Restoring Joy Part 1

Pastor Mike will be speaking on Restoring Joy Part 1. He will be reading out of 2nd Corinthians 2:12-17.

The Bible teaches us, Jesus himself said, you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. If ever our communities, if ever our nation needed the church to be a light and to be salt, it is now.

Hello, this is Pastor Mike Sanders from the Open Door Church. And we’re delighted that you could be with us today as we are studying God’s word. Today, we’re gonna be in 2 Corinthians chapter two, and we’re gonna continue our study of this great book in the Bible.

Remember that 2 Corinthians is one of the most personal letters that the apostle ever wrote. He teaches us about restoring joy. So let’s get our Bibles and let’s begin to study 2 Corinthians chapter two, verse 12 through 17.

2 Corinthians chapter two, verses 12 through 17 is our text this morning. And I wanna talk to you about restoring your joy. When we come to our text, if you have been following along with us, you know that the apostle Paul has a heavy burden for the Corinthian church.

Paul comes to chapter two, verse 12, and he is continuing to help the Corinthians to understand how he is a man who plans his way as the scripture says, but it’s really the Lord who directs his steps.

And so you’ll note in verse 12, he says, furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel and a door was opened to me by the Lord. He said, I had no rest in my spirit because I did not find Titus my brother.

Titus was sent by the apostle to the church at Corinth. And he wanted Titus to meet up with him in Troas. so that he could give him an update on how the church at Corinth is doing. He gets there, he doesn’t find Titus, so he says he took his leave and he departed to Macedonia, most likely on his way to Thessalonica.

But it’s amazing when you read verse 12 and 13, the stark contrast, because all of a sudden, Paul breaks out in thanksgiving. Note in verse 14, he says, now thanks be to God. Paul went from a man who had this heavy heart for the church and a heart that was disappointed with his circumstances that all of a sudden he breaks out in great thanksgiving to God.

It is an important lesson for us to learn this morning. For the apostle Paul understood that he could not look to his circumstances for comfort and joy, but rather it was essential that he looked. to God for his comfort and joy.

He already taught us in chapter one that God is the God of all comfort. But now in chapter two, he’s teaching us how we can restore our joy. You and I find ourselves in trying times, different times, unique times.

We cannot have our joy to be rooted in the circumstances that we are experiencing, but rather our joy should be rooted in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. How is it that Paul could all of a sudden, after sharing those disappointments and those frustrations in his circumstances, break out in thanksgiving to God?

Because he was a man who kept his focus upon God. Where you’re looking is where you are going. And if you’re looking at all the circumstances and you’re watching the news, and I’m not opposed to you watching the news and I watch the news, but I’m saying if that is our focus, we’re gonna be a discouraged people.

But God has called us to be unique. He has called us to be different. He has called us to be a people who are special and that we are to stand out as being a joyful people. Jesus said that he’s come to give us life and that we might have it more abundantly.

He also teaches us that when we have a relationship with God that the joy of the Lord is like a river flowing in us and through us and flowing out of us. And so we have this wonderful joy in Jesus Christ, but yet there are so many Christians that are discouraged and the cure for a discouraged heart is a thankful heart.

We love that old hymn, Count Your Blessings. Yes, when you find yourselves discouraged, when you find yourself defeated, I want you to start counting your blessings. I want you to start going through all the good things.

And if there is nothing else for us to give thanks to God, can we at least give thanks to God that he has saved our soul. The Apostle Paul was a thankful man. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 1 .12, he told the young pastor, “‘I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.'” Paul recognized his great privilege to serve God, his opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in this world and to be able to be called by God, to effectively serve God and to make a difference for Jesus Christ.

Paul was a man who was very thankful and the subject of his thanksgiving is the triumph that he found in his relationship with Christ. It’s easy for us to become preoccupied with the circumstances and we’re so focused on the problem that we are missing out on the joy that is found in a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

So I want us to learn some things this morning about how we can restore that joy out of this passage. The first principle is that we are. Led by a sovereign God you and I should be thankful that we are led by a sovereign God look at verse 14 He says now.

Thanks be to God who always leads us Now I want you to jump back to verse 12 because Paul Tucks this letter to the Corinthian leaders because he wants them to see that God is leading him and God is using him He says furthermore when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel and a door was opened to me by the Lord And you see again the Lord is the one who directs our steps and yes Paul could not go to Corinth and so he ended up in Troas and what did God do while he was in Troas?

God opened a door for him to preach the gospel friends We are led by a sovereign God and whether we are led to be able to share the gospel with others or whether we are led By a sovereign God to walk through the trials of life and the circumstances that are sometimes tough in life We are always led by a sovereign God The word sovereign means that God is in charge that God is in control I want you to know that you and I can rejoice because we know that God is in control We know that he is handling everything that God is up to something special not only in our lives But through our lives that God is going to do something He’s going to use this circumstance to open the door of the gospel of Jesus Christ He is going to use it that we might preach the gospel He’s going to use it that more people might be reached for the Lord Jesus Christ We do not find ourselves Simply victims of our circumstances victims of other people’s choices But rather we are victors in Christ who are serving a sovereign God who is in charge of this world And he is in control of this world and he is using our life that we might share the gospel of Jesus Christ Now I want you to go back to verse 14.

He says now. Thanks be to God who always leads us This word leads us this frame leads us is a unique word that is only used a few times but Paul does use it in his letters to the church and it is a metaphor of a Roman triumphant parade Paul is helping the believers to understand that their life is very much like this Roman triumphant parade whenever the generals who were victorious in their battles over the enemies of Rome whenever they returned home the Romans would always have a big parade for the generals and his soldiers so the generals would be on these chariots and they would have this big public parade and they would proceed through the streets of Rome with the spirit of victory and they would have all their victorious troops around them giving praise to what the general had accomplished but not only did the general have these victorious troops but he had the defeated captives for the general would bring in the enemies of Rome that had been defeated and he was leading them on a procession.

They knew that when they finally reached the end of the parade, when they finally reached their destination, they would be put to death. Paul here in our text says now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.

He is referring to the fact that Christ is very much like the Roman general who has conquered his enemies. And Paul is describing Jesus Christ as the victor. He is not the victim and that we are his troops.

We are not victims. We are part of the victory parade. We are part of the victorious celebration of what Christ has accomplished. And those who reject Christ, those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, those who refuse to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ unto salvation, they are the captives.

If you are a Christian today and you have put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation, then friends, you can know that you are part of God’s victory parade. That you today are in a parade celebrating the victory in Jesus Christ.

What I want you to know is that the reason that you can be joyful this morning and you can restore your joy that you find in your relationship with Jesus Christ is because you’re on the winning side, my friends.

It’s not because you did anything great, but Christ did everything and he did it all on the cross and through the resurrection and he has obtained our victory. And that’s why we are more than conquerors.

We are conquerors because he conquered. We are conquerors because Christ went to the cross for our sins and he conquered sin. He conquered death and he conquered hell. And now, my friends, we walk through this life and we go through this life as if it is a victorious parade celebrating what Jesus Christ has done for us.

Our confident hope is that God is always leading us, that God is leading us through every circumstance, that it is a victorious parade. You say, well, I don’t feel like I’m in a parade right now, pastor.

I feel alone, I feel defeated, and I feel discouraged. Well, that’s because you’re looking at your circumstances because you’re focused on what you’re experiencing relating to physical. But I want you to note spiritually, you are in a spiritual parade, and that you have victory in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can have joy in Him.

The second thing that I want you to note this morning in helping us to restore our joy is not only that we are thankful that we are led by a sovereign God who is leading us, but we can also recognize that we are privileged that we have a promise of victory in Christ.

We’ve already shared a little bit about this, but again, let’s look at our text in verse 14. 13 of chapter two, 2 Corinthians. Now thanks be to God who always, not sometimes, but always, not only when life’s going good, but always, always leads us in triumph in Christ.

Again, I wanna say to every believer and every follower of Christ this morning, I want you to shout the victory because you are a Christian and as a Christian, you are a member of the victorious army of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I don’t want you to beat down on yourself. I don’t want you moping around. I don’t want you asking for self -pity. I want you to get your focus on Jesus Christ and enjoy the victorious parade of the victory that we have in Him.

Christ has overcome all of His enemies. He has given them the last blow upon the cross and through the resurrection. When we think about the enemies of Christ, we certainly think about the fact we have the flesh, the world, we have sin, we have death that are trying to destroy the work of God.

But listen, friends, Jesus has already given them the deadly blow by going to the cross and He has ripped out the sting of death by going to the cross and resurrecting three days later. And so that’s why there is a spirit of victory in our heart.

There is a spirit of joy in our minds because we know that He has already obtained the victory that is found in Jesus Christ. And He did that on the cross. In the Old Testament, they look forward to the victory.

They couldn’t wait for the victory. They kept talking about the victory that is to come. But in the New Testament, as believers, you and I living in the age of grace, we already have the victory. And the victory is found in Jesus Christ.

Why do you think that Jesus said these? words to his disciples, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades, or hell, shall not prevail against it.” Why would Jesus say such a statement? Jesus said, I will build my church.

The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The first and foremost promise that Jesus wanted to give to his disciples was to encourage them that even when they face tough circumstances, even when they go out there and they are working for the cause of Christ and the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that even though they will face obstacles and resistance in this cause of Jesus Christ, that he wanted to encourage them and let them know they already have the victory.

Well, this is the way it is for believers. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and we will win, and we just got to persevere. We need to recognize that the church that Christ built is invincible.

The church is not a place, it’s a people. The church is not buildings, the church is not pews, the church is not parking lots. The church is a people who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation.

The church is a people that God is building. He is building their lives. He is building the cause. He is moving forward. Because Christ is the head of the church, and this head is eternal, and because Christ is indestructible, the church is eternal and indestructible.

Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this world. Friends, all that’s going on in this world, it doesn’t matter. The ups and downs of this world, the chaos of this world, the confusion of this world, God’s kingdom is not of this world.

It’s a spiritual kingdom, and the kingdom of Jesus Christ will march on. That’s why Romans 8, 37 says, yet in all these things, yet in all these things, all the things of the world, challenges and obstacles of life, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Jesus loves you, my friend, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And I know that you can say amen to that.

I know that you can write that in on your Facebook comment section. I want you to give me a thumbs up because you’re really giving the gospel a thumbs up. Jesus loves us. Amen. Jesus said that the gates of hell shall not prevail.

Gates are not weapons, they are barricades. Jesus was picturing hell like a prison, suggesting that the gates would not be able to contain or imprison the church. It’s not going to be your problem that stops the cause of Christ.

It’s not going to be the coronavirus that silences the church. It’s not going to be the people that are different. to get along with in your life that are going to hinder the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ.

No, my friends, the gates of hell shall not prevail. The devil is not going to hold back what God wants to do, even though you and I say, what is the Lord up to? Why is he allowing this? I tell you that even in the trial, even in the struggle, God is at work and he’s going to turn this around and he’s going to make it a great opportunity for the advancement of the cause of Jesus Christ.

We may suffer setbacks as a church family. We may suffer setbacks as a believer, but our ultimate victory is certain because Jesus went to the cross and he died on the cross for our sins and he came out of that grave three days later and he died on the cross to take care of my past and he came out of the grave to take care of my future.

Paul was always positive. Paul was always thankful. Paul was always seeing that his difficulties… would lead to the advancement of the gospel. As a matter of fact, he told the Philippian believers while he was in jail, while he was under house arrest, he said, I want you to know brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.

Now I don’t know what God’s gonna do in all this, but I know God is working. And I know he’s got the attention of a lot of people. And I know that there are people who are asking a lot of questions. And so what I wanna say to us as believers, that what has happened to us has really served to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Oh church, now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph, in Christ. In essence, the apostle Paul is reminding us that the gospel will always continue to progress forward. There is nothing the devil can do to stop the advancement of Jesus Christ.

Now the third and final principle that I want us to learn this morning, in our series of learning about how to restore joy in our heart, is that we have this great privilege. We must remember that we have this great privilege of influencing others for Christ.

We have the influence for Christ that is given to us as believers. Again, back to our text in verse 14. Now thanks be to God who always leads us. He’s sovereign, he’s in charge. He’s led us into these circumstances.

He’s allowed these circumstances to take place. He has us right where he wants us. His purposes are greater and better than ours. But not only is he leading us, even through the valley, but he’s leading us triumphantly.

He is leading us in triumph in Christ and through us. Underline that phrase, through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. What is God doing? He is using the church. The church has to stand up.

The church has to speak up. The church does not need to retreat to its corner. The church does not need to go in silence mode, but the church needs to speak up because we are diffusing. We are releasing the fragrance of his knowledge in every place.

God is using us to help the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus, and the knowledge that we need to be saved and that we’re all sinners and in need of a savior. The knowledge of that is being diffused everywhere we go.

Everything that we say. Now let’s just understand this in context. When these Roman generals were in their triumphant parades, they had priests who would go ahead of them in their chariots. and they would begin to burn incense.

As the fragrance, the aroma of the incense was filtrating throughout the streets of Rome, the procession was coming, the incense, the aroma was a reminder that Jesus is coming, that it was a reminder that the soldiers are coming, that they’re approaching their destination.

Listen to me, my friends, you and I are the fragrance of God, in that the gospel of Jesus Christ and our lives that we live and the words that we say that we are the incense, we are the ones who are spreading the influence of Jesus Christ.

We are the ones that God is using that others may know Christ. Oh friends, the incense of the gospel has a more delightful smell because it is the aroma of Christ. Look in verse 15, for we are to God, the fragrance of Christ.

Again, verse 14, that we are triumphing in Christ through us, he is diffusing or releasing the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. So God is not only using the message of the gospel to influence people’s hearts, but he is using the messengers of the gospel to influence people’s hearts.

He is not only using his word, he is using you as his messenger. We together collectively as the church, we are Christ’s aroma. We are the influencers. The gospel produces different effects. For we understand in verse 15, he says we are to God, the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

You see this influence of Christ, not everybody likes it. Not everybody’s happy that I’ve shared the gospel with them. Not everybody’s happy that I gave them a track. Not everybody’s happy that I’m posting things on social media that are positive and uplifting and are about pointing to Jesus.

Christ, people are not always happy, but remember this, the same sun that melts the ice hardens the clay. Not the sun’s fault, it’s not the gospel’s fault that some receive it, believe it, and others reject it.

The problem’s not with the sun that melts the ice and hardens the clay, it is with the recipient. It’s with the clay, it’s with the element, and so it is. Those who reject the gospel, the problem is not Jesus, the problem is not you, the problem is not the message, the problem is not the aroma of Christ that circulates throughout the home, it’s those and how they receive it.

So moms and dads, you are the aroma of Christ in your home. What is the scent that your children are smelling, but the one scent that should permeate every home and every room of that home? is the aroma of Christ.

No one has a greater influence on their children than mom and dad. So it is as we share the gospel message we have influence for Christ Church, we need to remember that just as the gospel has an awakening power of life to those who receive it, it also has a work of death to those who refuse to accept it.

Some of you are wondering why your neighbor won’t be saved. It’s not because you’re not eloquent. It’s not because you aren’t better at presenting the gospel. We think sometimes the method makes all the difference but friends, it’s really not.

I think the two keys are the message and the messenger. The Bible teaches us, Jesus himself said, you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. A city that has set on a hill cannot be hid.

If ever our communities, if ever our nation needed the church to be a light and to be salt, it is now. If ever we needed to spread the aroma of the gospel and the hope that is found in Jesus Christ, it is now your influence in your communities, in your homes, in your churches is either leading people to heaven or it is leading them to hell.

And you must ask yourself, what is my influence like? Have I been a person who is spreading the fragrance of Christ throughout every person that I meet? Am I understanding that I have this ministry that brings life?

That I understand that I have this ministry that as I am spreading the aroma of Christ, there will be others who reject the gospel but I don’t take it personal. They’re not rejecting you. Quit getting caught up.

Quit making the gospel about you and make it about Jesus Christ. Friends, if they reject the gospel, Jesus said, wipe the dust off your feet and move on. Did he say, quit? Did he say, go back and cry?

Did he say that you need to stop and retreat? No, he said, move on to the next house, move on to the next person, but keep spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now why? Why would people despise the gospel?

Let me help you understand this church. The gospel challenges a person’s whole way of life. When we call sinners to salvation, it is challenging their very way of life. They not only reject it because it is a challenge to their way of life, but it is demanding that sin be dealt with in their heart.

Very few want to admit that they’re sinners, and very few want to come to grips with their sinfulness, and they do not want to deal with it. A third reason people reject the gospel is because the gospel calls us to repent.

Now, we may feel like that’s an archaic term, but it simply means to turn around. God is calling us to change directions, to turn away from sin, to turn away from selfishness, and to turn towards Christ, to put our faith in Him.

Another reason that people reject the gospel, because it is a complete reorientation of their life. Because no longer are their selfish ambitions the priorities of their life, but rather Jesus Christ is the priority of their life.

He is to be number one, and yet so many people reject the gospel, and so we understand the big picture that even though we are the aroma of Christ, to some people this aroma is nauseating. To others it is life -giving.

They eat it up, they are just loving it, and they are so thankful for the grace and the forgiveness that they find in Jesus Christ, but others put up their hand and refuse to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

For those who have refused to believe it’s a fearful thing when the life -giving gospel is rejected and their heart is hardened. And we pray that they will come to that point on their journey that they would repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

I want you to remember that the discouraged Christian is disheartened because they are focused on their circumstances. But the joyful Christian is encouraged because they are focused on the privilege of serving Christ, the privilege of being led by a sovereign God.

They are thankful that they have the opportunity to influence others for Christ. They see every hardship and every trial as an opportunity to share the gospel as an open door. Instead of talking about the negative, I want to challenge our church family to go positive.

And I want to challenge you to be the aroma of Christ on social media. media, in your homes, in your workplaces, in the grocery store, wherever you may be, be the sweet -smelling fragrance of Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us that the joy of the Lord is my strength. Why is it important for us to restore joy in our hearts? Because it is the source of our strength. It is what sustains us through the trials and tribulations of life.

And so God wants us to restore that joy. And it’s easy through life to be sapped of your joy. Sometimes our relationships might sap us. Sometimes sin in our life might sap us of the joy of the Lord. But what we want to do is follow these steps that the apostle is giving us to restore joy in our hearts and to live very victoriously before the world.

We thank you for listening today. And it is a blessing to have you. I just want to remind you that in Christ, there is hope worth having.