THE JOY OF THE LORD

“But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have MY JOY fulfilled in themselves” – John 17:13

What is “the JOY of the LORD” – that Joy that God wants us to experience each day, and in all circumstances and situations? Based on Jesus’ words in John 15:11, there are three main characteristics which define the Joy of the Lord:

The Joy of the Lord is CHRIST’s JOY: He said, “…that MY JOY may remain in you” (Jh. 15:11). The true Christian life is essentially the life of the Lord Jesus Christ lived in a renewed person. Christian joy, therefore, is Christ’s joy in a Christian. This unique, deep-rooted, and abiding joy is not found anywhere else except in Christ.

The Joy of the Lord is JOY to the FULL. Jesus expressed His desire by saying “…“and that your joy may be full” (Jh.15:11). There is a great difference between joy and fullness of joy. The vessel may be partly filled or completely filled. Our Lord’s desire for us is to experience joy to the full, continually and completely: “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your JOY may be full” (Jh.16:24).

The Joy of the Lord abides and remains: “… that My Joy MAY REMAIN in You” (v.11). The word “remains” indicates that the Christian’s joy is not an intermittent experience but a continuous one. The Lord assures us: “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you” (Jh.16:22). Here, Jesus indicated to His disciples that they were to pass through trials and tests, but that it would be possible for them to experience His joy even in the midst of those trials.

The abiding nature of Christ’s joy is such that it is unaffected by outward circumstances. Jesus experienced exceeding Joy under the shadow of the Cross (Jh.15:11). When His disciples became excited because demons bowed before them, the Lord warned: “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirit are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Lk.10:20). Do not let your joy depend on anything worldly, but on the eternal – on that which abides and which can never be affected by any earthly changes. Paul and Silas demonstrated this same kind of Joy. While experiencing the most humiliating trial and suffering, they were so filled with Christ’s Joy that they could sing praises at midnight and move God into action (Acts 16: 25).

The joy which Christ gives to the believer is not only immune to adverse circumstances; it is actually promoted by such trials. This was written about the apostles: “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41). Paul wrote: “…but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance” (Rom.5:3). James echoed similar thoughts: “My brethren, count it all JOY when you fall into various trials” (Jam.1:2).  So also did Peter: “but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings…” (1Pet.4:13).

How does this Joy of the Lord come?

The Joy of the Lord comes through having Christ Himself. We can only have His Joy by having Him. When Philip “preached Christ” to the people of Samaria, the result was “great joy in that city” (Acts 8:8). Later, the Ethiopian eunuch whom Philip preached to, “went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 5:39).

The Joy of the Lord comes through complete submission to Christ: Jesus was always “full of joy” because He was completely submissive to the will of His Father in heaven. His is the Joy of a glad submission.

The Joy of the Lord comes by the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:52 says, “And the disciples were filled with JOY and with the Holy Spirit.” The desire of the Lord is that His unique and perfect joy should remain in us – by the Holy Spirit: “the fruits of the Spirit … is JOY…” (Gal. 5:22).