Title: The Joy of the Lord Is My Strength
Text: Neh 8:9 – 12
Joy is P_ermissable___________
- Is Self-Control religious?
- 1 John 1.4
Joy is D_esirable_____________
- 2 Cor 1.24
Joy is E_ssential_____________
- Heb 11.6
Question: Is joy a “nice-to-have,” or is it something more?
Outline:
Joy is reading this love letter (Not entertaining / Not I talk you listen! / I’m a Warren)
Re-vival / Vitalis – life = Joy
Joy is Permissible
- Buddha taught you avoid pain by avoiding happiness
- Heb 12: 2 Jesus endured the cross b/c sought the joy
- Moral? Muslim / Avoid Pain – don’t look to the martyrs! / Self-mastery? Atheism!
Indeed, not only is joy permissible in our faith, it’s desirable. 1 John 1.4 says, “We write these things that your joy may be complete.” The whole point of this book is that your joy would be complete
Joy is Desirable
- 1 John 1.4 (Above) // 2 Cor 1.24 “We work with you for your joy”
- Why not just kill yourself? Last night, I saw Rachel…
In fact, I would argue that if you have no joy, I doubt you have any faith. Joy is essential to what we are. We’re going to talk more about how to get back your joy as this week continues, but look with me real quick at Hebrews 11.
Joy is Essential
- Hebrews 11.6 Without faith, impossible to please God… that he rewards.
- The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace…
Darwin’s journal…
I’d like to thank you for the privilege of opening the Scriptures with you this evening. It is truly a joy to open this love letter that our Father gave us, and to share that joy with you.
Now, I need to stop there for a minute, because I suspect just about preacher you’ve ever met has said something like that to you. What I suspect they meant was something like, “It is a joy to stand up here and entertain you for a bit,” or “I’m really excited that I get to talk for the next 20 minutes and you guys have to shut up and listen.” I need you to know that when I say, it is a joy to read this love letter, I mean, the joy really is reading this love letter with you all.
I am not a person who loves being the center of attention. I’m a nerd who grew up realizing that generally attention went to beautiful people, and when I got the attention, it was usually so some else could make a joke at my expense. Later, I married into the Warren clan. Some of you may know J. Fred up in Aldie – he’s my father-in-law. His daughter Susan is the second-best thing that ever happened to me. I think you can guess the first. When I joined the Warren family, I learned very quickly that when he called someone “a talker,” that was not a compliment. And I fit in with the Warrens pretty well now.
No, my joy is not that I am up here; rather, it is that my life is in here (Bible). It is my joy to be able to tell you about my Father whose desire it is to fill my hands so full of his goodness that I just don’t have any room to hold on to anything else.
If you grew up with fire and brimstone preaching, sermons that guilted you into this or the other, or if you fear Hell more than love heaven, then the text I want to read to you tonight may be hard to understand. But if I can show you that joy is not only permissible and attainable but essential to what it means to live this Christian life, then I will have done my job.
This is a revival. That word means ‘life again.’ Vitalis – life. Re – again. And what is life but joy? And, if I have already offended or confused you, don’t worry. Lots of God-fearing people have had their lives revitalized over the years by overturning that same old lie – that you’re supposed to be miserable. The Devil wants to take away your joy. But God wants it back.
If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Nehemiah 8:9 – 12. We’re going to be in Nehemiah all three days this week, because that’s the story of one the first great revivals. Old Testament History in a Nutshell – You remember Genesis with Abraham, then Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt and back to Abraham’s land. You may remember the Judges, then all those Kings – Saul, David, Solomon, and a bunch of hosaphats in 1 & 2 Kings / Chronicles. Well, the end of that Kingdom ends up with Israel back in exile again, this time in Babylon. Ezra and Nehemiah are what comes next.
There in Nehemiah, a bunch of Jews have come back to Israel. They’ve just rebuilt the wall, they’ve rebuilt the Temple, and now God needs to be rebuild their hearts. In Nehemiah 8, they start reading the Law. Actually, they’ve got so far out of practice reading the Law that don’t even speak the language any more. They have the priests read them the Law, and when they hear it, they start crying. They’ve finally realized how bad they’ve messed stuff up. But listen to what they say – it’s a key part of revival – of getting that life again.
In Nehemiah 8:9 – 12, it says: Nehemiah 8:9-12 (ESV)
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
This evening, I just want to pick up on this one line – This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep. Do not be grieved, because the joy of the LORD is your strength.
You see, too many Christians I know think that if you want to be a Christian, you need to be a sourpuss. You know the type – We don’t drink, we don’t smoke, we don’t dance – say, why don’t you become a Christian so you can have as much fun as us! Well, we’ll talk more about those pleasures tomorrow, but, for now I have to tell you. Not only is joy permissible, it is desirable, and actually downright essential.
Joy is Permissible
Now, let me start by telling you, I understand the impulse to think that as Christians, joy can be put on the back burner. After all, we are engaged in a battle to control our bodies and those impulses that would tempt us to sin, right? We want to be good and moral. Joy seems like a nice afterthought. Self-control just seems a lot more religious, right?
Well, Self-control is very religious. The only problem is, that religion is really Buddhism. You see, the main tenet of Buddhism is that you gain control over your life and avoid pain by avoiding joy. It was Buddha – not Jesus - who said that you just need to avoid all the extremes. He said if you choose the ‘Middle Path’ – avoiding Joy, you’ll avoid pain. He said happiness was just another kind of pain. Well, Jesus wouldn’t have had anything to do with that.
If you don’t believe me, look at Hebrews 12:2. The author of Hebrews says that we look to Jesus, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross. Hear that again – He chose the pain of the cross in order to obtain the joy set before him. Jesus chose Joy. Buddha’s the one who chose to be a Stoic.
Let me tell you – it’s that joy, that love that sets us apart. If you’re just looking for morality, you really should be a Muslim. They crush us when it comes to following rules and regulations. Don’t be believe me? Go ask your friendly neighborhood Taliban and see what he says about rules. I’ve already said, if you’re looking to avoid pain, take your cue from Buddha, and not the faith that saw its founder and his 12 disciples all meet some rather gruesome deaths. And if you’re just looking to be in control, go be a communist or an atheist or a secular humanist. They’ve all got their Shirley MacLaines who are happy to let you be your own god.
But if you want joy – if you want the joy that comes from knowing that you are an adopted and forgiven Child of God, well, you’re in the right place. Don’t mourn or weep. Who mourns or weeps when the bridegroom is with them?
Joy is Desirable
Indeed, not only is joy permissible in our faith, it’s desirable. 1 John 1.4 says, “We write these things that your joy may be complete.” The whole point of this book is that your joy would be complete.
2 Corinthians 1.24 says, “We work with you for your joy.” Paul is not saying, ‘We work with you so you’ll act right,’ or even ‘We work with you so you’ll have faith!’ He says, we work with you for your joy … so that you can stand firm in your faith.
Joy is an encouragement for you to stand in your faith. It is the strength - the vitality – the thing that gives life to your faith. Paul says, if there is any encouragement in Christ, complete my joy. There’s that encouragement, that joy.
Let me ask you to imagine something for a minute. Stand firm in what you know – salvation is a free gift of God, it is something that cannot be taken away from you, it’s secure. It’s not dependent on what you do, right? Right. Now, let’s suppose for a minute that salvation means nothing more than the joy you’ll have in heaven. There is no joy here on earth. We all know this world is irredeemably evil. You only need to watch Britney Spears to know that. Well, if this world is evil, and the only joy we get is in heaven, what’s the only logical course of action?
Suicide, right? Yes, it’s a sin – its murder. But if God can forgive your sin, he can forgive murder, so you’ll still have your joy.
So, why aren’t you all joining me in a Jim Jones Jungle Juice Jamboree? Because God has given us joy down here too! Last night, I saw my four-year old daughter Rachel asleep in her bed, with her pony on one side, her piggy in the middle, and she was just sleeping safe and sound in the middle. That gave me so much joy to see what it’s like to have Jesus on one side, and the Spirit of God on the other. He created us to see our children, to take joy as we lead them to the Lord.
He gives us joy now. It’s a down-payment on heaven.
Joy is Essential
In fact, I would argue that if you have no joy, I doubt you have any faith. Joy is essential to what we are. We’re going to talk more about how to get back your joy as this week continues, but look with me real quick at Hebrews 11. I know you know Hebrews 11:1 – Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. By faith we understand that God made this world. Right? Well, right after that, Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists – and get this – that he rewards those who seek him.
What do you think he rewards people with? Money – no, there are as many poor Christians as there are rich ones, maybe even more. Long life? Nope – Ecclesiastes 2:16 – the wise dies just as the fool. The longest lived King of Israel – Manessah – was also it’s wickedest. Jesus said the rain falls on the just and the wicked alike. Nope.
But do you remember this one? The fruit of the spirit is love, JOY, peace, etc… The reward is joy. Pure and simple. Like I said, it’s a down payment on heaven. It’s fruit. You only get joy from God.
I want to close by reading you the journal of one man and telling you about his wife. This one man started out as a minister, but was so enthralled by God’s nature that he became a biologist. Nothing wrong with that – most of the great scientists: Newton, Faraday, Mendel – they marveled at God’s work in nature, and their faith was strengthened by what they learned.
But as he got older, he began to focus so much on the nature that he missed out on the God who made. Eventually, he grew so cold that he wrote this to a friend:
“I am glad you were at the ‘Messiah,’ it is the one thing I should like to hear again, but I dare say I should find my soul too dried up to appreciate it as in old days; and then I should feel very flat, for it is a horrid bore to feel as I constantly do, that I am a withered leaf for every subject except science.”
He wrote to another:
“But now the grandest scenes would not cause any such convictions and feelings to rise in my mind. It may be truly said that I am like a man who has become color-blind.”
He had lost his capacity for joy. You see, Charles Darwin had lost his capacity to see God at work in the origin of all the species. He began to see nature as nothing but a grinding machine. As he lost sight of God, he lost sight of any joy he had ever had. He became a sickly, miserable wretch, who held on, by his own admission, only through the constant labors of his wife, Emma.
Emma was strong Christian who found joy in serving her Lord. She was tireless in aiding the orphans, the poor, the ones that Jesus loved. The same ones that a society hell-bent on improvement by selection would have discarded. But her faith was strong and so was her joy, because her faith gave her the eyes to see her joy made complete in working with the ones that Jesus loved.
By all accounts, Emma rejected her husband’s theory that God was absent, and she was a much happier woman for it. The joy of the Lord – the joy of serving her Lord truly was her strength.
This evening, if you are harboring any illusions that your strength will give you joy in the Lord, please let me dispel it. God loves you, God wants to give you joy, but it’s his alone to give.
If you want it, you just need to ask for it. The next two nights we’re going to see why God gives us joy and how to get it back. But understand this, if you don’t know the Lord, you’ll never have it. If you’d bow your head, in the silence of this room, I want to tell you how you can get it.
Pray with me: XXXX
SERMON NOTES
NEHEMIAH 8: 9 – 12
9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.
RESPONSIVE LESSON
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you to stand firm in your faith.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely.
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,
Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Heb 11:1; 11:6; 2 Cor 1:24; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 1:8;
1 John 1:4;Jer 15:16;Php 2:1-2; 4:4 (ESV)
