:03.640 --> 00:17:08.240 five. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, 173 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:14.400 my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with a liar. Oh God, 174 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.430 my God, why are you cast down, O my soul, and 175 00:17:18.549 --> 00:17:22.190 why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall 176 00:17:22.230 --> 00:17:29.710 again praise him, my salvation and my God. In these two verses we 177 00:17:29.789 --> 00:17:33.980 have the word God, one, two, three, four, five, 178 00:17:33.180 --> 00:17:40.380 six times, over and over and over again, and very clearly put even 179 00:17:40.420 --> 00:17:42.339 at the very beginning. Then I will go to the altar of God to 180 00:17:42.460 --> 00:17:49.529 God my exceeding joy. A heavenly joy is, as I said, from 181 00:17:49.769 --> 00:17:53.410 heaven in the sense that it is from God and it transcends the earth and 182 00:17:53.569 --> 00:18:00.480 that it is God himself. Our joy is eat our heavenly joy is eternal 183 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:07.359 and everlasting because it is grounded. It comes from the God who made everything 184 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:17.069 himself. We're reminded in Romans fourteen one that the joy that we have is 185 00:18:17.190 --> 00:18:22.029 joy in the Holy Spirit. We have joy, the Bible says, in 186 00:18:22.190 --> 00:18:29.339 the strength of the Lord. Well, because of Joel this kind of joy 187 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:33.420 is from God. That means it is great, it means it's everlasting, 188 00:18:33.539 --> 00:18:37.180 it means it's the kind of thing that can't be frustrated. It's the kind 189 00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:41.930 of thing that won't come in vain. Jesus is a rival on earth hit. 190 00:18:42.049 --> 00:18:47.369 This incarnation, the son of God taking on Flesh, is not something 191 00:18:47.490 --> 00:18:52.210 that is going to just not work out. It is going to bring about 192 00:18:52.329 --> 00:18:57.200 the things that God has promised, things that can be described as news of 193 00:18:57.480 --> 00:19:06.119 great joy, the releasing of people from captivity, the conquering of Satan, 194 00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:12.309 the defeat of death, the securing of an inheritance for a people that is 195 00:19:12.390 --> 00:19:21.589 eternal and spiritual and everlasting. Psalm sixteen eleven says you make known to me 196 00:19:21.710 --> 00:19:27.339 the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. At 197 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:37.140 your right hand are pleasures forevermore. This is a different kind of joy than 198 00:19:37.220 --> 00:19:41.569 enjoying a chocolate bar at two o'clock on the Friday afternoon. That's Nice, 199 00:19:41.609 --> 00:19:47.329 might get you through the next hour. You might really enjoy it, but 200 00:19:47.450 --> 00:19:52.289 it is not going to fill you with the fullness of joy. You will 201 00:19:52.329 --> 00:19:57.400 not find pleasures forevermore, and you won't find it there or any of the 202 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:03.440 other places that we often see it, but in the Lord, in God 203 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:11.349 himself, he gives to us that the fullness of joy, delight in the 204 00:20:11.509 --> 00:20:19.789 heart, pleasure that's everlasting. Now this joy, this great gift that God 205 00:20:21.029 --> 00:20:29.339 gives to us, is indeed a gift. It's given to you. This 206 00:20:29.460 --> 00:20:33.180 is an important thing to know. This joy that we have is not a 207 00:20:33.339 --> 00:20:37.809 sinful joy. It's not a joy that's stolen. We don't climb into the 208 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:42.329 heavenly places and somehow rip something out of God's Throne Room and say, Aha, 209 00:20:42.730 --> 00:20:45.930 I have one of the treasures of the king. No, this is 210 00:20:47.009 --> 00:20:53.079 one of his treasures that he gives to us because he loves us. He 211 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:59.720 gives it to us in particular in the salvation that comes to us in Jesus 212 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:06.630 Isaiah six, one hundred and ten. I will rejoice greatly in Jehovah. 213 00:21:07.029 --> 00:21:12.190 My soul shall exalt in my God, for he has clothed me with the 214 00:21:12.349 --> 00:21:18.819 garments of salvation. You hear the connection there? You hear the connection between 215 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:23.099 rejoicing in God and why we rejoice in God, the the way it is 216 00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:27.779 that we come to rejoice and have this kind of eternal joy. It's because 217 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:36.490 of salvation, because he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. Isaiah 218 00:21:36.609 --> 00:21:41.130 goes on to describe on what that's like and he uses three metaphors, one 219 00:21:41.170 --> 00:21:45.650 of a bridegroom sort of putting on his wedding garments, of a priest being 220 00:21:45.849 --> 00:21:53.599 clothed in his head dress and a bride being, I believe it's, covered 221 00:21:53.720 --> 00:22:00.519 with jewels. This is the way in which we are clothed with salvation. 222 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:07.910 It's this kind of entering into this position of glory, of goodness, of 223 00:22:07.990 --> 00:22:12.470 joy, and it's one of the great gifts of God, isn't it? 224 00:22:12.710 --> 00:22:18.299 Joy? It's one of the gifts that he's given. It comes to us 225 00:22:18.339 --> 00:22:22.819 as a promise that is fulfilled. We find joy in the fact that God 226 00:22:23.180 --> 00:22:27.539 is doing the thing that he said he would do. Remember Isaiah's in the 227 00:22:27.579 --> 00:22:34.049 Old Testament, Jesus is born a much later on in him. In this 228 00:22:34.450 --> 00:22:40.690 coming of the Christ, this coming of the Messiah, we have God doing 229 00:22:40.890 --> 00:22:45.000 the things he has said he will do, giving the gifts he is promised. 230 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:49.000 But Jesus not only fulfills promises, which brings us joy, but there's 231 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:56.240 also joy in the hopes of future things to come. Jesus promises US A 232 00:22:57.789 --> 00:23:04.349 place in heaven. He promises us that when we die, we will raise 233 00:23:04.549 --> 00:23:08.470 from the dead, then we will live forever, and that we will do 234 00:23:08.630 --> 00:23:17.700 so without sorrow and always with joy. These kinds of hopes sustain us. 235 00:23:18.619 --> 00:23:22.019 This gift of joy that God gives to us in the salvation that comes in 236 00:23:22.140 --> 00:23:29.769 this baby, it sustains us. This gift sustains us in a way that 237 00:23:30.009 --> 00:23:37.529 even sorrows become opportunities for joy. This gift that God sustains us in the 238 00:23:37.609 --> 00:23:47.240 salvation of Jesus is effective in such a way that even sorrows become opportunities for 239 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:55.440 joy. A back three hundred and seventeen describes famine becoming famine, a promised 240 00:23:55.480 --> 00:24:00.829 famine, and then can continues with yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 241 00:24:02.990 --> 00:24:08.950 I will joy in the God of my salvation, or persecution. Acts five 242 00:24:08.990 --> 00:24:15.220 hundred forty one. We read of Jesus's disciples departing from the council I'm after 243 00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:21.019 being persecuted, joy saying that they were worthy to suffer shame for his name. 244 00:24:21.059 --> 00:24:30.089 Joy in famine, joy in persecution, joy in imprisonments and acts sixteen 245 00:24:30.569 --> 00:24:37.690 we read that we read of Christians being beaten and imprisoned, and at midnight 246 00:24:37.890 --> 00:24:45.799 there is Paul singing with joy. HEEBRES thirty four describes the loss of property. 247 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:52.230 You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you 248 00:24:52.349 --> 00:24:59.789 had a better possession and an abiding one. You see how these future things, 249 00:24:59.869 --> 00:25:06.589 these promises that Jesus or these gifts that Jesus is, Jesus secures and 250 00:25:06.710 --> 00:25:10.019 promises to us, have a way of affecting our lives here and now, 251 00:25:10.779 --> 00:25:14.420 so that even when we suffer for his name, we find that we can 252 00:25:14.460 --> 00:25:18.099 rejoice, even when our property and our wealth is taken from us, when 253 00:25:18.099 --> 00:25:25.089 our backs are ripped open by the whip, when we lose even our very 254 00:25:25.329 --> 00:25:33.569 lives, we can joyfully accept these things because of the better possession, the 255 00:25:33.690 --> 00:25:40.359 abiding one, that is to come first. Peter Twelve characterizes all these things, 256 00:25:40.440 --> 00:25:45.480 and he talks about rejoicing in the midst of all kinds of fiery trials, 257 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:55.829 joy the gift of God that comes in the Salvation of Christ. That's 258 00:25:55.869 --> 00:26:00.789 what the angels were announcing. That's why the aim though the wise men fell 259 00:26:00.309 --> 00:26:08.940 to worship at the manger. It's why John Leapt in the womb, because 260 00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:14.460 in the birth of the son of God, the world was given by God 261 00:26:14.619 --> 00:26:23.849 himself, salvation, hope and a guaranteed future without any sorrow. In other 262 00:26:23.930 --> 00:26:33.759 words, we were given joy, a lasting treasure. Indeed, it wasn't 263 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:40.079 only Jesus birth that was touched by joy. We read that as his at 264 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:45.759 his resurrection, the women departed quickly from the tomb. Matthew Twenty eight eight. 265 00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:52.670 They parted quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy at his coming, 266 00:26:52.750 --> 00:26:56.470 at his birth, at his resurrection, at his ascension to also touched 267 00:26:56.509 --> 00:27:02.500 by joy, Luke fifty two. He was carried up into heaven. They 268 00:27:02.579 --> 00:27:10.819 worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Even at the cross, 269 00:27:11.819 --> 00:27:18.930 even at this low low point, the lowest point, when Jesus was suffering 270 00:27:18.049 --> 00:27:25.289 and dying, Hebrews tells us that it was for the joy that was set 271 00:27:25.369 --> 00:27:33.880 before him that he endured the cross and despised the shame. The Good News, 272 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:38.880 the Gospel, the great joy news that God proclaims so clearly to these 273 00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:45.190 shepherds is what has also proclaimed to you tonight, and in that news, 274 00:27:47.269 --> 00:27:53.150 in this Jesus, there is great joy, joy, eternal joy without swore 275 00:27:53.430 --> 00:28:03.940 sorrow, joy and delight in God. So here and believe and look at 276 00:28:03.019 --> 00:28:10.819 the world in a new way. And when your heart is filled with the 277 00:28:11.059 --> 00:28:15.730 joy of the Lord, the joy of God, the joy of the Holy 278 00:28:15.769 --> 00:28:19.009 Spirit, the joy of his strength, the joy of his promises, the 279 00:28:19.130 --> 00:28:26.369 joy of Christ our king, you don't need to bottle it up, but 280 00:28:26.490 --> 00:28:32.599 you can share it with others and you can worship your savior. Let us 281 00:28:32.599 --> pray