What is our Deepest Joy

Well, good morning, everyone. Great to see you all this morning. It's wonderful to be back.

! Myself and Tom had a wonderful time in Washington.! It was a blessing. We are thankful for it. But we missed you all, and it's great to be back. You know, D.C. is nice, but it's got nothing on Durris.

So, it's great to be back home in West Cork. This morning, Naomi is going to come and read our passage for us from Luke chapter 10, verses 1 to 20.

Thank you, Naomi. So, it's Luke chapter 10, verses 1 to 20.

If you're following in a church Bible, it's on page 1041. After this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them two by two ahead of him to go to every town and place where he was about to go.

He told them, Go, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

Do not take a purse or bag or sandals and do not greet anyone on the road. When you enter a house, first say, Peace to this house.

If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them. If not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages.

Do not move around from house to house. When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal those there who are ill and tell them, The kingdom of God has come near to you.

But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, Even the dust of your town, we wipe from our feet as a warning to you.

Yet be sure of this, the kingdom of God has come near. I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens?

No. You will go down to Hades. Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me.

But whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me. The 72 returned with joy and said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.

He replied, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.

nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

thank you, Naomi. I recently came across these words.

As Christians, one of the most pressing questions that we must ask ourselves is what is our deepest source of joy.

Looking at our own life, each one of us who belong to Christ must consider, must ponder, must evaluate.

Am I anchoring my joy? Am I rooting my joy in something that will come and go and fade and change?

Or, am I anchoring my joy, rooting my joy in something that circumstances cannot hinder or obstruct?

a good question for us all to consider. As believers, what is our deepest joy?

Well, in thinking about what is our deepest joy, Luke chapter 10 can be helpful to us because in Luke chapter 10, the Lord Jesus is teaching us something in relation to what we should rejoice in most.

At the beginning of Luke chapter 10, Jesus sends out 72 disciples in pairs on mission. They are told by Jesus himself to go out on mission ahead of him, to go to the different places that he would visit, that he would go to himself.

He told them in verse 2 that the heart harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. So, in verse 3, he sent them out to proclaim peace, to heal the sick.

Verse 9, to declare that the kingdom of God has come. Verses 10 to 16, some will accept this message. We heard about Tyre and Scythe and Capernaum.

Some will reject it. There will be blessing and life, eternal life, for those who accept it. but there will be judgment, eternal judgment, for those who don't.

So, for the disciples, for the 72, their mission was clear and it was exciting to spread and display the life-changing, freedom-giving gospel of Christ.

they went off on mission with this incredible task to see God's kingdom spread into and light up the darkness of this world.

So, off they went. Off they went on this incredible mission that the Lord Jesus gave to them. well, when the 72 returned to report back to Jesus how it all went, we read in Luke 10, 17 that the 72 returned with joy and they said to Jesus, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.

Wow. They were sent out on this mission. They have seen incredible success. They are overflowing with joy and excitement.

They said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name. imagine their excitement. Imagine their amazement.

Ordinary people empowered by Jesus were confronting evil spiritual forces and seeing victory in the name of Jesus.

And it's important to note that Jesus affirmed what they did. Jesus said in verses 18 and 19, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.

Jesus here is saying, yes, what you experienced is real. I have given you authority in my name to do what you did. You are part of my kingdom breaking into this world.

Jesus affirmed what they did. What they did was right. They spoke and evil fled in the name of Jesus. Jesus. This was first-hand visible victory.

And they were full of joy and excitement. As the fellow said, they were full of beans. There was wind in their sails. There was fire in their hearts.

And they could not wait to come back to report back to Jesus all that had happened. they said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.

They rejoiced in all that they were able to do in the Lord. But Jesus said to them, verse 20, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you.

but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Friends, do we see what Jesus is getting at here?

Jesus is saying, yes, I have called you to this mission. He is highlighting that he has given his authority for this mission. Jesus is saying, yes, there will be victories in my name.

And what you did in my name was right and powerful. But Jesus is saying to them, do not let any of that be the ultimate source of your joy.

Jesus is reminding the disciples that the fact that demons submit to you in my name is not the greatest reason you have to rejoice.

rejoice. No, Jesus is saying to them, the greatest reason you have to rejoice is that you belong to me forever and ever.

Your names are written in heaven. As believers, our deepest joy must not rest in what we do, even what we do for the Lord, or even in ministry success or life's successes, because there's one thing for sure, as believers, there will be successes and there will be failures.

There will be ups and downs. Just think of the life of David or the life of Paul or the life of Peter. there will be times when things go well, and then there will be times when things don't go so well.

So if our deepest joy is tied to the successes that we see, our joy will be up, it will be down, and it won't last long, because there will be successes and there will be failures.

there will be ups and there will be downs. So Jesus is teaching us in this verse to place our deepest, ultimate joy in something far greater than ministry success or life successes.

Jesus is teaching us to root our true, deepest joy in something that is not up and down. Jesus calls us to put our true, deepest joy in the unshakable, unchangeable truth that as believers we belong to him forever and ever.

Our names are written in heaven. As we heard this morning from Daniel chapter 12, everyone whose name is written in the book will be saved.

We are to put our ultimate joy in that. The 72, they came back rejoicing in their ministry success.

Jesus affirmed what they did. He told them what they did was good and right. But Jesus pointed out to them that their deepest joy was not to be in what they did but was to be in belonging to him.

Their deepest joy was to come from the fact that they were his, their names were written in heaven and nothing was to surpass that. Because the reality is if the 72 had come back and nothing submitted to them, if the 72 had come back and they had no success, if the mission was a complete failure, they could still rejoice because their names were written in heaven.

And that's the point. As believers, our ultimate joy is not in what we do or how we feel because successes and definitely how we feel can be up and down, it will be up and down.

Our ultimate joy is to be in something that is not up and down. It is to be in the ultimate, unchanging, marvelous reality that we belong to the Lord forever and ever.

So I guess my question for us all this morning is simply where are you putting your deepest joy? Are you putting it in what you do?

Are you putting it even in what you do for the Lord? Are you putting it in the success you see in life? Or are you putting it in the unchanging reality that as believers we belong to him forever and ever?

If you're trusting in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, if you're relying on his death and resurrection, well then as a believer, you are his and your name is written in heaven.

Let us learn from our Savior. May our deepest source of joy come from the rock solid reality that we are his forever and ever.

And by the way, yes, it's good to rejoice and to be thankful in what the Lord does through us. It's good to be thankful and rejoice in what he does in us and through us.

But it must not be the foundation of our joy. It must not be our identity. Because if it is, it will be up and down.

May our deepest joy be rooted in the fact that as believers we are his forever and ever. And when our joy is rooted in that, our joy can remain steady through the ups and downs of life.

Our joy can remain steadfast through the ups and downs of life. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for your word and thank you that in your word we are reminded where to place our ultimate joy.

And Lord, I just pray for each one of us here this morning that you would help us. You know our hearts, you know our minds. Lord, that you would help us to root, to anchor our joy.

joy, not in what we do for you, not in successes, but help us to root our deepest joy in the wonderful reality that we belong to you forever and ever.

What a wonderful truth, what a wonderful reality. We are yours and nothing can take that away from us. So Lord, I just pray this morning that you would put a fresh song in our hearts, a fresh wind in our sails, knowing that we are yours forever and ever.

And whatever it is we might be going through at the moment, I pray that you would help us to put this before it, to put before it that we are yours and nothing can take that away from us.

So help us to sing praises to you now. Help us to give thanks for all that you have done for us. We are yours because of what you've done for us. Help us to praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen.