The Purpose of the Letter, Part 1: Joy
The Book of 1 John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Tonight, I want to begin what will be the next four Sunday evenings, looking at four verses out of the book of 1 John as, sort of, an introduction, or overview of the epistle.
These four verses we will look at show us the purpose behind the writing of the epistle of 1 John.
If the Lord continues to lead in this direction, after looking at these four verses, and expounding on each of them, I’d like to begin preaching through the book of 1 John on Sunday evenings.
Let’s take a look at them real quick:
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
This verse shows us that 1 John was written that your joy may be full.
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
This verse shows us that 1 John was written that you sin not.
26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
This verse shows us that 1 John was written that we be not deceived.
13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
This verse shows us that 1 John was written that you may know you have eternal life.
These are the things we will be looking at for the next few weeks, and I hope they will be a blessing to you.
Let’s begin tonight, with the first purpose I gave just a moment ago…It’s found in chapter 1, verse 4:
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
John tells the church that another purpose of Jesus coming is that we may have joy in the Lord. Those who know Jesus experience the love and joy of Jesus. Christians are to be filled with great joy in their lives.
Joy comes from fellowship with God, so it’s no surprise that the larger theme of the book is fellowship with God!
When I got to thinking about joy, I began looking through Scripture on what it says about joy. Let me give you three things quickly about joy:
The Spirit produces joy:
The Spirit produces joy:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
The Saviour promotes joy:
The Saviour promotes joy:
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
The Saints, that is, those who are born again, possess joy:
The Saints, that is, those who are born again, possess joy:
34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
Let’s look at:
1-The Meaning of Joy
1-The Meaning of Joy
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
The Bible says, that your joy may be full…This phrase means, full, complete, once and for all time! To be filled full! In the country, we say plum full!
The word joy in our Bibles is a word also translated, ‘delight’ or ‘gladness.’ One scholar put it like this: “It is a ‘sweep you off your feet’ feeling of pleasurable emotion and excitement caused by the heightened expectation and realization of some good thing.”
Those who love Jesus and know Jesus and live for Jesus will have joy in life.
Here’s something I found that was interesting: Kaufmann Kohler states in the Jewish Encyclopedia that no language has as many words for joy and rejoicing as does the Hebrew language.
In the Old Testament, thirteen Hebrew root words, found in twenty-seven different words, are used primarily for some aspect of joy or joyful participation in the worship of God.
This joy I’m talking about is an abiding sense of optimism and cheerfulness based on God; now, you need to understand; it’s not the same as happiness…no, happiness is a sense of optimism and cheerfulness based on circumstances. Joy is not based on circumstances!
Charles Simeon put it well, “There are but two lessons for the Christian to learn: the one is, to enjoy God in everything; the other is, to enjoy everything in God.” Somewhere along the way we have missed it. We equate joy with happiness and happiness with joy.
2-The Manifestation of Joy
2-The Manifestation of Joy
Now that we have clear picture of what joy is, where does it come from; how does it manifest itself in our lives?
1) Joy comes from the presence of the Lord in our lives.
11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life:
In thy presence is fulness of joy;
At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
2) Joy comes from the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
3) Joy comes from the Word of God.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
4) Joy comes from God’s protection and trusting in Him.
11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice:
Let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them:
Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
5) Joy comes from God’s salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
6) Joy comes from knowing that your name is written in Heaven.
20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
7) Joy comes from answered prayers.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
3-The Maintaining of Joy
3-The Maintaining of Joy
We now know the meaning of true joy, how that joy manifests in our lives, so now we need to understand how to maintain that joy in our lives. How do we keep it?
By the Saints Confession
By the Saints Confession
The best example of this is found over in Psalm 51...
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions:
And my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in thy sight:
That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
And be clear when thou judgest.
An unbeliever can sin and forget it, but the Christian will have that sin on his mind until it is dealt with! The Holy Ghost in our hearts will not allow us to forget it.
Guilt will eat you up. But, it doesn’t have to! Jesus offers cleansing and forgiveness!
David was broken because he had hurt God! This is the difference between a slave and a son! The slave fears the Master’s whip, but the son fears the Father’s displeasure.
A true Christian weeps not over the consequences of his actions, but he weeps because he has offended and disgraced his Heavenly Father!
He goes on to say:
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;
And uphold me with thy free spirit.
There it is…That’s it! Sin had robbed David of the joy of God’s salvation!
If you are saved, sin will make you the most miserable person on the face of the earth. You cannot live in a backslidden condition and expect to have joy.
Joy is the by-product of a right relationship with God!
So what do we do, just like David, we confess!
Now, to be clear, our sins are not forgiven because we confess.
We are forgiven because our punishment was put upon Jesus, we are cleansed by His blood.
However, confession is still vital to maintain relationship with God. As God convicts us of sin that is hindering our fellowship with Him, we must confess it and receive forgiveness and cleansing for our relationship with God to continue without hindrance.
Maintaining joy in our lives has to do with confession, but also...
By the Saviour’s Cleansing
By the Saviour’s Cleansing
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Because of Jesus’ work, the righteousness of God is our friend – insuring that we will be forgiven because Jesus paid the penalty of our sin. God is being faithful and just to forgive us in light of Jesus.
The promise of 1 John 1:9 shouldn’t lead us into sin, saying “Hey, I’ll go ahead and sin because God will forgive me.” It should lead us out of sin, knowing that God could only be faithful and just to forgive us our sins because the wrath we deserved was poured out on the sin. Since each sin carries with it its own measure of wrath, so there is a sense in which each sin we commit added to the agony of Jesus on the cross.
There is no more sure evidence that a person is out of fellowship with God than for someone to contemplate or commit sin with the idea, “I can just ask for forgiveness later.”
Since God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, we can be assured that the person who commits sin with this idea is not in fellowship with God.
I’m thankful though, we can maintain joy in our Christian lives by confessing sin, and knowing without a shadow of doubt that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness!
Conclusion
Conclusion
11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life:
In thy presence is fulness of joy;
At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Spend your life in the presence of God, and dwell in the fulness of joy!
The Christian’s joy is important, and assaulted on many fronts. External circumstances, moods and emotions, or sin can all take away our joy. Yet the Christian’s joy is not found in the things of this world, as good as they might be. When John wrote about these things, he wrote about this relationship of fellowship and love we can share in with God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ.
◦ Do you have that kind of joy in your hearts tonight?
◦ Do you have the fellowship that comes from knowing the Father through His Son Jesus Christ?
◦ Do you have the joy from knowing you have victory in Jesus?
◦ Do you have the joy of repentance and restoration?
◦ Do you have the joy of prayer and communication?
◦ Can you say today that Jesus is the foundation of my faith and I trust Him and Him alone?