He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. - John 3:29
In both John chapter 1 & 3, John the Baptist is sharing his testimony about Jesus Christ. And he exalts Christ. John the Baptist praises Jesus Christ. He glorifies His name. He says in verse 31, He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. In John chapter 1 he says, "It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” Again he says. Behold The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (v29).
Now let us come back to verse 29 of this chapter. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. Here, John the Baptist is talking about his fullness of joy. I mean, the fulfillment of joy. His joy comes forth because he is the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears his voice. When you and I stand and hear the voice of the Lord, we should greatly rejoice. We need to take delight in the Lord for we are able to hear His voice. Christians are supposed to have joy. At Christmas, we sing, "Joy to the World, the Lord is Come." If you didn’t know, this song is based on Psalm 98:2 reads, “ The Lord has made his salvation known,” 4, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,” and 6, “shout for joy before the Lord, the King”.
In Nehemiah 8:9-12, we find God instructing the leaders to tell Israel that it is okay to be joyful and festive in our celebration and praise of God. The joy of the Lord is our strength. A story about a mother and father who sat with their three-year-old child during a Sunday morning worship service. The small child was quietly walking in the pew, smiling and laughing at the people sitting in the pew behind them. The father very solemnly grabs the boy and tells him to stop smiling and having fun, because this was church and we were to look serious and somber. The boy replied and answered to his father, "Daddy we are coming to the house of the Lord, to rejoice in Him.”
In Reader's Digest where a person is quoted as saying, "I'm going to be happy and joyful, in the presence of the Lord at the house of the Lord." The Psalmist says in Psalm 122:1, “It was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. There is a source of joy in the presence of the Lord, and there are a lot of secrets of joy in the house of the Lord. Today, I would like to share three insights as we look at the source and the secret of joy
1. The Source of the Joy should be God Centered not Circumstance centered:
John the Baptist says, whoever is a friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him. Who is our bridegroom? Jesus Christ! You can have great joy in your life if you have Him or are centered in your life.
Our circumstances are always changing, and if our joy is based on them, it will be fleeting and uncertain. On the other hand, if our joy is rooted in God, it can be constant and dependable, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Max Lucado of San Antonio, Texas he tells about a gentleman called Robert Reed. Robert's 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. He can't speak clearly. Robert has cerebral paralysis.
Max shares, "I heard Robert Reed declare, `I have everything I need for joy!' Amazing! I want to draw near to him, stand and hear his voice in His presence. Joy is always only one decision away. Choose God. The source of joy depends on your orientation to life. It has nothing to do with the events of your life but with the deeper orientation of your life. When we rely on circumstances for our joy, we set ourselves up for disappointment and disappointment when those circumstances change. However, when we center our joy in Christ, we find a deep and lasting joy that is not dependent on our external circumstances. Additionally, Christ is the source of all hope, peace, and love, which are all key components of joy, so when we center our joy in Him, we have access to all of these things. In short, relying on external circumstances for joy is unreliable and fleeting, but centering our joy in Christ brings a lasting and unshakable source of joy in our lives. Joy is a gift that comes when a life is centered on God. Paul says in Roman 12:12, Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer. Not only our joy comes from the Lord that our life should be God centered on Him. But also we should believe deeply in Christ.
II. The Source of Joy is to believe deeply in Christ:
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life. - John 3:39.
Throughout the gospel of John we can see that again and again believe in the Lord, believe the Son of God. Jesus himself says in John 3:18, He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
There are a lot of things we are confused about in our day by day experience of living. But this one thing we must never become confused about: Jesus came to bring us life and joy that can be found in no other. We cannot confuse our spiritual orientation of life by worshiping the creature rather than the creator. Everything in life is a poor substitute for God.
Joy comes from believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as stated in the Bible in verses such as John 15:11, "I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete." and Romans 15:13, "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." The Bible teaches that true joy is not found in temporary worldly pleasures, but in a deep and personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Life without Christ is no life at all. It is a pulse without purpose, heart without happiness, existence without eternity; life without living. With Christ we have a purpose to live for, a power to live by, and a person to live with. Jesus not only saves us from our sins, he also saves us for a new life of purpose and power in the presence of God. He gives us unending joy. When Jesus Christ enters our lives as Lord and Savior he communicates a deep inner strength for us to continue on when the journey in life is difficult.
III. The Source of Joy will follow in:
He who comes from above is above all. -John 3:31
Do you want joy? Do you want to continue in the joy of the Lord? You must begin with God. Is God preeminent in your life? The first priority in life is to be the worship of God. The worship of God is directly related to the freedom to be obedient to God. His will becomes the ruling principle of life. God's will becomes the dominating passion of life. This is the delight of a Christian. This is to be the priority of life. God's will brings life and joy. Amen.
He knows everything, both heaven and the earth. The Bible says, He who comes from heaven is above all. His name is highly, greatly worshiped. Worship Him, bless him, and we submit to him. That's why John says, He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30).
This modern day approach to life will never work when it comes to developing real joy in our lives. We will never know real joy if we only have a one minute God, one minute devotions, one minute prayers, and only attend one hour worship services on Sunday morning. For joy is the echo of God's life within us. Joy is a form of energy which helps us live above the circumstances of trouble and sorrow. Joy is the celebration of life which doesn't center its focus on what we might lose but on what we have left. Joy is that power which makes us strong from the inside out. God grants the gift of joy to pilgrims who seek Him rather than those who seek joy.
Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)said, "Let us leave sadness to the devil and his angels. As for us Christians, what can we be but rejoicing and glad."
Like John, for our joy to be complete and full, we must decrease and Jesus Christ must increase. Like Paul, we can declare, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." - Philippians 1:21
Will you make this the passion and principle of your life? Will you make your decisions based on this radical approach to life? Will your orientation to life be filled with God and His purposes?
If you do, you will have discovered the secrets of joy that are complete and unending. Be God centered, rejoice more deeply in Christ, commit every aspect of your life to God's unfailing grace. Amen.
