12. joy full
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Slides to accompany an audio sermon on Christian Joy here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/47879/375223-christian-experience-of-god-12-joy
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12. joy full
- 1. Welcome to Grace! It is written: ‘“As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “Every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.”’ Romans 14:11
- 2. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction
- 3. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition John Piper: “Christian joy is • a good feeling in the soul, • produced by the Holy Spirit, • as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ • in the Word and • in the world.”
- 4. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • A good feeling • In the soul • Produced by the Holy Spirit • A sight of Jesus • In the Word & in the World
- 5. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Sin
- 6. Psalm 32:1-5 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
- 7. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Sin • Misplaced confidence
- 8. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Sin • Discipline from the Lord
- 9. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Sin • Discipline from the Lord Hebrews 12:11 “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
- 10. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Sin • Discipline from the Lord Hebrews 12:11 “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:5-6 “have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.’
- 11. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Sin • Discipline from the Lord • Trials
- 12. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Sin • Discipline from the Lord • Trials • Melancholic temperament
- 13. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Where does it COME from?
- 14. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Where does it COME from? • His Word
- 15. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Where does it COME from? • Devouring His Word • Confession and repentance
- 16. Psalm 32:5-11 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin. 6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding-place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. 10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. 11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
- 17. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Where does it COME from? • Devouring His Word • Confession and repentance • Trusting in God
- 18. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Where does it COME from? • Devouring His Word • Confession and repentance • Trusting in God • Taking the long view of life
- 19. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Where does it COME from? • Devouring His Word • Confession and repentance • Trusting in God • Taking the long view of life, 2 Corinthians 4:18 “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
- 20. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Where does it COME from? • Devouring His Word • Confession and repentance • Trusting in God • Taking the long view of life, 2 Corinthians 4:18 • Giving thanks to the Lord in all circumstances
- 21. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Where does it COME from? • Devouring His Word • Confession and repentance • Trusting in God • Taking the long view of life • Giving thanks in all situations
- 22. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Where does it COME from? • What is its FRUIT? • God is pleased • We are strengthened physically, emotionally and spiritually
- 23. Galatians 5:22 - Joy • Introduction • Definition • How does it GO? • Where does it COME from? • What is its FRUIT? • Conclusion
Hinweis der Redaktion
- We come today to a rather tickly subject. We know we OUGHT to be joyful … but the reality is that we aren’t always. We are commanded in Scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:16) to be joyful ALWAYS. Whoops! We are to REJOICE always (Phil. 4:4) … and rejoicing is what you DO because you are joyful (see above). In fact Paul gets pretty emphatic there in Phil 4 and goes on “AGAIN I will say: Rejoice!” You see, in Scripture, joy isn’t an available option for those whose disposition leans that way … not at all. As Jerry Bridges writes in his book on fruitful Christian living: “God intends that every one of His children exhibit the fruit of joy.” And more than that, Bridges argues from Scripture we should be continually GROWING in joy. He quotes John W. Sanderson on Christians wearing a gloomy countenance: “It is practical atheism, for it ignores God and His attributes.” But if we’re honest, life is often NOT always all that joyful. Let’s be clear first of all what we are and are NOT talking about. John Piper is very helpful at this point …
- It is a feeling – an EMOTION. Not a baseless emotion, but one based in cognitive or relational reality. Not emotionalism … real. It lives in your SOUL – not in your physical world where a new kitchen can make you happy or a broken tractor can make you sad. (Those things can, by the way, but we’re talking about something else here). John Piper: “The body is chemicals, muscles, and nerves. It’s made up of electrons, atoms, and molecules. And when those molecules move, that is not a moral event. The body doesn’t have right and wrong. A movement of my arm back and forth has no moral significance, until I tell it by my will or my emotion to punch somebody. Then it becomes bad. Or hug somebody in need. Then it becomes good. My soul imparts virtue, right or wrong, to the physical parts of my life. And the Bible clearly says it is right to feel joy in God. Or, it is wrong to be anxious about the situation. There is a rightness and a wrongness to these emotions, and these emotions precede the bodily movements that follow. The feelings are movements of the soul.” Fruit of the Spirit Piper: “The third part of the definition is these movements of the soul are produced by the Holy Spirit, which is clear because I cannot make these things happen. They are called the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). Therefore, the joy in my soul overflowing towards God is coming from the work of the Holy Spirit.” Produced by a vision of Jesus Piper: “The fourth piece is that the Holy Spirit does this work, not magically without my mind being engaged, but by causing me to see the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:1 says, “Rejoice in the Lord.” How do you rejoice in the Lord if you don’t know anything about the Lord? How do you rejoice in the Lord if you are not seeing things about the Lord that cause joy to rise up in your heart? That is the work of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t just flip a switch, and you rejoice with no mental content whatsoever. The Holy Spirit is given, according to John 16:14, to glorify Jesus Christ, which means the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of my heart to see the beauty of Christ. When I see Christ in all that he is doing, and all that he is, then my heart is drawn out in joy towards him. The Holy Spirit bears this fruit by causing us to see the beauty of Jesus Christ.” Seen in the Word and the World Piper: “The last piece is that we see him in his word and in the world. It is obvious that the most authoritative and clearest place where we see the beauty of Christ is in his word, the Bible. That is why the Holy Spirit inspired the word, so that we could read the word, and know Christ. The Spirit gives us eyes to see the beauties of Jesus that call joy up out of our hearts. It is not just in the word that we see Christ. We see him in his gifts and in people. We see him in his gifts of nature. We see him in his gifts of food and in all of the good things that our Father in heaven gives to us. Every gift of Christ to us is intended to be a communication of something of himself. So we see Christ not only — we taste Christ not only — in his word, but also in his works.” Now if this Christian joy is the fruit of the Spirit Who is at work in us and arises in our soul as we catch sight of Jesus at work in the Word and the World … the first question is not ‘How do we GET it?’ The first question is ‘How do you lose what you’ve been given?’ And after that question comes: ‘How do you get it back?!’ So what are the sorts of sink-holes that swallow up Christian joy?
- One of the most common things that swallow joy in the Christian life is sin. Simple as that. Sin in our lives or (more commonly perhaps) sinful attitudes in our hearts. Christian joy is the fruit of the Spirit … and of communion with Him. Sin BREAKS that. So when David was confessing his sin of adultery with Bathsheba in Ps. 51:12 he prayed: “Restore to me the JOY of your salvation.” Why? Because his sin had cost him his joy in the Lord. Check this in Psalm 32 …
- When we are not experiencing the joy that flows from a right relationship to God and when this joy that is the fruit of the Spirit is not flowing into our lives we need to be ready to ask the question: Are we doing or have we done something displeasing to God? It’s not the only question by any means, but it is the first one. Or, as is more often the situation, are we holding onto some sinful attitude like envy or resentment or an arrogant or critical spirit that does not forgive? Attitudes and actions need to be addressed if we are to display this joy which is the fruit of the Sprit in our lives.
- I’m just smuggling in another consideration here under the broader heading of ‘sin’ because it’s a significant one – but we don’t often think of it in these terms. Paul told those Philippian Christians in Phil. 3:1 to “rejoice in the Lord.” That’s important. What’s really significant there in Phil. 3 is that he went straight on from telling them to rejoice in the Lord to expand the idea that we are very ill advised to put any confidence in the flesh. He points up that rejoicing in the Lord is the opposite of placing confidence in the flesh. Sanderson: “… even success in the Lord’s work is a broken reed if we lean on it for security.” Bridges: “Success in ministry comes and goes, but our names are written in Heaven for ever. The circumstances of this life rise and fall, but the assurance of being with Christ one day never changes. It is in this fact that our joy must be grounded.” And it may be removed as a training aid … consider this:
- How does joy in the Lord sometimes get dissipated? Firstly, obviously, sin in action or attitude that disrupts the joy-giving relationship. Secondly, the discipline or training exercises our God puts us through for our good … because no discipline is pleasurable at the time!
- Come on now … discipline is NEVER a joyful experience! If it were, it wouldn’t accomplish what it sets out to achieve, would it?! Worse, if we lose sight of what it is or what it is FOR, we start to feel we don’t DESERVE it and snuggle away in self-pity. Now look – hang onto THIS joyful thought, says Hebrews:
- And of course, v. 11 there goes on to say: “ it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Now, we all want to be a better Christian, right? But the training process can be painful and needs to impact your joy or it doesn’t work. It is quite feasible that this might be where your joy has temporarily gone!
- Trials differ from discipline in that they are exercise for faith not rebuke for sin. Bridges: “In His infinite wisdom God allows trials in order to develop perseverance in us and cause us to fix our hopes on the glory that is yet to be revealed.” What is it? Nagging health issues? Financial set-backs? Rejection? Constant criticism? Persecution? Think of it as circuit training or weights sessions at the gym. Bridges: “Our faith and perseverance can grow only under the pain of trial.” See, Job started off so WELL under trial, didn’t he? Job 1:21 – donkeys, sheep, servants, sons and daughters … GONE. All gone. And Job says … what? “ Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart.[c] The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’ 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” But that didn’t actually last all that long, did it? Let’s learn a little something here from Wikipedia: “A longitudinal survey is a correlational research study that involves repeated observations of the same variables over long periods of time, often many decades. It is often a type of observational study, although they can also be structured as longitudinalrandomized experiments.[1] Longitudinal studies are often used in psychology, to study developmental trends across the life span, and in sociology, to study life events throughout lifetimes or generations. The reason for this is that unlike cross-sectional studies, in which different individuals with the same characteristics are compared,[2] longitudinal studies track the same people and so the differences observed in those people are less likely to be the result of cultural differences across generations. Longitudinal studies thus make observing changes more accurate and are applied in various other fields.” Spiritual trials are VERY much more likely to be longitudinal than cross-sectional … because they are very much more useful if they are! Job finally came to the point (as reported by Elihu in Job 34:9) “There is no profit in trying to please God.” But whilst Job’s faith was tested very close to destruction, the faithfulness of God very certainly was not. And once Job had learned to step away from self sufficiency into embracing God’s clear Sovereignty, God blessed Job with twice as much as he’d had before. God’s faithfulness should be a help to us if our joy is dented by going through times of tough trials … Lamentations 3:32 says “no one is cast off by the Lord for ever. 32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.”
- Now this is where we need to go carefully. Some of us are naturally, sometimes just temporarily for a season, inclined to be low in our spirits. Let’s be clear. We are talking about spiritual joy, not natural fleshly disposition. But your body can affect your soul too, can’t it? It’s spiritual joy we’re considering, but IF WE LET IT our fleshly temperament affects our spiritual life Of COURSE we’re not discussing ‘depression’ here. Physical, clinical depression affects believers and unbelievers BOTH. We’re talking about spiritual joy and the Old Man in us has no RIGHT to lay his hands on that. But the truth is that sometimes he makes a good stab at it. It’s a battle. But we need to be fighting it with whatever weapons lie at our disposal, though they may well feel like weak ones. For just as our flesh gives us trouble in all sorts of areas of temptation and trial in life, so it does in this area too. We need to help each other in our battles of flesh against spirit … actually HELP each other, not break off bruised reeds we come across – nor smouldering flax. How can we do that? How can we help ourselves to grow this particular fruit of the Spirit, joy in the Lord?
- Now look, this is going to get very hands on and practical, but we’ve got to remember that above all joy is the fruit of the Spirit … the outcome of our living relationship with God, the effect of His ministry in my heart. In Romans 15:13, as he finally blesses that Roman church, Paul writes: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” It’s HIM. It’s all Him. But there’s ways of putting yourself in the way of Him … if you see what I mean? So let’s dabble with that …
- The Holy Spirit uses time thinking on His Word and hearing His voice in it to create His joy in our hearts. Jeremiah 15 is a great help with this. There’s Jeremiah – tried and tested by the opposition of sinful men to his ministry. Hear how he puts it: “You are long-suffering – do not take me away; think of how I suffer reproach for your sake. 16 When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.” To HEAR from the Lord is His people’s comfort. But look … Jeremiah ATE God’s words. In order for God to use His words they need to be got into our hearts. Regular exposure. Realistic meditation on them. It’s one of the practical means of ensuring our joy. But aren’t there times when the Scriptures seem hard and dry, dumb in the face of our trials? Yes there are. But it is the Spirit Himself Who comforts us and enables our joy. His Word is quite simply His instrument … and He works how and when He pleases to pursue His purposes. So we look to HIM faithfully and patiently, for Him to bring life and vitality to His Word and apply it to our hearts for our help. We are both utterly responsible, and utterly dependant. How do we exercise responsibility? By ingesting His Word, then by confessing and forsaking sin
- We’ve spoken about David already – but look again at Psalm 32:5-11 …
- Romans 15:13 speaks of God filling us with joy and peace as we trust in Him. God’s Word is all about His covenant and then His covenant faithfulness with and towards His people. Faith – at one level - is just taking Him at His Word and then acting accordingly. And it gives JOY to live on His Word and find Him faithful. But there’s more to it than that. There are sadly times when even the promises of God can seem DEAD to you … but even THEN we can trust the character of God. And He fills us with joy in Him, as we trust in Him. God never gave Job a verse that explained it all for him. But God brought Job to a place where Job trusted God WITHOUT an explanation.
- Romans 5:2 puts it very plainly – while discussing their persecution and trials - to the people of a pressurised church in a hostile (and very brutal) society. “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory.” The conscious thing we need to do in the face of so many things in the present that would put us in a very joyless place is spelled out here in 2 Corinthians 4 …
- Taking the long view of life entails rejoicing because our names are written in the Book that’s in Heaven. It entails rejoicing in the One in Whom alone we have hope of an eternal inheritance that outweighs all of this. Jesus did it. Hebrews 12 “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 that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” And finally … here’s another BIG one …
- Yes, this refers to both nice and nasty sorts of circumstances. From the outset we said this joy simply wasn’t about our circumstances. Now, no-one sane is suggesting that you ought to give thanks FOR all circumstances! This verse here in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says to give thanks not FOR but actually IN every circumstance! What will you be thankful for in adverse situations? That God is working in it. That He’s delivered us in the past. That He will not allow us to be loaded with a burden that’s too heavy for us to bear. And that AS we give thanks to our God, we begin to experience again the joy that is the Christian’s fruit for their God.
- Make no mistake, the joy we get from Him is pleasing to God. He is PLEASED by it. And we are strengthened physically, emotionally and SPIRITUALLY by it. When the Exiles came back to Jerusalem and were devastated by the scale of their task Nehemiah said: ‘Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength’ (Nehemiah 8:10) Haven’t you noticed the link between your physical capabilities, strength and endurance, against your joy state? Don’t you find that when you are discouraged you seem to have no energy at all? Well, that which is true here physically is definitely also true spiritually. Joy DOES give us spiritual strength.
- So the choice here is clearly at least partly ours. Our joy is the fruit of His Spirit powerfully at work in our soul. But there are means that we need to deploy to keep in step with the Spirit and see Him grow the fruits of the Spirit through our lives. We can be joyful, or we can be joyless Christians. It is both our privilege and our honour to seek God to be joyful and to be watchful and vigilant with our hearts … because it IS dishonouring to God and denial of His love – it is practical atheism – to show the world the portrait of a joyless Christian. But to be joyful proclaims to a world lacking in joy that the God of the Christian REIGNS.