The Fruit of the Spirit: Joy

Galatians 5:22-23; John 16:20-24

Defining Joy

What is joy and why it is the Fruit of the Spirit?

What joy is not: Joy is not just a spontaneous response, or happy feeling resulting from your circumstances or accomplishments. Earthly joys may be intense feelings of pleasure and delight that are quickly fading, and may often be rooted in that which is unhealthy and destructive.

True Joy is not dependent upon circumstances, it is a state of being, the product of God’s grace.

“Joy is the pleasure, delight, and rejoicing of the heart. It is the expression of a spirit set free.” Wilhelmus à Brakel

Charis, Chara, Eucharist.

Grace is the unexpected, undeserved gift of God, freely given, producing in us inexpressible joy, resulting in a life of thanksgiving and praise.

Joy is the product of God’s grace working in us, bringing us such faith and assurance in Him that we delight and rejoice in Him.

Designed for Joy.

The joy of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

“The Chief End of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” When we know God, we will know Joy.

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

1 Chronicles 16:27 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place. God has designed us for joy!

God created us with senses, so that what we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell - all that we experience would be for our joy and His glory.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

1 Tim 6:17 don’t set your hopes on the uncertainty of riches, “but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”

Man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial… praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul. G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Sin robs us of joy.

The Pleasure Seeking Paradox.

Sin is the pursuit of pleasure apart from God, but the paradox is: finding pleasure apart from God, or outside of God’s design, actually robs us of the real joy that pleasure is meant to provide. These are counterfeit joys:

Love turned inward - jealously, envy, covetousness, a lack of contentment, lying, stealing, cutting the corners, just to feed that need apart from God - self-centered love…

Love unguided: “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one your with…” adultery, homosexuality, transgender identity - a destructive, godless lust that we all love…

Love without restraint - addiction, obesity, drunkenness, intemperance…

A sour Christian is not walking in the sweetness of God

The cheerless, bitter, unforgiving, and hyper-critical attitude, the chip-on-the-shoulder christian, is harboring an un-Christian Spirit, not walking with Christ.

God did not send his Son to burden us with grief but to gladden our souls in Christ. Where the joy of the Spirit is, there the heart rejoices through faith in Christ, with full assurance that he is our Savior.

Joy was at the heart of all that Christ did for us.

John 15:11 - These things he has spoken that His joy may be in us, and that our joy may be full.

Luke 2 and Matthew 2 - His coming brought tidings of great joy.

Hebrews 12:2 For the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame…

John 16:22 …And your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

John 16:24 Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full…

Joy was the one part of Christ that he kept somewhat hidden - we couldn’t have handled the unbridled joy that Christ knew in the presence of His Father. G.K Chesterton - Orthodoxy

Deepening Joy.

Remember whose you are - preach the gospel to yourself!

Knowing who God is, and what he has done for you in Christ is the source of inexpressible joy.

Though I was bound to sin, and condemned before God, Christ has given His life in payment for mine, that I might be set free to live for him. My life, my destiny, my hope is secure in Christ, because of the great grace that God has given in Him.

The grace of the gospel brings every believer to lasting joy! If you desire this joy, be assured that you cannot manufacture this yourself; but come through Christ to the Father and pray in His name: I trust in your steadfast love and my heart shall rejoice in your salvation (Ps. 13:5).

When you sense the waning of joy - remember the gospel, and your Christ-centered identity!

Why should I feel discouraged, Why should the shadows come, Why should my heart be lonely, And long for Heav’n and home, When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He: His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me;

Find Joy in the midst of Suffering

We often see suffering as that which would take our joy

Persecution - the threat of violence or loss because we have taken a stand for Christ

Physical Suffering - the ravages of sickness and loss in this mortal body

Suffering want and loss for the sake of Christ - self-denial, taking up the cross, in order to seek to follow him

All of this is loss, and we are tempted to be overcome, to lose our joy

Our Suffering is Actually Meant to lead us to Joy

Suffering allows us to identify closely with Christ

Acts 5:41 The disciples counted it a blessing when they were persecuted, to be counted worthy of suffering for Christ.

Suffering shows we are on the same path as Christ

John 15:20 - the servant is not above his master… if they persecuted Christ, they will persecute us as well

Our suffering reminds us that we are simply pilgrims here, bound for that which is eternal

Be patient in the midst of hard providence,

We need to learn to see our suffering through the lens of eternity. God is working, though we may not see it.

Psalm 30:5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

God’s difficult providence drives us to Christ

Piper, “Suffering weans us off the breast of self-reliance.”

Spurgeon “I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages”

Choosing Joy

Joy is a choice to obey.

Phil 4:2 - “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice.”

This was written as instruction to a church where tensions were high.

Choose to rejoice in the Lord, in your common salvation, in what you love.

Fight for joy.

When the bent of the world is toward bitterness, sorrow, and grief - that which would steal your joy - choose to rejoice in the Lord, and to delight in Him.

Joy and holiness go hand in hand

We cannot know genuine joy when we are still pursuing sin. Armed with the good news of the gospel, be the happy warrior in confronting the sin in your life, putting the old man to death, that you may rise in joy in the new life in Christ.

Joy is found and affirmed in God’s promises.

Stay rooted in the Word.

Rejoicing in the promises of God.