Joy, the 2nd Fruit of the Holy Spirit

So if you begin turning to Galatians 5 and verse 22, we could give a sermon or two about every one of the fruit listed in Galatians 5. But today I just want to talk about one of those fruits. Can you guess which one it is? The fruit of the Spirit refers to the attitudes of life and thought, which are a byproduct of those who walk in the Spirit.

So let's quickly see what they are. Galatians 5 and verse 22, Paul says, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. So I want you to notice that the first thing that Paul mentions is love. The plain truth is that he does this for a reason.

Because until love is developed to a certain degree in our lives, all of the others are meaningless. You see, until we understand and begin to grow in what love is, the others won't happen in your life because they are all connected to love. So that is why he mentions love is number one. But I'm going to throw a little curveball on you today because the subject I want to discuss is the second fruit listed.

Not love, but it's the second one listed, and that is joy. I want to talk about joy today. It's interesting because we just concluded a festival season. The very nature of the word festival is celebration. It's rejoicing. It's expressing joy in the way that we worship God. It's expressing joy in the way that we fellowship with one another.

We think about God's plan in our lives for each of us as individuals, and we think of God's plan for humanity. So we have just come off a festival season that was intended for us to rejoice. Here's what the Bible dictionary says about joy. It says a number of Greek and Hebrew words are used in the Bible to convey the ideas of joy and rejoicing.

We have the same situation in English with such synonymous words as joy, happiness, pleasure, delight, gladness, merriment, felicity, not one that we hear very often, is it? And enjoyment. The words joy and rejoice are the words used most often to translate the Hebrew and Greek words into English. Joy is found over 150 times in the Bible. If words as joyous and joyful are included, the number comes to over 200 times.

The verb rejoice appears well over 200 times itself. Continuing, it says joy is the fruit of a right relation with God. It is not something that people can create on their own efforts. Think about all the people in this world who are artificially trying to create a sense of joy in their lives.

They inhale, or they inject things into themselves. They give themselves a high, to give themselves a sense of well-being, to give themselves a sense of fulfillment, all because they lack joy. You see, if they had genuine joy, they would have no interest in injecting into themselves, either through needles or inhaling or whatever, something to try to provide a momentary feeling of joy or pleasure or well-being.

It says here the Greek word for pleasure is the word from which we get our word hedonism. So it says the Bible distinguishes joy from pleasure. Paul referred to false teachers as lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. So the Scriptures have much to say about this topic, this fruit, all called joy. Why is joy the fruit of the Holy Spirit? What are we to be so joyful about? How can we learn to express a greater amount of joy in our lives? I'd like to talk about that today because I think it's very important in our own congregation here in Cleveland.

You know, each congregation has its own personality. I've traveled all over the United States and I've attended churches from Texas, North Carolina to California, lived in all of those places I've attended. Many churches in Ohio I visited congregations, and each congregation has its own personality. In some congregations, you go into, and unfortunately there just isn't any life, you go into some congregations and everyone is just very serious. Everyone is very sober. It's like they've come to attend God's funeral instead of a worship service. Yes, he was a good God.

It's so sad that he's gone today. They're just so sad and so down. He just saps the energy right out of the room. Some congregations are like that. And unfortunately, sometimes there are congregations within congregations. And sometimes those congregations, I refer to those as the Church of the Lemon Suckers. And what I mean by that are some people just seem to have a disposition where before they come to church, they must seem to cut a lemon in half and they suck on a lemon before they walk in the church, because they're grouchy, they're sour.

Sometimes they're sarcastic, they're sardonic, they're just really down. And they're critical and they're judgmental. And I call that the Church of the Lemon Suckers. And unfortunately, that can influence a congregation. It can pull everyone down. If you get enough individuals like that within any congregation, it can just pull the environment down. There's a phrase, you know, to suck all the oxygen out of the room. That's what some people can do.

So I think for that reason, it's very important for us to understand that fruit, that quality that God wants all of us to radiate outward in our lives, and that quality, that fruit, is joy. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 17.

Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 17.

The prophet Isaiah, recording the words of God. Isaiah was inspired to write.

Isaiah chapter 65 and verse 17. I will, I'm going to read this from verse 19 again from the New International Version.

The prophet Isaiah, recording the words of God.

And we need to have joy. We need to be joyful. God is a joyful God. I know that many people focus on specific pictures, and they want to paint God as a picky old, bitter old man. And they focus on scriptures, and they want to portray God as demanding, as controlling, as hard, as a hard God.

And that is the picture that they want to paint of God. And that is an unfair picture.

If you look at the totality of scripture, you will see that he is a God of joy.

Joy is internal. It comes from the inside. It's not dependent on what's going on on the outside. We know from Job 38 and verse 7 that the angels shouted for joy at the creation of the earth, because the Holy One created them with the ability to express this godly characteristic. They shouted for joy at the creation of the earth because He gave them that quality. And why did He give the angels that quality? Because it's a godly quality.

After each day of creation, we read the word says, God looked upon each day of creation, and He said, it is good. At the end of the sixth day of creation, He said, it is very good. That Hebrew word that's translated into English is good, is the Hebrew word tob. It's T-O-W-B.

And what that means, the adjective of that word means pleasant, favor, cheerful, joyful.

So when God created each day of creation, He looked back in joy, in pleasure, and He said, ah, I like it. That's good. I like the way that turned out. And at the end of the sixth day of creation, He said, it's very good. He was joyful. He was cheerful at what He had done, because He is a God of joy. So let's take a look, let's have a little survey of the Scriptures today and learn more about the topic of joy, beginning in Deuteronomy chapter 28. Deuteronomy chapter 28, and see that joy can't be forced. You cannot command someone to be joyful. You can't say, I demand that you be happy. I command you to be joyful. Now, it just doesn't work that way.

Joy is something that comes from the inside, and it has very little to do with external circumstances. Deuteronomy chapter 28 and verse 13. God is instructing Israel about His laws and His commandments and some of the things they would suffer if they didn't obey His commands.

28 verse 13, And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail. You shall be above only and not be beneath. If you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and be careful to observe them. So you shall not turn aside from my words, which I command you this day to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. So you shouldn't become liberal. On the other hand, you shouldn't become so ultra-conservative in your theology that you make up rules and laws that I never intended. Those are called commandments or doctrines of men.

So we said, you need to go right down the middle path. The middle path is what I say.

Aside from what I say, there are always people who think they can get away with craziness and murder, and on the other side of that path, there are always people who are making up harder laws and rules and demanding you to obey them in order to be righteous. God says, I don't want you to go either to the left or to the right. Verse 15, But it shall come to pass if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes, which I command you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Alright, let's stop there a minute. So why does God give His people laws and commandments? It's because obedience creates an environment in which we can experience joy. If we keep His commandments, we have balance in our lives. Obedience in God's laws is a regulator of happiness and a regulator of joy. When we get out of balance, when we break those laws, they create guilt, shame. We usually hurt ourselves. We hurt those whom we love, and it just creates a whole series of problems. All of God's laws center around love for Him and love for our neighbor. And when we break them, we eventually bring stress in ourselves. We bring unhappiness in ourselves. We may even bring evil upon ourselves. And with those things, it's hard to radiate joy, isn't it? When we're suffering from shame or guilt or unhappiness, it is difficult to be joyful. Now, the following verses, beyond just what we read, are specific types of curses. And we're going to skip those and cover those another time. They're not really in the context of the sermon today. But let's drop down to verse 45 because let's review the kind of motivation that God desires to see in us. Kind of a redux of the sermon I gave a few weeks ago. Verse 45, Moreover, all these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. Verse 46, And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder and on your descendants forever because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, meaning everything that God gave us. I'm going to read this from the New Century version. You had plenty of everything, but you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a pure heart. Brother, living God's way of life produces joy, and this joy is a result of a relationship with God. It has nothing to do with material blessings. Joy is an inner attitude of appreciation and contentment and security, knowing that you are in the loving hands of your Father. It is the greatest insurance policy on earth. It's a sense of peace that comes from knowing that you have a loving Father. He has a plan for you, and He has a wonderful inheritance and future for you. Sadly, ancient Israel didn't love God. His laws weren't written on their hearts, and because they lacked a personal relationship with their Creator, obedience became a burden to them. I want to emphasize once again, brethren, we obey God because we have an attitude that says, as a loving, patient child, Father, I want to please you. Father, I want to obey you. We do not obey God out of compliance. We obey Him, again, because of a childlike passion to please a loving Father.

You know what? I'm going to give you a history lesson. I once knew about a hundred thousand people who obeyed God out of compliance, about a hundred thousand people who received literature.

And that literature said, you keep the Sabbath because God commanded you to keep the Sabbath. They kept the Holy Days because they received literature and ministers reinforced, you keep the Holy Days because God commands you to keep the Holy Days.

And when that same organization a few years later said, you know what? We were wrong.

They all left. Why? Because they were doing things out of compliance. And when the organization said the compliance is no longer important, they vanished. They disappeared.

So we don't want to obey God out of compliance. We want to obey God because as His loving children, we want to please our Father. It's very important. It's a whole different mindset and perception about our relationship with God and how do we respond to His blessings. Let's go to Psalm 16 and verse 5. Psalm 16 and verse 5. Very beautiful Psalm.

Hopeful. Encouraging.

Psalm 16 and verse 5, believed to have been written by David himself. Oh Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance. God has given us, brethren, a wonderful inheritance. How about eternity as spirit beings? How about sharing His family name? Is that a pretty awesome inheritance or not? He said, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup. You have filled my life to the brim. You have encapsulated everything positive in my life. It's like a cup that flows over. You maintain my lot, meaning my ultimate destiny. God has given us a lot in life.

And that's our ultimate destiny. We know what that destiny is. Sharing eternity and all the glories and pleasures with Him for eternity. The lines, this Hebrew word, is from measuring the boundaries between the tribes of Israel. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. You've created boundaries in my life. You've given me your law. I know that I shouldn't go beyond this point.

You've given me boundaries and an understanding of what's good for me and what's bad for me. And that creates pleasantness. That's a security. That's a knowledge of knowing that I should not do certain things and go certain places because it'll hurt me. That brings me peace, pleasantness.

Yes, I have a good inheritance. Verse 7, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel.

And of course, when we study His word, we receive counsel.

My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. He's talking about meditation. When I can't sleep at night, rather than turning on Bugs Bunny cartoons, I'll sit and meditate on the goodness and greatness of God. I'll do something positive when it's night and the house is quiet and the sirens in the neighborhood have finally stopped at four in the morning. And I'll just sit and meditate on God's greatness and goodness in the night time.

Verse 8, I have set the Lord always before me. He knew who his priorities were because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices.

My flesh also will rest in hope. I'm going to die someday. He says, continues, for you will not leave my soul in shoal. That's not going to be the end of it.

Nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption. No, there's a resurrection it's promised. And though whatever age we are, every one of us in this room, unless Jesus Christ returns in our lifetime, every one of us in this room from the oldest to the youngest will someday die, even though that is true. It says you won't leave my soul in the grave. There's a resurrection that you've promised. You won't allow me to be totally forgotten and all of my hopes and dreams to just be corruption to be ashes somewhere. I'm going to be given the spirit body and I'm going to be able to fulfill all the hopes and dreams and the things that I hoped for in this lifetime that we're not possible. I will be able to do. You will show me the path of life. And of course, we know that that resurrection at first resurrection occurs at the return of Jesus Christ. In your presence is fullness of joy. We'll be there right along with Jesus Christ serving as saints, as priests to the Most High. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. That's encouraging. Notice he says, in your presence is fullness of joy. Nothing there but lemons. The fullness of joy. I'm going to read verse 11 from the New International Version. 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. So David, once again, wanted to rejoice in the knowledge that he would be saved from eternal death in the grave. He looked forward to a resurrection to life. We can also rest in the joyful knowledge of our secure destiny as the children of God. Now, will we make mistakes? Will we, in spite of having the right intentions and wanting to do wonderful things, will we stumble in this journey of discipleship we have? Well, sure we will. You know, growth isn't linear. It's not like this. Your life and my life are more like this. It has ups and downs. It has periods of stagnation. Sometimes we go through a trial and we're struggling and then we'll have a little blip and have some more growth. It's not completely linear. Life is a challenge. God has a plan for us, and sometimes that plan includes periods of time in which we're struggling, in which we're not going anywhere slowly, and we need to have a breakthrough in our lives. That happened to David. Let's go up forward a few chapters. Psalm 51. Scripture, that was the result. This is his repentance, his confession.

After having committed adultery with Bathsheba, after murdering a man who was very loyal to him, Uriah the Hittite. I mean, he had more than one sin that he committed in this process of acquiring Bathsheba as a wife. Here's what he came to see. I want you to notice as we read this what he desired to have restored in his life. He didn't want God to take his Holy Spirit, and he still had God's Holy Spirit, though it certainly was dormant. He certainly had grieved it, but I want you to notice what he did want to have restored through all the shame and guilt and humiliation that he was experiencing. Psalm 51.6. Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part you will make me to no wisdom. Purge me with hyssop. Hyssop was like a scrubby branch.

It was very coarse when you scrubbed things with it. In modern English we would say, clean me with a scrub brush, with a hard bristled scrub brush. That's what we would say in a modern vernacular. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear joy and gladness. You know what was missing in his life? Because he had separated himself from God. He had lost something that was very important to him. Joy. That sense of security, that sense of peace, of contentment, that sense of a life with purpose and meaning. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones you have broken may rejoice. He ached everywhere. His heart ached. He just felt physically ill after the prophet had come in and just condemned him in a right way with his parable about the man who had one precious sheep that was taken away from him. And David had been hypocritical, and he had the wrong answer. And the prophet Nathan humiliated him in front of his court. He felt really low. He felt physically and emotionally drained and ill.

Verse 9, hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. As I said, his sin was greater than just committing adultery with Bathsheba. He had a man who was very loyal to him, killed. He lied. He deceived. He committed a lot of iniquities in the process of this. Created me a clean heart, and renewed a steadfast spirit within me. Renew it. Bring it back alive again. Get it energized.

Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Verse 12, restore to me the joy of your salvation. When you know that you have a relationship with God, when you know that he is your Father and you are his Son, that you are saved by his grace, that brings a certain level of joy and contentment and fulfillment, security in your life. He missed that. That was gone from the time he had committed those series of sins. He wanted it back. And uphold me by your generous spirit. So why did David desire joy and gladness to be restored? Well, again, as we know, sin had separated him from God and from the godly emotion of joy. Instead, he experienced guilt and shame and disappointment in himself and in his own actions. Only repentance, including God's forgiveness, could wipe away the past and allow David to move forward again, restoring his relationship with God. Very important. God is also looking forward to restoring the people of Israel in his coming kingdom. Let's read about that. One of the minor prophets, Zephaniah, chapter 3. That's Zephaniah, chapter 3, verse 13. Let's go there. We'll turn there.

See a prophecy of something that God is looking forward to.

Verse 13. The remnant of the house of Israel will do no unrighteousness, obviously speaking of the future, and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid. Sing, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away your judgments and has cast out your enemy. King of Israel, the Lord is in your midst. You shall see disaster no more. In that day it shall be said of Jerusalem, Do not fear Zion, let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God is in your midst. The mighty one will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. Again, why is this important to God? Because joy is a godly characteristic. He is primarily a God of joy, of hopefulness, of forgiveness, of salvation. Now there are certain things we need to do as individuals to be able to get there and receive that from him, but we should never think that God is just some angry, picky, bitter man who has nothing better to do than to set down a whole bunch of difficult rules and laws to keep.

Because if that is our perception of God, we have a misconception of the loving nature of God.

I'm only a human being, and in a very small way I can appreciate what it says here at the end of verse 17. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. Yesterday afternoon we had our grandchildren over, a couple of our daughters and grandchildren, and I cannot tell you as a grandfather what great joy it was to see my grandchildren racing in the grass, going out in the pond and catching tadpoles. Just the sense of joy, seeing the fun they were having, seeing that they were at peace, that they were living their lives to the fullest, and laughing and having a good time. The sense of joy that that gave grandpa to see my two wonderful daughters and their husbands and how well they're doing. That creates joy in me, and I'm only a human being. So you can just imagine what it means to God when it says, He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing. Imagine God singing. Why would He sing? Well, He sings because He's joyful, because He's a loving and a great, joyful God.

So let's go now to John chapter 15, begin to think about the New Testament.

It's interesting, I don't have time for there to go there today, but the joy of God came to focus in human history in the life of Jesus Christ. And His physical life started at the time that it was announced that His birth was and the coming of the Christ in Luke chapter 1 and Matthew 2. And I'm sure many of us are familiar with the passage of the angelic announcement of, quote, glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. That's what it said when Jesus Christ was born. Good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. Now, I know the world distorts the beautiful meaning of the birth of Christ and has masqueraded it with worshiping Christ on the wrong day for the wrong reasons. But the point is, is that originally at His birth it was recognized that a Savior was being born, a Savior for all mankind. First, those whom the Father would call in various ages, and then eventually everyone would have an opportunity to achieve salvation. That was a time of glad tidings of great joy. A Savior came to the earth. So, let's now go to John chapter 15, the end of this Savior's life, about 33 years old, as was mentioned in the sermonette. Now, He's got pretty heavy things in His mind. It's near the end of His life here in John 15. He knows that in a few hours He's going to be suffering and excruciating torture, scourging, humiliation, mocking, and ultimately death. So, that's what's on His mind when He's saying these things. Verse 9, As the Father loved me, I also have loved you, abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. Now, before we go any further, remember the first thing, the first fruit that was mentioned in Galatians 5? What was that?

Love. All right. Now, let's continue. You abide in my love just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. Verse 11, These things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment that you love one another as I've loved you. Greater love, there's that word again, has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends.

For all things that I have heard from my Father, I've made known to you. So our relationship is different. No longer are you a mere worshipper. You have the right to call my Father your Father.

You have the right to call me not Lord, not Master, which is okay, but you have the right, the privilege to call me Jesus Christ, to call me Lord Jesus, to call me a brother.

He says our relationship is different than the relationship was in the Old Covenant, than it was before. I've come to change things, but I want you to focus on the fact that even as Jesus Christ faced death himself, he set an example of joy, and he desired his disciples to experience the fullest possible joy. How could Jesus be joyful as he faced death? Well, he knew his destiny, and he knew his purpose. He knew what this life was all about. I'd like to briefly tell you the story of Mrs. Winstead. Many years ago in the 80s, my wife and I and our young daughters moved to North Carolina to live for a while. It was a career move for me, and we lived in a little town called Goldsboro and attended a church congregation in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It was a 45-50 minute drive, and Mrs. Winstead attended Rocky Mount. She had had cancer, she'd struggled with a number of times. It kept coming back, reoccurring, and finally the end was near, and I received a call saying, Mrs. Winstead would like to talk to you. Could you come in anoint her? So it was nighttime when I got the call. Got in the car, drove to Rocky Mount, and went in the sea. And one family member after another was going in and out of the room, and I walked into the room and she beamed. I mean, she looked like a headlamp of an automobile. Big smile on her face. She was glowing. She said to me, Mr. Thomas, you don't need to anoint me.

My end is near in this physical life, and I'm ready. I'm secure. I know that God loves me. I know that I'm in his hands, and I know he has a wonderful future ahead of me. She said, and I don't fear anything. I'm ready. And I left there just absolutely stunned at her example. But there's something that Mrs. Winstead understood, and there's something, of course, that Jesus Christ understood.

And that's this. You have probably a book like this, a Bible, and we put so much emphasis on this physical life because, frankly, it's all we've ever known. But in front of my Bible—that's picture symbolically the Bible represents eternity—and in front of my Bible happened to be four pages called the preface. The preface is important because if you read the preface, you understand what the rest of the book is all about, why it was created, and its purpose, and what it all means.

But, brethren, the preface, in the sense of eternity, is like our physical lives. And, yeah, you know, if you're fortunate, you may live 70, 80, 90 years, maybe even 100. You might even live 100 years. And that's just like the preface in this book. But, brethren, when that preface is read, what God has planned for us in the resurrection is a whole lot better, a whole lot longer.

That preface, again, is important because if you read it, it tells you what's going to follow and why it's there. But we should never lose sight about what eternity and the rewards of being in God's family are truly all about and not limit our lives to the four pages of the preface.

Even as Jesus Christ faced death, he set an example of joy. He desired his disciples to experience the fullest possible joy just like he did. I want you to think, again, of Galatians 5 and notice the connection with love and joy. First, love is mentioned and the result after love is mentioned, of course, here in John 15 is joy. I want you to also notice that Jesus experienced joy in spite of what was ahead of him just a few hours from that point of time. Again, joy is internal. It happens on the inside in spite of external circumstances. Jesus wanted his disciples to experience joy now in the present. He said he wanted my joy to remain in you that your joy may be full. Jesus is saying to his disciples, I want you to have joy right now. I'm not talking about a sometime joy in some kingdom somewhere. That's fine, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about a little bit of joy. I am talking about the fullness of joy and you can have that now. That's what Jesus Christ is saying to his disciples.

Do we grasp that? Do we understand what is being offered to us now? Did the disciples get it?

Was that message lost on them? Did that message change them? Did it change their outlook and their perspective on life? Let's go to Acts chapter 5 and see if you'll turn there with me. Acts chapter 5. It probably may recall this story. If you've read the book of Acts, they were jailed for preaching the gospel in the temple. They had been arrested, but that night, miraculously, the doors swung open and they merrily skipped out the doors, went back to the temple, and started preaching the gospel again and performing healings and miracles. Well, the next day, the Jewish leaders went to get them out of jail. And you know what? They aren't there! Someone says, oh, you're looking at the wrong place. Those people that you jailed, they're not in jail. They're back in the temple. They're back there doing their thing. So the next day, the Jewish leaders hauled them, had them arrested, brought them in front of the council. Some wanted to execute them. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel said this. We're going to pick it up here in chapter 5, verse 38. And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or this work is from men, it will come to nothing. It'll die a natural death. It'll just grow old. It'll vent itself. It'll expire and die. Verse 39, but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest you even be found to fight against God. And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded them. This is a command. Get this. That they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. So how would you react? They were beaten, and I'm sure they were beaten severely, and commanded, you know what? If you do this again, this is what you have waiting for you. How did that beating feel? Good. Well, if you do it again, there's another one that's got your name on it. Okay, that's what they're told. It says in verse 41, so they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame in his name. So rather than shrieking away in fear, rather than being intimidated or feeling a sense of humiliation, I know the few times in my life when I was beaten, I was humiliated. I felt ashamed to be beaten, to be linked. They didn't feel that way at all. They're rejoicing, blanking blue marks all over them, skipping out, probably singing hymns, rejoicing in the fact that they were counted worthy to suffer shame in his name.

Remember my sermon a few weeks ago? That, you know what, that's an example of fear motivation.

The sadducee says, we're going to put a little fear motivation in these people. We're going to beat them, and we're going to command them not to do that, or they're going to get another beating. You know how long that worked? Verse 42, and daily in the temple and daily in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. They refused to be intimidated.

They did not give in to fear. They did what Jesus Christ had told them to do. And when they suffered for it, they rejoiced. And, brethren, they got it. The message he told them in John 15 about his joy remaining in them and their joy being full, they got the message. Joy is an emotion that happens on the inside and is generated by having the mind of Christ.

In spite of what happens on the outside, like getting beat to within inch of your life, or financial troubles, or health challenges, in spite of being laid off, or whatever you may be going through in your life, perhaps the condition of your car is held together by Elmer's glue and duct tape, or your house with its leaking roof, or needed a paint job in 1960.

In spite of those or any other external situation, joy is something that happens on the inside, and it transcends external events.

It transcends this white noise and the stuff going on on the outside.

As God's beloved children in the Cleveland congregation, can we get that like the disciples did? Can we get that message? Can we get that point?

Let's go to James chapter 1 and verse 2. James chapter 1 and verse 2.

James says, My brethren, count it all, joy, when you fall into various trials, knowing that detesting your faith produces patience.

But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. So what does James mean by this? Well, he's saying that various trials are external events that stress us out, and they weigh heavy on our mind. They may even make us anxious. They test our faith, because faith, like joy, is internal. So you have a war going on. Internal versus external. That's what he's saying.

The test is, who will win out? Our spiritual nature, including joy and patience and faith? Or will those external events going on overwhelm us and consume our thoughts and our minds? Will we allow them to steal our joy? What he is saying here is that when we are patient, when we leave everything in God's loving hands, no matter what it is from a beating to your accountant saying to you that you're so poor, you can't afford bankruptcy. Whatever you're going through in life, if it's external, will you allow that to control you? Or will you realize that you're in God's hands? And will you respond to that event in joy and in faith? He says, when we do that, we are maturing towards perfection. We are developing a godly characteristic. When we seize control and we don't allow those external events to dominate what's going on in that spongy matter between our two ears, we are maturing. We are perfecting. We are establishing the kingdom of God first between our two ears, knowing that we are preparing ourselves to be in that kingdom forever when Jesus Christ returns to earth. Very important scripture. Let's see the way that the Apostle Peter says this. 1 Peter chapter 4. You're going to say this in a little different way. Essentially the same thing, but in a different way. 1 Peter chapter 4.

Peter writes, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you. We shouldn't view challenges and trials as something strange. There's a word for that. It's called life. And while you were out, life happened. Verse 13. But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. What Peter calls Christ's sufferings here includes many things. It includes the kind of things that Jesus experienced. Persecution, mocking, accepting verbal abuse, physical beatings, and ultimately death. Peter's saying that to whatever we may be experiencing any of those things in our life, we should rejoice because it isn't strange. The fact that we have trials on us isn't strange. God has a plan for your life. God has a personal development plan specifically for you.

And he's going to work that plan. And the best thing that we can do is submit to that plan, leave those things in the hands of God, be the best example that we can be, and live a godly life in faith and trust and confidence, knowing that our salvation is secure.

Let's take a look at 1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 1. If you'll turn there with me.

I really enjoy the way John does this because he's passionately giving first-person commentary.

He's saying, I don't care with people. Other people say about Jesus Christ. He's saying, I was there. I was a witness to it all. He says here in 1 John 1 verse 1, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the word of life. He's saying, don't anyone tell me about who and what Jesus Christ is. I saw him with my own eyes. I touched him, his flesh with my own fingers. I heard him with my own ears, John says. But life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and declared to you that eternal life was with the Father and was manifested to us.

Eternal life manifested to us by the life of Jesus Christ. That which we have seen and heard, we declare to you that you may also have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be bold. Again, same as Jesus Christ. He's saying, not so that you can have joy someday in some kingdom somewhere, not just a little bit of joy. He's saying, joy, full joy, right now. Are we going to accept the word? Are we going to believe what Jesus Christ and his disciples are telling us? I think that's very, very important. Like all the fruits of the Holy Spirit, joy should not be hidden from others. It should be expressed openly and honestly in the way that we live, in how we act at home with our spouse and our children, how we act at work with our co-workers, and certainly how we act here at services. I want you to think about this. Think about the quality of joy. When you look at the other fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, to experience if a person has that other fruit, you have to be there with them. You have to talk to them. You have to engage them in a conversation. You might notice that they have faith. They're a very loving person. They're very patient. But you know what one fruit that you can tell a person has if you're 10 feet away from them? That fruit is joy because it radiates from them. It's the smile on their face. It's the twinkle in their eye. It's the passion in which they talk to anyone about God's way of life. It's something that you can notice from a distance. That is how powerful the fruit of joy is. So, in concluding the sermon today, how can we express a greater degree of joy as God's people here in the Cleveland congregation?

Well, the first thing we can do is understand the joy and recognize it. That it is a godly trait. It is a godly emotion that comes as a result of a relationship with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. And when you have that relationship, you have a deep sense of security, peace, and purpose that transcends human existence. It's hard to describe. We had someone who had hands laid on him a few weeks ago. I won't mention his name because I don't want to embarrass him. He came up to me a few weeks later and said, you know, since I had hands laid on to me, I still feel so good. I feel like a difference has happened in my life. I know that a change has taken place in my life. That's what he said. And, brethren, joy is the same way. That fruit of joy literally changes our countenance. It changes how we talk to one another, how we act in our lives. And it all comes beginning with a relationship, cementing that relationship. Number two, this fruit is attitudinal. It's internal. It is generated by a deep sense of gratitude and thanksgiving for what we have. It has nothing to do with material things or material blessings. I want to emphasize that so strongly. It has nothing to do, this is joy, with how the world defines success. I've personally known very poor individuals who had virtually nothing, as far as possessions, who radiated joy and peace, yet lived in poverty until the day they died. I've known a lot of seniors in the church that way, a lot of elderly people. On the other hand, I've known millionaires who died bitter and angry because they didn't have enough. So it has nothing to do with material blessings or what's going on on the outside. Number three, biblical joy is the result of always looking forward. It's not looking in the past, brethren. We've all made dumb things in the past. We've all made mistakes. Reliving that episode over again isn't going to generate joy. It's just going to relive those painful memories all over again. Let it go. God has forgiven it. He's forgotten it. Let it go and move forward. And also, there's a problem sometimes with living only in the present and not looking into the future, not being hopeful, not looking at God's promises because in our present world, there are a lot of things going on that can make us negative.

There are a lot of things going on in our world that can bring us down. So again, biblical joy is the result of always looking forward. Be hopeful and believe in God's promises.

There are two habits that will quickly steal your joy, and here they are. Number one is worry. Gentlemen, Leo F. Besaglia once said, Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy.

Worry. It'll overwhelm us. It'll crowd out the joy. Worry is a down payment on a problem you may never have. There's a good reason why Jesus said in Matthew 6, verse 25, Don't worry about your life. That's what he said. Seek first the kingdom.

Don't worry. Don't be anxious about your life. Have your priorities straight, and everything will work out. God will bless you with everything that you truly need.

If you have your priorities straight. So that's the first of the two habits that will quickly steal your joy. The second one is judging others. You see, constantly making judgmental thoughts about everyone and everything is incompatible with being joyful. You cannot be joyful and judging at the same time. They are in conflict with one another. Again, two opposing attitudes, and a negative one will always win out. Remember what James said in chapter 4, verse 12. He said, There is one lawgiver who is able to save and destroy. Who are you to judge another?

What's James saying here? He's saying the same being that gave the laws, let him do the judging.

It's his laws. He's the lawgiver. There is a judgment day. So focus on what you need to focus about, and don't spend so much energy and your emotional resources on judging everybody and everything and every event and overthinking and overanalyzing things because it steals your joy.

Very powerful principle. And then finally, the fifth thing is, of course, pray for the fruit, this fruit of the Spirit. As you're praying and meditating, think of all the blessings you have. Think of the life that God gave you. Think of your calling, how he worked behind the scenes long before you even realized he was calling you, and how he brought you to where you are today, understanding and accepting salvation and forgiveness. Think of the friends that you have, people you can fellowship with. Think of all the blessings that he's showered upon your life.

Appreciate that. Show gratitude. Show thankfulness. That'll help build the right kind of a relationship.

So finally, our final scripture, Philippians 4, verse 4, if you'll turn there with me, this will be our final scripture today. Philippians 4, verse 4.

Paul was inspired to write here, rejoice in the Lord always. He doesn't say rejoice in the Lord when you win the lottery. Rejoice in the Lord on payday. He doesn't say rejoice in the Lord only on the Sabbath. No, he says that that abiding fruit that is available to us, that we should be rejoicing each and every day. It should be reflected in our countenance, in how we look, in how we smile, in how we read and animate the joy that God has put within our lives. Rejoice in the Lord always again. In case you didn't get it, again, I will say rejoice.

So you think this was important to the Apostle Paul? Do you think it was easy for a man whose whole life was getting up, going to another strange city, and not knowing how he'd be welcomed? Do you think that was easy for him? Not knowing if he would go into a synagogue, if anyone would care, or if he'd go into a city and they'd just beat him and kick him out the door and say, last thing we need is some itinerant preacher in here, as happened to him often. There were times when he was beaten, when he was shipwrecked. So this is a guy who had been through a lot of difficult things in his life, and he's saying rejoice in the Lord always again. I say rejoice.

If he could, in spite of what he went through, how about us? Verse 5, let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing. Why? Because anxiousness creates worry, and 95% of that worry will be stuff that never even happens. It'll steal your joy.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God. And what's going to be the result of that? Verse 7, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, that inner peace that says, I am a child of God. My life is in his hands. Everything I face is part of his personal development plan for me. God will see me through, and when it's all over, I have eternity as my inheritance. That's why he says it's the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. How do you describe eternity? I can't. I haven't been there. It's hard.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So, brethren, as God's people here in the greater Cleveland congregation, I encourage all of us to think about the important fruit of joy and realize that it can make our lives easier because it'll change our perspective on the trials we go through and the problems. It'll make us the people that are attractive to new visitors and people that come through the door for the first time. They'll say, these people are different. I don't even see any lemon peels in this congregation. So, let's appreciate what God's word says and do everything we can to have full joy right now.