JOY (2)

Ps. 95 “O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.

Ps. 100 “A Psalm for Thanksgiving. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.”

Are you joyful this morning? Be honest Ps. 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.””

FOr many of us we thought about the pain we have. Oh i have to get dressed, I am so tired, I have to sit in those hard pews. I have to listen to another lousy sermon. Brothers and sisters I think a lot of us must have been baptized in pickle juice. We upset discontent, aggravated frustrated, grouchy before we even got here. Brothers and sisters GOD IS GOOD! We get to come before God and worship Him. If there was ever a reason to be joyful it is today.

In Galatians, Paul warned regarding the works of the flesh...

They can destroy the liberty we enjoy in Christ - Ga 5:13-15

the deeds of the flesh destroy joy no wonder our world has lost its joy

They prevent us from following the Spirit and doing the things we wish - Ga 5:16-17

They keep us from inheriting the kingdom of God - Ga 5:21

He also wrote concerning those led by the Spirit...

They are not under the law (in particular, the Law of Moses) - Ga 5:18

They produce fruit against which there is no law (i.e., no condemnation) - Ga 5:22-23

[Having examined the works of the flesh in previous lessons, let's now turn our attention to the fruit of the Spirit (Ga 5:22-23). When we walk by the Spirit instead of indulging the flesh, what fruit does the Spirit produce in our lives...?]

As we turned our attention to the fruit of the spirit love

we noted:

That God is love and by knowing God we see love is sacrificial, self-giving, action that can only be understood and exhibited in our lives if we know God and Abide in Him. Only then will we exhibit the love in our lives.

The same is true about Joy. Joy rest and is found in God. In order to understand and enjoy joy you must know God. What is joy? joy is gladness, delight, & happiness in God and His greatness. In the New Testament, "joy" is the Greek word chara. Related to both charis ("grace" or "gift") and charos ("rejoice; express joy"), joy is the natural response to a gracious gift. Joy is not dependent on all things going right. Joy is not dependent on emotions. It has everything to do with the gift of Jesus. Lets see what God and Heaven express joy over and then lets see what we can have joy over.

God has joy....

Romans 15:13 NASB95

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

How does God fill us with Joy? Thru believing in Jesus thru the word of the Holy Spirit. Notice how the God of hope will fill you with all joy. Joy is rooted and found in God and more specifically Jesus Christ.

When sinners repent

Luke 15:7 NASB95

“I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:10 NASB95

“In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

When we abide in Jesus and are obedient

1 John 15:11

John 15:11 NASB95

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

The Giving of the word to the disciples and those that believe in Jesus thru their word

John 17:13 NASB95

“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

Jesus is joy

Luke 2:10–11 NASB95

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

The angels of heaven say I bring you good news of great joy. What is that joy, a savior is born. salvation is here! That’s good news for us and that is good news for God because he wants all to repent and abide in his love and be with him for all eternity.

When we are faithful with what he has given us

Matt. 25:21-23 ““His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’”

Jesus had joy going to the cross

Hebrews 12:2 NASB95

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

How could Jesus have joy when going to the cross? He ensured that those who would put their faith and trust in Him would have eternal life. The circumstance was terrible, painful, agonizing. But the the result the outcome was worth it.

There is something interesting about joy that pertains to the Godhead that is found in the pages of the New Testament.

Joy is often times linked with the H.S.

Lk. 10:21 “At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.”

He rejoices in the revealing of Himself to the simple, and that Gods will is being done.

1 Thess. 1:6-7 “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”

Those in Thessalonica rejoiced in the Holy spirit because of the receiving of the word

Rom. 14:17 “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

a differentiation is made concerning the spirituality of the kingdom is righteousness peace and joy in the holy spirit

GOD’S PEOPLE ARE A JOYFUL PEOPLE!

the kingdom of Heaven

Mt. 13:44 ““The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

are you joyful over the kingdom. If you had to sell everything you had for the kingdom. Would you do it, and would you be joyful about it. Does the kingdom mean that much to you?

Joy in others

3 Jn. 4 “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

1 Thess. 2:19-20 “For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”

Phil. 2:2 “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

2 Cor. 6:4-7 “but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,”

Joy in the difficult

James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Heb. 10:34 “For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.”

1 Thess. 1:6-7 “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”

Joy in Jesus

1 Pet. 1:8 “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,”

Gods people are to be a joyful people. we ought to be the most joyful happy, glad people in all the world. Because We have a God who loves us and yes died for us so that we would have life and have it abundantly.

And that Spirit-empowered joy can’t be destroyed by persecution (Colossians 1:24), suffering (Romans 5:3–4), various trials (1 Peter 1:6–7), sorrow (2 Corinthians 6:10), or a sentence of death (Philippians 1:21). In fact, it is the hope of this joy set before us that helps us, like Jesus, endure all manner of adversity, suffering, and death (Hebrews 12:2). And that is because this Joy of God is an eternal joy — it will outlast death and only increase in us forever (Psalm 16:11; Mark 10:21). Indeed, it is the hope of this eternal joy set before us, which we lay hold of by faith, that makes us “more than conquerors” over any would-be obstacle to the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:35–39).

And so, “May the God of hope fill [us] with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit [we] may abound in hope.”