Server Outage Notice: TheSeed.info is transfering to a new Server on Tuesday April 13th
| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Rev. Sjirk Bajema > The Fruit of the Spirit is Joy | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) |
GALATIANS 5:22b
(Reading: Philippians 1:12-26; Galatians 5:16-26)
But the Fruit of the Spirit is … Joy
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ…
Who amongst us hasn’t struggled with the question, ‘Why aren’t I happy?’ Who hasn’t been weighed down by that awful feeling that nothing’s coming right?
It seems then that the dark cloud of frustration and anguish settles heavily over us. And what a storm brews against us! ‘Me, happy? Maybe sometimes. But preacher, if you really knew me, it wouldn’t make you very happy!’
We’re not always happy, are we? We often scrape through life. And more and more the blows appear heavier. It becomes harder and harder to keep your spirits up. Your direction becomes vague and blurred - just like that battered boxer about to fall for the last time. ‘How can I be really happy?’
That question expresses so well the search of men and women for the thousands of years of the human age. They think this is what you have when everything’s going right for you. Or they think it’s when you’re like everyone else. But that doesn’t bring joy – only more questions!
The answer is what our text couldn’t say more clearly! For it says you can be happy! And happy exactly when you seem so unhappy! And happy exactly when you’re not doing what everyone else is doing!
You see, when someone looks for the answer in what’s here it’s not really happiness at all. No matter how many commercials there are that tell us so! So the first aspect to the text is this: TRUE JOY IS BEYOND MAN’S LIMITATION.
Because what does the text say? The apostle declares “But the fruit of the Spirit is joy.” Notice, not “the fruit of mankind is joy.” We’re realising it’s the kind of joy it is that matters.
So a contrast stands out. As verse 17 of Galatians 5 describes it, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
This is what we get with what people think true happiness is about. It’s illustrated in a parable Jesus told. In Matthew 21, the verses 28 till 32, he spoke of a man who had two sons. The father asked the first son to go and work in the vineyard. That son answered, “I will not.” But later he changed his mind and went.
In the meantime, his father had asked the same thing of the other son. His answer was different. “I will, sir,” he said. Yet he didn’t go!
It’s this second son who’s showing so much how mankind is limited by itself. And it’s so terribly subtle and deceitful! The second son has been tremendous to his father. He tells him the very words he wants to hear. And yet all that time there’s no way he’s going to do it! The inner motivation for serving his father just isn’t there.
My friends, we get this same front from the world we live in. Those faces on television screens beam so much of happiness and delight. Man, you only have to buy this or that and you get a real kick out of life! As if there could be such a tremendous ecstasy from a soft drink!
We have made that lie we live by. And that’s a desperate situation, congregation. I don’t think we’ve come anywhere near to seeing how much pull our world has on us. Its influence is extremely powerful.
You see, we are so much creatures of habit. And a lot of the easiest habits we pick up are the wrong ones. We only need to look at the list above our text. Fifteen acts of the sinful nature are mentioned. And each of those never comes out of a vacuum. In fact, they are people’s attempts to deal with the lives they live.
Now, we might turn around and quickly say, “That’s the devil’s trap!” And we’d be right. But that doesn’t change the situation that for anyone in those traps it’s their way of coping with reality.
This is a reality away from God, however. The devil has distracted them. But imagine how much more the evil one will be using our misunderstandings against us believers? Which is exactly what he’s being doing with ‘joy’!
Because, like he’s done with the world, many Christians have come to think that it’s what we are on the outside that counts. So it’s about image. Just like that second son in the parable, all that counts is what you appear to be. What a façade!
Such energy becomes put into this front, though, that it becomes like one of those old Hollywood film sets. The scenery is painted on one side of a plywood board. And that’s the depth of the reality. There’s nothing beyond it.
Yet it’s so deceptive. And if it works for Hollywood, it can certainly deceive our own lives. “You should be happy! Don’t you know that God’s will for you is to rejoice always?”
And aren’t you wondering, ‘What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I be so open and friendly, like they are?’
That’s not what’s going on behind it all, though, is it? It’s not as though you aren’t ever friendly and open. This is simply that felt pressure to be like this all the time.
Take, for example, the wedding day of Christians. All those photos to be taken! Their faces become almost set in permanent smiles! By the end of a long day there isn’t much naturalness left for the camera. Yet there is still that inner happiness. Despite the pressures of the day they know this is a marvellous thing!
That was really what counted. Not how fake the smiles were. Not what kind of weather it was. Not even if one of them fluffed their vows, or signed their married name by mistake!
All these are external. They’re outside. It’s what’s inside that really matters.
So, my friend, can I ask you, “Where are you at? As you sit in your pew, what drives you? Why have you come this morning? Was it for the sake of appearances? Perhaps you’re here because of a sense that it’s somehow the right place to be?”
Or could it be that you wouldn’t dare to stay away! There’s a line holding you to God. This is a relationship stronger than any number of plywood façades. In fact, it’s so strong its thickness reaches from heaven all the way to earth! And it’s a relationship so thorough that it transcends all of our life - every moment. Whether they be good or bad, happy or sad.
Solomon described it so well in that book which is so real about what we’re like - the book of Ecclesiastes. In chapter 3 verse 1 he says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” And in verse 4 he applies that to what ‘joy’ really is: “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”
Congregation, we have seen that TRUE JOY IS BEYOND MAN’S LIMITATION. Real happiness isn’t manufactured. It’s a fruit. It comes out of where we stand before God.
As we know, fruit is a product of its own internal structure. You can nurture it. You can stunt it, by not caring for it. Yet what it will bring out, and when it will come out, is predetermined by the design from within.
That’s why faith makes all the difference. For from realising that TRUE JOY IS BEYOND MAN’S LIMITATION it is seen that, secondly, TRUE JOY IS REALLY GOD’S EXPECTATION.
The picture to best describe this is a deep well. For when our water supply comes out of a well, it’s into that well we need to go to get our water. It’s no use throwing the bucket all around the well. What water can grass and dirt give us? Doesn’t it even seem crazy to think this way? Of course we have to put our bucket into the well. That’s where the water is!
And, so, spiritually, we need to reach deeper into the well of our faith. We have to tap our supply from the divine spring. You see, just as the first fruit of the Spirit “love” wasn’t ours to give so also “joy” isn’t ours alone. It too is a grace flowing from the source of all good. For “joy” is knowing our salvation. It’s tasting that the Lord is good!
David spoke very personally of this in Psalm 16. He had been enabled to receive exactly what he needed. In the verses 9 till 11 he concludes this psalm, saying, “my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the pathway of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Here was happiness coming from deep within. Out of that most special of relationships he had with God in faith, David is reminded and strengthened of exactly where he’s at.
Congregation, isn’t that a wonderful place to be? To know that despite all that multitude of different emotions and feelings running through us, we do stand secure. We can look up and know so intimately and powerfully that which surpasses all understanding! Yes, we can see Jesus! With eyes of faith we behold him right with us!
Jesus, someone David prayed for, though not knowing when he would come. Yet, out of his being joined to God, he knew that One from God had to come and do what he never could. This was a knowledge placed on his heart by the Holy Spirit. And it is a knowledge which comes through David’s psalm because of the Holy Spirit.
Congregation, we share in that. We can speak personally of where we stand. That’s what we read in Philippians 1. For Paul there spoke knowingly of where he stood with God in Jesus Christ. In the verses 25 and 26 we read, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.”
So when the text tells us that TRUE JOY IS REALLY GOD’S EXPECTATION it’s telling of a joy far beyond anything here below. Heaven enters our hearts! Which is exactly where the Holy Spirit lives because of what Jesus Christ did.
Going back to that ‘Parable of the Two Sons’, this is the basis for the first son to change his mind. Out of his faith he saw the way to go. And that’s the way he went! He knew that was the way his father wanted.
Friends, here is where true joy is found. Not in man-made formulas for happiness. There’s nothing that lasts when we depend on ourselves. That only ends up making us blind. Our perspective becomes so narrow we become completely out of touch with reality. Because reality is only found in Jesus Christ! Only he can be the way for genuine security in all our lives. And right down to the last details.
This is what the Lord tells his disciples in John 15 after having told them how they were to remain in his love. For in verse 11 there he says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
Dear Christian, have you seen it yet? Do you recognise the differences between our joy and theirs? What could it be that flows from the Lord Jesus to the different parts of his Body? Surely not those fleeting moments of pleasure with which this world is so involved? Of course not! That kind of joy is nothing like who we are in Jesus. For what we are in him is far beyond the limitations of our feelings. It’s in fact something so deep, so wide, so high, we can only see a little in this life we live now.
You see, that joy which is such a strength now is only a small appetiser to what will be in the life to come. And yet isn’t what we have now such a wonderful assurance? You have this quality within!
No wonder that Paul has to tell it out in Philippians 4. In verse 4 there he cries, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” And he doesn’t stop there. There’s no going on and on just about rejoicing. Paul also qualifies it. He tells us how we can make it such a lovely comfort in our lives. As he says in the verses 5 and 6, “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Here’s what it’s all about! We live out where we are with the Lord. For since true joy is knowing our salvation it’s when we don’t know, in the sense of not doing it, that we have so many spiritual difficulties.
And this brings us to the next aspect of the text. You see, since TRUE JOY IS REALLY GOD’S EXPECTATION it follows that, thirdly, TRUE JOY IS NOW OUR ANTICIPATION.
There isn’t only this expectation of God from his people. For if we’re alive in him we respond. We live in his very presence.
Now, does that make us dumbfounded? Could it possibly be that before his awesome splendour we’re speechless? That couldn’t be! Instead, with the great multitude in heaven, we have to sing our praise. What a salvation we have! Where else is there a future like ours?
Meditating on the good news is what brings out that true joy. In listening to what God has said in Scripture, we are challenged and comforted in living this precious faith. That’s the way to defeat the devil and all those powers of darkness lurking all around.
One personal memory brings this home to me. I was a student at University. And at that University there was a Christian Fellowship group, with which I was involved. On one Saturday morning we came together so that we could walk through the different hostels, speaking to the students about who we were, and encouraging the Christians among them to become involved. Before we began, we met together to ask the Lord’s blessing in prayer.
Suddenly one girl became quite agitated. With much emotion she said the Spirit was telling us not to go. She was convinced that if we went the devil would wreck some terrible calamity upon us.
I was a bit stunned by this. What was she going on about? So I spoke out. “Look,” I said, “we’ve agreed that this is a part of our programme for the year. That’s why I’m here. But, in particular, doesn’t the Lord tell us we should spread the good news about Jesus?”
Around me the other Christians were now surprised. Their attitude changed. They would have been quite willing to give it up because one of them didn’t feel like it. That’s really what it was all about. Man’s limitation showed up! So clearly I was shocked.
Yet, apparently, amongst the other Christians it happened a lot. But what about God’s expectation? And where was our anticipation in keenly seeking to fulfil his will?
We went ahead with our witnessing through the hostels. It may not have made us feel good, yet it was good. The Lord was pleased with that.
And each of you faces that same thing. Because when you have that opportunity for serving God you could say, “I don’t really feel like it,” or, “Others are a lot better at it.”
A horticulturist can always have excuses for not going out and planting and pruning and watering his crop. But he knows that it’s not going to give him the harvest he needs to survive. So while he may feel like staying that much longer in bed, or dreams about how others are a lot better off than he is, he gets up and goes out and does it. And at the end of the day and at the end of the season, he’s gets his joy. Just like you will have when you faithfully obey God.
I begun by describing how desperately unhappy we can be. Now, the Bible doesn’t suddenly take that away. But with the Spirit’s guidance you can grow to be more of the person the Lord wants you to be. Not what you want to be! You can see lots of those around you.
God speaks to our real need, though. He answers our cries for help. Also in our relationships with others. In a shared faith there’s restoration and reconciliation.
But most of all we can begin to do what the Lord loves us to do. Talking to him in prayer; listening to his Word; loving where he is in his people; and living his life in a society that is like that valley of dry bones. That’s joy - true joy!
Dear friend, this is what lasts forever. Amen.
PRAYER:
Let’s pray…
Lord God, we have to confess that we too have been distracted by this world’s happiness. We thought it was about what we could have here and now.
But your Word pointed us again to what lasts for ever - despite how we feel! May we indeed live like those who are living forever!
In Jesus’ Name, we pray, Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Sjirk Bajema, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright, Rev. Sjirk Bajema
Please direct any comments to the Webmaster
