That Your Joy May Be Full Series

(1) Our joy is made full through the favor of God in that He sent His Son, and His Son was resurrected and ascended back into heaven as all the prophecies and He had foretold. Therefore, He is able to do all the other things He told us He would—namely that physical death would be the end of our existence.

(2) Read Acts 2:25-36

(3) These verses include four proofs of Christ’s resurrection and ascension.

(a) The prophecy of Psalm 16:8-11, as recounted in vv. 25-28 of this passage.

(b) The witnesses of the resurrection.

(c) The supernatural events of Pentecost.

(d) The ascension of David’s greater son.

(4) Peter’s point is that since David, the patriarch and prophet was dead and buried, he could not have been referring to himself in Psalm 16:8-11; so he must have been writing about the Christ and His resurrection.

b. Through Faith in Christ

(1) It is through our faith in Christ, empowered by God to be our Savior, that we obtain salvation and life eternal.

(2) Read 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.

(3) Paul wanted God to fill his readers with all joy and peace.

(4) Joy is equated to the pleasure of anticipation in seeing our hopes fulfilled. Peace comes from the promise that God will fulfill our hopes. Both of these, joy and peace, are experienced as believers trust in Him.

(5) As a result, we, as believers, overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

c. Through Abiding in Christ

(1) Think back to when you were young adults and in love for the first time. What made you the happiest? The answer is obvious, being near the one who had captured your heart.

(2) The same is true when it comes to our relationship with Christ. Being near Him, next to Him, part of Him, brings us joy.

(3) However, it goes deeper than this. What brings the greatest joy is not just being in His presence or near Him. It is doing what He has commanded us to do that brings the greatest joy.

(4) Read John 15:10-11—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.

(5) As a believer, we should be motivated by the miracle of Jesus’ love, which is patterned after the Father’s love in its quality and quantity.

(6) “Remain in my love” may sound mystical, but Jesus makes it very concrete. Obedience to the Father’s commands is the same for a disciple as it was for the Son.

(7) Active dependence and loving obedience are appropriate and necessary for us as God’s children if we are to follow the model Christ set for us.

(8) Jesus’ great joy came from pleasing His Father by living a fruitful life.

(9) The purpose of His teaching is to give us an abundant life, not a joyless existence. His commands for us to obey are for our joy.

d. Through the Word of Christ

(1) What has the greatest impact on you, the profound words of a great speaker heard second or third hand, or directly from the “horses mouth?” The answer is obvious.