Get Your Joy Back: Joy & Peace 2.0

Get Your Joy Back: It is Finished

August 14th, 2022/Casey Middle School

Story: I love God’s Word. From as early as I can remember my parents instilled in me the value of the Word of God in my life. They taught me the Word, took me to church, and lived by example by reading and applying the Word in their own lives.

When I was a kid I remember taking my little blue bible everywhere! It was my prized possession. I would get lost in the mystery of the Word and the character and nature of God. I would get lost in the stories. What in the world is going on with this Peter character? And the Song of Solomon is wild!!

Question: Anybody ever read the Bible and think “What does that mean?” That was me for the majority of my life! I didn’t have answers most of the time, I just knew that whatever I was reading felt like it was reading me! There was something different about it that was so much better than any other book.

Recently I’ve been so touched by my oldest son. He’s been carrying his bible with him everywhere. Highlighting and underlining passages. He recently memorized 25 verses and has been so proud sharing those verses with others.

Question: What do you believe about the Bible? Is it a good book? Is it a helpful guide in times of trouble? Is it a fallback when everything else fails around you? Is it helpful history in understanding the world around us?

Let’s take a look at a few texts in the bible, about the bible, before we dive into the message this morning.

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. - John 1:14

The Word is all about Jesus

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” - 2 Timothy 3:16

The Word is inspired by God

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” - Hebrews 4:12

The Word is alive and active

Passage: Isaiah 55:8-13 Amplified Version (AMPC)

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, and return not there again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and sprout, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

12 For you shall go out [from the spiritual exile caused by sin and evil into the homeland] with joy and be led forth [by your Leader, the Lord Himself, and His word] with peace;

the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name of renown, for an everlasting sign [of jubilant exaltation] and memorial [to His praise], which shall not be cut off.

Background:

Isaiah is a prophet of God, foretelling what is to come and speaking Truth. Prophets of God are not always the most favored people. For Isaiah the same is true. I want to speak to our prophets and prophetesses in the room. Listen to God, walk confidently in the Words He gives you, and then speak them when He says to speak them.

In Isaiah he is speaking judgment to God’s people, the Israelites. Isaiah saw disaster coming. He saw the sin they were living in and the lack of focus and attention they had to God and His commands. But chapter 55 is a word of comfort to a people in exile. God invites them to return and promises to bring them home. These verses unfold His path for moving His people from their thirst and longings to fulfillment, peace, and joy.

Title: It is Finished

Big Idea: The Word of God illuminated by the Spirit of God is enough to produce the people of God

Pray:

Main Points:

1. The Word

   1. 11 So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

   2. Illust: Growing Grass

      1. All dads are obsessed with three things: grills, golf, and grass. “Wow. Tell me more about your Traeger!” Men could stand around for hours and talk about literally nothing but “So these pellets are real wood?” I have no idea why we are this way! Golf and grass are no different.
      2. This spring I caught the grass bug. I was obsessed with a green, weed free, lush lawn. I watered, fertilized, pulled weeds, and waited patiently. How many of you know that without water, I was working in vain! Water was the source that brought the dream!

      3. You see, God is more interested in your growth than He is your grass! He wants to rain down His living water in your soul and produce His purposes in your life! You keep pulling weeds thinking it’s going to produce growth, but I believe God is saying reach for the rain! Wait on the Lord! Stay faithful in the Word and watch what He does!

         3. EX: God’s Word is alive and it carries with it a purpose! It prospers in your soul! It yields a righteous harvest, even when you’re questioning, doubting, or in a dark place. God’s purposes don’t need your permission to work, He’s working in the waiting and in the quiet.
         4. Question: The question isn’t “Will He speak to me?” The question is “Am I ready to listen!”

      4. Speak God, Your servant is listening!

      5. Who here is hungry for the Word of God. The bread that can satisfy. The living water!

         5. “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” - ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:105‬ ‭NLT‬‬
         6. “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” - ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119:11‬ ‭NLT‬‬
         7. “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” - ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭1:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬
         8. Are you hungry for the Word of God? Are you hungry to know Him? I believe there are many of you that are hungry, but don’t know where to start. I want to help you know where to start…

      6. Get a Bible.

      7. Start reading your Bible in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John
      8. Tell someone you have started.
      9. Keep reading every single day.
         9. Maybe you have read the Word and you have grown tired and weary. Maybe you are in a season of exhaustion or weariness and you have let counseling or a phone call with a friend take the place of the Word instead of going alongside it, or maybe you are running to an addiction to social media, to alcohol, to pornography instead of the Word. I don’t know exactly where you are this morning, but God does. And He has a Word for you if you will receive it.
         10. His Word breathes life into our heartache, His Word speaks wisdom into our situations, His Word produces a Kingdom perspective when we are stuck in our heads, His Word speaks Truth when the lies are drowning out our mind.
         11. Story: I remember as a college student being so hungry for purpose. I think at the time I was honestly more hungry for purpose than I was hungry for God. But somehow God takes the ashes and turns them into beauty and thank God He used my hunger for purpose and turned it into a deep hunger for God. I spent a semester in Africa and I committed to reading the Bible in the 4 months I was there. I am an achiever and so this was probably again more for a goal than for a hunger, but what God did in me was produce a hunger.
         12. This is about to sound really cool, and honestly it was. I was laying in my bed in the middle of Africa in the Sahara Desert, and I was in John. I had read John all my life. Grew up quoting John and really believing I had a grasp on this Gospel. But, something happened in that room that day. God spoke to me. It was one of the first times I remember having a personal encounter with Jesus. I remember reading all throughout John and how the Word was God and how He was and always has been, I remember Jesus becoming so real to me. It was as if He was in the room with me.

2. I want to encourage you this morning with this…

3. Get into the Word until the Word gets into you.

4. The Walk

   1. 12 For you shall go out [from the spiritual exile caused by sin and evil into the homeland] with joy and be led forth [by your Leader, the Lord Himself, and His word] with peace;
   2. Story: Date Nights are one of my favorite nights. I love my kids, but Parker is my first love… well second love after Jesus. We inherited my dad’s motorcycle when he passed and some of my favorite moments with Parker have been hopping on the motorcycle with him and driving into the mountains with no agenda, no time frame, no limits. There were a couple of times that we would be riding and I am a little less of a risk taker since becoming a mom but in my head I have my head thrown back and my arms spread wide as if I am flying in the wind.
   3. This is the image I get when the Word says “we shall go out” — where are we going out from? For Israel it was exile in Babylon. Here's how I'd apply that: we are going out from bondage from sin, from brokenness, from being trapped and we are going out into freedom. In the amplified version it states it as our homeland.
   4. Someone look to your neighbor and say “you were created for freedom.”
   5. This gets me excited. This is what happens when we get in the Word… the Word sets us free!
   6. The Spirit of God activates the Word of God and the Word of God brings freedom.
   7. This is what happens when we get in the Word of God and we go out… we start stepping into our assignment. We start walking in confidence. We are no longer weighed down by the worries of life… we are free. Nothing holding you down, nothing holding you back. You are in sync with the God of the Universe.
   8. You don’t just go out, you go out with Joy. Someone say “with joy”
   9. There is joy found in freedom. Freedom is not found in any other place than leaving what is holding you back and walking into freedom. How do I do that? You repent.
   10. Matthew 4:17- repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
   11. Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
   12. Then it says to be led forth by peace.
   13. What or who are you allowing yourself to be led by? I love the amplified version so much today. It says to be led by the leader Himself and the Word of God.
   14. How easy is it to get in the Word, run in our gifts and calling and allow the world to lead us? This is what that looks like.
   15. We are running in our purpose and assignment, but we are discontent, we are insecure, we are jealous, we are comparing, we are angry, we are frustrated, we feel like we should deserve more honor, more fame, more more more… this is what the world will feed you.
   16. When you are being led by the Spirit of the living God, He produces peace in you.

5. What do you need to repent from and run away from to experience joy today? Who are you allowing to lead you? Is it the world, your boyfriend or spouse, or is it the Living God?

6. Some of us need to be found at the altar today, running into freedom and placing Jesus back as the leader of our lives.
7. Just recently I hit a season of life that felt hard. Honestly so much so that I wanted anything else but the calling on my life. It didn’t take much evaluation of my life to recognize the voices and sources that I was allowing to lead my life. There hit a point that I said, “I am done.” I am taking back my life. Taking back my life looked like walking closer to Jesus than the noise.
8. Some of you need to take back the joy in your life that is found in Jesus. You need to get aggressive, you need to fight for it, you need to do the hard thing… what’s the hard thing? Getting with Jesus! Letting Him examine you, let Him discipline you, some of y’all need a Holy spanking today. Then runnnn in freedom. This is controversial but we discipline our children. We serve a just God. He is gentle and kind, but He is just. He disciplines the ones He loves. There is not a moment that I see my children running in more freedom than after a spanking. Their conscience is clear, they know they are loved, and they know they are forgiven.

9. Today may be a day that your conscience needs to get cleared with Jesus so that you can go out in joy. Let the Living God lead you and you will find peace.

10. The Work

    1. the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name of renown, for an everlasting sign [of jubilant exaltation] and memorial [to His praise], which shall not be cut off.
    2. This is God’s Work! When we engage in the work of the Lord, let’s not get it twisted. We are joining God in His activity in the world! We can go out in JOY and be led in PEACE because of His work, because He is with us, because IT IS FINISHED.
    3. After Jesus’ trials and flogging, just before He was crucified, the Roman soldiers “twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand and knelt in front of Him and mocked Him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said” (Matthew 27:29; see also John 19:2-5).
    4. Note: this section on the crown of thorns draws closely on the GotQuestions.org article “What is the meaning and significance of the crown of thorns?”
    5. A crown of thorns was exceedingly painful, but the emphasis was more on the mockery than the pain. Here was the “King of the Jews” being beaten, spit on, and insulted, then came the final point of mockery, the crown of thorns, taking a symbol of royalty and majesty, a crown, and turning it into something painful and degrading.

    6. For Christians, the crown of thorns is a reminder of two things:

       1. Jesus was, and is, indeed a King. One day, the entire universe will bow to Jesus as the “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:16). What the Roman soldiers meant as a mockery, was in fact a picture of Christ’s two roles, first of suffering servant (Isaiah 53), and second of conquering Messiah-King (Rev 19).

       2. Jesus was willing to endure the pain, the insults, and the shame, all on our account. The crown of thorns, and the suffering that went with it, are long gone, and Jesus has now received the crown of which He is worthy. “But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone—crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.” (Hebrews 2:9)

          6. There is further symbolism embodied in the crown of thorns. When Adam and Eve sinned, bringing evil and a curse upon the world, part of the curse upon humanity was “…cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you…” (Genesis 3:17-18).
          7. The Bible does not spell out this connection, but look at the picture: the Roman soldiers unknowingly took an object of the curse and fashioned it into a crown for the one who would deliver us from that curse.
          8. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” - Galatians 3:13
          9. Christ, in His perfect atoning sacrifice, has delivered us from the curse of sin, of which a thorn is a symbol. While intended to be a mockery, the crown of thorns was, in fact, an excellent symbol of who Jesus is and what He came to accomplish.
          10. Illust: 4 Wheeling with my brother (Big thorn vine)
          11. Let’s draw a comparison between these two things for a second.
          12. Thorns and Briers:

       3. Dry (Isaiah 5:6)

       4. Unrighteous (2 Samuel 23:6)
       5. Sin (Genesis 3:17-18)
       6. Death (Matthew 27:29)

       7. Barrier (Job 5:5 & Proverbs 15:19)

          13. Cypress and Myrtle (Bringing Heaven to Earth)

       8. Good soil (Hebrews 6:7)

       9. Righteous (Proverbs 11:30)
       10. Life (Proverbs 11:30)
       11. Refuge (Psalm 118:8)
       12. Beauty (Isaiah 60:13)
           14. We speak revival over our cities. We speak life over the hurting and the broken. We proclaim the Gospel over our city. We stand on the truth of God’s Word. We stand on the promises of God. As the church we will not retreat or back down. We will run the race set before us in joy and peace!
           15. God is at work all around us, accomplishing His purposes, will you join Him?

Closing:

Invitation: Present the Gospel and make it plain! It Is Finished!