4. Essentials of the Faith Pt 3: Joy Made Complete

John 1:1-4 Joy Made Full

As we have look at these four verses as the introduction of John’s letter. We have seen several things. We have seen Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made incarnate for the world to see. The apostles heard, saw, touched Him in the flesh. And it was not only their experience but many saw and heard Him, many experienced healings by His hand, heard His rebuke, witnessed His cleansing of the temple. The apostles studied Him and through the work of the Spirit was made manifest first as the Christ, the Son of God and later at His resurrection made manifest as the Eternal life. Jesus was not made manifest to everyone but only to those God chose to reveal Him. Manifested as fully God and fully man, Savior, Redeemer, and Friend and in these times made manifest to you through the Spirit of God. As John and the Apostles testified to the truth and proclaimed the truth we likewise declare Him Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

John’s letter, written in the latter years of his life was addressing churches that had second maybe even third generations of Christians. There were those who were in the church that left and the same time preaching a new knowledge, sowing doubt and dissention. John’s letter has a two-fold purpose; to assure true believer’s and to shine the light on false professers.

1Jn 1:1-4 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— (2) the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— (3) that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (4) And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

A couple of weeks ago we glanced over this verse as we were working our way through the ‘Word made Manifest’. At the time I had every intention of moving on to the next section in this chapter, but I have been unable to get verse 4 off my mind. As I stated before, joy (at least in the traditional sense) is something that I have trouble relating too. My natural personality does not lend itself to being effervescent. But the Scripture speaks of joy and rejoicing, often in the imperative. Whether by the prompting by the Holy Spirit or my own personal need for understanding and not just need for understanding but the outworking of joy in our life, so we are back to John’s introduction.

There are 4 Pts this morning:

1. What is Christian joy?

2. The fact of Christian joy.

3. The source or means of Christian joy

4. The measure and maintaining of Christian joy.

I. What is Christian joy?

Webster defines joy in this way: The passion or emotionexcited by the acquisition or expectation of good; that excitement of pleasurable feelings which is caused by success, good fortune, the gratification of desire or some good possessed, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exultation; exhilaration of spirits.

The problem is there is a joy which the world has just as there is a peace that the world offers that is counter to the peace Christ offers. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

It might be helpful therefore to look briefly at what joy is not before we dive into what joy is.

- Christian joy is not a personality trait. There are many kinds of personalities. Some people naturally are of quiet disposition others are more energetic. We are all familiar with the characters of Winnie the Pooh. The personalities run from Tigger to Eeyore. But Christian joy transcends a person’s natural disposition. But you may ask yourself, if Webster’s definition is true that it is an emotion, and my personality is that I am not emotional how does that work? It works in this way, you may not be one that displays emotion but you are not emotionless. You were created in the image of God, you are by nature an emotional creature but we all have varying degrees of expressing it and how we express it.

- Christian joy is not dependent on circumstances. The world offers a temporary joy based upon the good the world has to offer. There may be joy in the purchase of a house, a raise or promotion, there may be joy found in a host of different ways but they are all fleeting. Why because the joys of this world are temporary, they are not sustainable, they are fleeting. The joy we may find in a beautiful sunset can fade as quickly as the sun going down or it will fade as a distant memory. And what about when times are tough? When the troubles of the world come calling, worldly joy flees.

But Christian joy transcends our circumstance.

Paul speaking to the Corinthians - 2Co 6:10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

2Co_7:4 I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

Paul in speaking of the Macedonian church- 2Co_8:2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.

Consider the farmer, dependent on his crops as a means for providing for his family.

Hab 3:17-18 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, (18) yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

II. The Fact of Christian Joy

This text doesn’t say that you may have joy. It says that our joy (that which we already have) may be made full. By the work of the Spirit applying the salvation that Christ has procured.

1Pe 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.

1Jn 2:27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

This text reminds of Jesus very own words in Joh 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

The promise made to the Apostles about the Spirit is the same promise that applies to us. He has not left us as orphans upon the earth.

1Jn 3:24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

With the Spirit’s indwelling us as believers there is also the fruit of the Spirit. Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. These are all present at least in seed form.

III. The Source and Means of Joy

The source and means of joy is fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ v.3. In short it is communion with God. It is consciously engaging the Lord daily and in all the activities of our life. I have said this before there is no distinction between spiritual and non-spiritual. And regardless of whether you are people oriented or task oriented the focus is always the same. It is understanding, accepting, and embracing that God is God and that God is good. Paul in his affliction said this 2Co 12:7-9 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. (8) Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. (9) But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

It is terrible easy to let the cares and concerns of this world let out love grow cold. The church in Ephesus, started by Paul, had his disciple Timothy as pastor/elder and the apostle John ministering there only to have this written Rev 2:4-5 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. (5) Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

And as we grow in our communion with the Lord aspects of our joy grow. How so? John Calvin said this and I will paraphrase. ‘You cannot know God until you know yourself and you cannot know yourself until you know God.’ I understand it to mean you will never understand the depths of the riches of the love of God displayed in Christ to us until we understand the absolute hatred of God for sin and our committing it as the absolute rebellion it is against God. Why am I so quick to qualify sin as ‘Ah that’s not so bad’ when God says the souls that sins shall die? As we come to understand something of the heinousness of our sin the light is thrown upon the glory of God in our salvation

-our joy flows as we come to a greater understanding and acceptance of the fact of God’s love and acceptance of us. 1Jn 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1Jn 4:9-10 (9) In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (10) In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

-our joy flows as we delight in the Lord Jesus Christ.We rejoice in Him, His person, His work. 1Jn 2:1-2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (2) He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Joy flows as we have Him as our Advocate. In the world we pay for an advocate before the judge. But Jesus paid the price to be our Advocate. Representing us and interceding on our behalf. The Father is not waiting impatiently to strike us in judgement, on the contrary He sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sin as we just read in 1 Jn 4:9,10. Jesus is our champion, He is our peace and though we labor to not to sin we rest and joy in our justification in Christ.

-our joy and delight is in the things of God. We rejoice in the blessing of God to others, their well-being and provision. 2Co 7:13 Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. IN the world there is competition, there is jealousy and envy. And not that that mentality can’t infect the church because it can. Jas 4:1-3 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? (2) You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. (3) You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Rom 15:32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. Our joy is in and with fellowship of other believers.

There is joy knowing and trusting in the sovereignty of God and His infinite goodness to His people so that every trial, every affliction is 1. Not outside the will of God and 2. Specifically for our good.

-our joy comes from the hope we have in Christ. Rom 8:23-25 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (24) For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? (25) But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

IV. The Measure and Maintaining of Christian Joy

There is a future aspect to our joy being made full but that does not diminish our joy now. John uses the present verb meant to display the reality of it here and now. We can have sustained and fulfilled joy now. Remember in our Webster’s definition of joy – The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; that excitement of pleasurable feelings which is caused by success, good fortune, the gratification of desire or some good possessed, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exultation; exhilaration of spirits.

The one thing we know about emotions is that sometimes they are strong and sometimes they are weak so there are things that can be done to facilitate a consistent state and John identifies them. What are the obstacles to joy? And since joy is the direct result of our communion with God the better question is what are the obstacles of our communion with God?

1. Personal sin – sin causes separation from God not from salvation (unless you are walking habitually in unrepentant sin) but there is a break in fellowship. 1Jn 1:8-9 If we say 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.

1Jn 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

John is not talking about perfection, he is talking about the trajectory of our life being that of obedience and compliance with the commands of God. Keep short accounts with God. We have the assurance of the forgiveness of our sins with the confession of it. Meaning that we acknowledge it as a breach, a failure to keep the command of God. If we say we have no sin, we lie and the truth is not in us.

2. The failure to love one another – there is a degree to this. Absolute hatred of a brother or sister in Christ is evidence that you are not of Christ. But many times we do not love the brethren as we should. We do not pray for one another, or bear one another’s burden as we should. Through John’s letter is the reminder to love another. 1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.

1Jn 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. (8) Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

3. The degree to which we are attached to the world – worldliness. 1Jn 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. (17) And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Just as in the Judah, many times Kings would seek the Lord and yet not remove the high places where people would offer sacrifices when the clear command of God was to sacrifice at the temple alone. Do we have such alters of that where we have not completely removed our love for the world? We must continually be putting those things to death or they will certainly gain ground and prominence in our own life.

We should have a focus of making sure to remove the obstacles hindering our communion with God and our joy. If we don’t love our brethren as we should, then love them. John says let us not love in word or with tongue but in deed and truth. Deal with our sin, deal with the underlying attitudes of our sin. Divorce yourself from worldliness. Are we letting the world have undue influence in our life?

And I will close with this text: 1Pe 4:7-11 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. (8) Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. (9) Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. (10) As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: (11) whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.