Isaiah 9:2–7

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”

If you haven’t picked up on it, there is a recurring theme across our first two sections of Advent – one that we’ll maintain through this week and into the next. Hope, peace, joy, and love – all unique yet intertwined qualities found manifested in Jesus Christ, all prophesied in the section we’ve been looking at, Isaiah 9:2-7, as a nation racked by war, betrayal, and worst of all, a lack of faith in God, hears that all is not lost, that despite their disobedience their God has not abandoned them. As we’ve studied hope and peace, something that is abundantly clear, and is the theme we’ll see again today and next week, is that God brings forth and delivers these things in truth, while the world, incapable of comprehending them, offers falsehoods that it names the same thing. The world offers “hope,” it offers “peace,” yet with no real understanding of what these things are. How can they understand hope when they’re mired in darkness, estranged from the Light of the world that would set them free? How could they possibly comprehend peace when every sin is a declaration of war against a holy and righteous God? And so now, in the third week of Advent, we find ourselves looking at joy – something the world again claims to peddle in vast quantities because it has mistaken its own gratification for what joy actually is. As with hope and peace, and as we’ll see next week with love, the world says a word, and those who follow Christ say a word, but it means two different things. And so, as we find ourselves in the very midst of the Christmas season, in a time where both the world and the church tells us we should know joy, let’s look to Scripture and shore up our understanding of what joy truly is, and the miracle of it that we have in Christ. Using Isaiah 9:3 in particular as our springboard,

“You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.”

Let us look, and see, and understand the width and breadth of the joy God provides, in a season that celebrates the greatest joy in all eternity, given to the world.

Advent – Joy to the World

1. The Gift of Joy

For almost everyone that celebrates Christmas, exchanging presents is an integral part of the occasion. I am not opposed to the act of gift giving – in fact, I’m largely in favor of it. I have always loved being able to show someone that I’m listening, that I’m attentive to their needs or wants through a personal gift that really means something to them, regardless of the time of year. What I am opposed to, and frankly disgusted by is the obligation of gift giving. Everyone meets at grandpa’s house, and cousin Fred got you a $25 Lowe’s gift card last year, so you’ve got to show up with something comparable this year. Everyone passes around envelopes containing cash and cards of roughly equal value, and everyone has checked the box for what this social occasion has required. Christmas is a holiday of which gift giving is a part – but for many, many people, whether they acknowledge it or not, Christmas is a holiday about gift giving. Whether you’re caught up in the greed of longing for whatever someone else is going to give you, or (what I suspect is more common), you’re dominated by the nearly psychotic scramble to get something for everyone on your list, if presents are, through word or deed, the primary hallmark of your Christmas, then you’re not celebrating Christmas. It can be easy to tie gift giving back to greed and materialism, but if we look closely, we can actually see roots in the human idea that we can work our way to being a “good person.” Paul writes in Romans 5:1–2,

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Now, James does an excellent job in James 2:14-26 of explaining that faith without works is dead, attesting to the fact that genuine faith produces works – when you truly believe something, you behave like you believe it. Our works do not save us, but attest to the fact that we have been saved, washed clean, made new. Remember, Isaiah 64:6 tells us,

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

All our righteous deeds. So if in your mind, the perfect gift = the perfect Christmas, you’re not just getting swept up in the seasonal marketing or social pressure, you’re trying to make something right that you can’t make right – you’re trying to do it for yourself rather than looking at the true meaning of this celebratory time of year – you’re pulling sand from a dry well and trying to act like it’s living water. So, if joy is not something we can work out for ourselves, and without question, not found in what’s under the tree (or in the case of that one person out there, in the new Mercedes in the driveway with that giant red bow on it – because those commercials have to be based on at least one real life event, right?), what does the gift of joy actually look like? What does it mean in the lives of those it touches, and what does it say about Mighty God in comparison to a world that is all smoke and no substance?  Against all materialist ideas that suggest joy can be found through possessions and ambitious gain, joy is a spiritual gift, a certainty that defies the understanding of a world addicted to instant gratification, to the things that feel good, fuel the ego, and nurture the will of the flesh. Christ’s joy reaches past physical circumstances, it does not ebb and flow with the tide of life, but rather defies the expectations of the world. One thing we can take from Scripture is that the joy God provides comes miraculously from a place that should produce pain. Nehemiah 8:8–12 tells us,

“They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ‘This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.’ For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, ‘Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.’ So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, ‘Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.’ And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.”

For context, we see God’s people regrouped in the city of Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon, which became their exile in Persia. They have been permitted under king Artaxerxes to rebuild the wall and fortify the City of David, and they now, after so many decades dispersed, gather together and read the Law that God gave to Moses – and they weep. Upon realizing what is required of them and how far removed from this they are, they are broken in despair. This is a similar position to any sinner who has ever believed in the existence of God, in the death and resurrection of Christ but despaired because they are a sinner and God is holy, and this is an unbridgeable gap. Rather than being left here however, the people are given good news, they are delivered as their own strength, the joy of the Lord their God. If our joy were entirely dependent upon ourselves then it would fail without question. If our joy as sinners were to be found in holy God then only judgement would find us in our iniquity. But God doesn’t ignore our sin, nor does He leave us without hope, rather He gives us the joyous gift of redemption and brings us to Him. The Lord says in Ezekiel 36:22–27,

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

This is the gift of the joy of the Lord, perfect and enduring beyond all mortal comprehension, and as Scripture illustrates again and again, it is a joy that is not limited by physical conditions or circumstances. After the Apostles are brought before the Sanhedrin, and the council of ruling Jews decides under the advice of Gamaliel not to kill them, Acts 5:40–42 says,

“… and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”

This is a picture of the joy of Christ in action – beaten and threatened, the Apostles leave celebrating the honor of suffering for the gospel. This isn’t what worldly “joy” is based around because it is centered in something high above what is worldly. After Paul casts a demon from a young slave girl, which leads to a bit of an uproar in the city of Philippi, Acts 16:22–26 tells us,

“The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.”

Yes, God worked a miracle, and yes Paul and Silas were freed and their jailer was ultimately converted – but before that, before God delivered them from the physical darkness and oppression of the shackles of the inner prison, they sang – they sang for the joy of the spiritual Light and freedom they already had before God brought them out of their physical situation. This is the mindset, the knowledge, the driving spirit that Paul writes of in Philippians 4:11–13 when he says,

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Anything that can fit in a box under a Christmas tree will fade with time. Anything that the world can give you will perish as the days pass – whether it lasts for a day, or for a thousand years, God brings all mortal things to an end. But James 1:16–18 tells us,

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

This is a gift that comes to us against all odds, against our understanding – for a relationship with the Living God should destroy us, should drive us to weeping and despair, and yet instead, He has opened a path for us and rather than agony and condemnation, we are delivered into joy – the hope and peace that He has planted within us grow forth into great and exceeding joy, the likes of which humanity cannot fully comprehend – the greatest gift to ever be given, the joy of Jesus Christ.

2. The Abundance of Joy

We’ve acknowledged that worldly gifts are limited, that there is no joy to be found in them, and the miraculous nature of the joy that comes from God alone – but something we have to take in, in direct contrast to worldly limitations, is the limitlessness of God. We don’t just have joy that defies worldly expectation and understanding, we have joy that is increasing despite these things. Isaiah 9:3 starts by glorifying God for the work that the Light of the world has done,

“You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy…”

If we’re comparing the multiplication of the people of God to the increase of joy, then we have to take a moment to appreciate the scope of this promise. God’s people began with one man, Abram, who God calls to Him in Genesis 12:1–3,

“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’”

Abram was seventy-five at the time of his calling – we see later in Genesis 17:1-6,

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.’ Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, ‘Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.”

For hundreds of years the people of Abraham were the Jews, who multiplied as slaves in Egypt before being freed by God through His servant Moses, and ultimately delivered into the Promised Land. The nation of Israel prided themselves as the sons of Abraham, inheritors of the promise of God – and this is in itself, one man grown into an entire nation, an impressive thing – but this is not what our joy is limited to represent. Abraham is told that in him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” and that God has made him, “the father of a multitude of nations.” This is not limited to the nation of Israel alone, but rather encompasses the whole world. John 8:34–41 shows us a discourse between Jesus and the ruling Jews, saying,

“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.’ They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.’…”

The children of Abraham, the multiplied nation of God is not limited to the Jewish people biologically descended from Abraham, but rather encompasses all who serve the will of God. This is why Paul writes in Romans 1:16–17,

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

And why Peter writes to all Christians in 1 Peter 2:9–10,

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

The increasing joy which mirrors the nation that God has multiplied is not limited by bloodlines or genealogies. Rather, this is a global nation, thriving in the Spirit, yet suffering in the flesh of a fallen world, which will be expanded and established further in eternity – and the expansion of the nation of the people of God reflects the joy He multiplies in abundance within those who love Him. This is what Jesus speaks to as He addresses the disciples in John 15:10–11,

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

What He offers isn’t transient, it’s not partial, or fleeting – the joy of Christ is full in its abundance. Again speaking to the disciples in the upper room, Jesus says in John 16:20–24,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

What we have is a miraculous gift, and it is abundant, all sufficient, more than we can comprehend, multiplying over and over to the glory of God, and the good of those who serve Him.

3. The Sharing of Joy

“… they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.”

This, the second half of Isaiah 9:3 gives us some perspective around what joy before the Lord looks like. To take in a good harvest means that you have hope for the days to come, that you will not perish in misery, starving for lack of food. It can be hard for us to really grasp this, living in a society where so many are saturated with food options, but in antiquity, failed crops would mean certain death for some people, and depending on circumstances, could destroy a nation. Skim the Old Testament and see just how quickly the situation of famine could become dire. To divide the spoil means that you’ve won the battle or the war, and that what was once your enemy’s has become your own – it also means that what is yours has not become your enemy’s, that you haven’t been conquered and destroyed. A good harvest is life, a poor harvest is death. Dividing the spoil is victory, being in a position where you’re not dividing the spoil is defeat. This is the kind of joy we have, not in plentiful harvests or triumphant battles, but rather before God. We stand before God with the joy of life eternal, of victory over death. This joy is found in nothing that the world can offer, in nothing that we can do or make for ourselves, but in Him. But this begs a question – in the abundance of our joyous gift, what do we do? How are we to act with what God has given us? A harvest is not taken up for a single person, nor do the spoils of war go to an individual, rather the harvest benefits many, and the spoils of war are divided among the warriors. When Jesus explains the parable of the sower, He says in Matthew 13:23,

“As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Understand that this isn’t talking about a yield of seed – for every one seed scattered, thirty, sixty, or a hundred are gleaned, but rather profit – for every dollar invested, thirty, sixty, or a hundred are made back. This is an insane yield for any investor, but as we’ve already discussed, this abundance is found in the work of the Spirit. This is not a harvest that is kept to ourselves – there is no such thing as a miserly Christian, hoarding the good news and life-changing Word of God for themselves. Jesus tells us exactly how to conduct ourselves, exactly how we are to be seen in our joy during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:14–16,

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

We are saved – given hope in a hopeless world, peace in the midst of war, and joy where, by all accounts there should be none, and we’re given these things in miraculous abundance, that we might shine, that we might share them and glorify God. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:6–10,

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”

This is not, as the blasphemous prosperity preachers teach, a passage about money – it’s also not, not about money – rather this is about obedience in the Spirit, joyfully sowing the seeds of righteousness in any and every way, that we might not be found hypocrites, and glorify God. After His resurrection, before His ascension, Jesus gives what is commonly referred to as, “The Great Commission.” We see it recorded in Matthew 28:18–20,

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

All authority has been given – not to us, but to Christ. But it is He, the Light of the world, the Hope of our salvation, the mighty Prince of Peace who goes with us, who fills us with unspeakable joy, the Light of the Spirit that fills and fortifies us, that shines from us to testify to the gift we have received, of the abundance of it in our lives – the good news of eternal salvation through the Son of God, the eternal Joy of the children of God.

Pasto Chris’ sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw_cTVzj6Cs