There are two kinds of joy, one is affected by circumstances, this is human joy, the other is the joy of the Lord, and it takes us through all circumstances.
Rejoice is in the imperative mood in the Greek, it is a commandment. We are to rejoice always —I Thessalonians 5:16.
The world today is filled with a great deal of unhappiness, and even the few joys that it seems to have wither away.
But, the New Testament is a book of joy. The gospel story begins and ends with joy. In Luke the 2nd chapter, the angel said to the shepherds, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
When the wise men saw the star and they followed it to the birth place of Christ, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Matthew 2:10.
Likewise at the end, when Christ had risen from the dead, it says of the women who came to the tomb, And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring his disciples word. Matthew 28:8.
In Luke 24:41. The disciples could scarcely believe the good news for joy, they still disbelieved, yet they were almost overwhelmed with the joy that was with them.
And in Luke 24:52, it says, as Jesus was blessing them and departing from them and was carried up into heaven that – they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
There is no doubt from all of these scriptures that joy is the keynote of the gospel from beginning to end.
One of the prime objectives in the New Testament is to bring joy to the children of God.
John 15:11, where Jesus said, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full:
John 17:13, but now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
Jesus Christ did not come to limit life and to make it miserable, but as He said, I came that they may have life and may have it more abundantly. John 10:10.
The Lord came in order that He might impart a divine joy unto us, a holy joy; something that is not manufactured by the circumstances or the comforts round about us, but some inward divine impartation that makes life blessed.
How could you understand the Lord giving such joy to the disciples, that after they would be beaten for the glory of God, they would still be rejoicing and praising God with such great joy?
There is only one answer to it. Paul and Silas, with their backs beaten raw in the dungeon, with their hands and feet fast in the stocks, were singing and praising God all night long until an earthquake shook and the jail came down, because there is something that transcends the physical sense, something that is greater when you feel pain; something greater than those things of sorrow and oppression that comes against you.
Peter calls it, Joy unspeakable and full of glory. I Peter 1:8.
The joy and happiness that God has for you is not dependent upon circumstances. People say, “Well, if I just had more money I would be happy”
People say, “If I just had better circumstances; if I had a nice car, a nice home, and could get the promotion in my job, and so forth, why I would be happy.”
Well, those are nice things. But the joy of the Lore is not created by the external things. Joy is created by an inward work of God in our lives; it is a fruit of our spirit in union with God.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace? We speak a lot about love, and everyone feels that a Christian ought to be full of love. But the second fruit of the Spirit is joy.
It’s the outgrowth of God in us. It is not something we manufacture. God says He wants us to love, so we decide to love everybody. We can’t do it. God wants joy, so we decide we’ll be joyful and we’ll rejoice. We can’t do it. God wants peace, so we decide we’ll generate that inward peace. No, it does not come in that way.
This is the fruit of the Spirit. It is the outgrowth of God in our life. It is not our fruit. It is the Spirit’s fruit that is grown in the life of a believer.
Joy, then, becomes the distinguishing atmosphere of the whole believer’s life.
That’s why Paul says in Philippians 3:1, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.
In Philippians 4:4 he says, Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice.
In I Thessalonians 5:16, Paul writes, Rejoice always.
In each case, this is an imperative mood, a command. You must rejoice. It is not an optional thing.
The believer will attract to themselves a great many difficulties if they do not let their life be filled with the joy and rejoicing that God wants him to have.
In the realm of the spirit, we are emanating all the time, and are either attracting all of heaven or the demonic realm.
If we are under attack, we have to break that mind set, or else it will increase. That is why we must first submit to God and then resist the devil. In our submission we draw the joy of the Lord.
The negative mind and approach to God seems to draw nothing but misery. It is this positive determination to believe God, to draw His joy and His comfort that always works.
Paul had written in Romans 14:17, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
So joy is to be the very distinguishing atmosphere of the whole believer’s life because he loves the Lord, because he rejoices in the Lord. The world will see that love, and see that joy, and be attracted to serve the Lord too.
The Apostle Paul writes in II Corinthians 1:24, Not that we have lordship over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: For in faith ye stand fast.
The Apostle thought of himself as a helper of their joy. “I’m going to help you to be joyful. I’m going to minister the grace of God to you, so that God can heal your bodies, God can deliver your oppressed mind, God can deliver you from the bondages and the habits of sin, God can break all of this misery that comes upon the world through unbelief and sin and bring joy to you.
I’m a helper of your joy. And once you are delivered, I’ll build you until you are strong to serve the Lord.” That is an excellent thing, and the whole thing we are after, is to see the joy and the blessing that falls upon the people as they open their hearts to God.
There is a great joy that comes when a person opens their heart to God and begins to believe. That’s why we read in Romans 15:13, Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.…
There is a joy and a peace in believing the Word of God. Then you begin to abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
These are many marvelous passages of Scripture, but remember, this joy of which we speak is a holy joy that only God can give you. How is it obtained?
The only way that anything is obtained from God is through the grace of God by faith. We believe God for it. We learn how to join our spirit to His so that His joy flows into it.
Believe God. Ask Him for it. Say, “Lord, I need Thy joy. I need You to work in me that same joy and peace and blessing that I know the early Christians had and that every believer is to have.” God is faithful. God is full of mercy. He will bring you that joy, it will be a real experience to your heart, He will teach you how to tune into it.
So then, we see that joy is certainly to be in the life of every believer. It is one of the great objectives in the New Testament, that these men who ministered, and our Lord, who gave Himself, did it all in order that His joy, the Lord’s joy, might be fulfilled in us!
I Peter 4:10, 11.… according as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God; if any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth, ministering as of the strength which God supplieth: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.