Fruit of the Spirit – JOY
Galatians 5:22-3
What is this thing called Joy?
Joy is a rather illusive thing to define. It’s like happiness, but it is much deeper than happiness, it is like pleasure but it is deeper than pleasure.
C. Davis in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology says this: “A delight in life that runs deeper than pain or pleasure. From a biblical perspective it is not limited by nor tied solely to external circumstances. Joy is a gift from God, and like all of his other inner gifts it can be experienced even in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances.”
It’s a decent definition, but I think that it is missing something. In our desire to categorize and put things in their own tight little boxes, we want to define Joy as if it can exist on its own, completely separated from what we call “externals.” I would say that Joy never exists on its own – it is always connected to something or someone. I think that the Bible will back me up on this.
Some of you know that my daughter Hayley’s middle name is Joy. We gave her that name for a number of different reasons, but the main one is the joy that she gave us when she came. Pam and I had been trying to conceive for over a year, and we weren’t having success, we had been to see doctors, and we were worried that we would remain childless. Pam wanted to buy things to prepare for a child – she really wanted to by the book “What to Expect When You’re Expecting, ” or as I call it, “What to Worry about When You’re Expecting!” But I said that we couldn’t buy these things until we were actually expecting – to have them around if we couldn’t have kids would have been too painful. We had negative test after negative test. That summer the test was a false negative, so on that Thursday in early September, when I came home and checked the messages to find the message from the doctor that Pam was very pregnant, I hit the roof in joy. I hoped on my bike and rode down to Bloor to buy “What to Expect…”, some flowers and some really good food to celebrate – I sang praises to God the whole way as I rode. The news brought me such Joy! It was a very short and very difficult pregnancy – Pam was hospitalized a few times, and was on bed rest for much of the rest of the time. Hayley was supposed to arrive on April 6th; she came February 2nd. But she came breathing on her own, and generally healthy for a preemie. As we held this tiny little girl in our arms, there was tones of emotions, but one stood out above the rest – Joy. On that day, and on many days since, Hayley is my Joy.
Joy is that deep emotion that we feel when our hopes are realized.
Jesus is our Joy
The joy that Hayley brings is fleeting – we have our good times and our not so good. The reason that the joy that Jesus brings is not fleeting is that although I might have some bad days, he doesn’t. Jesus is constant.
We are created to love God and be loved by him. God is always loving us, but the sin in our lives get in the way of us truly knowing and receiving that love. Jesus removes our sin, and removes the barrier that stands between us and God’s love for us.
Our innate desire to know, love and be loved by God is deeper than our desire to find human love, or to give birth to children, so when our hopes for that eternal “soul kiss” – (Joe Jackson) are met, the Joy that God gives is even greater than any other joy that we might experience.
Joe Jackson gets this in his song “Soul Kiss”
Every time I turn the TV on
it’s always the same old tease
See everything you ever dreamed that you could want
But nothing that you need
And every gorgeous girl in Hollywood could soon be mine
I got the money and from time to time I have the time
Get the image right
Party through the night
But as it’s getting light
I’m still waiting for a soul kiss
The psalmist writes of this Joy in the presence of God’s love when he says:
Psalm 16:11
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 4:6-8
Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD .
You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD ,
make me dwell in safety
How does the Holy Spirit Grow the Fruit of Joy with in us?
Many scriptures in the New Testament connect the Holy Spirit with Joy
Luke 10:21 … Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit…
Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
God’s Presence brings joy – the reason that Jesus is our joy is that he is the presence of God incarnate. Jesus is God come to be with us, The Holy Spirit is our Joy because he is the presence of God within us and among us.
Romans 8:14-16 (Today’s New International Version)
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
“Joy is love singing.” - Donald Grey Barnhouse
It is the Spirit who reminds us Of God’s love for us – he gives us the soul kiss. He is what we have been waiting for.
How do we cultivate Joy?
You may have come to Jesus with great joy, but you find that the joy is waning now. The cares of this world are growing up around you and trying to choke off the joy that Jesus has given you.
How do we sustain, and even grow the joy that Jesus gives us?
John 15 – remain in Christ
In John 15, Jesus is teaching the disciples just before he goes to the cross, and he says: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (11)
What has he told us?
4-5 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
If the Presence of God brings Joy – stay close to him! Through prayer, worship, Bible reading & practicing the presence of God. – stay connected and your Joy will grow
9-12 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Remain in him through obedience – often times we might go running after other things that we might think will bring us Joy, but it is actually staying away from sin that brings us joy, as well as doing the things that God has called us to do. When we live a life of obedience, we stay connected to God, and we sustain the joy that he has given us.
Tony Campolo - “Joy in Christ requires a commitment to working at the Christian lifestyle. Salvation comes as a gift, but the joy of salvation demands disciplined action. Most Christians I know have just enough of the Gospel to make them miserable, but not enough to make them joyful. They know enough about the biblical message to keep them form doing the things which the world tempts them to do; but they do not have enough of a commitment to God to do those things through which they might experience the fullness of his joy.” (Seven Deadly Sins. p. 21)
This obedience is not a legalism that kills the soul – his main command is to love!
Paul argues against legalism in Galatians 5 and promises that when we are neither legalistic, nor running after sinful things, but instead staying instep with the Holy Spirit, we will grow the fruit of the Spirit - Joy
We do not get joy by running after joy, we get joy by running after Jesus.
Minister in the power of the Spirit.
In the Gospels, when the Disciples are filled with Joy, and even when Jesus is filled with joy, it is after the Disciples had been ministering to the crouds in the power of the Spirit – as we reach out to others and minister to people in the Spirit’s power, God fills us with his joy.
Even ministering in the midst of persecution brings the Disciples joy.
Christian Community
Paul writes in a few places, something like this:
1 Thessalonians 2:19
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? (the people he is writing to)
Christians behaving like Christians giver other Christians joy – especially your Christian leaders
Rejoice
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! - Philippians 4:4
– no complaining pact
complaining brings you down, rejoicing gives you joy.
