Joy – the Fruit of the Spirit

 Study Series on the Fruit of the Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:22,23

 

I.         Introduction (Philp 4:4; Gal 5:19-23)

 

A.      There are NINE fruits placed in the life of the believer at salvation – list them

B.       These are God’s replacements for the seventeen WORKS of the flesh

C.       In contrast:

 

1.        Lust GETS – Love GIVES

2.        Happiness is TEMPORARY – Joy is ETERNAL

3.        Anxiety and worry KILLS (stress) – Peace and rest gives LONG life!

4.        Do you see how the world has substituted POISON fro God’s fruit in us!?

5.        The works of the flesh occur naturally – they “just happen” – they are the results of doing NOTHING – that’s why LAZINESS is the source of the majority of our sins folks!

6.        The fruit of the Spirit is a direct result of my personal walk and relationship with Jesus Christ – it’s not complicated. It just takes effort and focus (Gal 5:25)

7.        Without spiritual fruit in my life, I am barren, empty, and may just not even be saved!

 

D.      The FRUIT of the Holy Spirit is what we need – not the gifts of the spirit

E.       If a Christian is living an empty life spiritually, then they need to realize that Christ has given them all they need already to defeat all 18 sins

F.       The fruits of the Spirit can be intimidating. Working all nine of these traits into your life seems impossible, and indeed it is. But the moment you became a Christian, the Holy Spirit began a divine work to produce Christ's character in you. Regardless of who you are, the Spirit works from the same model, Jesus Christ. The Spirit looks to Christ in order to find the blueprint for your character.

G.       It is as natural as the growth of fruit on a tree. You do not have to orchestrate it on your own. It automatically begins the moment you become a believer. How quickly it happens depends upon how completely you yield yourself to the Holy Spirit's activity.

H.      This message will focus on the second fruit of the Holy Spirit - Joy!

I.         The Need for Christian Joy

 

1.        The ONE thing we need is joy in our relationship with the Lord Jesus

2.        It is lacking because most “Christians” do not REALLY love God, or God’s word at all – they all SAY they do, but their JOY indicator shows them to be LIARS!

3.        People shout all afternoon at Ball games

4.        People laugh for hours at comedians till their sides split

5.        They LUST at fashion shows and TV programmes and movies

6.        They SING LOUD and CLEAR at pubs

7.        They get all excited when they win €100 in the lotto!

8.        They weep over romance novels, and at Coronation Street disasters

9.        But they cannot make even a holy GRUNT under the preaching of Gospel truth, and they never stand up and shout at the victory over the devil when ONE SINNER repents, or one Christian gets right with God!

10.     It’s time this church got excited about things worth shouting about!

 

II.       Message – Joy – the Fruit of the Spirit

 

A.      What is Joy?

 

1.        A God-given attitude of the mind, that over-rides all circumstances and feelings that are against the reality of Jesus Christ - repeat

2.        The opposite of joy is Sorrow, sadness, and constantly being negative

3.        The world has no joy - can only offer happiness– a feeling that offers us a short-lived bit of excitement, based only on good luck happening to us

4.        Most of life is lived searching for happiness, for things to go right for us

5.        Sadly, so few know the fruit of real Joy in their lives

6.        The importance of having a joyful attitude – Laughter is one of the best mental tonics known to man – it’s the second most powerful emotion next to love. It can dispel anxiety, stress, fear, and worry, and it stimulates great healing processes built-into your body. That’s why God gave us joy – He gave us the supernatural ability to laugh when we feel like crying

 

B.       The Sources of Joy (Lk 10:1-11,17a) – Quite a few sources

 

1.        Working for the Lord – knowing God’s will for your life and living it

2.        Working with other Christians – rarely called to go it alone

3.        Having a burden for the lost – strange contradiction: having a burden for lost souls brings great joy as you pray for more labourers, and then seeing more going out and reaching this world!

4.        Doing God’s work, God’s way  (10:3) – as lambs among wolves – not as ARMY TANKS over tulips!

5.        Living by faith (10:4), not by your own ideas!

6.        Not caring whether people accept or reject you – just whether you have done what God told you to do

7.        All of these were sources of Christ’s joy (Heb 12:2)

8.        But the BEST source of joy is knowing you are SAVED, BORN AGAIN! THAT ought to be enough to get you shouting every day (Lk 10:20)

 

a.       People get all excited about (Lk 10:17-20)

 

1)       Miracles

2)       Controlling demonic powers in the world – like superheros

3)       Possessions (Lk 12:13-15) – the man thought he would be happy if he just had his half of the inheritance

4)       Having people admiring them (Jude 1:16) – makes them feel important, and worthwhile – otherwise are depressed

 

b.       Yet, NONE of that compares to Calvary, and the excitement in heaven over sinners getting saved from an eternal hell fire!

 

C.       The Signs of Joy - Real Joy is Visible – easily seen – four signs of joy

 

1.        No continual sorrow – the right kind of sorrow gives way to joy

 

a.       If it just keeps building, then you have the wrong kind of sorrow (2Cor 7:10), and it will destroy you

b.       But, if it is the right kind, it brings forth joy (Ps 30:5)

 

2.        A lot of Shouting – not screaming, but shouts of joy and laughter

 

a.       This idea that when we come into “the house of God” we have to lose our heart, and leave our excitement OUTSIDE is from the pit of hell!

b.       What every Bible believing church needs is a good SHOUT!

 

1)       At the construction of the Temple after captivity (Ezra 3:10-13)

2)       The angels shouted at the creation of the universe (Job 38:7)

3)       All of heaven shouts when just ONE sinner repents and gets saved (Lk 15:7)

4)       It comes when you believe God BEFORE you get the victory (Josh 6:5,10,16,20). We need to shout believing in His word

5)       We need to shout when we are IN a battle – you need a good shout (1Sam 17:20,52) – every Judo instructor teaches this!

6)       We need to shout when God does give us the victory (2Sam 6:15) – like when God gives us our own church building!

7)       Knowing Jesus has come ought to get us to leap a bit (Lk 1:44)

8)       We need to SHOUT when a pub closes, or a wicked, vile rock or porn star dies (Pr 11:10) – AMEN! Don’t lose me now!

9)       Just a few more COMMANDS about how to act in church (Ps 5:11; 32:11; 47:1)

 

3.        A whole lot of Singing (Ps 66:1; 81:1; 95:1,2; 98:4-8; 100:1). If you are not singing songs about heaven, and the blood of Christ, and Victory in Jesus, then you are one SAD creature! You need to repent of being a sour-puss! AMEN!

4.        A whole lot of soul-winning (Rom 10:11,13-15) – joy and excitement makes people who watched the world cup go out and play soccer. Well, a good church meeting ought to make us better soul-winners too!

 

D.      The Furnace of Joy (James 1:1-4; 2Cor 7:4-6) – here is the hard part

 

1.        We all think that to have joy requires that everything go well in our lives

2.        Yet all Jesus promised, and promoted was that everything would be well with our SOUL!

3.        So, when we fall into various times of trials, and tribulations (like Job did), we must understand it as a furnace where our joy is forged, fashioned, moulded, shaped

4.        Again, all this world offers is happiness (Heb 11:24,25) that only lasts for a short season

5.        But God takes a bit of clay, and places us under the heat of affliction and trial, and we come forth like steel does from a furnace – heated at low temperature, iron is weak (it is brittle and falls apart quite easily) – at high temperature, it becomes strong!

6.        So, when you find yourself under pressure, REJOICE instead of fret, because God means to make you stronger, and your joy to be fuller than ever imagined!

 

E.       The Flaw of Joy – Joy can be Lost, or stolen – illustrated by Job

 

1.        By not believing God over what you imagine (Jn 16:22). Job thought that God was being unfair, and so lost His joy that he had had for so long

2.        By unconfessed sin (Ps 51:12). David lost his joy:

 

a.       First in sinning – didn’t realize he had traded joy for excitement, but ended up quite empty

b.       Then in not confessing it to God and forsaking it

 

3.        By ignoring the goodness of God to you – it will cost your joy when you don’t count your blessings, and ponder the mercy of God, and His grace!

 

III.     Application and Conclusion

 

A.      Ask yourself some questions this morning

 

1.        Are you saved from hell? Has Jesus paid off every sin on your account?

2.        If He has, have you ever let it affect you like winning the Lotto might?

3.        Shouldn’t we get a little excited when the truth is being preached – no matter WHO is preaching it? AMEN!?

4.        Shouldn’t we get all excited when someone gets saved, or when a Christian brother or sister repents and gets right with God?

 

B.       Maybe you are not born again – only struggle from week to week, trying to find happiness. Jesus will give you real joy (Jn 15:11) – His joy in you

 

1.        It is a gift

2.        He offers it to anyone who will come to HIM, and ask to be forgiven of ALL your sins, and ask Him to save your soul

3.        You won’t contain yourself when you get your name written down in heaven, and get born all over again! The greatest event in all of eternity!

 

C.       Don’t let the furnace scare you – it is God’s way of forging great joy in your life – if you let Him! Jesus proves that God will not let you down!