The Fruit of Holy Spirit - 2

The Fruit of Holy Spirit - 2

Subject: Walking in the Fruit of the Spirit - Joy

By Rick Welborne

Galatians 5:22-26 (NKJV)
²²  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
²⁴  And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
²⁵  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
²⁶  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

--Last week we looked the fruit of the Spirit – love – and how, when we are filled with Holy Spirit power, God can impart supernatural love to us in a moment when we need it most. 

Romans 5:5 (NKJV) ⁵  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 

--When we are truly filled with the Spirit of Christ and we are walking in the Spirit, we can expect God to help us love the unlovable and to actually get past our anger and bitterness.

1. The Fruit of the Spirit – Joy.

--Tonight we are going to look at the fruit of Holy Spirit – joy. If there is anything lacking in the body of Christ or in the world in general, it is joy. Miriam Webster definitions:

Joy – Noun - the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires – delight. Verb - to experience great pleasure or delight – rejoice.

--Biblical joy isn’t like happiness which is based upon happenings or whether things are going well or not. No, joy remains even amidst the suffering. 

--Joy is not happiness. Joy is an emotion that’s acquired by the anticipation, acquisition or even the expectation of something great or wonderful. God is great and wonderful!

--Joy sometimes is very much misunderstood in the church...joy is not necessarily uncontrollable hilarity though it can have great expression. Biblical joy is not dependent on good outward circumstances.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Christian joy is not mere happiness that knows no gloom, but is the result of the triumph of faith over adverse and trying circumstances, which, instead of hindering, actually enhance it.

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)
¹  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
²  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
³  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 

--These three verses offer to us a description of how to have Christian joy:

A. Remember we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. 

--Most biblical scholars interpret this verse as meaning…this is like an arena with the on-lookers cheering us on to great victory. Those who have gone before us and those who support us now are cheering us on. Joy!

B. We have joy when we are willing to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and we run the race marked out for us. We are free!

John 8:36 (NKJV) ³⁶  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

C. We have joy when we fix our eyes on Jesus.

--Doesn’t it make sense that if we keep our eyes on the One Who is the Author and perfecter of our faith…the One Who begins our faith and the One Who helps us get things right…we will have joy. 

D. We have joy when we endure tests knowing there is something greater that is coming. 

--For the joy set before Him…wait a minute, He had the torture, the cross, the shame, and death. Where is the joy in Him enduring all that He did?

--His joy came from His obedience to the Father, His joy came from purchasing our salvation, and His joy came from sitting down again at the right hand of God. 

2. Supernatural Joy!

--What about us? What joy is there in suffering? What joy is there in our laying our lives down for Him? Maybe we are looking at this life in a warped kind of way.

 Hebrews 11:16 (NLT2) ¹⁶  But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

--There is a supernatural joy in knowing that this life is not all there is. That is why those in the Bible like Stephen could look up and see Jesus at his time of death. 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NKJV)
¹⁶  Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
¹⁷  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
¹⁸  while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

--One of the meanings of joy in the Old Testament is Semeah which means to shine. I believe this gives us insight into where our joy actually comes from. God speaking to Moses. Moses to Aaron.

Numbers 6:25-27 (NKJV) ²⁴  "The LORD bless you and keep you;
²⁵  The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;
²⁶  The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." '
²⁷  "So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them." 

--When we find ourselves in God’s presence and His face is shining upon us, we definitely find supernatural joy. When He lifts up His countenance upon us we find joy the world knows nothing about. 

--There are times that we must admit that we could not have joy outside a divine act of God thru His Holy Spirit...it is God supernaturally shining on us...imparting the fruit of joy by His Spirit.

3. Joy in Holy Spirit

--Paul tells us that one of the essential marks of the Kingdom of God is this:

Romans 14:16-17 (NKJV) ¹⁶  Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;
¹⁷  for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 

--When I still lived in Texas (this was pre-Tricia) I was in a relationship that I thought was God’s will and that I thought would be forever. 

--Things suddenly went south and I found myself brokenhearted and hurting like I had never hurt before. People I thought would support me and help me really abandoned me. 

--Soon after that, when the pressure was getting to be more than I thought I could handle, God reminded me that He would not put on me more than I could handle. 1 Cor. 10:13

--It is so hard for us to believe that but I am here to testify to you that verse is true…When I was at my breaking point God showed up. He made a way for me to endure. Supernatural joy!

--I came home from work about midnight and as soon as I walked through my door of my apartment I fell on my floor and began to cry out to God…I even reminded Him of that verse.

--I told Him I was not going to get up from there until He healed my broken heart and until He restored the joy of my salvation. I felt like King David.

Psalm 51:10-13 (NKJV)
¹⁰  Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹  Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
¹³  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. 

--This is after David had messed up royally and his sin had been called out. He was wrong, he was broken, and He needed God to come through for him. I made plenty of mistakes myself. 

--I love what David says… Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. God’s presence and Holy Spirit were going to be the answers he was looking for. 

--I asked God to do what David was asking Him to do…restore to me the joy of my salvation and hold me up with your generous Spirit. Do you see how involved Holy Spirit is in our lives?

--As I cried out to God, His Spirit came upon me and re-baptized me and for about four hours I prayed in the Spirit and spoke in tongues…God began to heal me from the inside out.

--Supernatural fruit (Joy) of Holy Spirit flooded my being and I cannot tell you the transformation that took place in me. I went from being a broken mess to being filled with Holy Spirit joy!

Nehemiah 8:9-12 (NLT2)
⁹  Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the LORD your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
¹⁰  And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!”
¹¹  And the Levites, too, quieted the people, telling them, “Hush! Don’t weep! For this is a sacred day.”
¹²  So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them. 

--Why are there weak among us? They lack supernatural joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength and it is provided to us by Holy Spirit operating in our lives!

--As I wrote that last statement…Holy Spirit operating in our lives…I truly believe that is exactly what He does in us. He operates on us. He cuts out the junk and He does a Holy Spirit infusion that changes us forever.

--I said I asked God to replace the love I had for this person and give me a love for souls…that year I personally led about one hundred people to Christ. I was so joyful and God was to blame.

--Let’s conclude tonight’s message with this prayer: 

Romans 15:13 (NLT2)
¹³  I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.