Jesus Gives Us Joy - John 15:9-17 - Communion

Introduction

Joy is not the product of a problem free existence.

Joy is produced as we are aware of God’s promises and are confident in His faithfulness to fulfill them.

This means that what joy requires most is the marriage of knowledge and faith.

When we know who our God is because we have read His Word we are then able to place our confidence in Who He has revealed Himself to be.

God always keeps His promises.

Because that is true, we have joy as we anticipate the end He has promised.

Just to be clear:

Joy is our topic this morning.

Joy is something that, as believers, we know we are supposed to have, yet far too often it is not part of our normal experience.

We read verses about joy and it seems that we are skeptical.

Psalm 30:5b

Psalm 30:5 (NKJV)

5 ...Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

But our experience says that weeping can go way longer than a night!

Right?

Psalm 16:11

Psalm 16:11 NKJV

11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

There are times in our lives when fullness of joy sounds like an impossibility!

And yet, that is what Scripture, and Christ Himself, promises.

How can we have joy?

That is the question we will consider today.

Principle:

Joy is a normal and expected experience of the child of God.

When joy is absent from our lives it indicates the presence of a spiritual problem.

Guidance:

Using three unexpected methods, we can have joy.

Joy is possible, if we do what God commands.

Outcome:

When we follow God’s direction, joy is the result.

Joy does not just happen, it must be pursued.

Three unexpected methods to experience joy.

Method #1…

1. Abide In His Love vv. 9-11

John 15:9–11 NKJV

9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

First, let’s consider the Father’s love for the Son.

The Father’s love is…

Perfect.

Without flaw.

Unconditional.

Without merit. It is not, nor can it be, earned.

Eternal.

Without end.

That is the same love Christ has for us!

His love is perfect!

His love is unconditional!

The love Jesus has for His bride, the church, is eternal!

Jesus then says 4 words.

“Abide in My love.”

This is an imperative.

It is a command.

Abide – μένω (menō) remain; stay; reside. to continue v. — to continue a certain state, condition, or activity. Finite verb, aorist, active, imperative, second person, plural.

Abide – μένω (menō)

We are to take up residence, to live in the realm of His love.

How we do that is explained in v. 10.

To live in the realm of Christ’s love, we must walk in obedience to Him.

“If” is conditional.

If we want to live in the realm of His love, to abide in His love, we must obey!

We are to follow Jesus’ own example as we walk in obedience.

Just as He was obedient to the will of the Father, we must be obedient to Christ.

This is how we abide in His love.

Now, let’s flip this around for a second.

If we fail to walk in obedience, it means we place ourselves at odds with Christ.

It doesn’t mean that we are unloved, it means that we must face His discipline.

That is the warning that is implicit here.

What v. 11 does is sort of sweeten the deal.

When we do this, when we abide in His love, we experience joy.

Did you notice that circumstances don’t enter the equation here?

Here is the formula.

Obedience + Abiding = Joy

This formula works regardless of circumstances!

Even in difficulty and trial, if we obey and abide in the love of Christ, we will have joy!

If we want joy to be the experience of our lives, we know exactly what needs to be done.

To have joy, we obey.

We just sang this a few weeks ago.

“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!”

We have joy because we are trusting God to handle our circumstances!

We have the ability, the opportunity, not just to have joy, but to have a joy that is full.

This word means complete or as much as possible.

We can have as much joy as is possible for us to have!

When Jesus says that His joy “may remain” in us, it is the same Greek word as abide.

When we abide in the love of Christ, His joy abides in us!

How do we abide in His love? Obedience.

Here is the bottom line.

Do you want to have joy?

Then abide in the love of Christ.

Live in the realm of His love.

How?

By obeying His commands.

If there are any areas of disobedience in our lives, we must deal with them if we want to have joy.

Where there is disobedience, there can never be joy.

Here is our lesson:

Obedience produces joy.

If we want joy, we must obey.

Obedience is what enables us to live in the realm of God’s love and it is in the realm of God’s love that we find complete joy.

This is all about relationship.

The closer our relationship to Christ, the more joy we have.

As we contemplate drawing nearer to our Savior, sing with me…

“I Am Thine, O Lord”

I love the heart of this songwriter.

Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord.

That is where we find joy, in the presence of Jesus.

Three unexpected methods to experience joy.

Method #1: Abide In His Love.

Method #2…

2. Love One Another vv. 12-14

John 15:12–14 NKJV

12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

Joy comes through obedience to God’s commands.

Here is one of those commands.

Love one another.

Sometimes I think it would have been nice if Jesus stopped there.

Love one another. Got it.

But He doesn’t.

He gives us a more difficult goal to strive for.

“Love one another as I have loved you.”

Remember how Jesus loved?

Perfect.

Unconditional.

Eternal.

Jesus, are you sure?

Have you seen some of these people you saved?

Do you know how hard it is to love Pastor Jon? That guy is the worst!

This is my commandment.

Do we understand that commands are not optional?

Do we get that?

This is a command.

Our Savior, our Redeemer, the one who died to purchase our pardon, He is commanding us to love one another!

We are to love as He loved us!

What kind of love does Jesus have?

He explains in v. 13.

This is the kind of love we are supposed to have.

A love that is self-sacrificing.

Are there people in our lives that we would die for?

Would we die for our brothers and sisters in Christ?

That is the greatest love there could ever be!

That is the love that Jesus has for us.

Jesus gave His life for us!

He died that we might have life!

Are we willing to sacrifice ourselves for the good of the body of Christ?

Will we lay down our own desires for the sake of others?

The interesting thing here is that Jesus qualifies the kind of person we give our lives for.

A friend is qualified as someone who walks in obedience to Jesus.

There is a level of care that should be exhibited in the body of Christ.

People should be attracted to Christianity because of how we care for one another!

As the body of Christ we are to be walking in obedience and sacrificing for one another.

This is a beautiful picture.

A mutual love, a mutual sacrifice, a mutual impact.

John puts this into no uncertain terms for us.

1 John 4:7-11

1 John 4:7–11 NKJV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

If we fail to love one another, we fail to love God.

God is love!

Later in this same chapter John explains that if we say we love God, but don’t love one another, we lie.

This is where joy is found.

In our love for one another.

If we stop and think about it, I believe we have all experienced this joy.

When we care for one another in the body of Christ, we experience joy.

There is joy in serving others!

One of the truths evident in this passage is that love motives us to act.

When we love Christ, we obey Him.

When we love others, we serve them.

Love is an action word.

Here is our lesson:

Loving service produces joy.

When we keep to ourselves, it often makes us miserable.

We have joy when we are investing in the lives of others!

Joy is possible. However, it requires that we look outside of ourselves.

When we do that, a watching world sees something attractive, the body of Christ engaged in loving service.

Sing with me

“They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love”

It doesn’t get much more clear.

They’ll know we are Christian’s by our love.

Can they tell?

Three unexpected methods to experience joy.

Method #1: Abide In His Love.

Method #2: Love One Another.

Method #3…

3. Bear Fruit vv. 15-17

John 15:15–17 NKJV

15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

Christ calls His disciples friends.

Through His death on the Cross He demonstrated the truth of His own words.

The greatest expression of love is to lay down ones life.

Christ revealed to His disciples, and they to us, what He was doing.

John 10:11

John 10:11 NKJV

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

And then the beginning of verse 18.

John 10:18a

John 10:18 (NKJV)

18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.

This is what Christ did for us!

He gave His life that we might have life!

Verse 16 reveals that we were chosen by Christ.

This is one of those realities that always boggles my mind.

Ephesians declares that we are chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.

Is that cause for joy? Amen!

That the God of all eternity would choose to save us by His grace is incredible.

That He does so much more than just save us is beyond imagination.

We have been appointed by God to bear fruit.

What does this mean?

As we are rooted in Christ as our vine, we bear fruit.

The Spirit bears fruit in our lives and as that fruit matures we produce the fruit of good works.

We do not work to be saved, we do good works because we are saved.

We have been created in Christ Jesus for the purpose of good works.

Christ has also appointed our fruit to remain.

This means continue.

The fruit we bear in Christ is not temporary nor fleeting.

Our Spiritual fruit is eternal!

We find joy in bearing fruit.

The Holy Spirit working in us and through us to minister to others is an awesome thing!

What a thrill it is to be used by God!

What joy it brings to bless others because of what Christ has done!

As we bear fruit, we are commanded again in v. 17 to love one another.

This is the first fruit of the Spirit, love.

We saw already how John declares that God is love.

There can be no fruit where there is no love.

Our love for Christ and love for others is what causes fruit to be produced!

Loving one another and bearing fruit is what we have been created in Christ Jesus to do!

When we are fulfilling our purpose there is joy.

There is joy in bearing fruit!

There is joy in loving others!

There is joy in fulfilling the purpose for which Christ created us!

Here is our lesson:

Living God’s purpose produces joy.

God has a purpose and plan for each of us.

Part of that is to do good works.

We have been gifted by the Holy Spirit and equipped to serve the Lord.

When we live out the purpose for which God created us, we experience joy.

The key is this.

Nothing we do is of ourselves.

The gifts, talents, and abilities we have all come from God!

We are living out His purpose for our lives.

The end result is that He gets the glory as He works in us and through us.

Sing with me

“Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me”

We can sing! We will overcome! We are free!

Our hope is only Jesus!

It is all through Christ in me.

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

This is a time for believers to remember the price that was paid. To be reminded of the penalty of sin. Taking part of communion does not save you. This is simply a way for us to be reminded of what Christ has done. If you know the Lord as savior this morning, please join us in bread and juice as we remember Jesus Christ. These are only symbols, they represent the body and blood of our Savior. Examination – verses 26-32

OBSERVANCE OF COMMUNION

1 Corinthians 11:23-32

The Bread (His Body) vv. 23-24 “My Hope Is In The Lord”

For me He died

For me He lives

And everlasting life and light

He freely gives

The Cup (His Blood) v. 25 “Near The Cross”

In the cross in the cross

Be my glory ever

Till my raptured soul shall find

Rest beyond the river

Conclusion

Joy is a normal and expected experience of the child of God.

We can have joy.

It is possible.

However, there is something required of us if we are to experience joy.

We must abide in God’s love.

To live in the realm of His love, we obey.

We must love one another.

Loving one another means sacrificial service.

We must bear fruit.

To bear fruit we pursue God’s purpose instead of our own agenda.

When we do these things, when we follow God’s direction, there is joy.

Joy doesn’t just happen, it requires work.

Here is the commitment I would ask us all to make today.

COMMITMENT:

I will pursue joy as i walk in obedience to Christ.

Jesus gives us joy.

It comes to us in surprising ways.

Joy is ours when we abide in the realm of Christ’s love.

We abide in Christ love through obedience to Him.

Joy is ours when we love one another.

Love is expressed through service.

Joy is ours when we bear fruit.

We bear fruit as we live out God’s purpose for us.

In a nutshell…

Joy is produced when Christ is the center of our lives.