"Joy in the World, but Not of It"

Order of Service

• Hymn — Come, Ye Thankful People, Come
• Call to Worship — Psalm 92
• Hymn — Come, Ye Thankful People, Come
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — 1 Timothy 3:16
• Scripture Reading — Joshua 7:16-26
• Hymn — In Christ Alone
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offertory Prayer
• Hymn — What a Friend We Have in Jesus
• Sermon
• Hymn — This Is My Father's World
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: Joy in the World, but Not of It

Scripture: John 16:16-33

I. A Painful Joy (John 16:20-22)

A. The world rejoices at Christ's crucifixion, while the disciples mourn — but this sorrow will be reversed at the resurrection

1. Unlike Lazarus, who returned to the grave, Christ rises never to die again, making his resurrection a permanent and everlasting joy for believers
2. The "world" (Greek: kosmos) — the world sown in sin — rejoices at the cross, thinking it has defeated the Messiah

B. Jesus uses the illustration of a woman in labor: pain is the means to joy, not its opposite

1. Hebrews 12:2 — "for the joy set before him he endured the cross"
2. Augustine: the pain of labor is part of the curse of the fall, yet it brings forth life — so also the curse of the cross brings forth eternal life

C. Joy in Christ this side of glory is always a cross-bearing joy

1. Romans 8:17 — we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him
2. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance (Ephesians 1), giving us a foretaste of heavenly joy even amid the world's rejection

II. A Praying Joy (John 16:23-27)

A. Jesus introduces two redemptive-historical epochs of prayer

1. Before the resurrection: no prayer was offered in Jesus's name — no Old Testament prayer ends "in the name of Jesus Christ"
2. After the resurrection and ascension: Christ sits at the Father's right hand as both sacrifice and high priest, interceding for his people, and believers now pray to the Father in his name

B. Christ's mediation is not arm-twisting — the Father himself loves believers (John 16:26-27)

1. God the Father so loved the world that he gave his Son; he is not a disgruntled Father who must be persuaded
2. John 16:14-15 — all that the Father has is the Son's, and through the Spirit it is declared to believers

C. Prayer is the completion of joy because it is the ascension of the soul to God (John of Damascus)

1. Psalm 16:11 — "at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" — where Christ now is, and where prayer directs the heart
2. Prayer includes petition for material things (Christ commands us to pray for daily bread), but all blessings are meant to align the heart with God's promises that find their yes in Christ

III. A Sinner's Joy (John 16:29-33)

A. The disciples express overconfident faith, claiming full understanding — but Jesus exposes the limits of their self-reliance

1. Compare John 6 — Peter's confession of faith is immediately met by Jesus's sobering word that one will betray him
2. Jesus predicts they will all be scattered to their own homes at his arrest, breaking both their union with Christ and with one another — echoing Adam and Eve hiding from God and each other after the fall

B. Jesus does not need his disciples' faith to accomplish salvation — only the strength of his Father by the Spirit

1. Salvation rests entirely on Christ's faithfulness to the Father, not on the disciples' resolve

C. The peace and joy Christ offers is given precisely to those who have failed and scattered

1. "In me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
2. Christian joy never graduates beyond being a sinner's joy — it is always and only found in the cross of Calvary
3. Even in glory, the nail marks on Christ's hands will forever remind us that our eternal joy rests in Christ crucified