The holy spirit fruit of joy 2

THE HOLY SPIRIT FRUIT OF JOY 2
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
GALATIANS 5:22Butthe fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, forbearance,kindness, goodness,
faithfulness,
Treasuryof Sermons
Galatians 5:22,23 - The Fruit Of the Spirit: Joy
By Rev Charles Seet
Preachedat Life BPC 8 am service, 2006-07-16
Text: Galatians 5:22,23
One of the greatestpursuits of man is his pursuit of joy or happiness. It is one
of the most soughtafter objects in the world. Composers write songs and
poems about it (eg. Beethoven's famous 'Ode to Joy'). Philosphers seek to
determine what constitutes the kind of life that brings real happiness to
humans. Governments attempt to lead their nations toward achieving
happiness. (e.g. it is enshrined in our own national pledge 'so as to achieve
happiness, prosperity and progress forour nation'). Nottoo long ago, the king
of Bhutan coined a new term 'Gross NationalHappiness' (GNH) to measure
his ownkingdom's progress.
Interestingly, while everyone pursues joy or happiness, all have different ideas
about what real happiness is. Ayn Rand, a Russian-born American novelist

said, 'Happiness is that state of consciousness whichproceeds from the
achievementof one's values.'But Mahatma Gandhi concluded that
'Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in
harmony.' Jacques Rousseau(18th century Frenchpolitical philosopher)
defined happiness as having 'a good bank account, a goodcook and a good
digestion.'But according to the comedian George Burns, happiness is 'having
a large, loving, caring close-knitfamily in another city.' And Albert
Schweitzerbelieved that 'Happiness is nothing more than goodhealth and a
bad memory.' Since early last Monday the Italians may have their own
definition of happiness, and it has something to do with a ball and a cup. And
perhaps you may have your own idea or definition of what constitutes
happiness.
One problem that all this presents to us is that what brings happiness to man
can sometimes be things that are utterly evil, painful and even destructive.
Four years ago, a British family doctorby the name of Harold Shipman was
sentencedto 15 life imprisonments for killing at least215 patients over 23
years. Mostof the victims were elderly women who were given lethal
injections by Dr Shipman. The court inquiry of this worstserial killer in
Brittain's history revealedthat there was no other motive behind his horrific
acts than the fact that he enjoyed watching people die! It is said that he was
addicted to killing.
And the pursuit of happiness is actually the cause behind most kinds of
addiction. What often makes people addicted to something is the thrilling
sensation, the desirable pleasure or happiness it gives. But that kind of
happiness ultimately leads people into terrible bondage and grief. This is all
the direct outcome of man's sinful nature. Ever since sin entered the world at
the beginning, man's desires have become so distorted and perverted by sin,
that the things which he enjoys doing the most are often sinful or tainted with
sin. 'O what fun it is to taste forbidden fruit! How thrilling it is to put one's
life at greatrisk and evento defy death. What delight there is in fooling others

with some skilful deceit. What joy it is to scare somebodyout of his wits. What
exhilaration one feels when one's heart is lifted up with pride! What pleasure
there is in exacting sweetrevenge.'
Dearly beloved, if all these sound all too familiar to you, or if you have even
the slightestaffinity to any of them, please beware!Please be warnedmost
solemnly that these are not the kinds of happiness or joy that you should seek,
for they will ultimately bring your soul to ruin and your life to eternal
destruction. The kind of happiness or joy that you should be seeking forwith
all your heart is divine joy - the kind of joy that the Bible describes.
I. What Is This Joy?
Let us learn now what the Bible says about this divine joy. Firstly it is
A. A Joy that God Himself Enjoys
We know this from what the prophet Zephaniah mentioned in Zephaniah 3:17
'The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice
over thee with joy; he will restin his love, he will joy over thee with singing.'
(see also Isaiah62:5; 65:19) The word for 'joy' in this verse is translated from
the Hebrew word 'simchah.' This word is found 89 times in the Old Testament
and it describes a joy or gladness ofthe heart, a deep-seatedjoythat involves
the whole disposition. How comforting it is to know that our great God not
only loves us, but He has greatjoy, happiness and even pleasure over us who
belong to Him. Psalm 147:11 tells us that 'The LORD taketh pleasure in them
that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.'

B. A Joy of God's People
The Hebrew word Simchah is not only used for the joy of God. It is also the
word most frequently used in the Old Testamentto describe the divine joy of
God's people. Forinstance, it describes the exuberant that joy King David
displayed as he led the Israelites in a grand processionto bring the Ark of the
Covenantinto Jerusalem(2 Samuel 6:12). It describes the joy of the Levites as
they lifted up their voices to sing praises at the Lord's Tabernacle orTemple
(1 Chronicles 15:16;2 Chronicles 29:30). It describes the joyful giving of
God's people toward the building of the Holy Temple when David exhorted
them to bring their offerings (1 Chronicles 29:9,17). It also describes the joy of
the Jews in the great spiritual revival they experiencedunder the reign of the
godly king Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30:21,23,26).
C. A Joy that is Found in God's Presence
One important verse of Scripture where this divine joy is mentioned is Psalm
16:11 'Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at
Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.'Here King David describes
for us the awesome senseofjoy he experiencedwhen he was in the presence of
God. There were probably many other things that King David enjoyed in life,
for he had more fame, powerand riches than anyone at his time could wish
for. And yet of all the many joys that King David enjoyed, none can compare
with the divine joy that he found in God's presence. He testified that in God's
presence there is fullness of joy!
D. A Joy that Refreshes the Soul

There are two things worth mentioning about the divine joy of Psalm16:11 -
Firstly, in the whole Old Testament, this is the only instance where this word
'joy' is used in its plural form: and it is actually 'joys.' This plurality of joy
may imply that we will never grow wearyof divine joy, because there will
always be new and refreshing dimensions of joy to discoverevery time. That is
what you will find in God's presence:joy upon joy, and joy after joy! What a
refreshing joy this is!
E. A Joy that Satisfies the Soul
The secondthing worth mentioning is that this is the only verse where the
word 'joy' is combined togetherwith the word 'fulness' to form the unique
expression, 'fulness of joy.' The word 'fulness' here can also be translatedas
'satisfaction.'This adds new meaning to our understanding of divine joy. It is
a joy that fully satisfies the soul. What a deeply satisfying joy this is!
It is no wonder then that David should mention how much joy he found in
God's presence in a few other psalms as well, e.g. Psalm21:6 'For Thou hast
made him [i.e. King David] most blessedfor ever: Thou hast made him
exceeding gladwith Thy countenance.'and Psalm 43:4 'Then will I go unto
the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy:...' Dearly beloved, this is the
kind of joy we should certainly desire to have in our hearts at all times.
F. A Joy that Can Be Lost Through Sin
Now, while King David regularly enjoyed this divine joy because ofhis close
walk with God, there were some moments in his life when he lost it. We see
evidence of this in Psalm 51, which David wrote to confess his sin againstGod,
'Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation'(v.2) and in v.8 'Make me to hear

joy and gladness;that the bones which thou hast brokenmay rejoice.'Here
David was praying that God would now restore to him the divine joy which he
had before, and which he described in verse 11 of Psalm16. Interestingly,
verse 11 of Psalm51 also mentions God's presence 'Castme not away from
thy presence;and take not thy holy spirit from me.'
David knew that his sin has causedhim to lose the divine joy he had, and since
that joy was to be found only in God's presence, he pleaded that he would not
be castawayfrom God's presence becauseofhis sin. Perhaps David was
worried that God would do to him what He had done to his predecessor, King
Saul. God abandonedKing Saul because ofhis persistent selfishdisobedience
to His commands. From them onward he was troubled by an evil spirit and
only David's harp-playing could soothe him.
G. A Joy that Comes from the Holy Spirit
But what I would like all of us to observe now in Psalm 51:11 is that David
also pleaded that Godwould not take His Holy Spirit from him. From this we
can now understand clearlyhow God's presence was with David - It was
actually through the Spirit of God who dwelt in him! The source of David's
joy was really God the Holy Spirit who was with David wherever he went.
And this now enables us to understand how we too canhave the same joy.
II. How Can We Have This Joy?
A. Through the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

We canonly have the divine joy of the Lord when the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
It is only then that God's presence canbe manifestedto us in a specialway.
And when does the Holy Spirit come to dwell within us? From the moment
that we are savedfrom sin! In Romans 8:9 Paul says 'But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.' (see also Romans 8:11, 1
Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Galatians 4:6) Paul goes onto say that it is God's
Spirit dwelling in you that makes you call him, 'Abba, Father' (Romans 8:15).
What this means is that only those who are savedcan experience divine joy. If
you are still unsaved, there is no way that this joy can be yours! I speak now
to any friends here with us who still have not turned to Christ yet for salvation
- Why do you still wait to turn awayfrom your sins and turn to Christ? Don't
you know that there are many wonderful blessings that canbe yours even
today, when you make Jesus Christ your Lord and Saviour? Don't you long to
know the blessedjoy of having Christ in your life? May the Lord convict your
soul of sin and draw you to Himself this very day.
Now I speak to the rest of us - namely those who are alreadysaved. If you are
a truly born-again Christian, the Holy Spirit is now dwelling in you, and He
will never leave you. Now you have the privilege to experience that wonderful
fullness of joy that comes from God's presence in your life! Now your soulcan
fully enjoy the sweetness ofblessedcommunion with the Lord. But perhaps
many of you may say that you are not experiencing enough of this joy. You
say that there are moments when you can sense God's presence in your heart,
but it is not always there. There are also times when you seemto be missing
both His presence and the joy that it brings. Dearlybeloved, the reasonwhy
you experience suchseasons ofspiritual dryness is exactlythe same as for
King David's life - There is sin in your life that you have not dealt with. It is
sin that takes awaythe joy of your fellowship with God. Although He still
remains with you, you cannot enjoy fellowship with God when you allow sin in
your life.

But when you confess yoursins, God is faithful and just to forgive you your
sins and to cleanse youfrom all unrighteousness. Whenyou plead with God
like David did saying, 'Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right
spirit within me Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation and uphold me with
thy free spirit' (Psalm51:10,12)the Lord will restore your fellowship with
Him, and with that He will also restore divine joy to your soul. Then the
fullness of joy from the Spirit of God who dwells in you will be yours once
again.
B. Through the Filling of the Holy Spirit
Now, such a prayer for restorationof your fellowshipwith God is essentially
the same as asking the Lord that you may be filled againwith the Holy Spirit.
Let us listen now to what the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 5:17-18 'Forthe
flesh lusteth againstthe Spirit, and the Spirit againstthe flesh: and these are
contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.' The flesh here refers to
the sinful nature within us which, unfortunately, we often allow to take over
the controlof our lives, resulting in sin. On the other hand the Spirit of God
who dwells in us wants us to give Him full control. This giving of control to the
Holy Spirit is also knownas 'being filled with the Spirit' (Ephesians 5:18) or
'being led by the Spirit' (Galatians 5:18).
Now, when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, v.22 says that you will produce
the Fruit of the Spirit. Take a look now at the list of nine virtues that make up
the fruit of the Spirit in v.22, and you well see that the secondone is joy! This
is the same divine joy that we have seenearlier - the joy that God Himself
enjoys, the joy that is meant for God's people to experience, the joy that is
found only in God's presence, the joy that refreshes and satisfies the soul, but
which also can be lost through sin!

Now, that we know what this divine joy is, and how we can have it in our daily
life, let us consider:
III. Why Do We NeedThis Joy?
Is this divine joy something that is optional? Not at all. Is it only for the most
spiritual believers to experience? No, it is not. It is for all believers of every
age and every level of spirituality. Every one of us ought to have this divine
joy. Dearly beloved, do you know that it is our God-given duty not to be
morose and sadChristians, but to be joyful Christians? That is why we are
commanded in Philippians 4:4 to rejoice in the Lord always. The joy that we
have in the Lord can fulfill at leastthree important functions: It sustains us, it
strengthens us, and it sets us apart from the world.
A. It Sustains Us
Unlike all other kinds of joy, the divine joy that we have in the Lord is not at
all dependent on our circumstances. The joys of the world exist only while
joyful circumstances prevail. The laughter and pleasure that worldly
entertainment brings is soondissipated after the show ends and the sober
reality of life descends upon us.
The thrill of winning the World cup is only for a brief shining moment,
because in 4 years time, another country will probably win it. Everyone who
relies on such joy to sustain them will find themselves disappointed! Solomon,
the writer of Ecclesiastes,saidthat he gave himself fully to enjoying every
kind of worldly pleasure that he could lay his hands on with all the riches at
his disposal. But at the end of it all, when he assessedall that he had gained,

he said, 'behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit
under the sun.' (Ecclesiastes2:11b). Earthly joys cannotsustain you.
But the divine joy that we have in the Lord is different from this. It does not
depend on circumstances, andhence we can rejoice in the Lord both in good
times as well as bad times. Because ofthis, we can rely on it to sustain us even
during our most difficult and painful trials in life. Listen to what the prophet
Habakkuk said: 'Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be
in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat;
the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.'
(Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Perhaps you are presently going through a very difficult time of your life,
when things are not going very well for you. It may be that you are struggling
now to cope with sickness, with loss, with disappointment or with failure. If
this is true of you, please do not be dishearted or discouragedby these things,
but rejoice in the Lord just like Habakkuk did. Let God be your source of
exceeding joy. Remind yourself that He is still in full controlof all things, and
trust Him to grant you His sufficient grace to journey through your difficult
path.
And when you do that, you will be able to sing gladsongs of joy even in the
darkestnight! This was how Paul and Silas were able to sing praises to Godin
the Philippian jail at midnight, despite being badly mistreated and abused.
You need this joy, because it sustains you. The next function of the divine joy
of the Lord we shall consider is that:
B. It Strengthens Us

The lastpart of Nehemiah8:10 reads, 'the joy of the Lord is your strength.'
The backgroundof this verse is like this: The Jews who had rebuilt the wallof
Jerusalemunder Nehemiah had just heard the Word of the Lord read and
thoroughly explained to them and they realized that there was much work to
be done for the Lord.
But they were so deeply convicted of their sins that they wept and mourned in
deep repentance and contrition of heart. And their sorrow was so greatthat
Nehemiah and Ezra had to stop them, lest they should go to an extreme. It is
goodat times for God's people to be mournful for their sins, but they must
eventually be assuredof God's forgiveness and be ready to consecrate
themselves once againfor cheerful service to the Lord. And so they instructed
the people to turn their sorrow into joy so that the work that they needed to
do now would not be hindered. And the encouragementthey gave them was
this: 'The joy of the Lord is your strength.'
In any kind of service that you do for the Lord - whether in church or outside
church - always be sure to do it with the joy of the Lord, for it is your
strength. Perhaps some of us who have been faithfully serving the Lord are in
need of a goodspiritual boost right now. The initial enthusiasm that you had
when you first startedto serve God has given wayto tiredness and weariness,
and perhaps you are even entertaining thoughts of giving up your service. One
possible reasonwhy this has happened to you is that you have been relying on
your own strength instead of drawing your strength from the Lord. What you
need to do now is to put the joy of the Lord back into your service.
This divine joy will improve your service tremendously by adding more
vigour and more life into it. It will keepyou from regarding services a burden,
because the enjoyment that you derive from serving the Lord makes you press
onward and forward. It will also make your service more pleasing and
honouring to the Lord. That is why Psalm 100:2 tells us that we should serve
the Lord with gladness. Godis worthy of the most joyful service we can give!

C. It Sets Us Apart from Others
According to Acts 16:25 when Paul and Silas sang their joyful praises in the
Philippian jail at midnight, the other prisoners heard their singing. The
prisoners may have wondered how these two men who had suffered such
brutal humiliation, scourgedwith whips, thrown unceremoniously into the
innermost prison cell, and immobilized with stocks couldstill have the heart
to sing so joyfully. No one in such circumstances would everdo that. It was
clearly the joy of the Lord that set them apart from all the rest.
Woud it not be wonderful if the joy of the Lord can also setus apart from
others like this? What kind of testimony are we giving to the world if we
hardly exhibit any joy at all? Are we not supposed to be bearers of the Good
News ofsalvation to the world? But how canwe do that convincingly if our
own lives never radiate the joy of salvation, the joy of knowing and serving
our Lord Jesus? This would surely make us the worst advertisements of the
Gospelof Christ!
What the unsaved world needs to see in us is the divine joy that they do not
have, and that this joy canonly be found in those who have receivedJesus
Christ into their lives. Let us therefore ensure that we show that joy in our
lives. This morning we have seenhow we can we do this - by being indwelt and
filled with the Holy Spirit so that we may bear the fruit of the Spirit which
includes joy. May the Lord help us to commit ourselves to live the Spirit-filled
life. And who knows how God may use this one day for His glory?
About 300 years ago a storm was threatening to sink a ship on the Atlantic
Ocean. On that ship was a young man whose name was John Wesley. As the
winds and waves grew strongerand stronger John Wesleybecame terrified

and thought he was going to die. But on that same ship there was a group of
Moravian Christians who did not seemto be fearful at all. And even in the
worstpart of the storm they were still calmly singing praises to God. Wesley
was amazed. He knew that they had something he did not have. When the ship
finally arrived safely in England, Wesleydid not restuntil he found the secret
of their joy - their saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was soundly
converted, and went on to become mightily used of God to bring a great
revival to England. May the joy of the Lord in you be used by Him to bring
similar results, for His glory! https://www.lifebpc.com/resources/treasury-of-
sermons/67-galatians/543-galatians-5-22-23-the-fruit-of-the-spirit-joy
Joy(Galatians 5:22)
RelatedMedia
Lesson1
PPT Cue
Main Point: Joycomes from being with God.
Key Verse:(God,) You will fill me with joy when I am with You. – Psalm
16:11b
Props: A boomerang (or banana, or paper with smile drawn on it, or anything
that looks like a smile), a jug of water, two plastic cups (one with severalholes
pokedin the bottom).
Background/Review
Say: When the time was right, Jesus went into heaven to be with His Father.
And after He left, He sent His Holy Spirit to live inside His disciples, just like
He promised (Acts 2:1-4). And today, when we put our trust in Him, we are
filled with this same Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:5). When we are filled with God’s

Holy Spirit, some of God’s greatcharacteristicsstartto grow in our lives. The
Bible calls these characteristicsfruit. Galatians 5:22 says:
PPT Cue
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness andself-control. Against such things there is no law.
(NIV)”
Last week we talkedabout love. We love eachother with our actions. Jesus
showedHis love in the most incredible way: He laid down His life to bring us
back to God.
Intro
Say: What makes you happy? What makes you sad? Listen for answers. What
if I got a new puppy? Would I be happy or sad? Hold the boomerang in front
of your mouth like a smiley face. I think I would be happy about that! But
what if I broke my leg and had to go to the hospital and get a cast? Hold the
boomerang in front of your mouth like a frown. That wouldn’t be so much
fun. Or what if I were a football player and I won the Superbowl? Hold the
boomerang in front of your mouth like a smiley face. That sure would give me
something to smile about! But what about on the inside? Do we always feel on
the inside how we look on the outside? Do you ever look like this (smile) on the
outside but really feellike this (frown) on the inside? What if you could
always smile on the inside, no matter what?
Joy
Say: Today, we’ll look at joy. Joyis the smile we have inside, no matter what
is happening around us.
PPT Cue
Some people think that joy and happiness are the same, but there is actually a
big difference. The word happy comes from the same word as happen. We feel
happy if something goodis happening to us at that moment. But this means
that being happy is just temporary – it doesn’t last. One minute something

goodcould be happening and we are happy, but the next minute something
bad could be happening and we don’t feelhappy anymore.
Joy is different. Joydoes not depend on what is happening to us – it stays deep
down in your heart no matter what! (2 Corinthians 7:4)
PPT Cue: Key Verse
God is our source ofjoy. Psalm16:11 says:“(God,) You will fill me with joy
when I am with You.” Godis so goodand everything He does is amazing!
When we spend time with Him, we get to know Him more. We are filled with
joy because ofwho God is and how He cares forus.
Moses spenttime with Godwhen God gave Mosesthe TenCommandments on
the top of Mt. Sinai. It was the closestanyone had ever been to God. Moses
learned more about God. He saw that God is powerful, full of justice, good,
forgiving, caring, loving, and faithful (Exodus 34:6-7). Moses also learned
more about God’s promises (Exodus 34:10). Because ofhis time with God,
something really incredible happened to Moses!
Moses came downfrom Mount Sinai. He had the two tablets of the covenant
in his hands. His face was shining because he had spokenwith the Lord. But
he didn't realize it. Aaron and all of the people of Israel saw Moses. His face
was shining. So they were afraid to come near him.
But Moses calledout to them. So Aaron and all of the leaders of the
community came to him. And Mosesspoke to them. After that, all of the
people came near him. And he gave them all of the commands the Lord had
given him on Mount Sinai.
Moses finishedspeaking to them. Then he put a veil over his face. But when he
would go to speak with the Lord, he would remove the veil. He would keepit
off until he came out. Then he would tell the people what the Lord had
commanded. They would see that his face was shining. So Moses wouldput
the veil back over his face. He would keepit on until he went in again to speak
with the Lord. – Exodus 34:29-35

Spending time with God changes us! Moses’face actuallylookeddifferent
because he had been with God!
God is completely goodand everything He createdwas good(Psalm100:5,
Genesis 1:31). BecauseGodis the source of everything that’s good, joy is
found by spending time with Him. Over and over in the Bible, we see that
spending time with God fills His people with joy (John 15:9-11, Psalm28:7,
Isaiah58:14).
[God,] You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy
in Your presence, with eternal pleasures atYour right hand. – Psalm16:11
Joy ShownIn Jesus
Say: The more time we spend with God, the more joy we will have. God is the
source of our joy.
Turn on a lamp. Let’s look at it this way. (Call up a volunteer. Do NOT allow
the child to touch the light bulb at any point!) Put your hands near the lamp.
Can you feelthe warmth? The closeryou get, the warmer it feels. The lamp is
the source ofthe warmth – just like God is the source of our joy. As long as
you are near the lamp, you’ll feel the warmth. The more time we spend with
God, the more joy we have.
We have a perfectexample of someone who was always with God. Who is
that? Jesus!Jesus has always existed(John 1:1-2, 14); He has always been
with God. Even when Jesus left heavento come to Earth, He was filled with
God’s Spirit (Luke 4:1), and He constantlyspent time in prayer listening to
His heavenly Father(Luke 5:16).
Jesus said, “I am in the Father and the Father is in Me,” meaning that He was
always with His Father (John 14:11). Jesus was always with His source ofjoy!
He always had the true joy that comes from being with God!
But did Jesus everhave bad days? Did Jesus have some bad things happen to
him during his life? Yes. What were some sadthings that happened to Jesus?
Jesus oftenfelt sadness forthe people of Israel(Mark 6:34). His friend,

Lazarus, died. His friend, Judas, betrayed Him. And Isaiah53 tells us that
Jesus wentthrough terrible pain and suffering on the cross.
Remember our smile and frown? During these times, Jesus was notsmiling on
the outside (hold up the boomerang againlike a frown), but inside, it was a
different story (hold up the smile). Hebrews 12:2 says, “Letus keeplooking to
Jesus... He paid no attention to the shame of the cross. He suffered there
because ofthe joy he was looking forwardto.”
This verse says that Jesus lookedpastthe pain and shame of the cross because
of the joy He lookedforwardto. What joy was He looking forward to?
Bringing us to God! Jesus endured the pain of the cross so that He could
experience the greatjoy of bringing you and me to God!
Joy In Us
As believers in Jesus, we have God’s Holy Spirit living inside of us. We are
filled with the same Spirit that Jesus was filled with. Our relationship with
God is even better than that of Moses!Moses came face to face with God,
which is incredible, but we have God’s Spirit living inside of us, which is even
better! (John 16:7) And just like Jesus did, we can go to God at all times to
pray and getto know Him more. We can know God just as Jesus did! We can
be filled with the same joy that Jesus is filled with!
Remember, joy is deep in our hearts. Joy does not depend on what is
happening to us – it stays in us no matter what! Even when Jesus knew He
had to die on the cross, He still had joy. And we can be the same way! For
instance, I’m not happy when I strike out in baseballor when my friends
don’t treat me right. But I still have joy because I know that God is in control,
and He can use every situation for my good(Romans 8:28).
Out of all the fruits of the Spirit, joy seems to be the one that is most often
overlooked. We always talk about how important it is to love people, be kind,
and be peaceful, but we rarely talk about joy. But joy is very important
because it is the easiestfruit for people to see, and people are attractedto joy
when they see it. When people see joy in you, they will want to know why you
are joyful.

Mostlikely, our face won’t glow like Moses’did. But when we are full of
God’s joy, people will be able to tell. When something bad happens, we won’t
fall apart or look like this (show a terribly worried face)because we know that
God is with us and He’s looking out for us. If we are full of joy, we canlook
like this (show a confident, peacefulface)even when things aren’t going just
the waywe think that they should. No matter what “happens” we are
confident in God. That is true joy.
Optional for Older Kids
Jesus told His disciples about a way to expand their joy – to make their joy
even fuller. In John 15:10-12, Jesus says:
“Justas the Father has loved Me, I have loved you. Now remain in My love. If
you obey My commands, you will remain in My love. In the same way, I have
obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so
that My joy will be in you. I also want your joy to be complete. Here is my
command. Love eachother, just as I have loved you.”
Jesus says that He loves us and He wants us to spend time with Him, know
Him, and do what He tells us to do. Being with Him is how His joy is in us.
And if we love others, our joy will be complete. Our joy will be it’s fullest
when we take in Jesus’love, and then share it with those around us. Last week
we talked about love, the first fruit of the Spirit. Here, we see that one fruit
leads to another: loving eachother leads to the most complete joy!
Illustration: Joy works something like this. Set up your cups and waterjug.
Have the cup without holes sitting on a table, hold the cup with holes in one
hand, and hold the jug in the other. Make sure you are holding the cup with
holes directly above the other cup. Spending time with God fills us up with
joy, like this jug fills up this cup with water. Pour waterinto the cup you are
holding. But we cannotjust keepall our joy to ourselves!It leaks outof us and
fills up others, just like the cup in my hand is filling up the other one. But
what happens if we stop spending time with God? Stop pouring the water. Not
only do we stop being filled with joy, but the other people around us are not
filled up either. We cannot make joy on our own – all true joy comes from

God! When you are filled with His joy, it will spill out to others, and your joy
will be complete.
Romans 15:13 says, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you
completely with joy and peace because youtrust in him. Then you will
overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Key Verse:(God,) You will fill me with joy when I am with You. – Psalm
16:11b
PPT Cue: Main Point
Main Point: Joycomes from being with God.
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reproduced for personal, nonprofit, and non-commercial uses only. Unless
otherwise noted the Scriptures takenfrom: Holy Bible, New International
Reader’s Version, (NIrV®) Copyright © 1995, 1996,1998by International
Bible Society/ Used by permission of IBS-STL. All rights reserved
worldwide.
https://bible.org/seriespage/2-joy-galatians-522
In what way is joy a fruit of the Holy Spirit?
Galatians 5:22-23 lists out the fruit of the Spirit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-
control; againstsuch things there is no law." "Fruit" here means "the result
of labor." The laborer is the Holy Spirit. So what Galatians 5:22-23 really
describes is traits characteristic ofa believer who has yielded to the Holy
Spirit's work in his or her life. One of these charactertraits is joy.

In the New Testament, "joy" is the Greek word chara. Relatedto both charis
("grace"or"gift") and charos ("rejoice;express joy"), joy is the natural
response to a gracious gift. In every instance in the Bible, that gift originates
with God, whether it be the arrival of the Messiah(Luke 1:14), the
resurrectionof Christ (Matthew 28:8), God's powerover the sinful world
(Luke 10:17), or God's salvation(Acts 13:52). God's grace is so strong that
even the promise of His work canelicit joy (Hebrews 10:34; James 1:2-4). And
one of the greatestsources ofjoy is seeing God's redeeming work in others
(Acts 13:52; 1 Thessalonians 3:9;Philippians 2:2).
The modern world does not encourage joyin God. Instead, we're taught to
value possessions, power, and position. But true joy is not found in those
things. John 15:1-11 says that joy comes from abiding in Christ's love. In
Philippians 2:2, joy flows from believers being united in mind, love, spirit, and
purpose. John says that complete joy means to be united with the Father,
Jesus, and other believers (1 John 1:1-4).
That doesn't mean that all worldly events are without joy. A healed illness, a
hard-earned accomplishment, and even a material item can bring joy—if
God's hand in the situation is recognized. The "Kingdom of God" is the
manifestation of the sovereigntyand glory of God. Sometimes God displays
His glory and powerby healing (2 Kings 5:1-14). Sometimes He puts a
believer in a position of power (Esther 8:1-2). And sometimes He blesses His
children with material possessions(Job42:10-17). The keyis that it is God
who blesses, andalthough we may appreciate the gift, we rejoice that He has
chosento pour out His love, sovereignty, and power on us. We rejoice in the
Giver, not just in the gift.
This is important to remember when circumstances are less than joyful.
James 1:2 says, "Countit all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various
kinds" (see also 1 Peter1:6). In trials, joy is not found in the immediate

situation but in the promise that God's Kingdom will be revealedthrough the
situation. First Peter1:7-9 says that current trials bring an assuranceoffaith,
making the future joy even greaterwhen Jesus returns. Similarly, James 1:3-4
says that trials will strengthenour character. We canrejoice in that trials
point to a future gift.
True joy is found only in Jesus (John 15:11). If we look for God's work and
gifts in our lives, we will always have joy. If we get caughtup in temporary
hardships and worldly desires, our joy will be fleeting and weak. Evenin
hardship, our joy remains, because it depends on God and His promises:
"And the ransomedof the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah35:10).
https://www.compellingtruth.org/joy-fruit-Spirit.html
Question:"The Fruit of the Holy Spirit – What is joy?"
Answer: Literally, the "fruit of the Spirit" is what happens when the Holy
Spirit indwells a believer. The "fruit" is the product of the Holy Spirit's
cultivation of characterin a heart. Galatians 5:22-23 describes whatthat fruit
looks like;the secondcharacteristiclistedis joy.
The Greek wordfor joy is chara. Joyis the natural reactionto the work of
God, whether promised or fulfilled. Joy expressesGod's kingdom—His
influence on earth (Romans 14:17). The Spirit’s production of joy can
manifest in severaldifferent ways:
The joy of deliverance:When God sets someone free, rejoicing is in order.

1 Samuel 2:1: Hannah was filled with joy at her deliverance from her enemies.
Acts 12:14:The servant girl was so overjoyedthat God had rescuedPeter
from prison that she forgotto let Peterin the house.
The joy of salvation:Our greatestreasonto be joyful is that God wants to
save us and spend eternity with us. Nothing is better than this.
Luke 15:7: All heaven is joyful when a person accepts God's provisionof
salvation.
Acts 8:8: The people of Samaria were joyful as they heard the gospeland saw
God's power in healing the sick.
Acts 13:52;15:3: Jewishbelievers rejoicedwhen they heard of the work of the
Holy Spirit in saving Gentiles.
The joy of spiritual maturity: As the Holy Spirit works in us to bear more
fruit, we become confident in God's promises and rejoice in our walk with
Him and with other believers.
John 15:11: The fullness of joy comes to those who continue in the love of
Christ and obey Him.

2 Corinthians 1:24; 2:3; 7:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20;3:9: Paul knew joy as
the churches gave evidence of the Holy Spirit working among them.
Philippians 2:2: Groups of believers who unite in demonstrating the mind,
love, and purpose of Christ bring joy to others.
Hebrews 10:34; 12:2; James 1:2-4: Believers, following the example of Jesus,
endure persecutionbecause ofthe promise of future joy.
The joy of God's presence:The Holy Spirit draws us to God, in whose
presence we canknow true joy. Without the Holy Spirit, no one would seek
God.
Psalm16:11: “You will fill me with joy in your presence, witheternal
pleasures at your right hand.”
Matthew 2:10; Luke 1:14: Mary and the shepherds were joyful because
Immanuel had been born.
Matthew 28:8; Luke 24:41:The women who went to Jesus'tomb and the
disciples were overjoyed that He rose from the dead.
The Greek chara is closelyrelatedto charis, which means “grace”or“a gift.”
Chara is the normal response to charis—we have joy because ofGod's grace.
The next step in the progressionis to allow our joy to become an actionas we
express it, although sometimes joy can be so greatit is inexpressible (1 Peter
1:8).

Possessing joyis a choice. We choose whetherto value God's presence,
promises, and work in our lives. When we yield to the Spirit, He opens our
eyes to God's grace around us and fills us with joy (Romans 15:13). Joyis not
to be found in a fallen world; it is only fellowship with God that can make our
joy complete (1 John 1:4).
https://www.gotquestions.org/fruit-Holy-Spirit-joy.html
View all Sermons
The Fruit Of The Spirit - Joy
Contributed by Bruce Allen on Oct18, 2003
based on 56 ratings
(rate this sermon)
| 18,313 views
Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23
Denomination: Baptist
Summary: This is the secondaspectof the Fruit of the Spirit. May we learn
what this joy is all about and be able to make application with it in our lives.

1 2 3 4
Next
Fruit of the Spirit – Joy
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness,selfcontrol. Against such things there is no law.
[NKJV]
OPENING REMARKS
Study of Fruit of the Holy Spirit - Joy
The passageofGalatians 5:22-23 gives the readernine (9) particular aspects
that make up the Fruit of the Spirit. These are:Love – Joy – Peace –
Longsuffering – Kindness – Goodness – Faithfulness – Gentleness – Self-
Control.
The study at this time will look at Joy – the secondaspectofthe fruit of the
Holy Spirit.
INTRODUCTION
1. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every morning that we getup?
The sun was shining –
The birds were singing –
There was not found a care in the world.
.. Now that would almost be like heaven to us and oh how our day would start
off to a joyous celebration.
.. As Christians, we would be praising and thanking God for His wondrous
grace.
2. However, often:

We find that it is raining –
There is static on the radio instead of music –
We stayedawake halfthe night worrying about everything that we can
possibly think will go wrong - usually at this point we are not found lifting up
in trust to God.
.. And when things are going so well:
. If married - our loving spouse wakesup and looks atus and says – “I slept
like a log, what a beautiful day this is going to be, and I just can’t wait to get
started. Come on honey, let’s go!”
OR
. If single – the first person we meet is so cheerful it makes us wonder what
this world is coming to.
NOTE:Which then makes you think – if I only had the power to getit done –
these obnoxious joyful people would definitely be going in for a personality
transplant? [LOL]
I. DEFINITION OF JOY
Dictionary – [Considered](1) A strong feeling of happiness; gladness;delight.
(2) A state of contentment or satisfaction. (3)Anything that causesdelight or
gladness [F & W Dict. 1979 – 352].
Greek – Chara (Strong # 5479)means:“joy or delight” - [Vine Exp. Dict. of
NT Words – 335];
The experience of gladness” -[Bauer/Danker- Greek-EnglishLexicon–
1077];
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(1) literally joy, as a feeling of inner happiness rejoicing, gladness, delight …
(2) by metonymy [a figure of speech… associatedw/]; (a) the personor thing
that is the cause orobjectof joy or happiness …; (b) a state or condition of
happiness or blessedness… - [Friberg/Friberg/Miller- Analytical Lexicon of
the Greek NT-406].
Summary – Joy(chara) is a strong inner feeling (the experience)from
happiness, gladness, ordelight; it is a state or condition of contentment or
satisfactionwith the cause or objectof one’s joy or happiness [BEA]. It is
cheerfulness.
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20
For who is our hope, or joy, or crownof boasting in the presence ofour Lord
Jesus atHis coming? Is it not you [church at Thessalonica]?Foryou are our
glory and joy! [HCSB]
II. ASPECT OF JOY
Every Christian has the capacityof joy within their lives because the Holy
Spirit dwells within them
- Ephesians 4:30 | Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were
sealedfor the day of redemption. And since we are sealedby the Spirit and
since it is an aspectofHis fruit [Text] – joy is to be found in us.
. Just as the Holy Spirit’s fruit aspectof Love is manifested in our lives so too
MUST the aspectof Joy be manifested in our lives if we are children of God -
because He [the Holy Spirit] produces fruit in our lives and FRUIT is an
evidence of who we are [Matthew 7:15-20;12:33].
A. What “joy” is not basedon –
1) It is not basedon Happy Feelings
Happiness is a feeling that can change as often as the weatherdoes.
a. SPORTS- Using basketballas an illustration – how often it is when our
favorite team is up by severalpoints (truly, it is fair to say that you are very
happy) but then the other teams has a scoring run and you can know it they

are now ahead in the game (truly, at this point your happiness has turned to
either anger or sorrow).
b. WEATHER - Here in the Ohio Valley - One moment it is sunny and bright
and the next it is cloudy and gloomy. – You know the old saying around here,
“If you do not like the weather, just stick around another day or so and it will
change.” Thenjust by sticking around for a few more hours and you
happiness or sadness (depending on the weather)will change.
c. LIFE ITSELF - You wake up in the morning happy and smiling but by the
end of the work day you are sadand frowning.
d. SCRIPTURALEXAMPLE - Rich Young Ruler
Mark 10:17-22
Now … one came running, knelt before Him [Jesus], and asked… what shall I
do that I may inherit eternallife? … Then Jesus, looking athim … said …
One thing you lack:Go … sell… give … come, take up your cross, and follow
Me. But he was sad at this word, and went away grieved, for he had great
possessions.
*** This young ruler approachedJesus in a happy state and left in a sadden
one!
2) It is not basedon Enthusiastic Feelings
.. How easyit is to work one’s own selfinto feelings of gladness.
. We all too often want to be happy and because ofthat desire we may attempt
to put our selfin such of a position with our own self-developedfeelings.
.. In religion this is a dangerous place to find one’s self – creating a false joy
will not save you.
Jeremiah17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperatelywicked;who can know
it?

NOTE:Salvationis not a warm feeling or sensation;it is not a vision or the
hearing of a voice of an angelor God. Salvationis repenting of your sins,
trusting the finished work of Christ Jesus on your behalf and believing that
God has raisedHim from the dead guaranteeing your hope for eternallife.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospelwhich I preachedto you,
which also you receivedand in which you stand, by which also you are saved,
if you hold fastthat word which I preachedto you – unless you believed in
vain. ForI delivered to you first of all that which I also received:that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that
He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
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.. Salvationis in Christ – not feelings my friend, not feelings at all.
3) It is not basedon Circumstances
.. If you think having the world by its tail will give you joy – think again!
. Money – ask a rich person what he/she wants – the reply, “Justanother
dollar.”
. Cars – ask a carowner what he/she wants – the reply, “The newestmodel.”
. Position– ask a workerwhat he/she wants – the reply, “A better job.”
. Power– ask your boss what he/she wants – the reply, “To be their boss’s
boss.”

. Retirement – ask a retiree what he/she wants – the reply, “Something to do.”
Matthew 6:19-21
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures onearth, where moth and rust destroy
and where thieves break in and steal;but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break
in and steal. Forwhere your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
NOTE:Joyis not based on being happy at the moment, or enthusiastic
feelings, or circumstances – ALL OF THESE SITUATIONS CAN CHANGE
– thus causing your happiness to go to the wayside.
B. What “joy” is based on an object –
1) Gladness -
.. Deepseatedthankfulness that you are where you are; no matter the
circumstance because Godis sovereignand His providence is being carried
out in your life.
Romans 8:28-31
And we know that God causes allthings to work togetherfor goodto those
who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Forthose
whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformedto the image of
His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these
whom he predestined, He also called;and these whom He called, He also
justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we
say to these things? If God is for us; who is againstus?
.. What else in our life’s experiences cancompare with divine mercy toward
us? The Creatorhas redeemedour lost souls from a certain Hell through His
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no condemnationto those who are in
Christ Jesus – Romans 8:1.
Paul and Silas rejoicedin God despite their situation.
Acts 16:25

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise
to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Adam Clarke
[Joy is t]he exultation that arises from a sense ofGod’s mercy communicated
to the soul in the pardon of its iniquities, and the prospectof that eternal glory
of which it has the foretaste in the pardon of sin [Bible NavigatorCD Bible
Study – Commentary section].
NOTE:Gladness is not like happiness that changes with every direction of the
wind, but it is solid rejoicing over the fact that God because ofHis love
(agape)has not forsakenyou [cf. – Hebrew 13:5-6].
2) Dependence on Christ –
.. Joy is found in its steadfastness ofits objectthat does not change.
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
.. That objectof joy is Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Master, our Lord – Who
is our joy!
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Revelation1:8
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the End, says the Lord,
who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Luke 10:1-20
.. the Lord appointed seventy … and sent them two by two before His face into
every city and place where He Himself was about to go. … Then the seventy
returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subjectto us in Your
name. And He said to them … Behold, I give you the authority to trample on

serpents and scorpions, and over all the powerof the enemy, and nothing shall
by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are
subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
.. Please understandnot a person in this room deserves to go to or to be in
heaven – all of us are sinners who deserve God’s wrath punished in Hell. But
by His mercy our names are written in heaven. Becauseofthis we rejoice.
NOTE HERE:
. You can rejoice overyour wealth –
. You can rejoice overyour intelligence –
. You can rejoice overyour health –
. You can rejoice overall of the greatattributes you can possibly dream you
have even to the point of having the ability to do miracle –
. It may be true that you indeed have all of these wonderful gifts and are able
to exercise eachand every one –
. BUT if your name in not written in heaven – THOSE THINGS ARE
NOTHING.
NOTE:What gooddoes it do for a man to gain the whole world and lose his
soul – [Matthew 16:26]?
.. Rejoice in not what you have – but in who you know – that is: Jesus Christ
as your savior!
Job 1:21
God gives and takes away.
. So what do you depend on for joy in your salvation? – It is Christ!
. So what is the objectof your salvation? – It is Christ!
. So my friend do not look to yourself to find or discoverjoy – instead look to
Jesus Christ [Acts 4:10-12 and John 14:6].

CONCLUSION
Looking to Christ is the only hope for joy to one, like us, in whose life sin has
brought about hopelessnessanddespair.
Ephesians 2:5, 8-10
… when we were dead in trespasses, [God – v. 4] made us alive togetherwith
Christ (by grace you have been saved) … For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves;it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, createdin Christ
Jesus for goodworks, whichGod prepared beforehand so that we would walk
in them. [NKJV]
Joy is Perpetual -
Our children sing:
I’ve gotthe joy, joy, joy, joy
Downin my heart
Downin my heart
Downin my heart
I’ve gotthe joy, joy, joy, joy
Downin my heart
Downin my heart to stay.
.. Know full well - our joy found in Christ does not stop – its down in our
heart, my friend, to stay.
Philippians 4:4
Rejoice in the Lord always, againI will say rejoice!
Matthew 25:21

His lord saidto him, Well done, goodand faithful servant; you were faithful
over a few things … Enter into the joy of your lord.
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INVITATION
Perhaps you are saying - I would like to have this joy? How canI obtain it?
1) Believer–
.. Know - it is alreadyan aspectofthe Spirit’s fruit -
.. Therefore –
. Read the Bible – God’s Word will tell you of His joy.
. Trust God to fulfill His Word.
. Pray to God – Prayerwill revealthe joy of God’s service.
. Attend Church – Fellowshipwith eachother strengthens the bond of joy.
2) Non-Believer–
.. Everything in life will eventually lose its joy to you.
. Look in the mirror and you will see yourself wasting away.
. Look at your material possessions and you will see those things wearing out.
. The whole world is winding down.
. Everything is wasting away.
----- [adapted – from “Joy– Fruit of the Spirit” a sermon by Melvin M.
Newmanon Galatians 5:22 – SermonCentral.com] -----
.. So why do you continue to place your joy upon things that will not last?

.. Why not flee to Christ who will give you joy beyond measure – joy that will
not fade awaynor diminish.
John 15:11
These things [His words of comfort to His disciples – 14:1-15:10]I have
spokento you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made
full.
.. May you come to have such joy!
.. May you come today!
Come Worship The Lord
.. Our Invitation is open to all –
. Come to Christ
. Come if you need to pray
. Come be a part of us
. Come share with us what the Lord would have you to do
Bruce Allen
Fruit ofJoy- Galatians 5:22
Dr. Steve Viars January8, 1991 Galatians 5:22
document
- we're talking about the fruit ofthe Spirit
- in case you're new to the study tonight, the fruit of the
spirit is the phrase Godchose to describe the character

qualities he wants to be developing in those who have
acceptedhis Sonas Savior
- the Galatianchurch was allcaughtup in externals that
theycould produce apart from God and apartfrom His word
- Godwants then to change in the inner man, by developing
fruit of the Spirit, which canonly happen as a person
co-operateswiththe Holy Spirit and the work He wants to
do in a believer's life,
- two weeks agowe beganlooking atthe individual components
ofthe Spirit's fruit
- we saw thatthe first component ofthe spirit's fruit is
love, andwe challengedeachotherto be growing in that
important area oflife
- tonight, we wantto study the secondcomponent
- let's read our keyverse - READ Gal. 5:22
INTRODUCTION
- if the Galatians hadspentmore time studying their Old
Testaments insteadofadding extra things to it, they would
have knownthat Godalways wantedHis people to be
characterizedbythe fruit of joy
The FeastofTabernacles:
- in the Old TestamentGodinstituted a feastknownas the

feastofTabernacles
- that feastwas to take place rightatthe end of the
harvestseason
- Godinstructed his people to build lean-to's, ortents,
like a boy-scoutwouldbuild
- and Godhad his people live in those dwellings for
sevendays
- here's what He said aboutthat feastin Deut. 16 -
"Thoushaltobserve the feastofTabernacles seven
days, afterthou hast gatheredin thy grainand
wine. And thou shalt rejoice inthy feast"
- INPUT - why do you think Godwanted them, right after the
harvest, to build these kinds of dwellings and then have
a feastofrejoicing?
- to separate those who hada true-deepseatedjoy
centeredintheir personal relationshipwith God
from those whose joywas determinedonthe
circumstancesaround
- in other words, evenifwe've had a greatharvest,
let's take some days andlive as if we had no
materialblessings butstill couldrejoice, justto
remind ourselves thatlife doesn'tconsistin the

abundance ofthings
- so thatwhen the yearcomes whenwe don't have such
a greatharvest, we as God'speople canstillhave
joy because we stillhave our relationship with
Him
- the point ofall that is this - the kind of joy that God
has always wantedto produce in His people is vastly
different than the joy our world has to offer
SecularUses of"joy" inBible times
- youcanalso see this point in the waypeople who weren't
savedusedthe word joy evenin Bible times
- whenyou study the words for joy outside the Bible, you
find folks focusing onphysical comfort, pleasant
external circumstances, health, wealthas ifthose things
were the essentialsforjoy.
- As a result, it would be normal for a personin that day
to greetsomeone onthe streetwiththe word "joy"
- in other words, Iwishyou all the materialthings,
allthe comforts, allthe health and wealth, that
willbring you joy
- the problem with that is, it neverworks
- joy, atleastthe waythe Bible defines it, can'tcome from

the outside, regardlessofhow pleasant the circumstances
are
Example in American History
- we've seenthatin history
- one of the greatestAmericanhumorists everto live was
Mark Twain
- while we wouldsurely have different values than he, I
think mostof us would say- Mark Twaincould make you
laugh
- he was famous forwriting and lecturing in a waythat would
make folks laughandforgetabouttheir troubles
- but have you done any reading about his personal life?
- Mark Twain's friends wrote that he was regularlyplagued
withdepressionand sorrow.
- when his daughterJeandies, Twainreportedlysaidto a
friend, "I've never greatlyenvied anyone but the dead. I
always envythe dead"
- see the point - here's a man who could make everyone laugh
- he could tell a greatjoke
- he'd be the life of the party
- but that was allon the outside
- onthe inside, he was so depressedthatwishedhimself

to be dead.
- that’s the world's shallow conceptofjoy
- it shouldn't surprise us that it doesn'twork - Prov.
14:12-13says- "There is a waywhichseems rightunto a
man, but the end thereofare the ways ofdeath. Evenin
laughter, the heartis sorrowful, andthe end of that mirth
is heaviness.
- you say- PV – that’s pretty discouraging, andit is
- but the goodnews is - for the personwho's a Christian
(develop) Jesus said:
"These things have I spokenunto you, that my joy might
remainin you, and that your joymight be full"
- but the fruit of the spirit is love, andjoy
- Godwants to developin you a joy a joy that flows from the
inside out as a result ofyour relationshipwith Him
- I'd like to divide this materialinto four parts, we'll
beginthis tonight and finish up in the next Wednesdayor
so
- (draw boxes)
- First, I'd like to talk to you aboutbiblical joy
- we wantto give a definition, and mention some ofthe

things the Bible says aboutit
- Then we wantto mention some false substitutes (waxfruit)
- I'm sure you've recognizedthatfor eachpartof the
fruit ofthe spirit, there is a worldly counterfeit
- we've saidallalong that these characterqualities can
only be produced by a personwho is saved, because its
the spirit's fruit
- but the natural question that flows out ofthat is -
wellthen why are there some folks who are not
believers inChrist who seemto be pretty joyful - we
couldprobably go aroundtown tonight and find some
folks ina bar somewhere thatare having a greattime -
andseemto be filled with joy
- how couldthat be - well, foreachcomponentof
the fruit ofthe spirit, there's a coresponding
false substitute
- that’s true ofjoy and the Bible has some
things to sayabout that
- we'll needto ask ourselvesthe question, have Ibeen
developing the biblical fruit ofthe spirit orhave I been
satisfiedwitha false substitute
- then I'd like to talk to you about the worldly weeds

- there are some things the Bible would identify as the exact
opposite ofbiblicaljoy
- its possible forsome believers to getcaughtup in those
sinful habits and miss out on the God's blessing ofa
joyful life
- some ofus may have some weeding to do
- next week - we wantto look atsome hidden facilitators -
some areasoflife that on the surface mayappearthat they
wouldtake joyawaywhenin factGodcanuse them to be
greatsources ofjoyin the believers life
- first of all, let’s talk about whatthis fruit is
I. The Biblical Fruit of Joy
A. Definition
- one writerdefined it as "the deepdown sense of
wellbeing that abides in the heartof the person
who knows allis wellbetweenhimself and his Lord"
- "feeling ofhappiness thatis basedonspiritual
realities"
- the Bible makes itclearthat its not basedon outward
circumstances, noris it simply a human emotionthat is
divinely stimulated
- Joyis a divine gift of Godto believer's

- Neh. 8:10- The joyofthe Lord is your strength
- I Peter1:8 - "Thoughyouhave not seenhim, you love
him, and though you do not see him now, but believe
in him-you greatlyrejoice with joyinexpressible and
full of glory"
- I think we also needto clarify this: The Bible speaks of
joyas a gift:
B. Spokenofas a gift
- in verses like John15:12 - myjoy might remain in
you
C. Spokenofas a command
- Several weeksagowe talkedabout
Phil. 4:4 - "Rejoice inthe Lord always, andagain
I sayrejoice"
- so with that amount ofinformation, I think we need to
beginasking some questions
- whenthose around you think of you - would they think
ofthe spiritual fruit ofjoy?
- wouldyour spouse saythataboutyou?
- your co-workers, yourkids, neighbors, fellowchurch
members
- didn't ask ifyou were giddy, orif you couldtell a good

joke - but are you growing in the spiritual fruit of joy as
we've describedittonight?
- if not, this definition gives us two very goodpossible
reasonswhyyou're not
1) youhaven'treceivedthe gift ofsalvationand therefore
you're eligible for God's gift ofjoy
- when Jesus said, "myjoyI give unto you", he was
talking to his disciples, those who hada definite
time in their life where they askedJesus to be
their Saviorand Lord.
- you can'thave joy until the guilt problem has been
removed.
- somebodyhas to pay to have your sin removed.
- you also can'thave joyuntil you stoptrying to run
your life independent of Him. Regardlessofhow
hard you try, without Him you'll always mess up.
"Without faith, its impossible to please him"
- so if you're here tonight and you'd say- "Isurely
don't have the kind ofjoy you're talking about,
perhaps its because youneedto be saved, and
acceptGod's free giftofsalvation, making you
eligible forhis joy.

- if you are saved, butyou'd say- PV, this fruit really
needs to be developedin my life, perhaps its because you
haven'tbeen following God's "productioncommands."
- Justlike producing literalfruit, a believerhas to
think certainthings and do certainthings and change
certainthings if he or she is going to developthis
fruit.
- that’s why fruit's not just spokenofas a gift, but as
a command
- perhaps you haven't beenfollowing those commands.
- so that’s what the spirit's fruit of joy is – let’s talk
about:
II. SecularSubstitutes - WaxFruit
please turnto Heb. 11:25(READ)
- how wouldyou label the first secularsubstitute listed
in that passage?
A. Goodtimes
- our worldis regularlycommunicating - "You can
have a joyful time without God"
- the pleasures ofsin are enjoyable...fora time
- its like eating chocolate cakeonanempty stomach,
feels goodfora few minutes - but whatan empty

feeling it leaves
INPUT - whatare some ofthe sources ourworldoffers:
"Youcanhave fun by getting involved in _______"
- we also needto saythat its not always by offering
blatant sin. Sometimes, its justthe offers ofjoy
that supposedlywill come apartfrom a personal
relationshipwith God.
- Ohio article
- anothergroupof secularsubstitutes wouldbe:
B. Joyderivedfrom wrong motives
- let's look atsome examples
- Luke 10:17- read
INPUT - whatwas the source ofthe disciples'
rejoicing?
- let's see how Jesusresponded: read18-20
- his point was - it's possible to be joyful about
something forthe wrong reason
- in other words, notalljoy is the spirit's fruit
ofjoy, evenfor the believer
- INPUT - why do you think Jesus cautionedthemabout
this? (becausea time was coming where they
wouldminister without many visible results - and

they would still have to demonstrate the
spiritual fruit of joy)
- the day would come whenaboutthe only
thing they had that they could counton was
theirrelationship with the Lord, and the
more practicedtheywere onfocusing on
thatevenin the goodtimes, the better
preparedthey were to be joyful in the lean
times
- letme just ask you- is that convicting?
- I think we all needto ask ourselvestonight- what
reallybrings me joy?
- whatis my primary source ofjoy? (is itmy
relationshipwith the Lord? - is that what brightens me
up the quickest?)
- I think some ofus would have to say- it really isn't.
- what excites me is when I getsomething I want
- when I make the sale
- when someone compliments me
- when my kids behave
- when the problem goes away
- when I geta day off

- I'm not advocating some kindof ascetic life where we don't
smile orgethappy about some ofthe things I just
mentioned
- but the point is - God wants the primary source ofa
believer's joyto be their relationship with Him
- Jesus made it very clearthat the disciples oughtnot to be
rejoicing intheir ministerial successes
- they ought to be rejoicing that they're savedand have
personal relationshipwithGod
- one of the questions this evening has to be - is it
possible thatone ofthe reasons you're notdeveloping the
kindof joy we're discussing tonightis because you're
finding joy in some secularsubstitutes
- it looks like joy, butit turns out to be waxfruit
there are some otherexamples ofwrong motives producting
joyin the Bible
Mark 14:11- the chiefpriests were joyful overJudas'
betrayal
Luke 23:20- Herodwas joyfuloverseeing Jesusbecause
he wantedto see Him perform some miracles
- point is - in every one ofthese cases, the folks were
smiling, hadbig grins on their faces
- it lookedlike joy

- but the truth is - their motives were wrong, whatthey
wantedwas wrong
- progressionwas 1) wrong desire 2) wrongdesire
fulfilled 3) falsejoy, waxfruit
- we have to ask - is it possible that some folks around
youmight think ofyou as a joyful person, yetthe
truth is I derive your joy from a source that’s a
secularsubstitute,
- so that even though they might think of you as
joyful, Godknows, andyouknow different
- just like Mark Twain, thoughperhaps not as bad, in those
quiet moments - there no realjoy, no biblical joy, no
spiritual fruit of joy
- there's one other false substitute, andI wantedto save
this particular passageandmake a separate categoryoutof
it
- readJohn16:19-20
- INPUT - whatlabelwould you put on that kind of
rejoicing?
C. Blatantungodliness

- see, youcanalmostpicture it, can'tyou?
- religious leaders shouting - ifyou're the sonof
God, come downoffthe cross (Ha ha)
- soldiers gambling forhis clothing (Ha ha ha)
- others making jokes andlaughing
- atfirst glance it appears thateveryone is full of
joy
- because ofblatantungodliness
- you say- PV, youwouldn't think anyone who would
callFaith BaptistChurch their home would getjoy
out of anything like that, do you?
- I don't know, but I cantell you some folks who call
themselves Christians do
- they're right in the middle of the filthy jokes toldat
work, some are evenknownforthe filthy ones they
tell
- orjust the ungodly way they behave at work - "Go see
so andso, he's always gotsome funny crack onthe
boss"
- we talkedaboutmusic Sunday night - some folks derive
greatpleasure fromlistening to blatant ungodliness
- others pipe it in through their televisions orVCR's

Dr. Steve Viars
B.S. - Bible, BaptistBible College
M.Div. - GraceTheological Seminary
D.Min. - WestminsterTheological Seminary
PastorSteve Viars has servedatFaithChurch since 1987. He andhis wife Kris
were married in 1982 andhave two married daughters, a son, andthree
grandchildren. PastorViars’giftedteaching ministry, enthusiasmfor the
Word ofGod, and organizational skills are instrumental in equipping Faith
Church. He overseesthe staff, deacons, andallFaith ministries and serves on
the boards of the AssociationofCertifiedBiblicalCounselors, Biblical
Counseling Coalition, VisionofHope, andthe FaithCommunity Development
Corporation.
ReadSteve Viars’Journeyto Faith forthe full accountofhow the Lord led
PastorViars to Faith Church.
The Fruitof theSpirit - Joy
Foundationfora PositiveLife
Postedon Jul3, 2008by DonHooser 3 commentsListen Estimatedreadingtime:
7 minutes
MP3 Audio
(9.64MB)

Jesussaid to Hisdisciples, "ThesethingsI havespoken to you, thatMyjoymay
remainin you,andthatyour joymaybefull"(John15:11).Thatsoundsalmost
too goodto betrue!Howcanweexperiencethisfullnessof joy?
MorganSessions/Unsplash
Joy islargelycomposedof gratitude—gratitudefor thewonderfulthingsGod
has donefor usandHis“exceedinglygreatand preciouspromises” for our
future.
Wouldn’tyouliketo experiencedeepand enduringjoy? Wouldn’tyouliketo be
joy-full?Pleasebeassured—youcan.
The world hasa woefulshortageof joyanda surplusof fear, worry,
discouragementand depression. Eventhe“pursuitof happiness” and obsessive
pleasure-seekingdo not bringdeepandlastingjoy.
Let’sfirstunderstandthedifference between joy andhappiness. Happinessis
an emotion, and Godnever intended for peopleto bein thatemotionalstateall
the time. Thereis“atimeto weep,anda timeto laugh; a timeto mourn, anda
timeto dance” (Ecclesiastes3:4).
Biblicaljoy—thetruejoy—comesfromfillingthespiritualvoid withgood
relationships, primarily an intimaterelationshipwith theOnewho ispurejoy.
Jesusputitthisway: “Iam thevine, youarethebranches. Hewho abidesin Me,
and I in him, bearsmuchfruit” (John 15:5).That fruitincludesmuchjoy!
The Biblespeaksmuchmoreoften of joy thanof beinghappy.“Hap” means
chanceandistherootof severalwords—happen, happening,haphazard
(dependent on merechance), hapless, happenstance(achancecircumstance)
and happy.
Happinessisa gladfeelingthatdependson something goodhappening. God
wantsyou to experiencehappytimes(aslongasGodapprovesof what is
happening).ButHisgreater desireisthatyouhaveunconditionaljoy. Jesussaid

His joywould“remain in you” and“your joyno onewilltakefromyou” (John
15:11; John16:22, emphasisaddedthroughout).
Think of joyasa strongfoundationthatsupportsa varietyof healthyemotions,
includinghappiness.Thelong-rangeevidenceof joyisgeneralgratitude,
contentment, optimism,a senseof freedomandother positiveattitudes.
Joy looksout andup, notinward
A common mistakeisto think thatgettingsomethingwillmakeyouhappy.We
tellourselves, “If only…” Butjoyandhappinesscomemuch morefromgiving
and servingthanfromgetting.
The apostlePaulremindedhislistenersthatJesusChristhadtaughtthisvery
thing: “Thereismorehappinessin givingthan in receiving” (Acts20:35,
Today’sEnglishVersion).
To growin joy, wemustresistnot only self-pitybutalso beingself-centered
and self-absorbed. For joyto flourish, wemustfocuson lovingothersand
especiallyon lovingGod.
Joy islargelycomposedof gratitude —gratitudefor thewonderfulthingsGod
has donefor usandHis“exceedinglygreatand preciouspromises” for our
future(2Peter1:4). Gratitudeproducesjoy(1 Thessalonians5:16-18). And our
gratitudeshouldbeforother people’sblessingsaswellasfor our own(Romans
12:15).
Try to followthisbiblicalformula:Addto your lifegratitude, humility,
forgiveness, faith, hope,patienceandlove. Takeawayresentment, anger, fear,
worry, materialism, greed, jealousy, complainingandpride. Theresult? Joy!
Joy isspiritual, supernaturaland essential
God isjoyful—far morethanany humanbeingeverwas! It’stragicthatmany
peoplethinkof Godassomber andsternrather thancheerfulandsmiling witha
greatsenseof humor. Heisenjoying Hiscreation, andespeciallythedelightful
anticipationof manynew“sonsof God”(Romans8:14; Romans8:19).

Truefollowers(imitators)of Godwillbejoyfulalso. Psalms68:3 says,“Letthe
righteousbeglad; … letthemrejoiceexceedingly.” Goddesiresthatweserve
Him “withjoyandgladnessof heart” (Deuteronomy 28:47).
Paulspokeof the“joyof theHolySpirit” (1Thessalonians1:6). ItisthroughHis
SpiritthatGodsharesand communicatesHisjoy.
And whenPaulliststhe“fruit of theSpirit,” joyissecond, precededonlyby love
(Galatians5:22-23). If wearefilledwithgodlylove, won’t that producejoy? Of
courseit will.
Being second in thelistsurprisesmanypeoplewhomistakenlythinkjoyis
spirituallyunimportant. Somereligiouspeopleevenshunjoy, atleast
subconsciously, thinking thatpiouspeopleshouldinstead besolemn.A few
evenchooseasceticism, whichGodabhors.
Joy isa major topicin theBible. In theKing JamesVersion, “joy” appears158
timesand“rejoice” 198times(notcountingother variationssuchasjoyful,
joyfully,joyous, jubilant, happyandglad).
Rejoiceistheverbformof joy,meaningto feelor havejoy!Clearlythereisgreat
emphasisin theBibleon feelingandexpressingjoy. Thatexplainswhy theBible
also emphasizesprayersandsongsthatpraise(celebrate) God(James5:13;
Colossians3:16-17).
Joy isnotoptional. TheBiblerepeatedlycommandsusto rejoice!Themost
emphaticexhortationisin Philippians4:4, wherePaulsays, “Rejoicein theLord
always. Again I willsay, rejoice!”
Is it wrongto havesorrow?
The Bibledescribestwo kindsof sorrow. “For godlysorrowproduces
repentanceleadingto salvation, notto beregretted;butthesorrowof theworld
producesdeath” (2 Corinthians7:10).
Thosewho havejoyfrequently experiencegodly sorrowat thesametime. Itcan
be thesorrowof repentancetowardGod.Thosewho feeltheworstabouttheir
sinsfeelthegreatest joyabout their forgivenessandGod’samazinggrace.

Anotherexampleismourningoverthesufferingof otherswhilehavingthejoy
of knowingthatGodwilleventuallysolve allproblems(Matthew5:4).
Worldly sorrowisgenerallyself-pityor a victim mentality. Whileoneindulges
in worldlysorrow, it’svirtuallyimpossibleto haveeither godlysorrow or joy.
Isaiah’sprophecysaidJesuswouldbe“aManof sorrows”—sorrowsover
mankind’ssinsandsuffering(Isaiah 53:3).YetHewasalso prophesiedto be
“anointed… withtheoilof gladnessmorethan [His]companions” (Hebrews
1:8-9; Psalms45:6-7). Andindeed, Christhadgreatjoyandalso experienced
greatsorrow(John 17:13; Matthew 26:37-39).
Grievingisa healthyresponsewhena lovedonedies. However, if webelieve
the truth of theresurrection, wealso havecomfortandjoybecauseweknow
our lossisonlytemporary. Thegrief ismuchmorepainfulfor those“who have
no hope” in a resurrection(1 Thessalonians4:13).
Joy becauseof trials?
God’sjoycontinuesto flowthroughHispeopleevenduringtheir suffering
becauseof theirrock-solidhope. Theyknowthatallsufferingislimitedto this
short life, andthetimewill sooncomewhen “thereshallbeno moredeath, nor
sorrow,nor crying” (Revelation 21:4). They“rejoicein hopeof thegloryof God”
(Romans5:2).
We alsohavegoodreason to rejoicebecauseof our trialswhenweunderstand
how Godisusingthosetrialsto helpusbuildgodlycharacter.“Andweknow
thatallthings[evenseveretrials] work togetherforgoodto thosewho love
God, to thosewho arethecalledaccordingto Hispurpose” (Romans8:28).
Morespecifically, Paulwrotethat“wealsorejoicein oursufferings, becausewe
knowthatsufferingproducesperseverance;perseverance, character; and
character, hope” (Romans5:3-4,NewInternationalVersion).
Jameswrote, “Consider itpurejoy, mybrothers, wheneveryou facetrialsof
many kinds,becauseyou knowthatthetestingof your faithdevelops
perseverance”—perseverancein remainingfaithfulto God(James1:2, NIV).

And becauseChristsufferedfor eachof us, weshouldhavea specialjoywhen
we arepersecutedfor our faith. Jesussaid, “Rejoiceand beexceedinglyglad, for
greatisyourrewardin heaven” (Matthew5:11-12).
The numberonekeyto joy: God’sSpirit
SupremejoyisGod’snatureand character!Weseeproof everywherein God’s
creation—birdssinging,animalsleaping, flowersblooming, brooks babbling
and thesunshining!Manypeoplewould belessdepressedif theywouldspend
moretimeoutside. God“givesusrichlyallthingsto enjoy” (1 Timothy6:17).
SinceGod isexceedinglyjoyful,Hisservantsshouldalso bejoyful!Sadly, many
who claimto beHisdisciplesareaustere, sour anddour.Buttakenoteof Luke’s
descriptionof truedisciples: “Andthediscipleswerefilledwithjoyandwiththe
Holy Spirit” (Acts13:52).
How canwebefilledwithjoyand theHolySpirit? “Then Peter saidto them,
‘Repent, andleteveryoneof you bebaptized in thenameof JesusChrist for the
remission [forgiveness] of sins; andyoushallreceivethegiftof theHoly Spirit’ ”
(Acts2:38).
Whatthen?Ouruniquejoy beginsbecauseChristlivesin us(Galatians 2:20).
He tellsusto “rejoicebecauseyournamesarewritten in heaven” (Luke10:20).
We thenhavean intimaterelationshipwiththeOnePsalms43:4calls“God my
exceedingjoy.” In Hispresence“isfullnessof joy” (Psalms16:11).
God’sSpiritisa treeof life, producinglife-givingfruit(Galatians5:22-23). That
fruit includesgreatjoy.
Jesusprayed forHisfollowers“thatthey mayhaveMy joyfulfilledin
themselves” (John 17:13).
He also teachesusto prayforjoyandforall our needs. AsHetellsusin John
16:24, “Ask, andyouwillreceive, thatyourjoymaybefull!”
https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-fruit-of-the-spirit-joy-foundation-
for-a-positive-life

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The FruitOf TheSpirit IsJoy
Contributed by TimParsonson Jan 22, 2006
basedon 11ratings
(ratethissermon)
| 1,678views
Scripture: Galatians5:22
Denomination: ChurchOf God
Summary: Thissermondealswith thefruitof thespiritof joy.
The Fruitof thespiritis Joy.
Rememberingtheword{Fruit}Meanswork, Act, or deed. Gal.5:22
What’sthemeaningif thewordJoy?
The Greekwordis{chairo}MeansA Primaryverbto becheerful, calmly,happy
or welloff.
John 15:11
Let’sconsider thesourceof Joyin yourlife

Whatarethey?
#1.Thereisjoy in salvation
Nelsondictary saysitthisway ...Deliverancefromthepowerof sin.
WhenI gotsaved, Joyfilled myheart
A. Salvation isillustratedthisway
A Horn
A Tower
A Helmet
A shield
A lamp
A Cup
A clothing
The fruit of thespiritisJoy
#2...ThereisJoyin Baptism
#3.ThereisJoywhenwereadGodsword
#4..ThereisJoyin Prayer
Spendingtimein prayerwillproduceJoy.
#5 thereisJoyevenin timesof discouragement
Evenin dying, assadasitmaybeknowingwhereour lovedoneisgoingisa
sinceof Joy.
My Dadlaid on hisdeathbedfor7 months, waiting to dieandhisheartwas still
Joyfulin knowwhereiswasgoing, and asaresultit mademyfamily havea
sinceof joywithhim.

#6 Thecenterof ourJoyisChristJohn15:11
ChristianJoyislettingChristlivehislifeoutthough you,so that whatheisyou
can become.
Hasanyoneever hadtheir spiritmanto jumpandleapwithJoy?
Likeabout to havea runningspell<
It’shardto sitstill, when theManon theinsideistryingto stand up.
#7 Thecharacteristicof thisJoy is
The Joy thatcomesfromthespiritof GodItseverythingJoywaseverintended
to be 1 peter 1:8
Whomhavingnotseenyelove!In whomthoughnowyeseehim notyet
believingyerejoicewithJoyunspeakableand fullof Glory
Someonehasitthisway. Joyistheflagthatisflown over thecastleof your
heartwhenthekingisin Residence.
Joy isdeterminedby whether or notJesusisathomein your Life.
SermonCollectionof theWeek
Fullaccessto weekly curatedlistswithsermons, illustrations,andnewmedia.
FreeWithPRO→
Why? Becauseheisthevery sourceandcenterof Joy.
The fruit, or work or actof thespiritisJoy.
#8 Letsconsidertheflowof Joy!
Thereisno endto theJoy John16:22
Evenin sorrowthereisJoy!
1 peter 4:14If youarereproachedfor thenameof ChristBlessedare
you.{Happy}

In Acts16:25tellsthestoryof Paulandsilosthey singwith JoyatMidnight
whilein prison
DO YOUHAVE JOY?
IS JOY ATWORKIN YOURLIFE?
Thereseemto bea lotof unhappyChristianwalkingaround.
LETSCONSIDERTHESECRETSOFFINDINGJOYIN OUR LIFE.
#1..Surrenderingyourlifeto thelord.
Ps. 51:12 DavidPrayed.
Restoreunto metheJoyof my salvationand upholdmewiththyfreespirit.
Ps. 35:9Andmy soulshallbeJoyfulin thelord, ItshallRejoicein hissalvation.
#2 submityourselfto thecontrolof thespirit of God.
Rom.14:17 forthekingdomof Godisnot meatanddrink butrighteousnessand
peaceandjoyin theHoly Ghost.
ManyPeoplewantwhat theywantwithoutgivingthemselvestotallyto theHoly
Spirit.
#2..StudyingGodsword.
The word of Godiswhat thespiritof Godusesto controlourLives.
#3.. SpendingtimewithGodin Prayer
John 16:24hitherto haveyeaskednothingin my name, askandyeashall
receivethatyour Joy maybefull.
PRAISE GOD.
I closewitha questionto leavewithyou.
How isyourJoytoday, isitfull, Thefruitof thespiritisJoy.
LetsPray...

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Joy:A FruitOf TheSpirit Series
Contributed by Patrick Nixon Jul9, 2010
basedon 1 rating
(ratethissermon)
| 2,177views
Scripture: Galatians5:22-23
Denomination: Baptist
Summary: Abidingin Him willalwaysresultin Hisfruit in us. If wearenot
bearingfruit, it isevidencethatwearenot abidingin Him.
1 2
Next
1. JoyComes from the Spirit
A - The source of true joy comes from the Holy Spirit. It is His fruit. It is what
He produces. The Bible says that there is great joy in salvation (possessing the
Spirit). Knowing our sins are forgiven and having assurance offuture rest
brings a joy that the worst of this world cannot tarnish. Not its loneliness, nor

its sickness,nor poverty canaffect the joy of the sealof the Spirit in salvation.
“Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20b)You are
being romanced by the God of Joy; greatjoy will come from discovering the
evidences of His pursuit!
B - Not only does joy spring forth because ofthe Spirit’s indwelling, but also
because ofthe Spirit’s influence. As we surrender more and more to the Holy
Spirit’s control, we will begin to see these nine virtues (Gal. 5:22-23)grow in
us. We canno more make these come out of our souls than we can grow any
other fruit out of our bodies… it is silly to assume any different! We must be
connectedto the source at the root. John 15:4-5, 11: “Abide in me, and I in
you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, exceptit abide in the vine; no
more can ye, exceptye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He
that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for
without me ye cando nothing. These things have I spokenunto you, that my
joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
Abiding in Him will always result in His fruit in us. If we are not bearing
fruit, it is evidence that we are not abiding in Him. We cannotfake it or cover
it up with Christian service / works. The Spirit isn’t barren or fruitless… joy
will come if the Spirit has control and if we are connectedto God! If we lack
joy, the answeris in the presence of the Lord (Psalm16:11).
C - Joy comes from sharing the Spirit with others. The Holy Spirit loves to
bring us togetherand to use us in expanding the kingdom. When saints share
the gospel, whenthey share the Spirit of faith with eachother and with
sinners, there is greatjoy. “I have no greaterjoy than to hear that my
children walk in truth.” (3 John 4) “There is joy in the presence of the angels
of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:10)
2. JoyGives a SpecialStrength
History bears record that many a martyr has sung praises to God while being
burned alive, they were last seensmiling when facing lions in Rome’s
Colosseum, they could be heard whistling their lastnight awayon death row.
The underground, persecutedchurch often gottoo loud as they praised the

Lord in the catacombs. Yes, joybrings a certainstrength to the Christian;
“for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah8:10)
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It is interesting to note, in different people, the various levels of joy: its
frequency in our heart. For many, joy is a rare treat. With others, it is more
frequent. They experience joy in seasons (see2 Cor. 6:10). For some, it seems
almost constant(although not always displayed with smiles and song at every
moment). The important thing to recognize is not necessarilyjoy’s frequency,
but joy’s growth. Christians should be ever increasing in joy’s strength. “That
your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ… “Rejoicein the Lord
alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” (Philippians 1:26; 4:4)
At this point, we must be reminded that joy and happiness are not the same
thing. True joy is because ofJesus, while happiness is founded on happenings.
Joy is rootedin the Christian’s reality, but happiness finds its source in our
feelings. Joyripens under the most remarkable of circumstances – yet this
fruit must be carefully cultivated (Ps. 32:11). Sometimes, joy doesn’t seem
natural – that’s because it is spiritual.
The vows of God are upon you, O believer, and they bind you to be joyful. –
C.H. Spurgeon
3. Joyshould be Shown
A joy that is secretis not true joy. Sometimes, it might be unspeakable (1
Peter1:8) – but it never should be unspoken. Joy expresseddamages Satan’s
empire like none other. Show your joy by singing. James 5:13: ” Is any merry
? let him sing psalms.” Why is it hard for Christians to sing? They are
forgiven, they are loved, they are free. “Come let us sing a psalm and spite the
Devil.” (-Martin Luther)
Revealyour joy in service to the Master. The only tragic motivation many
know is guilt. Some will not do anything because ofguilt, others will do

everything because ofguilt. Paul’s messageto the first church was to serve
and give from their spirits, as a means of showing their love, motivated by
sheerjoy. “But none of these things move me , neither count I my life dear
unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which
I have receivedof the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospelof the grace of God. I
have shewedyou all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the
weak , and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said , It is more
blessedto give than to receive.” (Acts 20:24, 35)
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfiedin Him. -John Piper
4. Joycan be Stolen
Your joy is potent. It is a strengthening agent, it is a blessing to any home, it is
a powerful witness to the world. Remember, the Devil is a Thief who wants to
stealfrom you your joy. Beware ofthe following things that can rob you of
your joy:
1. Unconfessedsin– “Create in me a cleanheart, O God; and renew a right
spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with
thy free spirit.” (Psalm51:10,12)
2. When outgo exceeds intake – If we do not stay connectedto the Vine, we
will begin to lose our source ofjoy. We can gettoo busy, too exhausted to keep
going without a steady diet of God’s Word and the poweronly found in His
presence. (see 1 Kings 19; Elijah)
Volume 27 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. 1
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT—JOYNO. 1582
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD’S-DAYMORNING, FEBRUARY6,
1881, BYC. H. SPURGEON,AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is joy.” Galatians 5:22.
OBSERVE, “The fruit of the Spirit,” for the product of the Spirit of God is
one. As some fruits are easilydivisible into severalparts, so you perceive that
the fruit of the Spirit, though it is but one, is threefold, no, it makes three
times three—“love, joy, peace;long-suffering, gentleness, goodness;faith,
meekness,temperance”—allone!Perhaps “love” is put first not only because
it is a right royal virtue, nearestakinto the divine perfection, but because it is
a comprehensive grace and contains all the others. All the commandments are
fulfilled in one word and that word is “love.” And all the fruits of the Spirit
are containedin that one most sweet, mostblessed, mostheavenly, most God-
like grace oflove. See that you abound in love to the greatFatherand all His
family, for if you fail in the first point, how can you succeedin the second?
Above all things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness! As for joy, if it
is not the first product of the Spirit of God, it is next to the first, and we may
be sure that the order in which it is placedby the inspired apostle is meant to
be instructive. The fruit of the Spirit is love, first, as comprehensive of the
rest—then joy rising out of it. It is remarkable that joy should take so eminent
a place!It attains unto the first three and is but one place lowerthan the first.
Look at it in its high position and if you have missedit, or if you have
depreciatedit, revise your judgment and endeavor with all your heart to
attain to it, for depend upon it—this fruit of the Spirit is of the utmost value!
This morning, as I can only speak upon one theme, I leave love for another
occasionand treat only of joy. May its divine author, the Holy Spirit, teachus
how to speak of it to our profit and His glory! It is quite true that the Spirit of
God produces sorrow, for one of His first effects upon the soul is holy grief.
He enlightens us as to our lostcondition, convicting us of sin, of righteousness
and of judgment. And the first result upon our heart is astonishmentand
lamentation. Even when we look to Christ, by the work of the Spirit one of the
first fruits is sorrow—“Theyshalllook on Him whom they have pierced and
they shall mourn for Him, and be in bitterness for Him as one that is in
bitterness for his first-born.” But this sorrow is not the ultimate objective of

the Spirit’s work—it is a means to an end. Even as the travail of the mother
leads up to the joy of birth, so do the pangs of repentance lead up to the joy of
pardon and acceptance.The sorrow is, to use a Scriptural figure, the blade,
but the full corn in the earis joy. Sorrow helps the fruit on, but the fruit,
itself, is joy. The tears of godly grief for sin are all meant to sparkle into the
diamonds of joy in pardoning love. This teaches us, then, that we are not to
look upon bondage as being the objective of the work of the Spirit of God, or
the designof the Lord in a work of grace. Manyare under bondage to the
law—they attempt to keepthe commands of God—not out of love, but from
slavish fear. They dread the lash of punishment and tremble like slaves. But to
believers it is said, “You are not under the law, but under grace” and, “You
have not receivedthe spirit of bondage againto fear; but you have received
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” To be in bondage
under the law, to be afraid of being castawayby God and visited with
destruction on accountof sin after we have trusted in Jesus—this is not the
work of the Spirit of Godin believers, but the black offspring of unbelief or
ignorance of the grace of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord! Neither is a
painful dread or a servile terror a fruit of the Spirit. Many worship the Lord
Jesus, Himself, at a distance—theyknow not that believers are “a people near
unto Him.” They are afraid of God and they never delight in Him. They
attend to worship, not because they rejoice in it, but because they think it
must be done. Their secretfeeling is—“Whata weariness it is,” but necessity
compels. They know nothing of a child’s joy in sure and full forgiveness,
spokenby the Father’s own lips as He pressedthem to His bosom.
2 The Fruit of the Spirit—Joy Sermon#1582
2 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 27
His kiss was never warm upon their cheek. The ring was never on their
finger, nor the best robe upon their shoulders. The music and the dancing of
the joyous family who are in harmony with the father’s joy over the lost son
have never charmed their ears. Theyare still under dread, which is the fruit
of superstition rather than “the fruit of the Spirit.” Many things they do and
suffer and all in vain—if the Son did but make them free, they would be free,
indeed! I know some whom I am very far from despising, but whom, on the

contrary, I greatlyvalue, whose religion, sincere as I know it is, is sadly tinged
with gloomy colors. Theyare afraid of assurance, forthey dread presumption!
They dare not speak oftheir own salvationwith the certainty with which the
Bible saints were knownto speak of it—they always say, “I hope,” and, “I
trust.” They would seemto be total abstainers from joy! They are suspicious
of it lest it should be carnalexcitement or visionary hope. They hang their
heads like bulrushes and go mourning all their days as if the religionof Christ
knew no higher festival than a funeral and all its robes were the garments of
despair! Brothers and sisters, despondencyis not the fruit of the Spirit! Make
no mistake, depressionis frequently the fruit of indigestion, or of satanic
temptation, or of unbelief, or of some harbored sin, but, “the fruit of the Spirit
is joy.” Constantly looking within your own selfinstead of looking alone to
Christ is enoughto breed misery in any heart. I have also knowngloomy
expressions to be the fruit of affectation, the fruit of the unwise imitation of
some undoubtedly good personwho was of a downcastspirit. Some of the best
of men have had a melancholy turn, but they would have been better men if
this had been overcome. Imitate their many virtues—but take the pot of
ointment and pick out the dead flies. O my brethren, look well to it that you
bring forth the genuine, holy, sacred, delicious fruit of the Spirit which, in one
of its forms, is “joy.” Do not covetthe counterfeit of earthly joy, but seek to
the goodSpirit to bear the true fruit in you. I. In speaking upon this joy I
shall notice, first, the fact that IT IS BROUGHT FORTH. Brothers and
sisters, the Spirit of God is not barren! If He is in you, He must and will
inevitably produce His own legitimate fruit—and “the fruit of the Spirit is
joy.” We know this to be a fact because we, ourselves, are witnessesofit. Joy
is our portion and we are cheeredand comforted in the Savior. “What?” you
ask, “are we not depressedand sorrowfulat times?” Yea, verily, and yet what
Christian man or womanamong us would make an exchange with the
happiest of all worldlings? Your lot is somewhathard, my brother, and
sometimes your spirit sinks within you. But do you not count yourself to be,
even at your worst, happier than the worldling at his best? Come, would you
not take your poverty, even with your mourning, rather than accepthis
wealth with all his hilarity and give up your hope in God? I am persuaded
you would—you would not change your blest estate for a monarch’s crown!
Well, then, that which you would not change is a goodthing and full of joy to

your heart. Brothers and sisters, we experience extraordinary joys at times.
Some are of an equable temperament and they are almost to be envied, for a
stream of gentle joy always glides through their spirit. Others of us are of a
more excitable characterand, consequently, we fall very flat at times. Yes, but
then we have our high days and holidays and mounting times—and then we
outsoarthe wings of eagles!Heavenitself can hardly know more ecstatic joy
than we have occasionallyfelt! We shall be vessels ofgreatercapacityin
heaven, but even here we are, at times, full to the brim with joy—I mean the
same joy which makes heavenso glad. At times God is pleasedto inundate
the spirit with a flood of joy and we are witnesses that, “happy is the people
whose Godis the Lord.” We do not dance before the ark every day, but when
we do, our joy is such as no worldling can understand—it is far above and out
of his sight. Besides our own witness, the whole history of the church goes to
show that God’s people are a joyful people. I am sure that if in reading the
history of the first Christian centuries you are askedto point out the men to
be envied for their joy, you would point to the believers in Jesus. There is a
room in Rome which is filled with the busts of the emperors. I have lookedat
their heads—theylook like a collectionof prizefighters and murderers—and I
could scarcelydiscoveron any countenance a trace of joy. Brutal passions
and cruel thoughts deprived the lords of Rome of all chance of joy. There
were honorable exceptions to their rule, but taking them all round you would
look in vain for moral excellence among the Caesars. And lacking this thing of
beauty, they missed that which is a joy. Turn, now, to the poor, hunted
Christians and read the inscriptions left by them in the catacombs!They are
so calm and peacefulthat you sayinstinctively—a joyous people were known
to gather here! Those who have been most eminent in service and in suffering
for Christ’s sake have been of a triumphant spirit, dauntless be
Sermon #1582 The Fruit of the Spirit—Joy 3
Volume 27 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. 3
cause supported by an inner joy! Their calm courage made them the wonder
of the age. The true Christian is a different type of manhood from the self-
indulgent tyrant. There is almost as much advance from the coarsenessofvice
to holiness as there is from the chimpanzee to the man! I do not know how

much Tiberius and Caligula and Nero used to sing. Happy men they certainly
were not. I can hardly imagine them singing except at their drunken orgies
and then in the same tone as tigers growl! But I do know that Paul and Silas
sang praises unto God with their feetin the stocks andthe prisoners heard
them! And I know, also, that this was the mark of the Christians of the first
age, that, when they assembledon the Lord’s Day, it was not to groan but to
sing praises to the name of one Christos, whom they worshipped as God. High
joys were common, then, when the Bridegroomcomforted His bride in the
dens and caves ofthe earth. Those pioneers ofour holy faith were destitute,
afflicted, tormented—yet were they men of whom the world was not worthy—
and men who counted it all joy to suffer persecutionfor Christ’s sake. Now,
if in the very worsttimes God’s people have been a happy people, I am sure
they are so now. I would appealto the biographies of men of our own day and
challenge any question as to the statement that their lives have been among
the most desirable of human existences forthey possesseda joy which cheered
their sorrows, blessedtheir labors, sweetenedtheir trials and sustained them
in the hour of death. With some Christians, this fruit of the Spirit is perpetual,
or almost so. I do not doubt that many walk with God as Enoch did
throughout the whole day of their life, always peacefuland joyful in the Lord.
I have met with some dear brothers and sisters ofthat kind, whose breath has
been praise, whose life has been song!How I envy them and chide my own
heart that I cannot always abide in their choice condition! It is to be
accomplishedand we will press forward till we are “always rejoicing.” But
with others, joy is not constantand yet it is frequent. David had his mourning
times when tears were his meat, day and night, and yet God was his exceeding
joy. How thankful we ought to be for the portrait of David’s inner self which
is presented to us in the Book ofPsalms. With all his grief, what joys he had!
David was, on the whole, a joyous man. His Book ofPsalms has in it lyrics of
delight—the most glad hymns that ever leapedfrom human tongues!David is,
I believe, the type of a greatmajority of the people of God who, if not, “always
rejoicing,” are yet often so. Please rememberthat the utmost fullness of joy
can hardly be enjoyed always in this mortal life. I believe that the human
frame is not, in this world, capable of perpetual ecstasy. Look at the sun, but
look not too long lest you are blinded by excessive light. Taste of honey, but
eat not much of it or it will no longer please the palate. Let your ears be

The holy spirit fruit of joy 2

The holy spirit fruit of joy 2

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