The second fruit of the Spirit
mentioned in Galatians 5 is "joy." It is impressive to see the
importance which the Lord places on our joy being full and continuous. We see
it in the following Scriptures:
"These things have I spoken
unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be
full" (John 15:11).
"Ask, and ye shall receive,
that your joy may be full" (John 16:24).
"And now come I to Thee;
and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in
themselves" (John 17:13).
"Now the God of hope fill
you with all joy and peace in believing" (Rom. 15:13).
"Fulfill ye my joy, that ye
be likeminded" (Phil. 2:2).
"Finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord" (Phil. 3:1).
‘Rejoice in the Lord alway:and again
I say, Rejoice" (Phil. 4:4).
"Rejoice evermore" (1
Thess. 5:16).
"Greatly desiring to see
thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy" (2 Tim.
1:4).
"And these things write we
unto you, that your joy may be full" (1 John 1:4).
"I have no greater joy than
to hear that my children walk m truth" (3 John 4).
As to the ground and object of
our joy, we have already seen in the quotations from Phil. 3:1 and 4:4 that our
joy is to be found in the Lord. Joy comes as a result of faith (Phil. 1:25;
Rom. 15:13), of hope (Rom. 12:12), and of the joy manifested by others (Rom.
12:15).
What are the circumstances and
experiences which give rise to joy in the believer? From the Scriptures already
cited, we see that joy comes from honoring God in our lives and meditating upon
the person and work of Christ, as well as from finding our brethren walking so
as to please the Lord. There is another class of experiences which we would not
naturally think of as calling forth joy from us, but which does just that if we
are truly walking in the Spirit. The following Scriptures bring this out:
"Rejoice, and be exceeding
glad . . . for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you"
(Matt. 5:12).
"And they departed from the
presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer
shame for His name" (Acts 5:41).
"I am exceeding joyful in
all our tribulation" (2 Cor. 7:4).
"In a great trial of
affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the
riches of their liberality" (2 Cor. 8:2).
"For we rejoice when we may
be weak and ye may be powerful" (2 Cor. 13:9 JND).
"If I be offered upon the
sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all"
(Phil. 2:17).
"[I] now rejoice in my
sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of
Christ in my flesh for His body’s sake, which is the Church" (Col. 1:24).
"For ye … took joyfully
the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a
better and an enduring substance" (Heb. 10:34).
"Count it all joy when ye
fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith
worketh patience" (James 1:2, 3).
"Rejoice, inasmuch as ye
are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed,
ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:13).
From these Scriptures we see
that sorrow and trials prepare for and enlarge the capacity for joy in the
believer. Think of it! When we experience various temptations, that is, trials
from God, much more than passively accepting these trials we are to count it all
joy when they come! The reason we can—indeed, must—do this is that we can
be sure that God is using the trial to make us more like Christ, or to help us
become better able to appreciate the heavenly glories and blessings that are
ours, or to make us more dependent upon Himself, or to expand our service for
Him, or in general to give us a blessing which we might not have been ready to
receive except for the trial.
When the apostle Paul wrote,
"Rejoice in the Lord," he was a prisoner in Rome. Thus he was not
occupied with the circumstances he was going through, depressing though they
might have been, naturally, but he was occupied with the Lord alone, and Paul
found his joy in Him who is over all circumstances.
Some persons, be they Christians
or not, seem to have naturally an optimistic, enthusiastic, outgoing, joyful,
sanguine temperament. However, it is important to distinguish between the
sanguine disposition which some people seem to be born with and the joy which
the child of God finds in the Lord. In the first case, the person often has a
real problem of losing his joy and becoming discouraged and even angry when
circumstances are against him. But for the Christian who is walking in the
Spirit, continually feeding upon Christ, and communing with the Father,
whatever the natural disposition of this person may be, there is found a deep,
abiding, peaceful joy and gladness in the Lord. This person knows that whatever
the circumstances may be, Christ is going through them with him; and he knows
that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to His purpose."
One more point with respect to joy.
We should not be looking to supernatural or emotional experiences to feed and
build up our joy. The apostle Paul describes a supernatural experience he had
in which he was "caught up to the third heaven . . . and heard unspeakable
words, which it is not" lawful for a man to utter" (2 Cor. 12:2-4).
However, rather than this experience becoming a source of continuing joy for
him, the apostle was given a thorn in the flesh lest he be exalted above
measure (verse 7). The result was that Paul gloried in his infirmities that the
power of Christ might rest upon him. So his joy developed from abiding
communion with God and with the Lord Jesus day by day, and it was the special
trial, the thorn in the flesh, which served to enhance that communion and joy.
Similarly, it may be that we seek to build our joy upon listening to religious
music, or stirring testimonies, or the like. But it will often be the case that
this joy is more emotional than it is a fruit of the Spirit.
May it be the portion of all of
God’s children to enjoy a constant, abiding fellowship with Him, and a walk
that is led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 18), that out of this may come that
joy and rejoicing in the Lord which is stable and enduring through every
circumstance, sorrow, and trial of this.