SERMON: PURSUING HOLINESS: JOY

15 July 2012
[Modified from 14 June 2009 Sermon]

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Acts 16:25-34

Acts 16:25-34 (NIV)
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.
27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."
32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.
33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God--he and his whole family.

-- As a third-century man was anticipating death at the hands of the Romans, he penned these last words to a friend -- "It's a bad world, an incredibly bad world -- But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret -- They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life -- They are despised and persecuted, but they care not -- They are masters of their souls -- They have overcome the world -- These people are the Christians -- and I am one of them."
[Modified from: Today In The Word, June, 1988, p. 18.]

-- joy -- joy is one of those elusive elements of life that all of us want -- men and women have pursued joy in every avenue imaginable -- Some have successfully found it while others have spent their entire life looking for it -- Perhaps it would be easier to describe where joy cannot be found:
-- Joy is Not Found in Unbelief -- Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type -- at the end of his life he wrote: "I wish I had never been born."
-- Joy is Not Found in Pleasure -- if anyone ever lived a life of pleasure, it was Lord Byron -- but yet he wrote: "The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone."
-- Joy is Not Found in Money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that -- When dying, he said: "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth."
-- Joy is Not Found in Position and Fame -- Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both -- He wrote: "Youth is a mistake -- manhood a struggle -- old age a regret."
-- Joy is Not Found in Military Glory -- Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day -- but when he had done so, he wept in his tent in misery as he said, "There are no more worlds to conquer."
-- Where, then, is real joy to be found? -- the answer is simple -- just as that third-century martyr penned to his friend, true joy is found in Christ and Christ alone.
[Modified from: The Bible Friend, Turning Point, May, 1993. http://www.eSermons.com]

-- this morning, we are continuing in our sermon series on pursuing holiness -- as we've talked about over the past several weeks, as Christians, we are called to be holy people -- to be spiritually mature men and women who reflect God's goodness and righteousness, not only in our outward behavior, but also in our attitudes and our thoughts
-- too many Christians are living lives devoid of power -- too many churches are going through the motions of religion without expressing God's power and presence in this world -- and the answer to this is for us to quit trying to do church in our own power but rather to let God transform us from the inside out into people who reflect His holiness
-- Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that He came that we might have life -- abundant life -- and have it to the full -- He wanted us to experience His kingdom and His righteousness and His power here on earth -- but we can only do that if we become spiritually mature -- if we become holy as He is holy
-- so, for the past several weeks, we've been working on pursuing holiness in our lives by focusing on the nine attributes of God that we see listed in Galatians 5:22-23
-- these nine attributes of God -- love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control -- come to us through the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives -- rather than producing the fruits of the world with our lives like we used to, the Apostle Paul here tells us to produce the fruit of the Spirit with our life -- to let the Spirit develop in us the very characteristics of God that will lead us to a deeper, spiritual maturity -- to a deeper understanding of God -- to that place that we call "holy"
-- this is something that we can all attain in our lives -- it's not just for pastors or church leaders -- it's not just for Sunday school teachers or bishops -- it's for all Christians -- it's what God wants from us -- it's what God expects from us
-- but it's not something that is going to just magically appear -- it's something that we have to strive for -- that we have to pursue in our lives in order to develop
-- last week, we began our pursuit of holiness by looking at the first of these nine attributes, "love" -- we spent quite a bit of time talking about learning how to love on a whole 'nother level by loving our enemies as well as our family and friends
-- this morning, we are going to look at the next aspect of holiness in our pursuit -- the attribute of joy

II. Difference Between Joy and Happiness
-- this concept of joy is something that we seem to struggle with in the church -- even though it's mentioned in the Bible almost 250 times, we don't really seem to understand it -- we tend to get joy confused with happiness -- and, so when we read in the Bible that we are to be joyful, we interpret that as meaning that we are to be happy -- but joy and happiness are not the same thing
-- I think part of our confusion goes back to our school days when we learned about the Declaration of Independence -- probably the most famous line in that document says "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"
-- and I think that line -- "the pursuit of happiness" -- more than any other -- has gotten us confused about the biblical concept of joy -- you know, the Declaration of Independence is a remarkable document, but it's not a spiritual text, and it's flat wrong in regards to the pursuit of happiness as being something that God wanted in our lives
-- no where in the Bible are we told to pursue happiness -- no where in the Bible are we promised happiness -- in fact, the word "happy" is not mentioned much in the Bible at all -- depending on your translation, "happy" only occurs in the Bible about 26 times
-- what the Bible does tell us to do is to pursue joy -- and what the Bible promises us if we follow God is joy in our lives
-- so, before we go any farther in our study on joy, let's first clarify what the difference is between joy and happiness and get a good definition of joy to build on

-- let's start with happiness -- what is happiness?
-- happiness is the good feeling you get when you are living in favorable circumstances -- in other words, happiness is based on the things around you -- if everything around you is favorable -- if everything is going your way, then you're happy

-- I heard about this man who was driving and wasn't paying much attention to what he was doing -- he didn't realize the light in front of him had turned red, and he ran right into the back of the car in front of him -- the door to the car in front of him opened up, and the driver, a dwarf, jumped out and ran back to his window -- the dwarf said, "I'm not happy" -- and the man replied, "Well, then, which one are you?" -- at that point, the fight broke out, and no one was happy
-- that's the problem with happiness -- you can only be happy if your circumstances are good

-- another way to think about it is like this -- happiness is that feeling you get when everything is going just like you want it -- as Steve Nelson points out, if we get what we want, the way we want it, when we want it and at the right price, we are happy
-- so, happiness is external -- it depends on our circumstances -- it depends on whether we are getting what we want

-- let me give you another example -- I read a story about this man in Budapest who went to his pastor and complained, "Life is unbearable -- there are nine of us living in one room -- what can I do?" -- the pastor replied, "Take your goat into the room with you." -- the man was incredulous, but the pastor insisted -- "Do as I say -- take your goat into the room with you and come back in one week"
-- a week later, the man comes back looking more distraught than ever -- "We can't stand it, " he tells the pastor. "The goat is filthy." -- the pastor tells him, "Go home and let the goat out and then come back in one week"
-- one week later, the man returns and he is just radiant -- he exclaims, "Life is beautiful -- we enjoy every minute of it now that there's no goat -- only the nine of us living in one room"
-- this man was pursuing happiness -- his happiness depended on what was going on around him at that moment -- originally, he was not happy because there were nine people living in one room -- then he really got unhappy when the goat was added
-- his external circumstances determined how he felt -- just removing the goat from the room made him happy, even though his original circumstances hadn't changed

-- happiness is all about the external -- it's all about your wants and your wishes -- and if everything is going good, then you're happy -- but if everything is not going good, then you're unhappy -- that's why you really can't pursue happiness, because your happiness is dependent on things that you can't control

-- joy, on the other hand, is different -- it doesn't depend on what's going on around us -- it doesn't depend on our circumstances -- joy comes from within -- it is the peace, contentment, and satisfaction that come from God when we are in a right relationship with Him -- or, as Ed Young says, joy is the "positive confidence I feel from knowing and trusting God regardless of the circumstances"

-- just to summarize: happiness is external, joy is internal -- happiness is based on circumstances, joy is based on Christ -- happiness is based on chance, joy is based on a choice

III. Scripture Lesson (Acts 16:25-34)
-- you can plainly see the difference between joy and happiness here in this passage in Acts -- just to remind you of the context, Paul is on his second missionary journey -- this time he is traveling with Silas, and he has passed through Syria and Lystra and has made his way to Philippi in the region of Macedonia
-- it was here that Paul and Silas ran into trouble -- they got harassed by a slave girl who was possessed by an evil spirit, and when they cast the evil spirit out of her, they also cast away her ability to tell the future -- since her master had been making a lot of money from this ability, he got mad and had Paul and Silas turned over to the officials and thrown into prison
-- Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten -- they were flogged severely and then put in the inner cell in the prison with their feet locked down in stocks so they couldn't even stand up or move
-- you want to talk about bad situations, this was it -- Paul and Silas' external circumstances were not good -- in fact, they couldn't hardly get much worse -- the inside of that prison would have been completely dark -- no windows -- no ventilation -- no toilet -- probably no food and just stale water -- surrounded by criminals and other prisoners -- just a horrible place to be
-- do you think Paul and Silas were happy? -- No -- I don't think so -- who could be happy in that place? -- so, how did they respond to their circumstances? -- how would you have responded?

-- look back at verse 25

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

-- they sang -- can you believe that? -- locked up in a Roman prison -- chained together with their feet bound in stocks -- sitting in total darkness and in pain from the flogging and the beating that they had just endured -- and they're singing hymns and praising God
-- regardless of what that old hymn tells us, they didn't sing because they were happy -- they sang because they were joyful -- they trusted God -- they had confidence in Him regardless of their circumstances -- in spite of what was going on around them, they were able to sing because they had made a choice to believe in God in all situations and all circumstances and they knew that He was with them, even in the depths of that prison
-- you have to be a spiritually mature Christian to do what Paul and Silas did -- you have to reach that point in your life where you realize that what happens here and now pales in comparison to your eternal life with God
-- joy leads to contentment -- that is why Paul later wrote in a letter to the people in Philippi where he was imprisoned, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. -- I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty -- I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want -- I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

-- you can think of joy as a gauge that determines where you are in your relationship with God -- it measures your degree of holiness -- your degree of spiritual maturity
-- let me give you an example -- in your car, there is a relationship between the engine and the cooling system -- in order for you to go anywhere, the water must be flowing through the engine to keep it from overheating -- that is the normal perfect relationship
-- now, in most cars, there is a temperature gauge on the dash -- this gauge tells you how the status of the relationship between your engine and the cooling system -- so long as the relationship is strong and everything is working together, the temperature gauge stays in the "normal" position
-- but if the relationship goes wrong -- say you run out of water in your radiator or the thermostat gets stuck and won't let the water circulate -- then that gauge will start to move to let you know that something is wrong -- if you don't do anything about it, your engine may overheat and lock down on you
-- when that gauge says that you have a problem, you have a choice to make -- you can either listen to that gauge and stop and fix the problem or you can ignore it

-- well, joy works the same way in our lives -- when we're in a right relationship with God, our external circumstances don't matter -- when we are in a right relationship with God, gratitude and joy well up from within us, causing us to sing with praise to God for what He has done and giving us the ability to walk through storms and trials with peace and contentment, knowing that in the end, everything is going to work out because we have been saved by the mighty right hand of God
-- joy is what enabled Paul and Silas to sing and praise God in a Philippian prison

-- look back at verse 26

26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.

-- joyful Christians are different -- they think differently -- they act differently -- they react differently
-- joyful Christians don't let negative thoughts fill their minds -- they don't let the cares and troubles of this world take away their joy -- they're able to walk over the troubles and trials and unhappy circumstances just like Jesus walked on the water -- they stay above it all
-- everyone in that prison was locked up and chained because of their circumstances -- but, when Paul and Silas rose above their circumstances -- when they looked at their situation with eyes of faith rather than eyes of flesh -- the prison walls were shaken -- the doors sprung open -- and the chains fell away
-- that's what joy does to you -- it frees you from bondage to your circumstances -- it frees you to walk with God -- joyful Christians have positive attitudes because they put their trust in God and not in their situation -- joyful Christians can even find contentment in a prison cell in Philippi because their sense of well-being comes from within

-- verse 27

27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."
32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.
33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized.
34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God--he and his whole family.


-- joyful Christians affect those around them -- they honor God with their actions -- they don't let the world affect how they live, but they let Christ live through them
-- people can tell when you are filled with joy -- they'll see that in you -- and they'll be drawn to that sense of peace and confidence and contentment that comes with the joy of trusting in God
-- when the walls shook and the doors opened and the chains fell free, the jailer lost hope -- his circumstances had changed -- he became extremely unhappy and started to kill himself because he knew his life would be forfeit if the prisoners in his care escaped
-- but Paul called out to him and told him that everything was okay -- that no one had left -- and when the jailer came to them and saw joy and confidence shining out of their eyes despite their circumstances, he was shaken to his core
-- he fell trembling before Paul and Silas and asked them what he must do to be saved -- what he had to do to get that same presence of joy that they had in their lives
-- in verses 33-34, Luke tells us that the jailer believed in God -- that he and his whole family were baptized -- and that he was filled with the same joy that Paul and Silas had -- he no longer cared about his circumstances here on earth -- his affections were now on a higher plane
-- joyful Christians affect those around them

IV. Closing
-- everyone here is probably familiar with Mother Teresa -- she was an amazing woman who spent her whole life in Calcutta, India, ministering to those society had discarded as useless and worthless -- as part of this ministry, she created a home for those who were dying and who had no one else to care for them -- this home was filled with "so much sickness, so much pain, so much suffering, and so much misery. Death was there as well."
"You could tell just by looking at the people that almost all of them would be dead soon -- By the time they reached the home most of them were too sick to recover -- Mother Teresa didn't create the home to be a hospital -- She created it so the people who were dying on the streets could have a place to die with dignity, with peace, and with a feeling of being loved."
-- Joseph Mazzella wrote about seeing that home that Mother Teresa created -- he said, "It was this love that so deeply touched me -- The Sisters in the home radiated it to those they cared for -- In spite of the misery, suffering, and death this home was a place of joy
-- "The joy and love flowed from God through the hearts and souls of the Sisters and blessed all those who were there -- the sick and dying knew that they were loved -- they felt God's love and the love of the Sisters and they died in peace -- often with the most joyous expressions on their faces."
-- "It was such a beautiful thing to see and it showed me for the first time that life really is about the love and joy that we choose and share -- without [love and joy] life has no meaning, but with [them] life becomes a glorious gift from God..."
[Source: Story by Joseph J. Mazzella joecool@wirefire.com on The Sermon Illustrator]

-- joy -- that positive confidence that we feel in knowing and trusting God regardless of the circumstances of life
-- joy -- that attribute of God that we experience as the Holy Spirit works in us and through us
-- it only comes as we walk though trials and troubles and experience God's deliverance -- it only comes as we grow spiritually mature and learn to trust in God in all situations -- looking to Him for our contentment rather than our own wants and wishes or the circumstances where we find ourselves
-- joy is a fruit of the Spirit that comes from abiding in God -- in trusting in God -- in seeing God at work in all things -- joy is essential for spiritual maturity -- and it is a part of becoming holy in all that we do

-- this morning, as we close in prayer, I want to invite you to pray with me for the ability to see past our circumstances and our trials and troubles to the truth that lies within
-- let's pray that we will stop pursuing happiness through the things of this world
-- let's pray that we will stop letting other things and other people determine our behavior and our thoughts and our attitudes
-- and, let's pray that we will start pursuing joy by letting God's presence in our lives shape us and mold us from the inside out so that we will live holy and righteous lives through Him

-- let us pray