Is Jesus Christ the Source of Your Joy? - Jesse Barrington

I think everyone in here wants joy.

I think the answer is

because in our practical street-level

Christian living of our everyday lives

where we experience suffering and pain,

we really struggle to see how joy

can be truly experienced

in the midst of sorrow, pain, and anguish.

And we have begun at times to believe

that if we're really going
to experience true joy,

it must be at the removal of sorrow,

pain, and anguish.

In v. 23 and 24, Jesus is going
to teach the disciples

a really important theological shift

that's going to take place
in light of the resurrection.

It will help us see how
we can approach the Father

regarding these things.

And we need to understand that.

But because the aim of v. 24

is that our joy would be full,

but it's also going to
teach us another thing,

and that is this: what's
the source of joy.

What's the source of joy?

We need to know how we
need to approach the Father

if we're going to have this
joy that's set before us.

But we need to understand importantly too

what's the source of joy.

And to help us think about that,

I'm going to go back to
the illustration again

and just drive the point home

one more time for you.

In the illustration Jesus gave,

the woman was in the midst of sorrow -

true physical pain -

and then her sorrow turned into joy.

And it wasn't because
the sorrow was removed.

It was swallowed up

in the joy of the baby.

In Jesus teaching us how
to come to the Father

after the resurrection,

He's going to be teaching
us the source of joy,

and let me tell you this,

the source of joy is not the removal

of pain, sorrow, and anguish.

In this life, you're guaranteed

constant pain, sorrow, and anguish,

yet here Jesus holds out before us

eternal joy and fullness thereof.

I think most of us are getting this wrong

and I'll help you to diagnose
if you're like me often.

Regarding your pain, sorrow, and anguish,

how do you pray about that?

If you're like me,

most of my prayers regarding
my pain, sorrow, and anguish

are: God, I want to have joy,

so I need You to remove

the pain, the sorrow, the anguish

or the source of it.

And I spend a lot of my prayer time there.

I want to be careful here.

I'm not implying it's wrong

to pray for healing

or for God to remove those things.

I'm not implying that at all.

But I think it's really important

that we see as we look
through the lens of Scripture

the normative means through which

God brings joy to us

is not the removal of
pain, sorrow, and anguish,

it's by giving us joy in the midst

of pain, sorrow, and anguish

by giving us Jesus.

Saints, there's something more - better -

than the removal of pain.

It's Jesus in the midst of pain.

And we really struggle to see that,

to believe that because the pain is real,

but I want you to know this:

Jesus is more real.

God gets glory by
removing pain and sorrow.

He gets glory by healing,
but I want you to know this,

God gets even more glory

when He swallows up pain with joy.

I mean, tell me what looks better

from a world's perspective.

To see someone who circumstantially

has no basis for joy

and is in full pain?

Yet, they're unexplainably rejoicing?

That gives God glory!

You know what else it
forces the world to do?

It forces the world to
come to you and say:

Hey, what is the source of the hope

that is within you?

Because they can't see the circumstance.

In fact, they see a circumstance

that should lead to grumbling

and complaining and whining,

yet they're seeing joy.

And when they ask you that,
you get to stand up

and you get to say this:

Jesus Christ is the source of my joy

in the midst of my sorrow and pain.

Saints, God looks good in that scenario.

This excerpt was taken
from the full sermon:

Sorrow Turned Into Joy