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A Tim Keller Sermon Summary  Life can be full of sorrow and pain. To survive, many become hardened and callous, but God replaces the heart of stone in His children with a heart of flesh, making them more vulnerable (Ezekiel 36:26), yet no one could take away their joy. How does that work? Let’s learn from John 16:16-22.
The source of joy in God’s children is the Gospel, the good news that gives us great joy. (Luke 2:8-12). The Gospel depicts Christ breaking into a world of despair, initially devastated, but triumphing at the end. Through Him, we are accepted by God no matter what we have done and are given a clean conscience. This brings us great joy and boldness. This joy is permanent, as it rests in Christ and is independent of circumstances. This joy also comes from obeying Christ. Through our obedience, God’s Spirit can operate in us in the most powerful way (John 15:10, 11). As an analogy, to play music well requires years of difficult scale practice but gradually becomes more enjoyable. Don’t compromise with counterfeit joy by pursuing worldly things. Idols make us feel good initially but curse us later. For example, if career is our idol, as we move up, we feel good. But when we get stuck or go downhill, we feel pain because of the curse of the career idol. The joy in God’s children comes from hope. The opposite of joy is not sorrow, but hopelessness. Losses on Earth cause grief, but God’s children grieve with a hope for something much better (Romans 5:3-5, 1 Thessalonians 4:13). Look at Christ: He ran the painful race for the sake of the joy before Him (Hebrew 12:2). The cross comes before the crown. Such hope on eternal things enabled early Christians to sing praises while being mauled by lions. The privileges of being with God and enjoying Him outweigh any present temporary sorrow. On Earth, the joy in God’s children co-exists with sorrow (1 Peter 1:6). It is similar to a woman after giving birth, where she is both in joy and pain. Go to Christ. Pray to Him. Follow Him and hold onto that wonderful hope. Then nothing can take away your joy. Summarized from a Tim Keller sermon: https://gospelinlife.com/downloads/joy-8594/
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