"Relaunch 2015"
pt. 2 - I Will Be Joyful
Galatians 5:22-23
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Introduction: I want to welcome you this morning to part 2 of a new sermon series based on the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5. This series is all about life change and what God wants to do in our lives if we will let Him. Make no mistake my friends; the goal of God in salvation is Christlikeness. God wants to change us into the image (icon -- exact replica) of His Son in character, conduct and personality. Just by way of review let's look at a definitive statement found in:
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are (being) changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Let me also remind you that we can translate the first few words of verse 22, "The fruit of the Spirit..." to read "...the fruit that the Spirit produces..."
Now let me make an observation just before we get started. There are many mistaken notions about the subject of joy in the Christian life. To be perfectly honest there are those who think that to be a Christian you have to give up anything that is pleasurable in life. That being a Christian is dull and monotonous. In years past there were even those who believed that anything that brought pleasure into life was sinful. The Puritans and Quakers said that "ice cream" must surely be sinful because anything that tasted so good and gave so much pleasure had to be of the devil! This attitude and others like it certainly have been responsible for how the world views Christianity. I want to add that many unsaved people get the wrong impression about the Christian life and put-off or postpone salvation because of their interaction with those who profess to be Christians yet seem to project anything but a joyful experience. I heard a preacher say one time that some Christians look like they have been sucking on a "green persimmon" because they have such a sour demeanor and disposition! They are negative in their comments and their countenance! I think all of us would agree that this is not what the Lord had in mind when He went to the cross to die for our sins.
I want to present four points for your consideration this morning. First let's consider:
I. The Foundation for Joy
a. The character of Christ
The Bible makes it plain that Jesus is joy personified. When Paul speaks of the fruit that the Spirit produces He is referencing these attributes in the life of Christ where all of these were perfected. What is this joy that Jesus had? Well it was certainly not what our culture refers to today when it speaks of happiness. Happiness and joy are two entirely different concepts. Someone has said that "happiness depends on happenings while joy depends on Jesus." Happiness is fleeting. We can be happy one moment and sad the next and we often are but if we have what Jesus is offering it will be markedly different. Happiness is "skin deep" while joy is deep down within. This kind of joy is so unique His that it is referred to as "...the joy of Lord..." Not even the prospect of the Cross could diminish this joy. He had "enduring joy."
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
b. The conduct of the Comforter
1 Thessalonians 1:6And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:
John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive...
Second consider:
II. The Formation of Joy
a. Our relationship with the Savior
There can be no joy apart from a personal relationship with Jesus. When any individual receives Jesus as their personal Savior they receive what I want to refer to as "effervescent joy." Let me quote a passage that I think we help us understand this truth. It's found in John 4:13-14:
John 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well (fountain) of water springing up into everlasting life.
The water is verse 13 is from without and has to be replenished but the water in verse 14
"bubbles up" from within.
A BUBBLING BABY, A BUBBLING JOY
On September 23, 1930, early in the morning a baby boy was born in Albany, Georgia. At that moment, of course, his family had no way of knowing that this bouncing baby boy would grow up to become one of the most beloved and respected singers and entertainers of all time. He had to triumph over numerous hardships and tragedies along the way, but he did it with style and grace.
When the boy was five years old, he became gravely ill and gradually began to lose his eyesight. By the age of seven he was completely blind. Undaunted, the boy soon learned Braille, and a few years later he began to develop his musical talent by learning to play the piano. When he was fifteen, he became an orphan. Think of that: He was blind, he was orphaned, and he was only fifteen years old. But despite all of that, he refused to give up or give in. He kept working with his music and developing his talent.
At age seventeen, he moved to Seattle where he organized a musical trio, and he began performing. In 1952, at the age of twenty-two, he signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records, and ultimately became a world-famous recording artis and performer.
His creative genius and soulful energy, his heartfelt sensitivity, his joy in performing the music shown in his beautiful God given voice. He and the music become one. The music seems to flow freely out of him, and it seems to come from deep, deep, within his spirit.
While being interviewed on television he was ask, "Not too long ago I watched you perform two different concerts on successive nights, and in both concerts you sang your classic hit "Georgia", but each time you sang it, you did it differently." The entertainer replied, "That's right! Every time, I do it differently, because, you see, I don't learn music by notes. I just let it bubble out of my soul!"
If Christ is living in you, then you will be like Ray Charles and his music. The joy of the Lord will bubble out of your soul and affect everyone around you.
SOURCE: "Some Folks Feel the Rain, Others Just Get Wet" by James W. Moore, ISBN 0-687-07754-0; 1999.
b. Our response to the Spirit
What about our response to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit? Our response is critical for it will determine whether we progress or regress in joy. The key to understanding what is needed is found in verse 25.
Galatians 5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. ESV
The word, "...walk..." is translated row as in walk in a line, for instance like soldiers marching into battle. We must walk in line with the Holy Spirit's guidance and direction.
D. L. Moody has expressed it so well: "...Joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition. It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring the world can't see and doesn't know anything about. The Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to him"
Edith draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 6529.].
Third:
III. The Forfeiture of Joy
a. The cause
I would be remiss if I failed to mention that it is possible for a believer to forfeit their joy. There are several examples in Scripture but I will use only one but it is probably the most familiar one in the Bible. I'm referring of course to King David. He is called "...a man after God's own heart..." but there was a time in this man's life when his heart was far from God and for over a year he lived a joyless life.
Psalms 38:1 A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
b. The cure
If you lose your joy can you get it back? The answer is yes. What is the cure for this loss of joy? Thankfully we have the answer, also in the Psalms.
Psalms 51:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Finally consider:
IV. The Fruition of Joy
EVERYTHING I NEED
"I have everything I need for joy!" Robert Reed said. His hands are twisted and his feet are useless. He can't bathe himself. He can't feed himself. He can't brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. Strips of Velcro hold his shirts together. His speech drags like a worn out audiocassette.
Robert has cerebral palsy.
The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But it didn't keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, from which he graduate with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn't keep him from teaching at St. Louis Junior College or from venturing overseas on five mission trips.
And Robert's disease didn't prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal.
He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a tutor who would instruct him in the language.
Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he distributed brochures about Christ. Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord, one of whom became his wife, Rosa.
I heard Robert speak recently. I watched other men carry him in his wheelchair onto the platform. I watched them lay a Bible in his lap. I watched his stiff fingers force open the pages. And I watched people in the audience wipe away tears of admiration from their faces. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he did just the opposite. He held his bent hand up in the air and boasted, "I have everything I need for joy."
His shirts are held together by Velcro, but his life is held together by joy.
SOURCE: Max Lucado. http://www.maxlucado.com/read/where.do.i.go/index3. HTML
a. There is exceeding joy
1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
The joy that we experience here cannot be compared to the joy we will know "...when His glory shall be revealed..."
When all my labors and trials are o'er,
And I am safe on that beautiful shore,
Just to be near the dear Lord I adore,
Will through the ages be glory for me.
Refrain:
Oh, that will be glory for me,
Glory for me, glory for me,
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me.
When, by the gift of His infinite grace,
I am accorded in heaven a place,
Just to be there and to look on His face,
Will through the ages be glory for me.
Friends will be there I have loved long ago;
Joy like a river around me will flow;
Yet just a smile from my Savior, I know,
Will through the ages be glory for me.
b. There is everlasting joy
Finally, the consummation, the climax of joy will be experienced and we will know joy forever and forever.
Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
But let me caution you with the words of J.B. Phillips who said, "Anyone who opens his personality to the living Spirit takes a risk of being considerably shaken.
My friend when people are around you do they want to be more like Jesus? If you love like Jesus loves the answer will be yes!
The purpose of "Relaunch" is not just to provoke thought or to provide information but to share truth that we lead to transformation and above all else I wanted to give you a real opportunity to change your life. This decision is in your hands, it's your choice. There is no doubt in my mind that becoming a more joyful person will change you and those around.
Conclusion:
God wants you to have: effervescent joy
enduring joy
exceeding joy
everlasting joy
