The Key of Joy
Recap
Matthew 16:13-19 // Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
ADVENT IS THE CELEBRATION OF THE KING AND HIS KINGDOM!
Advent means the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event. During Advent, we turn our attention to celebrating the two most important events in all of human history. One of them has already taken place; the other is yet to come. Both of them have to do with the arrival of the King and His Kingdom. First, we remember the incarnation of Jesus, which was the breaking in of the Kingdom of God on the earth.
Luke 1:30-33 // And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
John 1:14 // And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
During this season, we celebrate the incredible and miraculous arrival of our King over 2000 years ago. Second, we look ahead to the promise of His second advent, when He will return to establish His rule and reign upon the earth during a time period referred to by theologians as the Millennial Kingdom.
Revelation 20:4-6 // Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Philippians 3:20-21 // But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
This is the Advent week of JOY, where we get to remember that Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness!
We get to anticipate the day where He will establish His joyous rule upon the earth. More than that, we get to learn how to access His joy here and now even as we wrestle through trials, suffering and persecutions. Remember, the Keys of the Kingdom unlock heaven and bring it to earth. Anyone want to learn how to access more JOY in your life? Let’s dig into the Word!
Hebrews 1:8-9 // Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.
Romans 14:17 // For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
3 Biblical Truths about Joy
1. Joy is rooted in righteousness.
Psalm 33:1-5 // Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. 2 Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. 4 For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. 5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.
Romans 4:22-25 // That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Romans 5:1-2 // Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Positional Righteousness - When a believer is declared to be righteous on the basis of faith alone in the blood of Jesus. It’s the FREE GIFT of the Gospel!
Practical Righteousness - Becoming in practice what grace already says we are. It’s the maturity journey of discipleship, where we learn to love righteousness like Jesus does!
One of the ways that we grow as believers is through the disappointment of sin. What I used to be able to do in my ignorance is now unthinkable. It’s like putting gas in a diesel engine! You’ve been changed, and putting sin in your engine will only cause problems. The bible says that if anyone is IN CHRIST, he/she is a NEW CREATION. I remember discipling a young man a few years ago who had come to Jesus radically out of a very wild lifestyle. Our discipleship mainly consisted of me telling him who he was as a new creation. He would come to me after trying to do the old sins of his past and would be so torn up about things he used to do without even thinking twice! Instead of shaming him (he was already being convicted by the Holy Spirit), I would just say, “See! You are HOLY! You are a new creation.”
2. Joy is a Kingdom substance that creates strength.
Nehemiah 8:10 // The joy of the Lord is your strength.
Psalm 16:11 // You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 100:1-2 // Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
The pursuit of joy in God’s presence is a KEY to a life of endurance.
3. Joy is a choice, even in the midst of suffering.
Romans 5:3-5 // Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Rejoice = chaírō, khah'-ee-ro; a primary verb; to be "cheer"ful, i.e. calmly happy or well-off
Jesus was the “man of sorrows” and at the same time was “anointed with the oil of gladness beyond his companions.” It is a choice to rejoice. It is an action that we can take. Even in the midst of difficulty and trial, we lift our eyes to the goodness and faithfulness of God, and we take refuge in Him.
Our view of suffering here is CRITICAL. If we don’t have a theology of suffering, we will misinterpret life and potentially blame God for our pain. This happens subtly, but over time distances us from the One who actually wants to walk WITH US through the trails. (“The 4 J’s of Suffering” by Robert Marshall)
Joy propels us through suffering; it is also the reward that awaits us on the other side. “For the joy SET BEFORE HIM, Jesus endured the cross.” Don’t give up! Don’t blame God! Find comfort in the stories of the saints who have gone before you, and rejoice in the Lord.
Our Response
2 Samuel 6:1-15 // David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. 3 And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, 4 with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark.
5 And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. 6 And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. 9 And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.
12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. 13 And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
Psalm 126:1-6 //
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.
4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negeb!
5 Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.