The Light of Joy

[Music] us [Music] [Music] sure [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] children [Music] [Music] don't you wanna be free from more kids [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] only don't you wanna be free free from all kids up [Music] i [Music] [Music] is [Music] again we're grateful and thankful that god has blessed us he has brought us thus far that we may come together and worship him in spirit and in truth god has certainly watched over us he has kept us he has cared for us and for that we are grateful and we are thankful want to wish and celebrate all of those men who are fathers uh today is what the world calls father's day we don't get the fanfare as the mothers and the women but yet you are special because uh you are a father in the sight of those that you care for and that you love and as we celebrate this father's day we must also celebrate our heavenly father who does great things on our behalf so i hope trust and pray for those of you who have fathers who are yet on this time side of life that you'll at least call them send them a text let them know that you care about them and care for them we as fathers we don't claim to be perfect but as long as we hold to god's unchanging hand and we've done the best we could we believe that god will continue to bless us bow with me if you will before we go into today's message god we thank you so much for this day that we have been allowed to come together to worship you in spirit and in true and oh god on this day we know that the world has set it aside as father's day and so the greatest example that we have of a perfect father is none other than you because those of us god who walked in the flesh we have not always gotten it right we've not always done the right things even when it came to our children but yet your grace is sufficient now god as we go into your preached word on today we ask that you watch over us you guide us and you strengthen us we invite the holy spirit into this place that something may be said on this day that remind us of our station and our status in jesus christ forgive us of our sins and our shortcomings our transgressions our downfalls god because they are certainly many in number but we ask right now that you'll cast them into the sea of forgetfulness and build god with this church the simpson street church of christ as we strive to touch people in this part of your moral vineyard we pray that our actions our thoughts our words and our deeds will do everything to show people that we serve a god who is able now god be with us as we go into your preach word on today watch over me as your manservant guide keep and strengthen in jesus name we pray amen i invite your attention to the book of isaiah the book of isaiah i just want to look at a couple of verses in the book of isaiah and we hope trust and pray that as we are preparing to come back into our worship service on july the 11th we hope trust and pray that you two are preparing to be in the physical services of the lord as we come together to just thank god for all that he has done and for all that he will do god has certainly blessed us in the midst of this pandemic isaiah chapter nine i'm just going to read two verses give you a brief message on this morning and then the message will be yours isaiah chapter 9 i want to read verses 2 and verse 3. we'll look at other verses but i want to pay particular attention to verses 2 and 3 isaiah chapter 9 verse 2 says the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them hath light shined verse 3 thou has multiplied in the nation not increased the joy they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest and as me and rejoice when they divide the spoils i want to talk to you briefly from the subject today the light of joy the light of joy as i said on last week or perhaps a week before last i believe god is getting ready to turn the lights of this world back on many of us have been sitting in darkness and depression many of us have been sitting in chaos and calamities but god is getting ready to turn the light on and do a great thing and so as we prepare for god to turn the light on i want us to understand that when we come back into worship service or even as we worship god we ought to worship him with great joy we worship him with great joy because god didn't have to do what he did he did not have to take care of you as much as he has taken care of you some people have been laid off but yet you got promoted some people have spent time in the hospital but yet you haven't had a sick day in a year and a half you ought to have some joy in jesus and so as we look at the book of isaiah the bible confronts and reminds those of us who have come to trust in jesus that we should not despair as if though there is no hope we as god's children we don't weep as others weep who have no hope but our hope is built on nothing less than jesus christ and his righteousness we have this relationship this revelation rather in isaiah chapter 9 of our lord that he not only announces his sovereign reign but he also tracks and traces the course of the messiah isaiah this great prophet is getting ready to let us know why we should have an exceeding joy isaiah chapter 9 is written against the backdrop of the prophecy of war and destruction it's written on the backdrop of darkness and gloom of chapter 8 isaiah gave this prophecy about the messiah the glorious coming of this king messiah because he wanted people to understand that life the totality of life is not about darkness and destruction the totality of life is not about grimness and gloom but the totality of our lives should be wrapped up in the joy of jesus and isaiah wants to bring joy to the people who are downtrodden and broken heart and he wants them to know that jesus is one day going to show up and i want to give the same message to you sitting out there today that isaiah gave to the people back then yes it's been a rough 14 16 months but jesus is about to do something great yes it's been rough it's been a strain it's been stressful but i want you to know that the totality of your life is not about the destruction and the gloom and the destruction and the just and the things that have happened so far what we should focus on is that jesus is getting ready to turn things around and when jesus turned things around he's going to turn them around for your benefit we must understand that if we want true peace it can only be found in jesus christ jesus the book of galatians says that the fruit of the spirit is peace hebrews the book of hebrews tells us to live in peace peter says seek peace john chapter 14 and verse number 27 jesus gives us the gift of peace in other words peace can only come from jesus so as isaiah is writing this he wants his individuals in that day and time to know yes you've been through a season but peace is getting ready to come let me help some of you real quick you've been through a devastating season you've been through a season of darkness you've been through a season of depression but jesus is about to show up on the scene jesus is about to take all of that away jesus is about to restore your joy jesus is about to restore your peace jesus is about to restore your mind you just got to position yourself and get ready so that when jesus shows up to do this great thing you will celebrate him with praise and exuberant joy isaiah in verses one through five chapter nine verses one through five he wants us to know that first of all this joy will come at the dawning of the messianic age jesus that messianic messiah jesus is the one who will come and restore joy to his people again isaiah declares that in contrast to the present age that they were living in it was an age of war it was an age of gloom it was an age of despair he says there's coming another age and it is the message the messianic age which means jesus will show up and take all of that away jesus is this promised future king the prophet here shows us how it unfolds and when you see this unfolding there will be a transition of trials there will be a metamorphosis of misery there will be a transformation of tribulations that would be a modification of maladies in other words isaiah is saying and i want you to hear this when jesus shows up he changes everything that he touches one more time when jesus shows up he changes everything that he touches when jesus comes into your life when jesus comes into your situation does he not change everything about your situation and about your life when jesus shows up in your situations when jesus shows up in your circumstances does he not change everything about your situation and your circumstances it is the same thing isaiah is sharing with the people in this day and time but i want you to understand isaiah being a prophet he's prophesying about the coming of jesus christ isaiah must have seen what was happening in 2021 and knew that his people god's people would need some joy and he is now pointing us to jesus letting us know that jesus is the source of our joy jesus is the foundation of our joy some of us have tried to find joy in other people places and things but if you want true joy it can only be found in jesus so gee he wants us to know that this change in circumstances will end our despair and our discomfort the passage in verses one and two it begins with the announcement of change there will be no more gloom for those in anguish in the past the lord humbled them but in the future he will honor them why because jesus is getting ready to bring them out of a situation has anybody ever been in a situation and you needed jesus to bring you out of it the explanation of this exaltation is found in verse number two look at verse number two he says the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light in other words there's a change so the question must be what caused this change they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them the light shine what is this light that isaiah is talking about the light that isaiah is talking about is none other than jesus christ this language is poetic darkness signifies adversity despair gloom and evil but the light signifies prosperity peace and joy and i want you to know that isaiah's verbs are in the past tense he writes it as if though it has already happened this is prophetic language as far as he is concerned even though it had not happened yet it's already happened some of y'all just missed it when you walk by faith and not by sight you can speak of those things that have not yet happened as if though they've already occurred in other words isaiah was certain that it would happen so he speaks of it in the past tense he said so light will shine on people who are walking in darkness he brings to a darkened world grace and truth he's talking about jesus he's a sure promise of peace and when he began to minister in galilee isaiah wants us to know that this began the ministry of the messiah so isaiah is looking thousands of years down the road and seeing us in this day and time and isaiah is saying that those who walked in darkness there will be light and that light is none other than jesus christ jesus is declared by the scripture to be the light that isaiah spoke about in john chapter 8 and verse number 12 he says i am the light of the world in isaiah chapter 42 and verse number 6 as a light to the nations in luke chapter 2 and verse number 32 a light of revelation to the gentiles in john chapter 12 and verse number 46 he says i have come as light into the world in john chapter 3 and verse number 19 he is the light that has come into the world in other words jesus is the light and he is that light of joy so in the midst of the darkness that we've been sitting in when jesus shows up the light is turned on and when the light is turned on we ought to have joy so this this jesus that isaiah is talking about this jesus that we serve this jesus that we've given our life to he brings us both joy and prosperity in verse number three says thou has multiplied the nations and not increased to joy they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest and as men washes rejoice when they divide the spoil the prophet turns to address the lord directly his words explain what it means that what it when it means when the light will dispel darkness he says joy and prosperity will follow the prophet gives no clue as to how soon this will happen but we who have the full revelation of god know that jesus made it clear that he was the messiah and the age of peace and righteousness was yet what still is with us right now joy always follows jesus in other words he's peace and righteousness not just back then but he's peace and righteousness right now listen just as they had joy back then at harvest time isaiah is talking about the joy during the harvest where they would go and glean the harvest and they'd have so much joy because it meant that they had a good crop it meant that they had peace it meant that they didn't have to fight wars they were able to farm it meant that they had prosperity and so they had so much joy because that harvest represented so many great things that have happened in their life and just as they had joy back then i declare that we ought to have joy right now because every time jesus shows up joy follows jesus it followed jesus to a wedding one day when he turned water into wine joy followed him as he laid dormant in the womb of a woman for nine months and came out at the twinkling of a star joy followed jesus when he healed peter's mother-in-law joy followed jesus when he healed the ten lepers joy followed jesus when he raised a widow's son joy followed jesus when he stepped up on the seas and said peace be still joy follow jesus when a woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years touched a hem of his garment she had joy joy followed jesus to jairus house when he raised his daughter from the dead joy followed jesus to the home of a vertically challenged man by the name of zacchaeus joy followed jesus when he raised lazarus from the dead joy followed jesus even when he was out on calvary's cross but that is time and antiquity but i want to ask you has joy followed you to your house if jesus is in your house then joy ought to follow jesus when he woke you up on this morning did you wake up with joy on your heart when he touched you and rock you to sleep last night like a little baby did you go to sleep with a smile on your face because you had joy when you opened up your refrigerator this morning and saw some food did you have joy when you percolated your coffee early this morning did you have joy when you were able to dress yourself on this morning did you have joy in other words when jesus does something for you when jesus blesses you you ought to have joy this joy he described as an extravagant joy it is the kind the joy that comes at harvest and the dividing of the plunder harvest was a regular time of joy in israel for after a long time of labor in the fields of people would gather together and celebrate what god has done and i close by saying this imagery of joy we need to get it in this day and time it is time out that we as god people start and look time out that we we stop looking as if though we've been baptized in lemon juice we can't find any joy we don't smile we are we're just looking for a fight we're just upset all the time but if god has blessed you through all the stuff this world has gone through you ought to start getting ready to shout like you've never shouted before you ought to start getting ready to celebrate like you've never celebrated before you ought to get ready to praise him like you've never praised him before because this is something that none of us in our lifetime we've never gone through and we'll probably never go through it again and if god has brought you out of it and if god has brought you through of it with a with a reasonable portion of your mind you ought to praise god because the light has now come on because jesus has shown up and when jesus shows up he brings joy with him all the time and so this imagery of joy at the dividing of the harvest leads directly to the explanation the prophet foresees the time when the lord will break the oppression of the enemies he draws the analogy with the time of israel's victory over midian through gideon by the power of the lord he says so shall it be again but this victory will be greater than all victories in verse 5 of isaiah chapter 9 i'll close with this he says for every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and the garments rolled in blood but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire what he's doing he's introducing jesus how do you know that because if you slip down to verse number six he says that familiar verse that we quote during the holiday season and christmas time he says for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor the mighty god the everlasting father and the prince of peace so isaiah is talking about jesus this victory that he's talking about will remind satan that he is a defeated being this victory will be made known through the messiah paul introduces this adam christ relationship typology in first corinthians chapter 15 and verse number 21 he says for since by man came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead then in verse 22 he says for as in adam all die even so in christ shall be made alive isaiah is alluding to the fact that every battle will be worn every enemy will be defeated and the greatest and the last enemy that will be defeated is death itself for death was defeated out on calvary's cross by jesus christ so adam is the first man jesus is depicted as the second adam or the second man see the first adam's sinned but the second adam say the first adam ran but the second adam ruled the first adam compromise but the second adam conquered the first adam brought death but the second adam brings life and that's none other than jesus christ how can these things be it is because he says from tell us a child is born but a son is given in other words when jesus comes he's going to bring peace into the world when this child that was born when he comes he's going to bring peace and joy into the world the child was delivered but the sun came to the liver the child was born to live but the son lived to die the child came as a servant but the son will leave as a savior and i'm so glad that jesus has saved me from my sins and because jesus has saved me from my sins i don't know about you but it doesn't take much for me to have joy in this day and time i don't know about you but i look at how far god has brought me through my life i'll have joy because i know that he didn't bring me this far to leave me i have joy because i know that he didn't bring me this far and bless me this much because i've been good all the days of my life and you ought to have joy because there are some skeletons in your claws and you ought to have joy that god has not uncovered the things in your life you ought to have joy because god has kept you covered by the blood of jesus christ you ought to open up the curtains and turn the light on i told you that this message is about the light of joy see when the light shows up when jesus shows up he brings joy into the situation as i say time and time again yes we've had some losses yes we've had some devastating moments yes we've had some roadblocks some detours and some and some hills that we've had to climb and of holes and pitfalls that we've had to get out of but god has still showed up every time and brought us out of the mirror clay and set our feet on solid ground and because of that isaiah says we ought to have joy because jesus has showed up in our situations so ask you today do you have joy are you still listening to the news report as if though god has forgotten about us he has not forgotten about us he has not left us alone and i'm trying to prepare you prepare your mind your body your spirit to get ready to celebrate what god has done we don't have to spend a lot of time talking about the negative things that happen talking about the devastating moments let's just celebrate our survival see sometimes you just celebrate your survival even if you came through it with scars but our scars and our wounds are just testimonies that we made it through i pray that this message has been a blessing to someone because some of you need to be reminded of just how good god is and we want to pray for you and pray with you if you need to accept the lord as your savior you come by hearing the word of god believing what you've heard be willing to repent of your sins confess jesus christ to be the son of god and we will baptize you for the remission of your sins may god bless you on this day and may he bless you extremely well without you lord without you lord i can't make it well without you lord without you lord without you lord [Music] without [Music] i can't make it i just [Music] now let us prepare our hearts and minds to give as we have prospered luke the 6th chapter verse 38 give and it will be given to you a good measure pressed down shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap for with the measure you use it will be measured to you shall we go to heavenly father and word prayer lord jesus christ we come before you at this time thanking your father for the blessed opportunity that we have to participate in your ministry and to give back to you dear father you've blessed us in so many different ways dear lord you bless us with life here on this earth bless us with this wonderful edifice this wonderful church family to father and the opportunity to give back in so many different ways with our time and our talents the father at this time dear lord we ask and we pray that you will bless this offering that will be lifted up in your name your lord an offering that's freely given to you to the father to be used for the further in your kingdom your son jesus christ's name we humbly pray and we give thanks amen we come now to participate in communion the lord's supper we find instructions instituted by the lord himself in matthew the 26th chapter verses 26 through 29. the writer writes while they were eating jesus took bread and we had given thanks he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying take eat this is my body then he took a cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying drink from it all of you this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins i tell you i will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when i drink it new with you in my father's kingdom for the powerful message and imagery that one day we will have the opportunity to sit down with the lord and partake in this communion will reflect we'll remember how he came to earth how he lived the life exemplary and how he gave himself a ransom for our sins even though he was without sin so we thank you father for that let us hold our heavenly father in the word of prayer the gracious and merciful father we your humble servants we come before you now the lord remembering your son remembering his sacrifice remembering the stripes that he endured remember the humility that was poured out by evildoers upon him their father yet he stood tall the lord knowing that his calling was true and that he would represent you here on earth as final and well as he did and that he provided a great example for us so that we might be better disciples better children and that we might be better to ourselves the father being able to glorify you and being able to show manhood mankind who you are and so we thank you father for your darling son jesus christ we ask and pray that you will bless this broken bread which is your son's bruised body we pray to father that you will bless this fruit of the vine which is your son's shed blood in the name of your son jesus christ we humbly pray and we give thanks amen now let us partake of the sacredness and as we part and now by the grace of god the love of jesus and the sweet communion of the holy spirit rest rule and abide with us forevermore amen i'm gonna hide behind hide behind the mind yes i'm gonna [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh lord i'm gonna hide [Music] [Music] hide behind the mind [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus is my mountain [Music] i'm so glad that jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] no more [Music] chillin with

Channel: Simpson Street Church of Christ Atlanta

Views: 609

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: church of christ, God, Jesus, Marcus T. Watkins, Simpson Street Church of Christ, Sunday Service, Sermon, Happy Father's Day

Id: MA65ci8VIe4

Length: 39min 34sec (2374 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 20 2021