Gal 5:22-23 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.
Today we are continuing our message series
“Character Counts.” In this “Year of the Holy Spirit,
we are focusing on developing our character by the
fruit of the Spirit. We understand the importance of
Character – that character is much more important
than talent or gifts.
Today, I want to focus on two character traits listed
in the Fruit of the Spirit – Joy & Peace,
Last week we looked at love which tells us how to
respond to people; Joy & Peace, tell us how to
respond to the circumstances of life.
Last week, if you were here, you remember we took a
little “test” to see how well we are “loving others”
based on 1 Corinthians 13. But I also told you that
the test would continue throughout the week – every
day – as we would be challenged to love people who
are
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Close to you
Different than You
Disagree with You
I know there were a couple of moments last week for
me when I was suddenly aware that I was being
tested. How about you?
[Rom 14:17 KJV] 17 For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost.
Today I want to focus on our peace and joy in the
Holy Ghost.
I. JOY: How to Respond to our Circumstances
In 1937 architect Frank Lloyd Wright built a house for
industrialist Hibbard Johnson. One rainy evening
Johnson was entertaining distinguished guests for
dinner when the roof began to leak.
The water seeped through directly above Johnson
himself, dripping steadily onto his bald head. Irate,
he called Wright in Phoenix, Arizona.
“Frank,” he said, “you built this beautiful house for
me and we enjoy it very much. But … the roof leaks,
and right now I am with some friends and
distinguished guests and it is leaking right on top of
my head.”
There was a pause on the line, and Frank Lloyd Wright
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reportedly replied: “Well, Hib, why don’t you move
your chair?”
A. The Word of God focuses heavily on Joy.
ILLUS: In the Jewish Encyclopedia Kaufmann Kohler
stated that no language has as many words for joy and
rejoicing as does Hebrew. In the Old Testament there
are 27 different words that are used primarily… for
some aspect of joy or joyful participation in religious
worship.
The psalmist says, “You have made known to me
the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your
presence, with eternal pleasures at your right
hand.” Psalm 16:11
The New Testament stresses this as well…
“Be joyful always” 1 Thessalonians 5:16
Romans 12:12 says “Be joyful in hope...”
And Phil. states “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will
say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4
There are too many Christians who struggle with this
idea of having “joy” in their lives.
ILLUS: Evangelist Billy Sunday: “If there is no joy in
your religion, you’ve got a leak in your faith.”
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B. Now, some will point out that the reason they have
no joy in their lives is because they don’t have a
reason to be joyful.
I get it. Let’s be honest: It’s hard to be joyful when
life is going against you. It’s hard to be joyful when
you’re
… struggling with troubles,
…or overwhelmed by pain,
…or unsure of your future.
I was recently having a breakfast with a friend who
was struggling; a lot was going on in his life; and it
was overwhelming. He said, “This just isn’t the way I
had planned my life to go.”
How many of us have experienced that. Life just not
going the way you planned; marriage not going the
way you planned, job… money… kids….health… And so
we find ourselves just hoping it will be better
tomorrow…
But there’s a problem with THAT approach to life. If
we wait till everything turns out the way we want it
to in our lives… if we’re not going to be joyful until all
the leaks are patched in our lives… THEN we’re NEVER
going to experience JOY. Or it will be rare …
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Jesus Himself warned us that "… In this world you will
have trouble..." John 16:33
Now, the good news is this. You don’t have to wait
until you’re Happy with your life/ to have joy in your
life.
The kind of joy God wants you to have in your life
WILL bring you happiness.
But the pursuit of happiness will not always bring
you joy.
The word happiness actually derives from the English
word “Happenstance” which means “something that
HAPPENs because of a circumSTANCE”
Happiness is an emotion that is caused by our
circumstances. Worldly happiness is almost always
reliant upon some situation or event to make us feel
good. If something good happens… we’ll feel good…
But if something bad happens… we won’t.
By contrast… God’s kind of Joy does not depend upon
present situation. In fact, God’s joy is based on
character, not circumstance.
ILLUS: Have you ever asked someone how they were
doing and they said, “Oh… all right – under the
circumstances.”
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God doesn’t want us to be UNDER our circumstances
God wants us to be OVERCOMERS
C. That’s why Scripture tells us to rejoice…even when
it doesn’t make any sense
James 1:2-4: Consider it pure joy, my brothers,
whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you
know that the testing of your faith develops
perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so
that you may be mature and complete, not lacking
anything.
Peter tells the Christians of his day: “Dear friends, do
not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering,
as though something strange were happening to you.
But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of
Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is
revealed.” 1 Peter 4:12-13
What are these scriptures saying???
They’re saying – If the roof is leaking and you can’t
get someone to fix it right away… MOVE YOUR CHAIR.
Change your perspective. Take some control of your
life – by rejoicing.
In Acts 16 there’s the story of Paul and Silas. They
were ministering in the city of Philippi… when they
were arrested, beaten and thrown into prison.
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They really hadn’t done anything wrong.
All they had done was preach the love of Jesus and
heal a demon possessed girl.
BUT NOW… here they were mistreated, abused,
beaten and imprisoned.
How would you have responded to that??? It’s not
right…. It’s not fair… THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO TREAT
ME LIKE THIS
But not Paul and Silas … what did they do??? They pray
and sing. They hold a mini-Revival in their cell. They
could have allowed their situation to have control of
them. But instead, they took control of their situation
by REJOICING in God – praying/singing. The end result
was they ended up baptizing the jailer and his family
into Christ.
God’s kind of Joy is NOT AN EMOTION that happens to
you. God’s Joy is His tool for you to use to take
control of your life. As Nehemiah said “… the Joy of
the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
D. Well, how can I do that? How can I lay hold of the
“Joy of the Lord”? Well… by laying hold of THE
SOURCE of God’s joy
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Galatians 5:22 “The fruit of the SPIRIT is… joy…”
In other words… God’s Spirit is the source of God’s
Joy. So, the more I’m filled with the Spirit of God…
the more of God’s joy I’ll have in my life.
Illustration: How many of you have ever been so full
of the Holy Spirit, or seen someone else so full of the
HS, that they were just overwhelmed by unstoppable
laughter? Sometimes we use the phrase “drunk in the
Spirit” to describe a person like that. What’s going
on? It is the Joy of the Lord overwhelming us. It is
like when you touch a hot wire – you’re gonna react.
And when you’ve tapped into the Spirit of God, the
fruit of the Spirit is going to “come out” of you –
including Joy!
For the Christian, Joy is more than an emotion. Joy is
a tool God gives us to overcome our circumstances, to
empower us to rise above the pain and the sorrows of
this life.
Again, how many times have you seen a Christian who
is going through difficult times – the kind of stuff that
would throw a lot of people into deep depression
accompanied by all kinds of grumbling and
complaining – and yet this person is smiling, filled
with joy and praising the Lord. It is because of the
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fruit of the Spirit – the Character of Christ – the Joy of
the Lord that has matured in their lives.
Have you ever been in a bad situation and said, “Well,
I either have to laugh or cry!” That’s the moment we
yield to the HS and laugh! Laugh… because we know
that although it looks bad now, God is going to turn it
for our good.
Hebrews 12 says “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus,
on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He
did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary,
because of the joy that was waiting for him, he
thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross,
and he is now seated at the right hand of God’s
throne.” (Heb. 12:2 TEV)
Jesus overcame the pain and disgrace of the cross -
He rose above the horror of His crucifixion - BECAUSE
He didn’t focus on His present situation. INSTEAD He
focused on the JOY that was waiting for Him
II. Peace: How to Respond to our Stress
If you were to do a survey you would find that
there is so much stress and anxiety in the world
today. Medicines galore! (high blood pressure,
anxiety, depression) Trying to mask the stress – help
us to “cope” with the stress. But God doesn’t want
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us coping with stress just by taking more medicine –
He wants us cured of stress by living in the power of
the Holy Spirit.
Someone has suggested that a definition of peace
might be "The absence of conflict." But I believe
that peace is something that we can experience in
the presence of conflict. … Peace in the Midst of
the Storm!
[Phl 4:6-7 NLT] Don't worry about anything;
instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you
need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then
you will experience God's peace, which exceeds
anything we can understand. His peace will guard
your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
We need the peace which comes from God because at
some point in our lives that peace will be challenged
by life’s circumstances.
• For some it will be the death of a loved one
• For others it will be a heart attack, cancer, or
another life threatening disease.
• Still others face divorce, financial ruin, or the loss
of a significant dream.
That brings us to the difficult question of whether
it’s even possible (like Joy) to have peace in the
world we live in. Many people would say that it is not.
But according to the Word, peace is not only possible,
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but should be normal in the life of the person who has
God’s Spirit inside.
A. The Source of True Peace
The Hebrew concept of shalom is much more positive
than merely the absence of conflict. It speaks of
wholeness and well-being that includes our
relationship with God and loving harmony with others.
Paul spoke of both "peace with God," because we
were justified by faith and "the peace of God," which
goes beyond human understanding (Romans 5:1)
In fact, in today’s world of stress and pain, the only
place you and I will experience the true peace we
long for is in God Himself.
If it’s not clear enough in Galatians 5 that the peace
we long for comes from God, it is even more clear in
the words of Jesus. Consider what Jesus said to His
followers in
John 14. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your
hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John
14:27 NIV)
Jesus described the peace He was talking about as,
"My Peace."
He experienced this peace on this night before the
crucifixion. In other words, the peace He wanted
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them to have was the same peace He experienced
during the most difficult moments of His life. What He
taught them here wasn’t based upon theory, it came
out of the challenge He was facing at the very
moment He challenged them with it.
Maybe you would be tempted to say, “Well that was
Jesus.” But let me give you another example.
The book of Acts tells the story of Peter being locked
up in prison awaiting his execution. On the night
before he is supposed to be executed he is SLEEPING,
chained up between several guards, when an Angel
awakes him, frees him from his chains, and leads him
out of the prison. I mean, you talk about peace.
You’ve got to be at peace to be sleeping the night
before you are going to die.
B. The Secret of True Peace
[Rom 14:17 KJV] 17 For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost.
Notice that there is a connection between
righteousness and peace…
Isaiah 48:22, "’There is no peace for the wicked,’
Says the Lord." (NAS)
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Now let me ask a simple question, "Why is it that the
wicked person never has any peace?"
He or she is constantly getting into trouble –
constantly surrounded by chaos. They are always
having to deal with the messes that their ungodly
behavior creates.
The reason there is a connection between
righteousness and peace, is that when you are doing
what you should be doing, you don’t experience the
negative consequences that naturally accompany sin.
That makes sense doesn’t it? In reality, it’s not
terribly complicated.
All of this peace finds it source by living righteously
(rightly) IN THE HOLY GHOST. It starts with God. It
starts with making peace with God so that He can
help us live the righteous life.
We will never experience outer peace until we have
inner peace.
Conclusion: Musicians Come
The Great Chicago Fire occurred in 1871. Over 300 people
died & another 100,000 were left homeless. One of the
heroes of the Great Chicago Fire was Horatio Gates
Spafford. Spafford was an attorney, who lost a lot of real-
estate in the fire. To make matters even worse, his son
died about the same time. In spite of his great personal loss
Spafford unselfishly helped others who were homeless, and
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grief-stricken because of the fire. Because of his generosity
and service he was well known throughout Chicago as a
sincere, devout Christian.
About two years later, in November 1873, Spafford and his
family decided to take a vacation in Europe. However, just
before they were to leave Horatio was unexpectedly
detained by urgent business concerns in Chicago. The
decision was made that his wife and their daughters would
go ahead to England and he would catch up with them as
soon as possible.
Tragedy was to strike on that trip. Just off Newfoundland,
the ship collided with an English sailing vessel and sunk
within 20 minutes. Anna Spafford survived. Tragically all
four of their daughters died. Anna Spafford’s heartbreaking
telegram to her husband simply read: "Saved alone." The
grieving father immediately set sail for England to join his
grief-stricken wife. As the ship that he was traveling on
passed the approximate location where his daughters had
drowned, Horatio Spafford penned the words to “It is
Well”.
"When peace like a river attendeth my way, When
sorrows like sea-billows roll, Whatever my lot, Thou has
taught me to say; "It is well, it is well with my soul."
Prayer
Is it Well with your Soul today?
Are you experiencing true joy, or has your pursuit of
happiness left you empty and broken?
Are you at peace with God?
