Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verses 2-16, which is on page 1163 of the Church Bibles.
! So that's 2 Corinthians chapter 7, and starting in verse 2.
Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one. We have corrupted no one. We have exploited no one.
I do not say this to condemn you. I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you.
I have spoken to you with great frankness. I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged in all our troubles. My joy knows no bounds.
For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn, conflicts on the outside, fears within.
But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort that you had given him.
He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.
Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it, I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while.
Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance.
For you became sorrowful as God intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us.
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.
But worldly sorrow brings death.
See what this godly sorrow has produced in you.
What earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.
At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the injured party,
but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are.
By all this we are encouraged.
In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was,
because his spirit had been refreshed by all of you.
I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me.
But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well.
And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient,
receiving him with fear and trembling.
I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.
Good morning everyone.
I'll try again.
Good morning everyone.
That's good.
Somebody's out there.
let's keep our Bibles open at 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and it's quite a long chunk but
I hope as we go through it you'll see a connecting theme
we're going to break next week from 2 Corinthians and we're going to be looking
at Isaiah 42 so if you want to read up on what we're going to be looking at in the next few weeks
you can read Isaiah 42 not now of course but let's pray together and ask for the Lord's help
Jesus said as the Father has loved me so have I loved you I have told you this
so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete
Father our prayer is simple we come as needy people longing to experience your joy in our life
and we pray that by your spirit you would enable us to experience that joy as we love one another
and love the Lord Jesus amen
well have you got that Christmas feeling that bubbling overflowing joy I don't mean the kind
of happy vibe you get with putting up Christmas lights and listening to the music or that surface
thrill as you meet with friends for Christmas drinks that's a manufactured circumstantial joy
so that when you put all the decorations away and the music stops and it's back to January and back to work
well in that moment our joy just evaporates
now the joy that we're talking about today is a joy that is deep and foundational even when life can be hard and broken
a joy that can say look back at chapter 6 verse 10
chapter 6 verse 10 a joy that can say sorrowful yet always rejoicing
now we don't usually put those two together sorrow and joy so how can we experience that kind of joy
joy well up to now in our studies of second Corinthians we've seen that Christian life is hard Christian
ministry Christian service is difficult serving Christ will involve weakness suffering and death
which doesn't sound very joyful at all but as we turn to chapter 7 we discover that we can experience
joy as we serve Christ think of a honeycomb and breaking open that honeycomb and all that honey just dripping down
well as we open up chapter 7 as we open it up it drips with joy
look at the text with me look at the end of verse 4 of chapter 7
he says I take great pride in you
I'm greatly encouraged in all our troubles
my joy
knows no bounds
or look at the end of verse 7
he talks about
the deep sorrow the ardent concern for me so that my joy was greater than ever
or verse 9
yet how I am happy or joyful
down in verse 13
he says in addition to our own encouragement we were especially
delighted the same word there is joy
to see how joyful Titus was
and verse 16
I rejoice or I am glad I can have complete confidence in you
can you see how it just oozes with joy
because as we serve Christ
we experience joy
now before we look at this joy through the text together
we need to know what joy means
so here's a simple definition of Christian joy
with the help of John Piper
Christian joy
is the experience of a deep
happy
emotion or feeling
worked in us
by the Holy Spirit
as we serve
Christ
it's the experience of a deep
happy emotion
worked in us
by the Spirit
as we serve
Christ
so here we have
four ways to experience
joy
this Christmas
a joy
that you won't hear of
anywhere else
here's the first one
transparent love
produces
boundless
joy
look at how this love
is expressed
verse 2
Paul writing to the church in Corinth
he says
make room for us
in your hearts
of course Paul had
already opened
his heart
to the church
look back at chapter 6
verse 12
he says
we are not withholding
our affection
from you
but you are withholding
your affection
from us
so as a fair exchange
and I speak to you
as to my children
open wide
your hearts
also
there's a deep
transparent
affection
for Christ's
people
but not only that
there's this
sacrificial
commitment
this sacrificial
love
expressed to the
people
look at the middle
of verse 3
this is chapter 7
verse 3
he said
I have said
before
that you have
such a place
in our hearts
that we would
live
or die
with you
I'm here
to serve
your good
to seek
your best
in living
I am
with you
in dying
I am
with you
can you see
this
open heartedness
this
transparent
love
for God's
people
it's saying
I'm for you
I'm holding
nothing back
I'm giving
my all
it's
deep affection
faithful
service
sacrificial
love
it's saying
verse 4
I take
great
pride
in you
now isn't
that the
kind of
love
we all
seek
the kind
of love
we long
to experience
a love
where it's
opening up
hearts
a love
that gives
to the
blessing
of others
well as we
as God's
people
obey God's
commands
to love
one another
look at the
results
of such
love
transparent
love
produces
boundless
joy
hope
look at
the end
of verse
4
I am
greatly
encouraged
in all
our
troubles
my
joy
knows
no
bounds
You see, transparent love removes all the obstacles to joy.
It breaks down all the barriers to experiencing joy.
When we open wide our hearts to one another as we faithfully serve and sacrificially commit,
look at the results.
They are incalculable.
We can say, end of verse 4, my joy knows no bounds.
So this Christmas, the call to one another is to not, what am I getting?
But serve one another with transparent love.
And as we do, we will experience a boundless happiness that wells up inside each one of us.
Transparent love brings boundless joy.
Second, genuine care causes an increased joy.
Now some context will help us here as we look at verse 5.
Let's go back to chapter 2 to start off with.
Back to chapter 2 and verse 12.
You see, what's going on here is that Paul had sent his companion, his fellow worker Titus,
to Corinth with a letter.
And we're going to talk about that letter in just a minute.
And the plan was that after Timothy had brought the letter to Corinth,
Titus would then meet Paul back in a place called Troas.
So Corinth is in Greece and Troas was on the coast of Turkey.
So there was a bit of travelling to take place to bring the letter all the way to Greece
and then meet up again in Turkey.
So let's pick it up, chapter 2, verse 12.
So Paul says,
When I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ
and found that the Lord had opened a door for me,
I still had no peace of mind.
Why? What's the matter?
Because I did not find my brother Titus there.
He was meant to come and join him,
but he wasn't there.
So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.
Now this part of the story is picked up again for us in chapter 7, verse 5.
Let's read verse 5.
So when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest.
But we were harassed at every turn.
Conflicts on the outside and fears within.
Not only had he opposition to deal with,
but there were those fears inside.
He had no peace of mind.
Where's Titus?
My brother, is he okay?
Had something happened to him?
He couldn't pick up the phone and ring him and see where he is or what's going on?
And what about the church?
Is the church alright?
Have they fallen apart?
Have they stopped meeting together?
His fearful concern led him to being, verse 6,
downcast.
Literally, he was depressed.
He was worried sick for his brother Titus and the church.
He didn't know how they were.
Now isn't that how we can often feel for Christ's people?
Don't you fear for how your brother and sister are doing?
How is their faith?
Why are they absent?
How are they going to get through this trial?
But yet God was at work through it all.
Two things.
First, there was God's comfort.
Verse 6.
But God, who comforts the downcast,
comforted us by the coming of Titus.
Oh, Titus, you're here.
You could imagine that embrace as they hugged and wept.
Titus, my friend, my companion,
all is well.
He's okay.
And the church?
Oh, they're okay too.
Look at the rest of verse 7.
He told us about your longing for me,
your deep sorrow and your ardent concern for me.
His spirits were lifted,
no longer down,
but now happy.
You see, as we serve our brothers and sisters,
as we have concern,
look at the results.
Genuine concern causes increased joy.
Isn't that what we see at the end of verse 7?
That my joy was greater than ever.
Genuine concern can bring fears and worries.
Concern for our brothers and sisters
can make us lie awake at night.
But as God does his work through these trials,
and as we find out how each other are doing,
it leads to an increased joy.
As we invest in each other,
as we carry the concerns of one another,
as we are burdened for each other,
and at times we feel downcast.
Yet God is at work so we can also say,
my joy is greater than ever.
So this Christmas,
let's encourage one another
to continue on in the genuine care.
Because as we do,
we will experience an increased happiness
that wells up with inside of us
and overflows.
So genuine care
brings about an increased joy.
Third,
honest conversations
foster spontaneous joy.
Look at verse 8.
For if I caused you sorrow
by my letter,
I do not regret it.
This was the letter
that Titus had brought.
And well,
gosh,
it wasn't the easiest of letters
to read.
Look back at chapter 2 again with me.
We get an insight
into the difficulty
in writing this letter
and what was behind it.
chapter 2,
verse 3.
Paul says,
I wrote as I did
so that when I came
I wouldn't be distressed
by those who should have made me rejoice.
I had confidence in all of you
that you would all share my joy.
For I wrote to you
out of great distress
and anguish of heart
and with many tears
not to grieve you
but to let you know
the depth of my love
for you.
Go back to chapter 7.
Paul was having to write
a difficult letter
to address
some undealt-with sin
in the life of the church.
You see,
sin is never private
and if it's not dealt with
well,
rather than foster
spontaneous joy
it will fester
in the lives
of the church
and it will kill
and destroy.
So Paul had to have
these honest
conversations
with the church.
a conversation
by way of a letter.
Verse 8.
So even if I caused you
sorrow
by my letter
I do not regret it.
Though I did regret it
because I see
that my letter hurt you
but only for a little while.
He's,
he's,
you know,
I wanted you to hear this
but my heart aches
because it's going to cause you
some difficulty.
Verse 9.
Yet now
I am happy.
Now I am joyful.
What caused his joy
in the midst of such sorrow
in such a messy situation
having to write about sin
that all of he can,
all of a sudden
he can say,
whoa,
now I'm happy.
Well,
three things we'll see
lead to his joy.
First,
sin
has been confronted.
None of us
like to confront sin.
We don't want to lose
each other's friendship
or come across
a superior.
But you know what?
If we love the church,
if we love our brothers
and sisters,
we will do the hard things.
Just like Paul,
we will have
honest conversations
and confront sin.
So first,
sin is confronted.
Second,
repentance
is practiced.
Look at verse 10.
Godly sorrow
brings repentance
that leads to salvation
and leaves no regret.
Now there's a huge difference
between regretting our sin
and repenting of our sin.
regretting our sin
means,
well,
you're sorrowful
because your sin
has been revealed.
You're not really
sorry to God.
I only feel
sorry for myself.
that's,
at the end of verse 10,
is worldly sorrow
and it leads to death.
You see,
regret does not bring joy.
Rather,
it will destroy you.
So,
we don't want to regret our sin.
Rather,
we want to repent of our sin.
To have godly sorrow.
That is,
to grieve over our sin
and see how it hurts others
and how it is an offense
to God.
Where we admit our sin,
we don't excuse it,
we own it
and take responsibility
and we confess it all
to our Father God
and we receive forgiveness
and we seek change
and transformation
in our life.
that's,
verse 10,
godly sorrow
and it leads to salvation
and no regrets.
Emptying the tank
before God
will be a joy for you.
That's what we are to practice
amongst each other.
we confront our sin,
repentance is practiced
and then we see that change
is seen.
Look at verse 11.
See what this godly sorrow
has produced in you.
It's taken effect
in your life.
What earnestness,
what eagerness
to clear yourselves,
what indignation,
what alarm,
what longing,
what concern,
what readiness
to see justice done.
They wanted to get right
with God
and with their brothers
and sisters
and to put everything right.
You see,
confronting sin
and practicing repentance
leads
to a transformed life.
a life that becomes
more like Christ.
So of course,
Paul was rejoicing.
You see,
honest conversations
with brothers and sisters
fosters
spontaneous joy.
Isn't that what we see
in verse 9?
As he had sorrow
over the letter he wrote,
verse 9,
yet now I am happy.
I'm happy
because you have come
to repentance.
And so as the Spirit of God
convicts us
as we openly confess
to one another,
as we lead each other
back to the Lord Jesus,
there is joy
in that journey.
We can also say,
verse 9,
now I am joyful.
So this Christmas,
don't avoid the elephant
in the room.
Let's have those
honest conversations.
And as we do,
we will experience
that spontaneous happiness
that wells up
within us.
So,
honest conversations
leads to spontaneous joy.
Fourth,
nurturing relationships
promotes a confident joy.
You see,
there's a wonderful,
beautiful relationship
in these verses,
indeed throughout
the whole letter,
between the church
in Corinth,
Titus,
who's bringing the letter,
and Paul.
A partnership
where they work
and invest
in each other's lives.
There's the encouragement
of the church
to Titus,
verse 13.
In addition
to our own encouragement,
we were especially
delighted,
we were joyful
to see
how joyful
Titus was.
because by,
because his spirit
has been refreshed
by all of you.
The church
loved
Titus.
And Titus
in turn
loved
the church.
Verse 15.
His affection
for you
is all the greater
when he remembers
that you were
all obedient.
This mutual
sharing of love
between each other.
but this love
has all
been nurtured
and encouraged
by Paul.
Look how he speaks
to the church
and to Titus
about each other.
Look at verse 14.
I had boasted
to Titus
about you,
that's the church,
and you have not
embarrassed me.
Titus,
the church
in Corinth,
yeah,
they've got
their flaws,
yes,
they're messy
people,
but they love
the Lord.
And deep down
they care
and they will
care for you.
It's going to be
okay,
Titus.
And look what
he says
to the church
about Titus.
Verse,
at the end
of verse 14.
But just as
everything
we said
to you
was true,
so our
boasting
about you
to Titus
has proved
to be true
as well.
The church
in Corinth
he's telling
them,
Titus is a
good guy,
he genuinely
cares for you,
he has
deep affection
for you.
This mutual
love,
one for the
other.
And Paul
nurturing
that love
as he speaks
well of each
other.
And look
at the
results of
it all,
verse 16.
Nurturing
relationships
promotes
confident
joy.
I am
joyful
that I
can have
complete
confidence
in you.
There's
this beautiful
joy that
comes as
we nurture
our
relationships.
Yes, it
takes effort.
Yes, it
can be hard
work.
Yes, it
can be messy.
But oh, isn't
it worth it
all?
To nurture
the relationships
that we have
with each
other
builds
for our
future.
It puts us
on a good
foundation.
So this
Christmas,
treasure
those
relationships.
Nurture
them.
Speak
well to
one another.
And as we
do, we
will experience
a confident
happiness
that wells
up within
us and
overflows.
those.
So have
you got
that
Christmas
feeling?
That
overflowing
joy?
Well, before
we head out
the door this
morning and
think, all
right, I've
got to serve
more, I've
got to love
more, and
then I'm
going to get
more joy.
No.
Let's be
careful.
We don't
serve to
receive joy.
We
experience
joy as
we serve.
We don't
serve to
receive joy.
It's not
something we
earn to
get.
Rather, we
experience
joy as
we serve.
You see,
the joy
comes in
serving
Christ,
who loved
us and
served us.
us.
Just take a
sneak peek at
chapter 8,
verse 9.
We'll come
back to this
after Christmas.
But here's a
well-known
verse of the
wonderful love
of God who
served us.
For you
know the
grace of our
Lord Jesus
Christ, that
though he was
rich, yet
for your
sake he
became poor,
so that you
through his
poverty might
become rich.
Here is a
true,
transparent love,
a saviour who
opened wide
his heart and
held nothing
back.
In deep
affection,
Jesus loved
us and he
took our
poverty, all
our sin and
all our mess,
so that we
might receive
his riches and
the forgiveness
of all our
sin.
In genuine
concern, Jesus
confronted us.
By the
Holy Spirit he
caused us to
turn in
repentance.
Jesus saw
our need and
he reached out
to save us
and to change
us.
and now we
live with the
comfort of
Jesus who
by his
spirit nurtures
that relationship
as we listen
to him and
as we talk
to him.
You see, we
don't serve
Christ to
get the
joy.
We experience
the joy as
we serve
Christ who
loved us
and who
served us.
So this
Christmas, I
pray, I
pray for us
all and
can we pray
for one
another that
we will have
a truly joy
filled
Christmas as
we look at
the beauty of
Christ who
loved us and
served us
and as we
in response
serve one
another in
love.
Let's pray
together.
Our
Father,
will you
please help
us by
your spirit
to love
one another
well with
a transparent
love,
that we
would
demonstrate
genuine
concern,
that you
would help
us to have
honest
conversations,
and that
Father, you
would help
us to
nurture the
relationships we
have with one
another.
We pray all
of this,
that it might
be to the
glory of
God,
for the
good of
others,
and for the
overflow and
experience of
joy in our
life.
Thank you,
Lord Jesus,
that you
loved us,
and you
served us,
and you
continue to
love and
to serve us
now.
Thank you,
Jesus.
Amen.
We're going
to respond
in song.
Thank you,
up.