Fruit of the Spirit - Joy
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Introduction
We’re continuing in our series on the Fruit of the Spirit and we’re now onto our second fruit of the Spirit - Joy.
So by way of introduction, I want you to think for a second of what makes you happy? What would make you happy right now?
More money? To see distant friends or family members? To be lying on a beach in the sun, relaxing with nothing to think about except for what you’re going to eat next?
Right now that sounds appealing to me.
And I’m sure that, if I was on holiday for 2 weeks in the sun, I would be really happy.
Many of you know that this time last month I was skiing in Italy with a couple of friends. Apart from the fact that I broke a few ribs on the last day, I had so much fun. It was good to get away and get my head showered and to spend time enjoying the scenery and the thrill of skiing down the slopes.
And I was happy for that week.
But then that week ended - painfully…and then I got home, back to reality…back to normality....back to work, back to early morning routines getting the girls ready for school, back to porridge, as they say.
Then, I wasn’t as happy.
Don’t get me wrong; I was happy to see Kate and the girls. I was happy to get stuck back into work…but I had a great time away. And the thought of going to a beach and sitting in the sun makes me feel happy.
But when holidays are over and you’re back to the damp, grey Northern Ireland skies, that happiness soon fades away to a distant memory.
And that’s the thing with happiness.
Happiness is temporary. Happiness is an emotion - it’s a feeling.
Pause
Remember last week when we talked about love and we saw that love isn’t just a feeling, but it is a choice. That love - agape love is more that a warm and gooey feeling, but a sacrifice, where we choose to love those who are hard to love.
Well, it’s the same with joy. Happiness is a feeling…and emotion. Joy is more than a feeling - joy is a state of being.
[Happiness is an emotion, joy is a state of being]
And by that I mean that happiness comes and goes depending on the circumstances. So when I’m on holiday, I’m happy. When the holiday is over, the happiness fades.
When I am out for dinner with Kate or friends, I’m happy. When we get home, the happiness fades.
Happiness depends on external circumstances and if things aren’t going well for us then we are not happy.
Joy is different. While happiness comes and goes depending on the circumstances, joy remains with us regardless of our circumstances, because joy is a state of being.
Which means that if I have joy, when I’m on holiday, I can be joyful and happy, but when the holiday is over, I still have joy. It means that when life turns against me, I can still have joy.
Now that is counterintuitive. How can we be joyful when our lives are in turmoil. How can we be joyful in the face of death? How can we be joyful in the face of sickness?
Well, that’s why joy is a fruit of the Spirit, because joy is something that the Spirit gives us as a result of being born again.
In John 15:9-11 Jesus says this...
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
And Paul says in Philippians 4...
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
And that’s where we get our joy…in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord.
So we don’t rejoice in our circumstances. We don’t rejoice when times are good, because times change - circumstances change.
Instead, we are to rejoice - we are to find our JOY in the Lord himself, who never changes.
However, sometimes we try to find out joy in places other than Jesus.
Pause
There’s an example of this in Luke. We read it earlier, let’s read part of it again...
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
So in Luke 10, Jesus sends out 72 of his followers to the surrounding towns and villages. And he tells them to go and heal the sick and tell them that the kingdom of God has come.
And so these 72 followers go out, two by two, to the surrounding towns and they tell of the kingdom of God and they heal the sick, they even cast out demons.
And when they return to Jesus they are full of joy
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
They’re joyful. They have done amazing things for Jesus. Jesus has given them the power to heal the sick, to cast out demons and to change people’s lives. And they come back elated…joyous…but their joy is in the wrong thing.
Because Jesus corrects them. He says...
19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus tells them not to rejoice that they can do all this amazing stuff for him. That will happen to them anyway - that’s not what they should be focusing on. Instead, Jesus says, rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
And that is the source of our joy - the fact that, as believers, our names are written in heaven, in the lamb’s book of life. Rejoice that Jesus love you and cares for you and even went to the cross for you. Rejoice that you are forgiven, that you have a new life in Jesus.
Find your joy in the Lord - REJOICE in the Lord and again I say, REJOICE!
Because the Lord never changes. Circumstances change, but Jesus never changes. Trials may hit you and sickness even death may threaten you, but Jesus remains the same and your names are STILL written in heaven, despite your circumstances. And that’s the source of our joy.
And when that is the source of your joy it will change your life and your perspective on life.
Pause
So, with that established, we can see how James can say, for example...
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
How can we consider trials of many kinds joy? We can’t if we think that joy is like happiness. Remember, happiness is an emotion depending on circumstances, joy is a state of being and it doesn’t depend on our circumstances.
So how can James say what he says?
Well, if we rejoice in the LORD ALWAYS, and we rejoice that our names are written in heaven…in other words, if the source of our joy is in the Lord and the fact that he has saved us and our eternal destiny is secure…if THAT is where our joy comes from...
…then we can count trials as joy.
Because, as James continues, the trials test your faith and make it stronger. They make you into a more faith-filled person. And that helps you to get through the trials and out the other end, which produces perseverance....and that makes us mature and complete.
So if we value who we will become in Christ - if we value the fact that trials will make us into better, more faith-filled Christians, then we will actually welcome trials…because that is our goal in life - to be a more faith-filled, mature Christian.
For those who aren’t Christians, their focus is on themselves and making the most out of life, and being happy and healthy…but that is a worthless task, because once they die they’ve an eternity of torment ahead of themselves.
But if their life’s goal is to be happy and healthy, then they won’t count trails or sickness as joy - it will go against their whole goal in life...that will ruin their lives.
But for US, as Christians, we’re not living for ourselves - we’re living for Jesus - and our life’s goal is to be MORE and MORE like Jesus…to be complete, to be mature as a Christian. And if trails make us a mature Christian - if a trail makes us more like Jesus, then we will welcome trails and we can count it joy.
Naomi...
Pause
I’ve used this analogy before in this passage - but it’s like working out at the gym.
Working out at the gym takes effort. It’s hard work, it’s boring. It’s tough. But if you value the end goal of being a more slender, muscular, fitter person, then you can count the gym as joy, because you know it’s bringing you to your end goal of being a fitter, more toned person.
If you don’t value that, then the gym is torture.
And that’s why I quit the gym…I don’t care that I’m not ripped like Arnold Swartzeneggar. I don’t care at all…so I thought to myself, ‘why go through all this torture when I don’t even want to be that fit. Once I got to the level of fitness I was happy with, I left the gym.
Back to James’ point - if we value the person we will become in Jesus - a more mature Christian who can be in inspiration to others too, who can display the characteristics of Jesus and walk people through their own trials and encourage them, then we will count it joy that we go through the torture of trials if it means we will have more faith and more perseverance and be a more mature Christian…and make us more like Jesus Christ, and THAT is our end goal.
Pause
It’s how Jesus was able to go to the cross - because he saw the value of that task...
Hebrews 12 says this...
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Again we see the call to perseverance…I should be keeping all this stuff for the week on patience otherwise we’ll have nothing to talk about then!
So we are to run the race - this race of life - with an end-goal…maturity, perfection as a Christian. We are to run this race of life with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer of our faith.
Now look at what comes after that - for the JOY set before him he endured the cross.
Was Jesus happy on the cross? I would say no.
Did he take pleasure being on the cross? I would say no.
Did he have joy when he was on the cross? The bible say yes.
HOW? How did Jesus have joy on the cross?
Because he knew the value of that. He knew that his death would bring life to millions of people. He KNEW that his suffering would bring eternal life and the forgiveness of sins to people who were lost with no saviour. He KNEW that his death was BIGGER than the pain and suffering that he would endure.
And so because he KNEW that, he went to the cross and endured it, scorning its shame, and he sat down at the right hand of God because it was finished…and he sat down joyful…because he had accomplished what nobody else could accomplish - he defeated death and sin and he broke our bondage to sin and Satan. And THAT’S why he was joyful.
And the word for pioneer in Hebrews 12 verse 2 is the word archagos…and we’ve talked about this before, but the archagos means forerunner, pioneer…and it was used of a designated person on a ship.
Because when the ship approaches land, and the sea is stormy, there needs to be someone who is a strong swimmer, who can tie a rope around their waist, dive into the waves, brave the surf to get to the shore and tie a rope around a tree so that the other members of the crew can follow the rope onto land.
That person was called the archagos - they were the ones who were the forerunners - the first person to dive into the stormy abyss, and get to shore as if to say, because I have done it, SO CAN YOU.
And that archagos was Jesus. Who went to the cross and suffered and endured the torture of the cross and he counted it joy.
So when we face trials of various kinds we can look to Jesus and remember that he could see the value of his trials, and he’s been there and come through, and with our eyes fixed on him, we can go there too and come through the other end a more faith-filled, mature, Christian.
And if we value that then we will see that whole thing as joy.
Pause
And if we have been there and done that then it can also help us to change our outlook on life and on other’s lives.
Paul says in Romans 12:15
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
Which means that our joy is not limited to OUR OWN situation. We can and we should enter into other people’s joy and we shouldn’t be envious of their joy.
And if we have grasped that this joy comes from our status with Jesus Christ we have no reason to be envious... the only reason why you should be envious is if you yourself do not have this reason to rejoice. In other words, if you haven’t come to faith in Jesus Christ. If you are not walking in fellowship with Jesus, keeping in step with the Spirit then you won’t have joy and you might be envious of the joy that others have.
The good news is that this joy is available to anyone who believes in Jesus.
Pause
Something that we’ll pick up on next week, but I’ll mention it quickly now before we close...
Paul lists the works of the flesh before he lists the fruit of the Spirit.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Living like this might be pleasurable. It might be fun. You might enJOY it…but it’s the works of the flesh and it’s sinful.
So while living like this might be pleasurable, you’ll never have joy, because this goes against the Spirit.
So if anyone is lacking joy in their lives, I would suggest that they take a good look at how they’re living their lives - because if their life consists of anything on the screen, that’ll sap the joy out of their life, because they’re not keeping in step with the Spirit.
Pause
And the works of the flesh is selfish…it happens when we live for ourselves. When we live for Jesus we’ll be more in step with the Spirit.
And so here’s a quick, simple reminder of how to have joy in your life.
Use the acronym…JOY
Jesus
Others
Yourself
You won’t go far wrong with that.
Fix your eyes on Jesus, as the writer of Hebrews says…the pioneer of your faith - the archagos, and run this race with perseverance, knowing that whatever you go through in your life is an opportunity to grow your faith and make you into a more mature, more effective witness of the power and love and grace of Jesus in your life.
And then rejoice with other people as they rejoice, without envy - but celebrating with them in their joy. Look out for them, use your own breakthroughs to remind them of the hope they have.
And then lastly look to yourself...
Look at the screen...
The image there shows what happens when you put Jesus first, then others, then yourself. And it also shows what it looks like when you put yourself first, others second and Jesus last.
The word on the left spells JOY, the word on the right spells YOJ, which isn’t a word…and it’s certainly not joy.
But look at the letters - when Jesus is first and others second, you can hardly see the Y at the back…but that’s joy.
The word on the right is the other way around…with Yourself at the front you can hardly see the J at the back. And when Jesus is not first and foremost in our lives then we lack joy because we’re not in step with the Spirit.
With Jesus front and centre we have joy, because that is our focus…it’s our end goal…becoming more and more like him.
He is our archagos - he is the forerunner - he dove head-first into the torture of the cross to bring us life, and he saw that as joy. The more we are like Jesus, the more we will realise that there is joy to be had in all circumstances, because our joy is not dependant on our circumstances. Our joy is due to the fact that our names are written in heaven. Our joy is found in the Lord who never changes.
And nobody, no event, nothing can separate us from that.
Let’s pray.