Great Joy for all the People
December 14, 2014
Luke 2 New International Version (NIV)
The Birth of Jesus
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
This 3rd Sunday of Advent, we Celebrate Joy…the Joy that comes from knowing the Savior… Jesus…our Christmas gift. Are you ready to proclaim from the rooftops you’re JOY…. The Joy that knowing Jesus produces in our hearts?
Listen to the words that John Wesley wrote in the 1700’s about his Savior….
Come, thou long expected Jesus….. Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us, Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear Desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver, Born a child and yet a King, Born to reign in us forever, Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. By Thine own eternal Spirit Rule in all our hearts alone; By thine all
For hundreds of years…God’s people have been looking for, preparing for, expecting the promised Messiah…waiting for the promise to be fulfilled.
1. “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. v. 9
When you think about this idea of Joy, what do you think of? The angel told the shepherds that he was bringing them some good news…not just any news….but news that will cause “great joy” for all the people.
I see joy on the face of my students when they get that test back and they accomplished what they were hoping for….you can see their joy on their face. I see a lot of despair also when they realize their parents have to sign that test….
Yesterday, as Nola and I were in Branson at Silver Dollar City to watch the huge tree be lit up, it was fun to watch the kids face light up with the Tree….pure Joy watching and taking it all in. One little girl was walking into SDC with her Mom and Dad, she was about 3 years old… She asked her Mom, “Do we get to do all these things?” as she was looking around and seeing Christmas fun everywhere…. And Mom says, “Yes, we get to do all these things…” and the little girl started dancing around in celebration….pure joy.
We could say that these expressions of Joy are based in our emotions….
This Joy that the angel is telling the Shepherds about seems a little more than a passing emotion, it’s based on a fact that will change people lives forever….. “I bring you good news that will cause great Joy for all the people.”
How many of you realize that Jesus’ birth, God’s plan for Jesus to come and live with us, to die for us, and to be raised back to life….God’s salvation plan was for us…it was for our Joy…for our eternal Joy?
So where does this Great Joy come from….and how do we keep it apart of our life?
2. Salvation gives birth to Joy -
A. Reconciliation- When you are away from God, when you are lost in your sin… Joy is absent. We were created to have relationship with God, a personal embrace…a close intimate relationship.
So when we come to that place of repentance and ask Jesus to be the Lord of our Life…something amazing happens….. Salvation… We are born again… our Spirit is made alive and with that Spiritual life comes Joy….Eternal Joy. So our Joy comes when we reconcile ourselves with our God. Are you reconciled with Him today? Do you know this Joy that comes from being in a healthy relationship with God? To be reconciled is to be brought back into proper relationship with God…this is done by God’s Grace when we ask for this great gift.
B. The joy of possession. My Daughter Karinda, she taught me about how Joy comes through possession. When she was little she had a blanket that was her security blanket, she slept with it, she would carry it around the house…she had to have it with her before she would take her nap or go to sleep at night. When she had her blanket, she had Joy as a toddler.
After a few years of use, you can imagine what the blanket looked like…it was basically a wad of thread…but it was her wad of thread. Nola and I found a blanket that looked like the original, it had the same colors, and the same feel to it….one day we snuck into her room, took her old wore out wad of thread and put the new blanket on her as she slept. When she woke up, she came running out of her room, threw the imposter blanket on the floor and yelled, “where is my blanket?” No joy.
This great Joy comes from knowing we are in possession of our Savior Jesus, and he has us. No imposters accepted, nothing else will do…..our Joy only comes when we Have Him.
C. The joy of anticipation. How many of you have some gifts already wrapped and under the tree? Thanks to my wife, we have almost all our shopping done, wrapped and ready for Christmas day. One of my favorite parts of Christmas as a Dad was the anticipation of the gifts, watching my girls look at, pick up, try to figure out what the gift was. Watching them anticipate the gift is as much fun as them actually unwrapping the gift.
As a Christian, our Joy comes from Anticipating the coming of Jesus, our great reward of being with Him in Heaven for eternity. The Joy of knowing what is coming….it’s going to be worth whatever we must face here on earth. Amen?
If our Joy comes through Reconciliation and being in a healthy relationship with Jesus, then the way we can lose our Joy….is by choosing the opposite.
3. Sin robs our Joy
A. the Christian sometimes falls into sin. The way that we define sin in the church of the Nazarene is what the Bible teaches….sin is a willful transgression of a known law of God. In other words…. It is when I on purpose do what I know God does not want me to do.
When we are tempted and we sin….as a Christian we will checked by the Holy Spirit…He will make you aware of this transgression, none of us would be able to say that we didn’t know… God is faithful to make it clear…the question is will we ask forgiveness and regain our Joy? Sin, choosing to disobey what we know God wants will rob you of your Joy. We all know this is true because we have all experienced this in our own lives…. Sin traps us…. Jesus sets us free and empowers us to live above sin through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Falling into sin should not be a habit for us…the longer we are a Christian, the rarer this should happen to us because we learn how to avoid Satan’s traps.
B. No man can sin and retain his peace of mind.- When we sin against God, we lose our peace… we know right away that we are not where we should be when it comes to our relationship with God. Who in here wants to live in disobedience to what God wants? None of us, so when we find ourselves outside of God’s will…. We need to immediately pray and ask for God’s forgiveness and continue in this ongoing relationship…learning from our failure.
What is true repentance? Not simply fear of punishment; but grief at having broken God’s law, and grieved God’s Spirit; combined with a desire to live a nobler, purer life. Forgiveness cannot be obtained while sin is retained.
F. J. Austin Illustration on Joy
Where does joy come from? I knew a Sunday school student whose conception of joy was that it was a thing made in lumps and kept somewhere in heaven, and that when people prayed for it pieces were somehow let down and fitted into their souls.
In reality, joy is as much a matter of cause and effect as pain. No one can get joy by merely asking for it. It is one of the ripest fruits of the Christian life, and, like all fruits, must be grown.
The Bible lists joy as one of the Fruit of the Spirit, in other words…as we are In Christ, and His Spirit is living in us, Joy should be growing in our spirit….not just the emotion of Joy, but this lifestyle of Joy…..this confidence of having Jesus that inspires and cultivates the Joy of our salvation. How’s the Joy coming along….do you pass that Joy around to others…do they sense your Joy in Jesus?
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
I believe that when we have this Joy that comes from knowing Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to grow or produce this Fruit in our life….people around us will want to know how we can possess this great gift….
This is the time of the year when we can share our Joy…share our Jesus with those who don’t know Him….many this time of year are depressed, are hurting for all kinds of reasons…We have a remedy, we have their Savior….the one who can give them Great Joy…it’s for all the people. Will you share that Joy this week?
This time of year offers us all kinds of opportunities to talk about Jesus, because Christmas is all about Him! I challenge you to first check on your own personal Joy….if you seem to lack Joy you need to ask why? Don’t allow sin to rob you of your Joy. Be reconciled, live in the embrace and experience this Joy again.
Second, I challenge you to share the reason for your Joy with someone this week who doesn’t seem to know Jesus. Find a way, make a plan, share the greatest story ever told with someone who needs Joy, they Need Jesus. What a great Christmas present you will be offering them.
