Mar. 06, 2022

The Kingdom of God is…Joy! (06 March 2022) — Pastor John Custer

Introduction - This particular Sunday is host to many upsetting events in the world, the biggest of which is the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  It would be a good opportunity for another message from our series on “What in the World is Going on?” However, I think God wants to do something a bit different this morning with a different subject of great importance to all of us: Joy!  It isn’t selfish to want some joy in your life.  It is absolutely essential for us to be able to function as Christians completing our work in God’s kingdom.  Even the most hardened soldiers can get discouraged if they do not have joy.  The lack of joy is the most prominent reason why people get depressed and sometimes turn to drugs to fill the void.  We can avoid needless suffering by having a God-supplied level of joy, so let’s learn about it:

John 15:10-11. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!  NLT

What it is:  the Greek word chara is the word most often translated as joy in the New Testament.  It means “calm delight.”  

Where it comes from:  Joy is a part of Jesus’ personality.  Ultimately, this is where the emotion of joy comes from.  It would not exist in anything if it did not exist in Him first.  Many people envision God as being emotionless, just a matter-of-fact ruler who never cracks a smile or gives a compliment, whose only interest is in pointing out the failings of mankind.  This is not true at all.  He is more full of joy than we can comprehend!  His Son, Jesus, fulfilled a great sacrifice of love which redeemed all the humans the Father desperately loves!  He is, right now, exceedingly full of joy over this!  God wants us to be like him.  His destiny for all of us is to be fully mature in body, soul, and spirit as He is.  This includes being joyful.   

How it gets into us:  The job of the Holy Spirit is to produce this characteristic, called fruit, in us.  This whole section of the Scripture is preceded by the instruction to “Walk in the Spirit.”

Galatians 5:16  But I say, Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  ASV

Galatians 5:22-23. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!  NLT

This fruit is real, powerful, and effective.  We are wise if we develop a close relationship with the Spirit of God, seeking to cooperate with Him in everything He is involved with concerning the believer.  Foremost of these involvements is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit:  

Acts19:1-7 1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. 2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 “Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked. And they replied, “The baptism of John.” 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.” 5 As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.  NLT

This experience, in which the believer asks Jesus to baptize him in the Spirit and then speaks in a tongue he did not learn, is the starting point to receiving immediate, real-time, guidance from the Spirit.  As the Christian follows these simple commands, he will be fulfilling Jesus’ instructions in the above verse (John 15:10-11) and will be experiencing the fruit-production process guaranteed in Galatians 5:22-23 above.  

Being under the kingship of Jesus is another Scriptural way to understand this process of joy-filling.  The Kingdom of God is ruled by Jesus Christ, our Lord.  The kingdom of God has distinct characteristics which are seen in this verse:

Romans 14:15  for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  ASV

When Jesus is our king, the gentle effects of His rule become manifested in our personal lives, our relationships, and our church.  We begin to experience love from one another and answers to prayer from God.  His kingship is not a grievous, impossible set of rules to comply with.  Actually, Jesus’ “commands” boil down to one simple one: “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34.) Gradually, our priorities should be changing.  Rather than have church be something we go to once or twice a week, it is something we are, living it out in practice in our homes, 7 days a week.  As we live this out, we end up doing more precisely what God wants us to do, as opposed to what we want to do with our lives.  God doesn’t ask that we completely cease being members of an earthly community.  On the contrary, you can be a very busy employee or business owner and still be doing perfectly what God wills for your life.  The key is to “Walk in the Spirit.”  

As we grow in our involvement in God’s kingdom, we have another source of help to rely on: the elders.  

2 Corinthians 1:23-24. 23 Now I call upon God as my witness that I am telling the truth. The reason I didn’t return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke. 24 But that does not mean we want to dominate you by telling you how to put your faith into practice. We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy, for it is by your own faith that you stand firm.  NLT

Elders (both those Christians who have been given authority to guide the affairs of a local congregation, and those Christians who are simply older chronologically) are used by the Lord to help you to experience joy.  They do this through the ministries God gives them:  the apostle guides the church into the proper structure (house church/cell church/megachurch) and involvement in the city and region and causes the congregation to move into spiritual experiences with God by giving them safe opportunities to be used by the Holy Spirit.  The prophet hears current instructions and enlightenment from God and reveals them to the congregation, urging them to experience the Holy Spirit.  The teacher explains details from the Word of God so that people can apply the Word in everyday life producing evidences of signs and wonders as a result.  The pastor provides care and compassionate attention to moderate-sized groups of families and singles in the congregation. The evangelist keeps the church from becoming ingrown.  He does this by keeping alive the need to reach the lost who are outside the church.  Elders who are not of the “5-Fold” ministers just mentioned lead small groups and do a wide spectrum of ministry, including prayer, support, counseling, and oversight within the congregation.  The net result of their work is an increase of joy in the members of the congregation.  

The last characteristic of joy we’ll address is its incredible, critical role in sustaining us through tough times.  Everyone will experience these times, and joy is what God has provided to get us through.  Consider these verses:  

Hebrews 12:1-2.  1…And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.  NLT

James 1:2  2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  NLT

Conclusion - God’s joy is so strong it keeps us going through trials and tribulations.  It is critically needed by all of us.  There is a certain amount of encouragement and hope which comes from reading the Bible.  Likewise, encouragement can come from passively listening to sermons.  Joy, however, as God wants us to have it, is a dynamic, experiential force which God gives to us as we experience a life with Him. There are no favorites or preferred individuals in this; it is available to everyone who wants to get to know the Holy Spirit, have Jesus as your king, and fit in harmoniously to the Body of Christ.