Joy in the Christian life is possible even amidst suffering and difficulty, stemming from our relationship with God and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The sermon draws on biblical examples like David, Paul, and Jesus' own words to illustrate that true joy is not dependent on circumstances but is a divine gift. It emphasizes that this joy is a fruit of the Spirit, evidenced in contentment, peace, and an unwavering trust in God's promises, even when facing trials. Ultimately, the Christian's joy serves as a testimony to the world, reflecting God's victory and love.
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I wrote on this envelope the topics we've been discovering this week, or rather studying. I hope you discovered something. And I saw something on here that I heard somebody say. I hope you're in the habit of writing down things that you hear that kind of get through to you, because you can use them again many times to great advantage. I don't know who said this, but whoever said it is good, and I believe it. I want to read it to you. Blaming your false on your nature does not change the nature of your false. I like that.
Blaming your false on your nature does not change the nature of your false. Now this morning, by the way, any of y'all ever goofed? Have you? Any? Ever? Once? Even? Goofed. You know, flood the doves. What do you say in England when you goof, Brother Willie? Goof. Goof, okay. I pulled a bono. Well, this morning I suggested to the ladies that I knew that every one of them has a favorite recipe, you know, and it's really terrific.
And every time they use it, people come to them and say, man, that's wonderful. I want that. Will you write it down for me? So since Dottie gives recipes on most of a broadcast, we'd like for some of you ladies or any of you or all of you that have one of those terrific, fabulous recipes to send us a copy of it. But I forgot to give you the address. Now, Columbia is a city of... Three hundred thousand people, and even though I'm rather well known in parts of the city, it'd be best if you used an address. So if you've got a piece of paper and a pen, I'm going to give it to you. And I'm going to give you even a zip code. P.O.
Box, fourteen forty-seven. P.O. Box, fourteen, forty-seven. Columbia, S.C., that means South Carolina. That's the state that succeeded first. right there. Not important, but it just happens, you know. And the zip is two-nine, two-oh-two. Two-nine, two-oh-two. Now pray for us as we drive down the road tonight to Cassini, and then I will be driving on to North Palm Beach tomorrow afternoon and ministering there three times on the Lord's Day. It's been a real joy being here.
Brother Willie gave me the choice of three or four different dates. I could come and I picked the latter part of March because I knew the weather would be just about the way it was. Even though we may not have quite as many people here the last week in March as you would the middle of February or late January, well, I think we've had a great time and it's been good to renew acquaintances with some and to make some new acquaintances. And most of you people that go back to the East especially unless you fly, you won't be going too far from Columbia, so come by and see us when you're coming north.
Some of you snowbirds that are still here that haven't gone yet and plan to be going back. Sunday we considered three things in the life of the Apostle Paul which enabled God to use him the way he did. Sunday night we considered the subject. why the world has not been evangelized since the Great Commission was given. Tuesday we studied the topic, Iniquity in the Heart, and how to deal with it, both Tuesday morning and Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, as best I could in the time that I had, I gave my personal testimony.
Wednesday night we talked about three responsibilities that we have to the Word of God. Thursday morning we discuss Christian stewardship. And Thursday night, which was last night, we discussed the first seven verses of the thirty-seventh Psalm. And by the way, I was corrected in England. They don't say sound. It's in Scotland. Well, they say sound. So I'm sure I'm forgiven now, I trust, now that I've corrected that. It's a terrible blunder. goof, boner.
This morning I brought you something that I have never shared with anyone else in the form of a message. I shared the outline with a group of CBMC's in Columbia. But this morning, for the first time, I shared something with you which the Lord gave me about two weeks ago from the fifth chapter of Romans, the second verse about changes that take place in our relationship when we come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior. And every time Brother Ernie Woodhouse leads the singing, the Lord leads him to open with a song that fits right into the message. And even though he didn't know, I don't think, what I was going to speak on tonight, I'd like for us to look for the next thirty or thirty-five minutes at what I believe the Bible teaches about joy in the life of the Christian.
And I think using what we've already used this week as a background, we can slide very easily into this subject. There's a good bit in the Bible about joy and joy under all kinds of circumstances, and that's what I'd like for us to look at very briefly tonight. In Psalm sixteen, verse eleven. Psalm sixteen, verse eleven. Now we're going to be reading a lot of Scripture during the message. This will be the only verse that I'll read right now. Psalm sixteen, verse eleven, Thou wilt make known to me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy.
In thy right hand there are pledges forevermore. Now one of the real basic teachings in the Bible about the Christian life is the fact that a Christian, one who knows and loves and who is properly related to the Lord Jesus Christ, can have joy in his or her heart, yes, even in times of turmoil, in times of problems, in times of difficulty, in times of disaster, in times of despair, and in all kinds of trouble.
You'll find that when our Lord was facing the cross, and when the cross was just a few hours away, if you'll study especially in the Gospel of John, you'll find that in his fellowship and communication with his disciples, they had quite a deal to say about joy. In fact, in John, we read, These things have I spoken unto you. that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. And then in John sixteen, that's the next chapter, beginning with verse twenty, we read four verses.
Truly, truly, I say to you that you may weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy. Whenever a woman is in travail, she has sorrow because her hour has come. But when she gives birth to the child, she remembers the anguish no more, for joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you too now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you. And in that day you will ask me no questions. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father for anything, he will give it to you, give it to you in my name.
Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive that your joy may be made full. And even in our Lord's high-preacher prayer, John XVII, the very next chapter we read, But now come to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves. And so the Bible has quite a bit to say, both not only in the New Testament but in the Old Testament, about those who are rightly related to the living God, having real, genuine joy. Now, the Bible does say that there are times when we can rightly rejoice because of the providential dealings that God has had with us and things that He has brought across our paths.
Now let's look at one or two examples of this even in the Old Testament. One example is in First Chronicles twelve. When David was made king, not of just a small portion of Israel, as he was at one time, but of all of Israel, we read, there was joy in Israel. And if you're taking notes, that's verse forty. in First Chronicles chapter twelve. Then a little later we have another example of David when he went to the house of Obed-Ditum to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. This is in First Chronicles fifteen twenty-five. We read, they went to bring the Ark up with joy.
And so they have two examples right there of joy coming as a result of God's providential dealings with His people. Now, the Bible also speaks about future joy in Psalm thirty in verse five. Very familiar verse to some. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning. Now in the New Testament, in first Peter four and thirteen, As ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice that at the revelation of His glory also you may rejoice with exceeding joy."
All right. So already now in six minutes we've seen these two things. We've seen that we can have joy because of God's providential dealings. We've also seen that God has promised to those who are suffering, who are in trial and affliction, and sometimes discouragement even, that God has promised that this will last for only a season. Joy cometh in the morning. But the Bible also has a great deal to say about the fact that if we are properly and rightly related to Him, if He is the reality in our hearts and lives, that it's possible for those of us who know Jesus Christ even in the midst of suffering and sadness and sorrow and sin and disaster.
It's possible for those of us who know Him, being fully aware that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord, to those who are called according to His purpose, that we can have joy even in times of seeming tragedy and hardships. Let me give you several verses. Paul says in Second Corinthians seven, four, I overflow with joy in all our affliction. Overflow with joy in all our affliction. First Peter one, seven and eight. Your faith is proved by fire. You greatly rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
And James, the very first chapter, verse two. He says he counted all joy, or we should count it all joy, when you fall in the manifold trials. And in the book of First Thessalonians, chapter number one, verses six and seven, he's speaking to the Thessalonian Christians, and Paul says, ye also became imitators of us and of the Lord. having received the Word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that He became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Ocasio.
And so then, already, what do we see? We see that in the normal, ordinary, everyday Christian life in nineteen seventy-seven or nineteen forty-eight or nineteen fifty-one, or nineteen hundred and nine and whatever it is, that the Christian who lives upon this planet and who takes a stand for the Lord Jesus Christ can expect and be prepared. He should be prepared. He should be forewarned that every day is not going to be a bed of roses. And as we have tried to bring out several times this week, last night and several times before this, I have suggested this, that any hardship or any trial that the Lord might ask us to go through as believers, by and large, for the most part, He is preparing us for something that is ahead, which we could not well endure perhaps had we not had the training at an earlier time.
I thought it was very significant some of the things which came out of some of the inquiries and the investigations and the interviews with some of the men who were prisoners of war during Vietnam War. And they've come back, many of them of course knew the Lord, many of them found the Lord while in prisoner of war camps. And I thought it was very, very significant that numbers and numbers and numbers of these men especially those who've been in the Air Corps and the Marine Corps, were very, very grateful for the very rugged, hard, tough, strenuous training that they had received.
And they had said that it was that training which they received, sometimes which they thought was almost just too hard. that enable them to endure. And dear friend of mine, just remember that if we go through hardship and suffering and trials, we keep our eyes upon the man in the glory and we bear up under it the way God expects a believer to bear up. with joy in his heart, for he's given the opportunity of suffering for Christ.
Just you remember that there's someone out there on the fringes who doesn't know your Lord, who has his or her eyes on you, and who may well be turned toward the Lord if your attitude is the way it should be through times of suffering and problems and difficulties. You see, the man on the street, the man that knows not the Lord Jesus Christ, well, he throws his hand out and he doesn't know what to do. Well, if we do the same way, he says, well, why should I be a Christian? I know of a young man in Baltimore, Maryland, who is shepherding a very wide-awake fellowship of Christians in the inner city in downtown Baltimore.
He was not a believer. He had had no Christian background whatsoever, but he worked in a large department store with a young man who was a believer. This young man had a wife and a family, and over a number and number of months, the young man who was a believer had gone through a real time of testing. Sickness in the home, his wife was sick, perhaps one of his older sons lost his job, and one thing after another happened, his car broke down and he'd had all kinds of trouble and difficulties and problems. And the young man who was not a believer worked near this man, and he happened to know of all the things that had happened to this man who was a believer and a Christian.
Well, you know what I'm going to say, I wouldn't be telling it. That's right. The young man who was not a believer said, I don't know what that fellow has, but whatever he has, I want it. One day in the washroom during that fifteen-minute break, he accosted or he came up and he contacted this man and he said, You know, you've had an awful lot of trouble and I've never heard you complain, I've never heard you pull mouth and I've never heard you say, well, a lot of things are really happening to me and it's hard and so forth and so on. He says, listen, I don't know how you can do this.
Tell me, how can you do it? The young man pulled a little testament out of his pocket and sat down on a bench and had the joy of leaving Paul Lewis to the Lord Jesus. believers, trust in the Lord, and joyfully serve him, even if it may be hard at times. Now, I want to read a paragraph that I borrowed from a man who is now in heaven. He's one of those men I'm telling you about this morning.
I have more friends in heaven than I do on earth anymore. And this man... was Dr. William H. Culberson, one of the greatest men I ever had the joy of knowing. And I asked him years ago, I heard him give this a thought, and I picked it up, and I said, I'd like to use it. So I've copied it, and here's what he says about the kind of joy that I'm talking about. This joy that the Christian should evidence and experience is not man-made. It is not superficial. It is profound. It is intense.
It is serene. It is not boisterous. It stands in contrast to mere gaiety, to merriment, to murder and pleasure. It is never aroused by trivial things. It always rests on the provision and promises of God. It involves contentment, and satisfaction. Now very quickly let's look at some of the ways in the Bible where this joy is to be communicated and why it should be communicated to others. In Romans fourteen seven we read, The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The source of Christian joy is God. The Holy Spirit is the one who creates and sustains joy in the heart of the believer. Now in Galatians five and twenty-two, what do you read? The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, so forth and so on. I know there are nine different parts of this fruit, but one of the evidences of the fruit of the Spirit is joy. And what it is, what a thrill it is to read in the New Testament. of men like Paul and Barnabas and others who were beaten. Paul and Silas were beaten and they thrust them into prison and at midnight they were having a gospel meeting, singing praises to God.
And then of course you know the earthquake came and the prisoner came expecting them to be gone and he was ready to kill himself. Paul said, Do thyself no harm, we're all here. And the next thing that happened was the prisoner came and fell before them because he had seen reality in their lives in a time of testing. He said, For us, what must I do to be saved? And so I'd like to remind you of something that I have hinted at all week. I don't think it's just incidental. that the Word of God says in that verse in Acts, they were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
For fullness of the Holy Spirit means also the fullness of joy, and there are no exceptions in the Bible. So this is God's Word. This joy is divine. It's of God's creation. It's heaven-born. Now the means, There are several sources for joy. First of all, there are those special reasons why a child of God would have joy in his heart even during times of testing. And secondly, there are more abiding reasons which are permanent reasons which means that we should have joy regardless of what the situation might be.
Very quickly. What are some of the special reasons? And I'm going to give you the references. I'm not going to read some of them, but I'm going to give them to you, and I hope some of you can either remember them or write them down. First of all, one of the special reasons that a Christian can have for joy is the conversion of a sinner to Jesus Christ. If you're taking notes, the reference there is Luke, there is joy over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. In Acts fifteen three, they, Paul and Barnabas, it means, therefore being brought on their way by the church, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy under all the believers, or the brethren, it says.
Here we have rejoicing that souls are being saved. And the amazing thing and the thrilling thing and the sweet thing about some of these experiences is this, that you read in the Word of God, especially in the life of Paul, where Paul was such a big man that someone else could go out and do the preaching, and people would be converted and brought to the Lord Jesus, and it caused rejoicing in Paul's heart. I like that. In fact, in the first chapter of Philippians, Paul talks about men that were preaching even out of envy and strife.
You know what he said? He said, I'm glad. I'm glad. Christian, when you read about somebody in California or Missouri or Tennessee or somewhere. And they don't go about evangelism the same way we do. They do it quite differently. But you read about it, I'm getting souls in, a lot of people being saved. Do you rejoice? I hope you do. Because I'll tell you somebody that rejoices, the Lord does. He doesn't care who brings them.
as long as they come to know Him. And one of the things that has bothered me sometimes, and I listened this morning to a tape, a memorial to our brother Herbert W. Marshall in Boston, and it was such a blessing. Thank you, Ms. Craving, for making that available to me. And John DeBrien reminded us that here was a man that was interested in the proclamation of the gospel. He didn't care who proclaimed it just as long as the gospel was proclaimed. He didn't care whether it was CBMC or Youth for Christ, a child evangelism of the New England Fellowship or Songtime or Word of Life or whoever it was so long as they preached the gospel of Jesus Christ and souls were being saved and the saints were being edified.
He rejoiced and he gave what help he could to make it possible. I hope you're that kind of Christian tonight. If you're not, I hope the Lord really gets you under conviction. I really do. And I hope you won't rest, and I hope you won't have any peace until you come to the place where you can say, Lord, I rejoice as long as it's getting done, praise the Lord. Whether I do it or not. Somebody came to D.L. Moody one time and criticized him about the way that he was doing something, the way he was preaching and getting people to the Lord and so forth. He said, well, brother, I'll tell you. I like the way I'm doing it better than I like the way you don't do it.
Again, we have examples in the Word of God, and I'm not even going to give you a reference, but they're in there. You can find them. We have examples in the Word of God of joy when Christians are made in business with God and growing in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Philemon, verse seven, Paul says, I have much joy and comfort in thy love because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through thee, brother. Here we have an example, another wonderful example of a man who is big enough to know that he is another man and God's really using him.
Oh, people are being blessed. through his ministry. And he stands off and he says, Oh, isn't that wonderful? I'm so glad. I hate to say it, but I have sensed among some preachers quite frequently a little bit of jealousy when somebody else has been greatly used to the Lord. I've talked to people, they've known that I've known Billy Graham since practically ten years and And I found some people are so jealous of the way God has used this dear brother. And one of the things that just blesses my heart is the low ability gets, the more humble he gets.
And that's one of the reasons God uses him. I've heard people malign, now I've heard people criticize him and find fault with him and all like that. I just say, well, praise the Lord, God's using him in spite of the people who criticize. We have a young man in Columbia. He's growing by leaps and bounds, a young man by the name of Jared Lorenzo. And I can hear him speak today and say, oh, I can't realize that the same fellow was a year ago. It's not. He's growing, and God is using him, and God is blessing his ministry. He's a natural-born teacher of the Word. And I just rejoice. He can look into the Bible.
And at ten minutes he can find more truth than I could probably find in five hours. He has that gift. That's one of his gifts. Another reason for joy is answered prayer. And I trust that you've had the joy of having joy in your heart because you've prayed and God has answered. By the way, I would like to remind you that when you pray and God answered your prayer, would you remember to thank Him? Sometimes we pray and God answers and we're surprised when He answers. I'll give you examples.
They were having a prayer meeting and praying for Peter that he might get out of prison. And he got out of prison and walked and knocked on the door and Rhoda came to the door and she was so excited and surprised, she didn't open the door. I could say something else about that, but I love you women too much and I'm not going to say it. Now, there are several reasons, however, and I've got ten minutes to give you these, there are several reasons why Christians who know and love the Lord Jesus and who are rightly related to Him, there are several reasons why we can rejoice at all times.
Number one, one of them is the fact that those of us who know and love the Lord Jesus should be constantly reminded and constantly aware of the fact that in the person of the Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity, God is with us. at all times. No matter where you are, no matter what you're doing, no matter who you're with, God is with you at all times.
And most of the times when the devil begins to get his foot into your heart and life and into your thinking, and you become a wee bit anxious or concerned or discouraged, it is always when you've taken your eyes off of the man in the glory of Christ Jesus. Oh, friend of mine, did you hear about that big native in Africa who was kidnapped and sold under slavery? And it was a big strapping black man. And someone remarked years after he had been taken from his home people, that he always walked so wrecked and so straight.
And someone to whom the man who had purchased him remarked, did you ever notice how old Jim walks? And the fellow who heard him make this remark said, well, you know, He was a prince in his tribe, where he was kidnapped from, and he's never forgotten who he was. Just you remember, beloved brother or sister, you are a child of the king. Don't ever forget that. A little girl was playing in an aisle of a passing a train that was going very, very rapidly through some very, very mountainous countryside.
And someone marveled that the train was going rather fast and rocking quite a bit and moving around. Little girl, aren't you afraid on this train? Oh, no, I'm not afraid my daddy is an engineer on this train. Listen to what God says in Psalm forty-three, four. God is my exceeding joy. I will joy in the God of my salvation. And here's another one there. I don't have time to read to write it down or remember it. Most of you know it by heart. Habakkuk chapter three, verses seventeen and eighteen. All of us have known of Christians who've gone through hard and difficult places who've had the joy of the Lord.
upon their countenance and their faces. I think that one of the greatest ten minutes I have ever seen on television was a few weeks ago when Johnny Erickson, who now lives in Maryland, but who, when she was a student in college in New Jersey, jumped into some water that she thought was deep, that was not deep, and she was paralyzed instantly from her shoulders to the tip of her toe. Fortunately, she knew the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior, and she sat there in that wheelchair, this radiant young Christian about twenty-six years of age, and gave a thrilling testimony to the grace of God.
And I venture to say that literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people will eventually come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. As a result, of that testimony on that telecast that night. By the way, if you haven't read that book, Johnny, J-O-N-I, it's available. Brother Willie had ordered some, but they haven't come. I know why. They're probably the first printings out. They're completely exhausted, and they're probably having to wait to print some more copies. But this would be an excellent book to give to someone who is going through a time of trouble. hardness and who perhaps might have a physical disability.
All right. The second reason, the second reason that we can be happy and rejoice no matter what is the fact that God has spoken to us in His Word and that He has made it possible for us to understand His Word. In other words, thank God for His Word. Thank God that He loved us enough to give us His Word. and to make it available to us in the day and age in which we live. I have done here Nehemiah eight, ten, and twelve. I don't have time to read it, but if you're taking notes, you can jot it down. In Psalm hundred, nineteen, one sixty-two, I rejoice at thy word as one that findeth great spoil, great wealth is mine in the word of God.
The same thought is in Jeremiah five, sixteen. Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy words were unto me the joy and the rejoicment of my heart, for I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of host." What a thrill. What a blessing to have God's word. Number three, the third avenue by which the Holy Spirit brings joy into our hearts and our lives is the reality of having the devil to tempt you to be untrue to the Lord, having the devil to tempt you to fail the Lord, having the devil to tempt you to throw into water, the sponge, or whatever it is, and give it up, and by God's grace say, I'm not going to do it, I'm going to believe God, I'm going to go through with this thing, and he is my Savior, he is my Lord, he is my victor, and to know After a time of temptation that by the power and the might of the Holy Spirit of God, you have been victorious, and you've come out on top and put Christ first, and the Lord has the victory, and
the devil is on the sidelines. John the Badness is a very good example of this. John the Badness, I'm sure, was really tempted because he could really have gotten the limelight. but he said of the Lord Jesus, he must increase, but I must decrease. Especially for those who are in the public eye, who have the privilege and responsibility and opportunity from time to time to speak, it is very, very easy, and sometimes unconsciously, it's very, very easy.
to put yourself in the front and not make much of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe that John the Baptist was a wonderful example. Last but not least, the fourth thing that can bring real joy and happiness to our hearts and lives as believers, regardless of the situation, is the realization that you and I, who have been born again into the family of the living God, are part of the greatest relationship and the greatest fellowship and the greatest fraternity in all the world.
And that every man and every woman and every boy and every little girl who knows and loves Jesus Christ is your brother or your sister. that we are one in Christ Jesus. And beloved, it doesn't matter to me whether the man or the woman that I meet in the airport or on the plane or at the jail or the prison or at the hospital, it doesn't matter to me how they meet. Oh, I would certainly like for them to have the privilege of meeting in a simple way.
and worshiping the Lord. But that's not the important thing. The important thing is, if they know my Lord, then that means that I'm a part of them and they're a part of me. And I can rejoice in that. And anything that I have is theirs and probably anything that they have is mine. Because we are all one in Christ. One word makes a difference, Jesus. Ephesians three-fourteen talks about just what I've been talking about.
Speak to the whole family in heaven and earth, divided in many ways, yes, but all one in Christ Jesus. Bernard of Clavel wrote a wonderful hymn. It's one of the greatest hymns in the book. Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts, thou fount of life, thou light of men, from the best bliss that earth imparts, we turn unfilled to thee again. We taste thee, O thou living bread, and long to feast upon thee still.
We drank of thee the fountainhead and thirst from thee our souls to fill. I thank you very, very well. Father, we thank you for the joy that we have in our hearts, not because of circumstances, but because of our relationship to thee. We pray that if in an audience like this tonight there happens to be one person here that does not truly know Jesus Christ in a personal way, that you would remind that one tonight and impress upon them that real lasting joy and life and forgiveness comes simply in knowing Jesus Christ in a personal way.
We thank you for reminding us of these things tonight. In his name, amen.