Sermon Notes

KILLJOYS
Psalm 16:11; John 15:11 // Destroy What Kills Your Joy
 
Fill in the blank with whatever is true of your life:
 My life is so full of _______________!
·       Stress
·       Work
·       School
·       Kids
·       Anxiety
·       Doctor’s visits
·       Bills
·       Problems
 
How many of us would finish the sentence this way: My life is so full of JOY!
 
Why this matters:
Because as followers of Jesus, joy is something God has promised us. It’s an incredible aspect of the good news of the gospel of Jesus that so many of us have received.
 
PSALM 16:11
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hands are pleasures forevermore.” 
 
JOHN 15:11
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
 
If joy is our in Christ; freely available right now, why are we not living lives overflowing with joy?
 
 
SERMON IN A SENTENCE:
Joy is a gift freely given to me in Christ that I may not fully experience because of the sin in me.
 
 
The Truth: The Joy of Christ is Available to Us (John 15:11)
 
JOHN 15:11
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
 
Joy does not ≠ Happiness. It’s far more resilient and helpful.
 
How do we get joy? Jesus told us, IN HIM.
 
What this means: I can’t make myself joyful!
 
“…that your joy may be full.” (v.11b)
 
“may be full” – is written in the original language that means it’s “possible for me to receive”
 
I can’t make myself full of joy, but I can receive joy in its fullness when I’m with Him, abiding. But, outside His presence, outside of abiding in Him, there is no joy.
 
“When fellowship with the Lord Jesus is broken, joy disappears.” -A.W. Pink
 
The reality is you and I may not experience the joy that is ours in Christ! Why?!
 
 
The Problem: There Are Things Killing Our Joy (Romans 6:23)
 
SIN
 
What is sin?
It’s what’s wrong. It’s missing God’s standard for right. It’s rebellion. It’s what we willfully do and what we woefully don’t do.
 
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 6:23 
 
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” -Galatians 5:16-17
 
The reality of my flesh: It’s getting worse, not better.
 
If we’re going to walk in the joy that is ours in Christ, we must recognize the sin that is killing our joy.
 
 
The Solution: Destroy What Kills Our Joy (Romans 8:13)
 
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” -Romans 8:13
 
“By the Spirit” – The Holy Spirit of God dwells inside of you and only by His power can we defeat the sin that’s killing our joy.
 
“YOU” – This is not “let go and let God!” By the Spirit, YOU.
 
“Put to death” – Kill. Destroy.
 
“The only possible attitude is a declaration of all-out war… There is something about war that sharpens the senses… You hear a twig snap, or the rustling of leaves and you are in attack mode. Someone coughs and you are ready to pull the trigger. Even after days of little or no sleep, war keeps us vigilant.” -Ed Weltch
 
“Until you believe that life is war – that the stakes are your soul – you will probably just play at Christianity with no blood-earnestness and no vigilance and no passion and no wartime mindset. If that is where you are this morning, your position is very precarious. The enemy has lulled you into sleep or into a peacetime mentality as if nothing serious is at stake.” -John Piper
 
“Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” -John Owen
 
This is how we need to see sin: It’s literally killing the joy that Jesus purchased for us.
 
Some of us are not experiencing joy because there are these sins under the surface…
·       Pride
·       Envy
·       Selfishness
·       Lust
·       Laziness
·       Gluttony
·       Anger
·       Comparison
·       Pornography
·       Addiction
·       Indifference to poverty
·       Indifference to racism
·       Indifference to evil
 
“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, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the found 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.” -Hebrews 12:1-2
 
There is hope today for JOY! Not because of my power of strength, but because of His cross and His resurrection.
 
By His power, let’s fight for joy!