Bring Back the Joy

Philadelphia Baptist Church

9/23/2007 Sun. p.m.

Bring the Joy Back!

John 15:11; Galatians 5:22–23

verse 22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,”

Introduction: I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but folks aren’t smiling much these days. Jesus wants us to smile, to exhibit joy. He said, “These things I have spoken unto you that My joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). I’ve been reading the Bible this week with joy in mind, and everywhere I turn I find it. Joy is the atmosphere in which Christians live. We rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4); we “rejoice evermore” (1 Thess. 5:16). As someone put it, “Joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian.”

1. The Source of Joy in Your Life (John 15:11).

A. The Center of Joy for the Christian Is Christ. “My joy,” He says, “… in you.” Christian joy is Christ’s joy in us.

B. The Characteristic of Joy. Jesus wants our joy to be full. Peter called it “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8). It’s not an incomplete, imperfect, almost-type of joy. It is fully rich.

C. The Continuity of Joy. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you.” Have you noticed how easily earthly joy can leave? Nothing seems stable in the world, does it? But the joy of Christ is a continual, never-ending, absolutely constant joy when we follow the principles of Scripture. This joy even survives the difficult times in life. It isn’t intermittent or hinged on happenings but on a person (John 16:22; James 1:2; and Acts 16:25). That’s why Nehemiah 8:10 says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” It really is quite easy to determine whether people are saved even during times of adversity. There was a kind of deep abiding stability in the lives of people who know Jesus Christ. At that moment you wouldn’t call it the joy of the Lord, but that’s what the Bible calls it.

2. The Secret of Joy in Your Life. You say, “Pastor, I am a Christian, but why don’t I have the joy of the Lord?” Well, I can’t answer that question for all of you, but let me go through some basic things we need if we’re going to have the joy of the Lord.

A. Surrender Your Life to Christ. The secret of joy begins when you surrender yourself to Him. David prayed, “Restore to me the joy of my salvation” (Ps. 51:12; Ps. 35:9; Acts 8:8, 39).

B. Submit Yourself Totally to the Spirit of God (Rom. 14:7; 1 Thess. 1:6). Joy and the Holy Spirit go together. Galatians 5:22 calls joy a fruit of the Spirit.

An interesting testimony to this comes from the life of a great teacher of the past named Walter Wilson. In his early days of ministry, Wilson felt fruitless. He was a hard worker, but there was little evidence of God’s working through him. One day a friend asked: “Dr. Wilson, what is the Holy Spirit to you?” Wilson replied, “He’s one of the persons of the Godhead, a teacher, a guide, a third person of the Trinity.” His friend said, “You haven’t answered my question—what is the Holy Spirit to you?” Wilson answered truthfully, “He is nothing to me. I have no contact with Him … I could get along quite well without Him.” Later Wilson heard Dr. James Gray preaching about the filling of the Holy Spirit. At the end of the service, Wilson returned to his motel, fell on the carpet, and began to pray, offering himself to the control of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Wilson was a changed man from that moment and went on to become one of the most joyful and powerful preachers of his generation.

C. Study the Word of God. In 1 John 1:4, we read, “These things we write to you that your joy may be full.” Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you that you … that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

D. Spend Time with God in Prayer. John 16:24 says, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (Ps. 16:11).

Conclusion: I’m sure you’re wondering, “Pastor, can’t you come up with anything more original then receiving Christ, submitting to the Spirit, reading the Bible, and praying?” Well, you know I like to be original but that’s just the bedrock simplicity of what it means to have joy in Christ. It’s not joy without tears or without sorrow. But it is a kind of joy you will never experience any place else until you find Christ in your own life.