The Joy of Salvation

Well, if I got to mention, Jennifer and the family say hello. In Knoxville, we've had several that haven't been able to come back yet due to health concerns, so we're pretty short-handed. So Jennifer and Grayson are running the sound today in Knoxville. That's why they couldn't be here. But the usual sound guy is song leading and giving the sermonette today. So he doesn't mind, though, feeling wherever needed. Well, the title of our sermon study today is The Joy of Salvation. The Joy of Salvation. So I invite you to open your Bibles once again, and we're going to turn to a very familiar passage of Scripture today found in Galatians 5, verses 22 through 25, where the fruit of the Spirit is found. Galatians 5, verses 22 through 25. Now, last Sabbath, you'll remember that we did take a look at love in preparation for Pentecost. Love was our focus. Love with regards to God. Love with regards to our relations with one's another, as a church bound by one's spirit. And as I reflected on that this week, I was moved and felt the need to, and it felt natural to, continue in that regard and to start a study series in the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit, of course, is found here in Galatians 5. So let's read this together. Paul is writing to the church in Galatia and writing to us today. Galatians 5, beginning in verse 22.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law, and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. So let's stop there. Well, it's of course quite a list. And you'll notice right away that it's really a beautiful picture. We have this beautiful picture of a lovely fruit that Paul paints for us here. And we can imagine this fruit. There's a beauty in it. There is perhaps an aroma and a sweetness of fragrance, a sweetness in taste in it all. It's a wonderful way to describe what it is to be holy, isn't it? People say, what does it look like to be holy? What does it look like to be godly? What does it look like to be Christ-like? Well, this is what it looks like. Again, there's a beauty in it, a fragrance, a sweetness in taste.

And this picture which Paul paints here, it actually is an image and it's a symbolism that runs throughout all of the Scripture for your notes in the Old Testament, for example. The psalmist begins in Psalms 1 verse 3, and he opens up by saying that the godly, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, and he is one who brings forth its fruit in its season. So that's where your notes are in Psalm 1 verse 3. And we know, of course, even Jesus Christ came and he said to the disciples, very familiar words, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. That's John 15.5.

Then also with admonishment, Matthew 7 verse 19, he says to them, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

He goes on to say, by their fruit you will know them.

This picture comes to us again and again throughout Scripture, explaining that a true disciple of Jesus Christ is recognizable by his or her fruit. In other words, recognizable by his or her character, by his or her being, his or her attributes. And what kind of fruit is the fruit of the Spirit? Well, we just read it, didn't we? The fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, and so on. And he goes on to say, walk in it, you know, live in it. And so we come to this second fruit today, the fruit of the Spirit, joy. But before we move into this study on joy, I think it would be helpful for us to provide just two fundamental truths with regards to the fruit of the Spirit in its totality. Okay, I want to give you a foundation before we move into joy. Two fundamental truths here with regards to the totality of the fruit of the Spirit. Number one truth is the fruit is produced as a result of God's Spirit in us. Okay, so that's number one. The totality of this fruit, it's produced as a result of God's Spirit in us. In other words, it's a result of being called and brought to faith by God through Jesus Christ. And then it's the evidence that that has occurred. It's the evidence that Christ is in us.

And you will find throughout the letter of Galatians, Paul is making sure that his readers understand the wonder of this fruit and also the results of what it means to be in Christ. The results of what it means to be in Christ. The evidence that his Spirit is living in us.

There's an expectation of results. So the result, the consequence of God's grace being applied in a life is this fruit. That's important to get. We can't rush by this. This fruit, which comes as a result of the life being given to you, this is the fruit which emerges and is evidence of that life. What life? Well, the life of Jesus Christ implanted in us, his Holy Spirit. And I use the word evidence purposefully.

This is real fruit. It's real fruit. It's tangible. If you've ever gone to the grocery store and looked at a jar of fruit jelly, tell me if someone if you've experienced this, and you turn the jar around, only to discover the fruit jelly has no fruit in it.

Has anybody experienced that? I see some nods. It makes no sense. Or you can even get fruit juice, turn it around, there's no fruit in it, it says. Well, when this is produced, this fruit in the life of a son or daughter of God, it's real. And everyone around the son or daughter, the child of God, is able to see it. It's just like a tangible fragrance that their life exudes. So it's not plastic fruit. When Jennifer and I were staging back in another lifetime, Jennifer had a staging company, that's one of the things we would do. We would stage a home that was getting ready to be sold.

You put out this plastic fruit, and you try to be a little deceptive. You put maybe a few actual fruit in it, but the majority was the plastic fruit, so that you could reuse it again. Well, this is real. There's a real evidence of this fruit displayed in the life of an individual that Christ is living in there. And I want to drive this home I want to drive this home, because it's clearly possible for an individual to be interested in religion. Or it's clearly possible for an individual to be concerned about spiritual matters.

For example, interested enough to create outward change in one's habits. You know, interested enough to come to church. Interested enough to adjust certain habits. That's possible without actually there being an inward change of the heart. Okay? Outward change in habit without inward change of a heart. It's very possible. And one way you'll know that if you have plastic fruit in that way, where it's just kind of exterior, one way you'll know that there's plastic fruit in your life is that when you endeavor to express some of this fruit, this love, joy, peace, kindness, and so on, inevitably you'll find yourself continually failing in these areas.

When examining your life, plastic fruit is most evident when you don't find yourself making progress in walking in the fruit of the Spirit. And your experience in this Christianity experience will just be frustrating beyond belief. You'll look back to your year and you'll discover, I haven't made much change. You know, I haven't made much progress. And what it may be is that you're endeavoring to add fruit, to patch on fruit.

You know, I think I want to be a little bit more kind this year. I think I want to be a little bit more... I want to have more goodness, you know. And you may be going through an exercise of patchwork without inward change, inward transformation. The fruit of the Spirit can only grow in the soul of the heart.

Okay? It can only grow there. So if you're having difficulty producing this fruit, it may be because the change has to happen here first. Here. We're going to talk about that a little bit today. We're going to talk about inward change. And it will help you to get more and more joy. And it will help you not only in achieving true joy, but it will also help set the foundation for these other fruits to begin to grow, truly grow in you.

And it's a challenge. But we don't want to sidestep this. It's absolutely crucial. We don't want to deceive ourselves at all. The Bible talks about, the New Testament talks about the dangers of deceiving ourselves, and we need to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith, it says. We won't turn there, but 2 Corinthians 13.5 says, examine yourself to see if you're in the faith.

And a part of that examination is that we have evidence of that faith. What's the evidence? This fruit. Now we know that we're not saved by fruit. We're not saved by fruit, we're saved by faith. But it's not fruitless faith, okay? We are saved by fruitful faith.

So we must have fruitful faith. One of the most telling signs that a vine or a tree is alive is by the fruit. Otherwise, it's an indication of death. And this examination is important. I wanted to really drive home this that first fundamental truth. Back in 1995, we saw a whole huge portion of God's church, those in God's church, followed by the wayside. And I just wonder if there was patchwork being done. Trying to put on goodness and joy and faith and all these things. But there wasn't actually something happening here. It was enough to change their habits where they would work around the Sabbath. They would quit their jobs. They would come to services. But it just ended up being fake fruit. That's what we don't want today. Can't have that today. So that's the first fundamental truth. The fruit produced will be as a result of Christ in us, His Spirit in us, dwelling in us. Number two fundamental truth with regards to the totality of the fruit of the Spirit. Number two fundamental truth is it's singular. I wonder if you notice that. So that's number two fundamental truth. It's singular. Notice first, we're going to singular. Notice verse 22, but the fruit of the Spirit is. So it's not the fruits of the Spirit are. It's one fruit. Now this is in contrast to spiritual gifts, you'll notice. When Paul writes about spiritual gifts, he says the gifts are apportioned to the church in various ways.

He says about spiritual gifts, do all do this? No. Do all do that? No.

The gifts given to the church are given so that individually, in various ways, so that when we come together, we can become all that he wants us to be gift-wise. You know, gifts, it's not shared equally by all. But in relation to fruit, it's different. These nine graces of Christian character together form one indivisible fruit of the Spirit. Important to realize, because I was thinking about this, some of us, just by our makeup, are naturally able to identify with certain aspects of this fruit than others. You know, for example, you might just find a nice person, you know, they're just kind. And whether they had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit or not, they're kind people. They're just kind, you know. Or that individual, as long as I've known them, they're just gentle. There's something about them that's just gentle, okay? So someone says, well, I have the gentle aspect. I don't have the long-suffering aspect. So I'm gonna rely on someone else to compensate for me on that. No. No. God implants His Spirit in the individual so as to create this one perfect fruit in the individual. Okay? In other words, He does not produce love without patience. He does not produce joy without goodness, and so on. That's not how it works. The work of the Spirit of God in the life of a child is to create one full fruit reality in the Son or the daughter of God. So that's the second fundamental truth. I think and hope that will be helpful to us as we move into this particular study on joy. Now, last time at the head of the list, of course, is love. You remember we went to class last Sabbath, three love lessons from the Apostle John. We could have taken a whole series on love. You can take a whole series on joy, of course, but we won't have the opportunity for that. But let me just begin in this way. Let me begin in this way. With regards to joy, one of the most remarkable things in which I have encountered, particularly in moving into this role of a pastor, is to be able to witness how God's sons and daughters have been able to handle trial and struggle. In other words, it's just remarkable to me. It's been so enlightening, the ability for God's people to be joyful, joyful in the face of such strife or struggle. So many occasions. I have been witness to unexpected and really unnatural joy as it emerges from a son or daughter of God during the news of devastating loss or trial. It's so striking to see joy emerge during various difficult times. And in witnessing these things, I've made it a goal of mine just to attain more unexpected joy.

And as I thought about these things and thought about how this is possible, I think we first need to begin with the distinction between happiness and joy. Because happiness and joy are very different from one another. Happiness in the English word in the Latin, it's hap, the Latin hap, H-A-P, which is chance. So when you think about happiness, or when you think about the pursuit of happiness, it runs along the lines of health, or success, or perhaps possessions. Happiness in large part is regarded as the spontaneous result of pleasures in a moment in time. But by contrast, joy is not determined merely by the sense of outward or external pleasures or circumstances. Joy can be experienced when things are not well. Okay? Some of us are facing illness today. Some of us are facing bereavement. Some of us are facing uncertainty financially. Some of us are facing insecurity by all different ways. But I'm here to tell you, even in that space, joy can still emerge.

Not happiness. Happiness doesn't emerge during those times. Joy does. Why? Well, happiness depends on what happens. Joy is not dependent upon circumstances or surroundings. So we might say at this point, joy is unnatural. If you said joy seems unnatural to me, you're right. Because joy, when we're speaking of joy today, we're speaking of the supernatural. It is the supernatural. It's... I was trying to think of a way to put a label on it. The best I can come up with is Christian joy. You know, this is different. It's Christian joy. True Christian joy.

Again, it's not produced by us. It's produced as a result of Christ being in us. And as we mentioned with all the fruit, it's supernatural. It's the supernatural results of the Spirit residing in us. So this may also bring up a question. Does that mean, then, that someone who's not a true Christian can't experience this distinction between happiness and joy? You know, someone says, well, are you saying that only true Christians can understand or experience the distinction between happiness and joy? That's a good theological question, you know. And the answer, I believe, is no. Because I think we'd have to say that even those who don't have God's Spirit, they may know a joy that's distinct from happiness.

Because there is joy experienced as people strive to live according to biblical values.

One commentator puts it this way. There is a joy which can be experienced as men and women live even in an external way according to God's laws and His ways.

So you will see a lot of men and women experiencing joy as they intentionally or unintentionally live by God's ways. And the Bible makes that clear. Even living externally by God's ways will produce blessing, therefore will produce joy as behavior is in harmony with God's values.

One commentator puts it this way. It is moral joy which can be experienced. There is an external moral joy that can be a benefit that men and women can experience by living in harmony with God's ways. Okay? But I want to make a distinction today, a further distinction between moral external joy and that of an inner true Christian joy. It's not the same. There were so many back in our previous establishment before 1995 that experienced blessings and joy even by living God's way. It certainly was there. But again, there's a distinction here that I really want to hone in on today. Because the joy of a true Christian is unique. It's much more internal. It's much more deep. Because at its essence is ultimately the joy of salvation. Okay? That's what we're truly speaking about today. When we read about joy, the fruit of the spirit joy, at its core is the essence of the joy of salvation. It's not merely the sense of joy or well-being we have when our behavior lines up with our beliefs. Okay? I'll repeat that. It's not merely the sense of joy or well-being we have because our behavior lines up with our beliefs. Although there is a joy in that space. It's not merely that, though. This is what Christ made this distinction. There were plenty of Pharisees that lined their behavior up with their belief. But their heart wasn't in it, was it? So this is, there's a distinction here. This is far deeper. There's a more of a significant joy here. It's a pure joy, if you will. It's a salvation joy. What is salvation joy? What is the joy of salvation?

It is the joy which is grounded in the fact that we know all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Okay? It is the joy grounded in the fact that we know that He died for us and freed us from sin's power, dominion from Satan's power, and from death. So this fruit of the Spirit joy ultimately lives outside of emotion, and it dwells in what you know, what you know about the salvation that has been offered to you.

So when I'm sitting next to someone in a hospital bed, where they've delivered just the most devastating news, and I still see joy emerge from that man or that woman of God, this is the joy that's on display. It's salvation joy, and it's absolutely unexpected.

It startles me every time to see it in a wonderful way. Again, salvation joy comes from knowing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has forgiven me.

And I know that He lives, and I know He's taken the penalty of death from me, and I know when my conscience accuses me, I know when I'm weak, and I have failure, and I'm experiencing disease or loss, this joy comes, and it drives me back again and again to the solid rock, the rock of my salvation, Jesus Christ. True Christian joy, as well as the other parts of the fruit, it's ultimately a one-fruit grace experience. So, it's the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ living in me. It enables me to face up to the storms of life and still be joyful. It is the fruit which cannot be erased from my life. In fact, salvation joy allows you to face head-on those things which try to take this aspect of the fruit away from you. Pascal, the French philosopher and mathematician, he said in the 17th century, he said, being unable to cure death, wretchedness, and ignorance, men have decided in order to be happy, we must not think on these things. Okay? So, that's how we do it. That's how the philosophy is. I'm going to cover my ears, I'm going to cover my eyes, you know, to the whole situation. Ignore, perhaps it'll go away. I'm going to ignore the wretchedness that I see around me. I'm going to plug my ears to all those things. I'm going to cover my eyes to the wretchedness that I know is in my own heart. You know, my jealousy, my spitefulness, my anger. If I don't think about it, I'll be okay. I want to be happy. You know, that's the philosophical approach. I'm going to deal with it on an emotional level. I'm going to deaden my emotions through all myriad of ways, you know.

I'm just going to go live in a hole so I can have happiness.

But that philosophical approach, it's plastic fruit. It's not lasting. But this joy that we're speaking about, it allows us to face up to these things. It allows us to think about these things head-on because it's a joy that's based in abject reality.

It's not based in subjective feelings.

Pure joy is anchored by the facts of faith. And this is a message that the Bible gives throughout all of Scripture.

I'll give you one example. It's why James, when he writes regarding these things, he's very careful. He's very deliberate in his language. He's explaining, perhaps in one of the most famous scriptures regarding joy. Let's turn there. You may be thinking about it. James 1 verses 2 through 4. Let's turn there for a moment. James 1 verses 2 through 4. We find here James speaking about salvation joy and what we're exploring here. And see if what he says supports what we're talking about. James 1 verses 2 through 4. Look at his words. See how he couches very carefully his words relating to joy and how we can truly have this aspect of fruit. James 1 beginning in verse 2. My brethren, count it all joy. Another translation is consider it all joy. When you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work. That you may be perfect, complete, lacking, nothing. Let's stop there. So what he's saying is we can face these things. We can face trials.

And we can face these potentially joy-sapping things. We can face these spiritual caterpillars. We can face these spiritual fruit moths.

We can face up to these spiritual aphids. They're all various. They're all different. They come in all different kinds. You get rid of one. There's another one that is behind it. The world says what Pascal says to cover your ears, cover your eyes, conceal it, ignore it. Maybe it'll go away. You know? No. James says, no, I want you to consider something. I want you to count something here. This is a thoughtful process. Get thoughtful. When you're thinking about the fruit of joy, you've got to get thinking. We have to be thinking men and women. Count it. Consider it all joy when you face these various trials. How can that be? This is a contradiction. Joy and trials. Most of us avoid trials so that we can have joy. If you have trials, you can't possibly have joy.

We've got to get rid of the trials so that we can get on with joy. No. James says, I want you to know that joy, you will actually find it in trials. You're going to find this fruit in trials. So if you've been looking for this fruit in any other place, stop looking. I'll tell you where it is so contradictory. The fruit of joy is found in trials. It's found under those rocks. When we're faced down in a trial, our feet have been knocked out from under us. This is actually where this fruit is found. You will find it in trials. And let me just pause here. If we can get this as a congregation, especially with all that's happening around us, we will be transformational in this society. We're going to be alight. Because look at what James is bringing forth here. The way in which you count it joy is not by moving yourself out of the space of trial, or simply dealing with it emotionally. No? How do we count it joy? How do we have this fruit in the face of trials? Well, look here, verse 3. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. How do we do that? Verse 3, here it comes. Because you know. Because you know.

Not because you feel. It's what we know. And look at this progression here, verse 3.

Knowing, verse 3, that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work. That you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. So what is this? What is he speaking about? Perfection, completeness, lacking nothing. What is he speaking of?

He's speaking of salvation. This is salvation. So whatever comes to steal this fruit from you of joy, whatever it may be, you consider it all joy because it actually is going to give way to salvation. Therefore, it's going to produce in you a joy at that moment. A lasting joy. Again, notice he's not addressing it in emotions. Happiness deals with emotions.

He speaks of it in consideration matters. Be considerate the facts of faith.

Consider it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing. This is the joy of salvation. So you're laying there at 3 a.m. and all these things are running around in your mind.

And you've got to bring your mind to this, where you say, all of this can be taken away from me. You can take it all away. Take away my security. Take away my health. Take away my everything I hold dear.

Take it all away, if you so choose. You're not taking this away.

You're not taking this away. You're not taking the joy of my salvation away. Ever. This is the root in knowing. This is how you're going to produce this fruit. There's no other way, ultimately. You can google, how do I find happiness? And you'll find seven ways to happiness. You'll find 12 ways to find joy in your life. Plenty of material. And I'm not going to share any of that with you today.

And it's not that the list is horrible. It's actually some really good stuff. It is. But ultimately, when you've had your gut punch in life, ultimately all those things are going to be plastic fruit. When the rubber meets the road, you need a joy that can stand up to what you're facing.

And the Greek here is very helpful to us. It's the Greek word ginosko, to know. It's the Greek word for to know. It's really helpful because it speaks of a relationship experience. It speaks of a knowledge of the heart, where you experience a relationship. So, to have this fruit of joy to begin to grow in you, your prayer needs to be, I want to know Christ that lives in me. I want to know it. Once you start making that prayer and begin to focus in that way, this fruit will begin to grow in you in a very personal way. It's a very personal fruit. You can only get it in a very personal way. It's not something. This fruit, this salvation joy fruit, is not inherited. You can't get it from your parents. You can't inherit it from your grandparents. It's not ultimately passed on to you by the church. Rather, it's a knowledge of you responding to the personal invitation from God the Father through Jesus Christ to take a hold of the offer of salvation. It's a very personal gift. It's offered to you personally. It's offered to me personally. It's the knowledge of an intimate personal relationship to know Christ, not to simply know things about Him.

This isn't knowing the books of the Bible by heart. This isn't ticking off a code of ethics of righteousness, let's say. I go to church. I eat clean. I don't eat unclean meat. I go to church. I eat, you know, click, check, check, check, check. All those things required, and we'll talk about it in a moment, all those things will lead you to a relationship. But this, what we're talking about here, is to know Him, to know Christ living in you. It's relationship. It's a passion. So let me ask, do you know Him in this way? Do you want to know Him in this way? Is it a passion in your life? One day we will stand before Jesus Christ and God the Father, and I don't want to say, me personally, I don't want to say, you know, I wish I would have known more of this aspect of joy, this relationship. I wish I would have spent more time with your word, Father, and with your son in prayer. I wish I'd have talked with you more. I wish I would have listened more frequently. I wish I would have known more joy in my heart. I wish I'd have been in the scriptures more. Incidentally, again, this is the key in knowing Christ, okay? The only way to truly get to know someone is to spend time with them, to live with them, see what they're really like. You know, when I began, when I met Jennifer, and it was on a beach in Corpus Christi, Texas, we were there on the beach, and we were with our friends, and I asked her if she wanted to take a walk down the beach with me. And that's when I began to fall in love with her on that walk. And what it was, I just, I was just full of questions. I wanted to know everything about this beautiful being that was next to me. I just couldn't know about her more quickly. I just wanted to find out about her. I'd walk with her, ask to walk with her.

Oh, if we would have a desire to fall in love with Jesus Christ and to walk with Him, come, this perfect, wonderful elder brother that God has sent to us, a desire to walk with Him, share with Him, learn and know about Him, grow with Him, a chance to know more of this fruit, this joy through Him. Well, I'd like to conclude today with a little encouragement regarding this particular fruit and all the fruits that we'll encounter in the upcoming studies. I know little about plants or trees, but what I do know is that you plant them in certain seasons, and they actually don't actually produce fruit until a much later time. Isn't that right? So you plant them in the autumn, let's say, and they come up in the spring. It takes time. So while the Spirit has been given to you through baptism and repentance and the laying on of hands, while that is true, or if you're not baptized yet, the Spirit's working with you, while that's true, it takes time. This fruit won't instantaneously sprout. It won't instantaneously bud. So it often comes in an unhurried way. It's often a lengthy process. So while we are a fact of this examination, it's important, and we need to take this seriously, we also need to be encouraged to be patient with yourself during this. There is a promise that it will be produced as you focus on it and as you pray for it.

Perhaps be patient with yourself. There are times in which there are winter seasons. It'll appear as if nothing is happening, but I want to encourage you that spring will come if you dedicate yourself to these fruits and to this particular one. You will begin to see the evidence of a little green shoot that will come up of a little bud of joy. It will be able to come up in your life, and when you see it, just thank God for it. So this is our prayer today. May this fruit begin to grow in our lives in a greater and greater way, and may it be the joy, the fruit of joy, of your salvation.