Joy

 

How many of you are happy this morning?

Anybody ever get sad or depressed?

 

·        Depression is the leading cause of alcoholism and drug abuse.

·        It’s the #1 cause of suicide.

·        It’s 2nd only to heart disease in the cause of employees missing work days.

·        It affects all ages, all races, both the rich and poor, both male and female (although more in females)

·        Ted Turner, one of the richest men on the planet has been diagnosed as clinically depressed.

·        $43 billion was spent last year as a result of depression on counseling, psychologists, psychiatrists, and anti-depressant drugs.

·        1 out of ever 5 people will be clinically or medically depressed.

 

The point is that there are a lot of people today that do not have joy in their lives.  And there are probably just as many Christians as non-Christians.

 

51% of all marriages end in divorce.  52% of people that describe themselves as Christians get divorced.

People ultimately get divorced because they have lost the joy in their marriage, or they never had it to begin with.

 

Why do so many Christians lose their joy?

Is it a punishment from God?  Does God take it away?

Is there something we can do to get our joy back?

 

·        Two Types of Joy

·        An example of the 1st type can be when somebody wins the lottery.  Both Christians and non-Christians can have this kind of joy, but it is an earthly joy and only temporary.

·        There’s another kind of joy that can only be obtained as a result of our Salvation

·        The joy of our salvation lasts as long as our salvation does?  How long is that?  So we will call it eternal joy.

 

Does God give us earthly joy for serving Him?  How about Paul? Stephen?

 

I.                     Where Does Joy Come From?

a.      From God – Romans 15:13

II.                   How Do We Get Joy?

a.      From Our Salvation – 1 Peter 1:8-9

b.      Pray for Joy – John 16:23-24

c.      Obey – John 15:7-11

d.      Walking By the Spirit (Loving others) – Gal 5:13-25

e.      Helping Others in Their Relationship With God

                                                              i.      1 Thess 2:19-20

                                                            ii.      3 John 1:3-4

f.        Expected Rewards in Heaven – Luke 6:20-23

III.                  What About Times of Trouble?

a.      Only God can give us comfort – 2 Cor 7:4-6

b.      Their Joy overflowed because they game themselves to God first – 2 Cor 8:1-5

c.      Trials lead to endurance which has a perfect result – James 1:2-4

IV.               Nobody can take our Joy away from us – John 16:19-22

 

Joy Is From God by Believing
Romans 15:13 (NASB)
13Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Joy of our Salvation

1 Peter 1:8-9 (NASB)
8and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

 

We must believe in Him.  If we doubt our salvation, the source of our joy is in doubt.


Pray For Joy
John 16:23-24 (NASB)
23“In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24“Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

 

Obey to Receive Joy

John 15:7-11 (NASB)
7“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

 

Again Jesus tells us to pray.  He tells us to abide in His love by keeping His commandments.  Notice Jesus says His joy may be in us.  He is the source.

 

Walking By the Spirit Produces the Fruit of Joy
Galatians 5:13-25 (NASB)
13For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. 16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

 

 

Joy is a fruit of the spirit.  We are to produce fruits by serving one another through love.  Verse 25 says don’t just live by the Spirit, but also walk by the Spirit, which means since the Holy Spirit is in us, allow him to lead our actions.

 

We Get Joy From Pointing Others to God
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 (NASB)
19For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? 20For you are our glory and joy.

Paul says they are his joy, his crown.  He allowed God to use him to share the gospel with them.

3 John 1:3-4 (NASB)
3For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. 4I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

Again, John has joy when he sees how God has used him to influence others positively for God.

 

We Get Joy from Our Expected Rewards
Luke 6:20-23 (NASB)
20And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. 23“Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.

 

Joy in Times of Trouble – Only From God
2 Corinthians 7:4-6 (NASB)
4Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.  5For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. 6But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

 

Their Joy Overflowed in Affliction – Gave Themselves to God First
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (NASB)
1Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, 2that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. 3For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, 4begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, 5and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

 

Joy in Trials – Leads to Endurance

James 1:2-4 (NASB)
2Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 

Nobody Can Take Our Joy From Us
John 16:19-22 (NASB)
19Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20“Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. 21“Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. 22“Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

 

Conclusion

·        Earthly Joy vs Eternal Joy

·        If we don’t have joy – 1st be confident of your salvation, pray, obey, serve others through love, help point others to God, and look forward to heaven and your rewards

·        Satan will attempt to suppress our joy, but Jesus said that nobody can take it away, so resist him and his deception.