The Fruit of the Spirit–Joy

DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 6, 1881,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is joy." Galatians 5:22.

OBSERVE, "the fruit of the Spirit," for the product of the Spirit of
God is one. As some fruits are easily divisible into several parts, so
you perceive that the fruit of the Spirit, though it is but one, is
threefold, no, it makes three times three–"love, joy, peace;
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness; faith, meekness, temperance"–all
one! Perhaps "love" is put first not only because it is a right royal
virtue, nearest akin to the Divine perfection, but because it is a
comprehensive Grace and contains all the others. All the commandments
are fulfilled in one word and that word is "love." And all the fruits
of the Spirit are contained in that one most sweet, most blessed, most
heavenly, most God-like Grace of love. See that you abound in love to
the great Father and all His family, for if you fail in the first
point, how can you succeed in the second? Above all things, put on
love, which is the bond of perfectness.

As for joy, if it is not the first product of the Spirit of God, it is
next to the first, and we may be sure that the order in which it is
placed by the Inspired Apostle is meant to be instructive. The fruit of
the Spirit is love, first, as comprehensive of the rest–then joy
rising out of it. It is remarkable that joy should take so eminent a
place! It attains unto the first three and is but one place lower than
the first. Look at it in its high position and if you have missed it,
or if you have depreciated it, revise your judgment and endeavor with
all your heart to attain to it, for depend upon it–this fruit of the
Spirit is of the utmost value!

This morning, as I can only speak upon one theme, I leave love for
another occasion and treat only of joy. May its Divine Author, the Holy
Spirit, teach us how to speak of it to our profit and His Glory! It is
quite true that the Spirit of God produces sorrow, for one of His first
effects upon the soul is holy grief. He enlightens us as to our lost
condition, convicting us of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. And
the first result upon our heart is astonishment and lamentation. Even
when we look to Christ, by the work of the Spirit one of the first
fruits is sorrow–"They shall look on Him whom they have pierced and
they shall mourn for Him, and be in bitterness for Him as one that is
in bitterness for his first-born."

But this sorrow is not the ultimate objective of the Spirit's work–it
is a means to an end. Even as the travail of the mother leads up to the
joy of birth, so do the pangs of repentance lead up to the joy of
pardon and acceptance. The sorrow is, to use a Scriptural figure, the
blade, but the full corn in the ear is joy. Sorrow helps the fruit on,
but the fruit, itself, is joy. The tears of godly grief for sin are all
meant to sparkle into the diamonds of joy in pardoning love. This
teaches us, then, that we are not to look upon bondage as being the
objective of the work of the Spirit of God, or the design of the Lord
in a work of Grace. Many are under bondage to the Law–they attempt to
keep the commands of God–not out of love, but from slavish fear. They
dread the lash of punishment and tremble like slaves. But to Believers
it is said, "You are not under the Law, but under Grace" and, "You have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

To be in bondage under the Law, to be afraid of being cast away by God
and visited with destruction on account of sin after we have trusted in
Jesus–this is not the work of the Spirit of God in Believers, but the
black offspring of unbelief or ignorance of the Grace of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord! Neither is a painful dread or a servile
terror a fruit of the Spirit. Many worship the Lord Jesus, Himself, at
a distance–they know not that Believers are "a people near unto Him."
They are afraid of God and they never delight in Him. They attend to
worship, not because they rejoice in it, but because they think it must
be done. Their secret feeling is–"What a weariness it is," but
necessity compels. They know nothing of a child's joy in sure and full
forgiveness, spoken by the Father's own lips as He pressed them to His
bosom.

His kiss was never warm upon their cheek. The ring was never on their
finger, nor the best robe upon their shoulders. The music and the
dancing of the joyous family who are in harmony with the father's joy
over the lost son have never charmed their ears. They are still under
dread, which is the fruit of superstition rather than "the fruit of the
Spirit." Many things they do and suffer and all in vain–if the Son did
but make them free, they would be free, indeed! I know some whom I am
very far from despising, but whom, on the contrary, I greatly value,
whose religion, sincere as I know it is, is sadly tinged with gloomy
colors. They are afraid of Assurance, for they dread presumption! They
dare not speak of their own salvation with the certainty with which the
Bible saints were known to speak of it–they always say, "I hope," and,
"I trust."

They would seem to be total abstainers from joy! They are suspicious of
it lest it should be carnal excitement or visionary hope. They hang
their heads like bulrushes and go mourning all their days as if the
religion of Christ knew no higher festival than a funeral and all its
robes were the garments of despair! Brothers and Sisters, despondency
is not the fruit of the Spirit! Make no mistake, depression is
frequently the fruit of indigestion, or of satanic temptation, or of
unbelief, or of some harbored sin, but, "the fruit of the Spirit is
joy." Constantly looking within your own self instead of looking alone
to Christ is enough to breed misery in any heart.

I have also known gloomy expressions to be the fruit of affectation,
the fruit of the unwise imitation of some undoubtedly good person who
was of a downcast spirit. Some of the best of men have had a melancholy
turn, but they would have been better men if this had been overcome.
Imitate their many virtues–but take the pot of ointment and pick out
the dead flies. O my Brethren, look well to it that you bring forth the
genuine, holy, sacred, delicious fruit of the Spirit which, in one of
its forms, is "joy." Do not covet the counterfeit of earthly joy, but
seek to the good Spirit to bear the true fruit in you.

I. In speaking upon this joy I shall notice, first, the fact that IT IS
BROUGHT FORTH. Brothers and Sisters, the Spirit of God is not barren!
If He is in you, He must and will inevitably produce His own legitimate
fruit–and "the fruit of the Spirit is joy." We know this to be a fact
because we, ourselves, are witnesses of it. Joy is our portion and we
are cheered and comforted in the Savior. "What?" you ask, "are we not
depressed and sorrowful at times?" Yea, verily, and yet what Christian
man or woman among us would make an exchange with the happiest of all
worldlings? Your lot is somewhat hard, my Brother, and sometimes your
spirit sinks within you. But do you not count yourself to be, even at
your worst, happier than the worldling at his best? Come, would you not
take your poverty, even with your mourning, rather than accept his
wealth with all his hilarity and give up your hope in God?

I am persuaded you would–you would not change your blest estate for a
monarch's crown! Well, then, that which you would not change is a good
thing and full of joy to your heart. Brothers and Sisters, we
experience extraordinary joys at times. Some are of an equable
temperament and they are almost to be envied, for a stream of gentle
joy always glides through their spirit. Others of us are of a more
excitable character and, consequently, we fall very flat at times. Yes,
but then we have our high days and holidays and mounting times–and
then we outsoar the wings of eagles! Heaven itself can hardly know more
ecstatic joy than we have occasionally felt! We shall be vessels of
greater capacity in Heaven, but even here we are, at times, full to the
brim with joy–I mean the same joy which makes Heaven so glad.

At times God is pleased to inundate the spirit with a flood of joy and
we are witnesses that, "happy is the people whose God is the Lord." We
do not dance before the Ark every day, but when we do, our joy is such
as no worldling can understand–it is far above and out of his sight.
Besides our own witness, the whole history of the Church goes to show
that God's people are a joyful people. I am sure that if in reading the
history of the first Christian centuries you are asked to point out the
men to be envied for their joy, you would point to the Believers in
Jesus. There is a room in Rome which is filled with the busts of the
emperors. I have looked at their heads–they look like a collection of
prizefighters and mur-derers–and I could scarcely discover on any
countenance a trace of joy.

Brutal passions and cruel thoughts deprived the lords of Rome of all
chance ofjoy. There were honorable exceptions to their rule, but taking
them all round you would look in vain for moral excellence among the
Caesars. And lacking this thing of beauty, they missed that which is a
joy. Turn, now, to the poor, hunted Christians and read the
inscriptions left by them in the catacombs! They are so calm and
peaceful that you say instinctively–a joyous people were known to
gather here! Those who have been most eminent in service and in
suffering for Christ's sake have been of a triumphant spirit, dauntless
because supported by an inner joy! Their calm courage made them the
wonder of the age. The true Chris-

tian is a different type of manhood from the self-indulgent tyrant.
There is almost as much advance from the coarseness of vice to holiness
as there is from the chimpanzee to the man!

I do not know how much Tiberius and Caligula and Nero used to sing.
Happy men they certainly were not. I can hardly imagine them singing
except at their drunken orgies and then in the same tone as tigers
growl! But I do know that Paul and Silas sang praises unto God with
their feet in the stocks and the prisoners heard them! And I know,
also, that this was the mark of the Christians of the first age, that,
when they assembled on the Lord's Day, it was not to groan but to sing
praises to the name of one Christos, whom they worshipped as God. High
joys were common, then, when the Bridegroom comforted His bride in the
dens and caves of the earth. Those pioneers of our holy faith were
destitute, afflicted, tormented–yet were they men of whom the world
was not worthy–and men who counted it all joy to suffer persecution
for Christ's sake.

Now, if in the very worst times God's people have been a happy people,
I am sure they are so now. I would appeal to the biographies of men of
our own day and challenge any question as to the statement that their
lives have been among the most desirable of human existences for they
possessed a joy which cheered their sorrows, blessed their labors,
sweetened their trials and sustained them in the hour of death. With
some Christians, this fruit of the Spirit is perpetual, or almost so. I
do not doubt that many walk with God as Enoch did throughout the whole
day of their life, always peaceful and joyful in the Lord. I have met
with some dear Brothers and Sisters of that kind, whose breath has been
praise, whose life has been song! How I envy them and chide my own
heart that I cannot always abide in their choice condition! It is to be
accomplished and we will press forward till we are "always rejoicing."

But with others, joy is not constant and yet it is frequent. David had
his mourning times when tears were his meat, day and night, and yet God
was his exceeding joy. How thankful we ought to be for the portrait of
David's inner self which is presented to us in the Book of Psalms. With
all his grief, what joys he had! David was, on the whole, a joyous man.
His Book of Psalms has in it lyrics of delight–the most glad hymns
that ever leaped from human tongues! David is, I believe, the type of a
great majority of the people of God who, if not, "always rejoicing,"
are yet often so. Please remember that the utmost fullness of joy can
hardly be enjoyed always in this mortal life. I believe that the human
frame is not, in this world, capable of perpetual ecstasy.

Look at the sun, but look not too long lest you are blinded by
excessive light. Taste of honey, but eat not much of it or it will no
longer please the palate. Let your ears be charmed with the Hallelujah
chorus, but do not dream that you could endure its harmonies all the
hours of the day–before long you would cry out for eloquent pauses and
sweet reliefs of silence! Too much, even, of delight will weary our
feeble hearts and we shall need to come down from the mountain. Our
bodies require a portion of sleep and that which is inevitable to the
flesh has its likeness in the spirit–it must be quiet and still. I
believe it is inevitable, also, more or less, that the loftiest joy
should be balanced by a sinking of heart. I do not say that depression
is certain to follow delight, but usually some kind of faintness comes
over the finite spirit after it has been lifted up into communion with
the Infinite.

Do not, therefore, set too much store by your own feelings as evidences
of Divine Grace. "The fruit of the Spirit is joy," but you may not, at
this moment, be conscious ofjoy. Trees are not always bearing fruit and
yet "their substance is in them when they lose their leaves." Some
young people say, "Oh, we know we are saved because we are so happy."
It is by no means a sure evidence, for joy may be carnal, unfounded,
unspiritual. Certain Christians are afraid that they cannot be in a
saved state because they are not joyous, but we are saved by faith and
not by joy! I was struck with the remark of Ebenezer Erskine when he
was dying and someone said to him, "I hope you have, now and then, a
blink to bear up your spirit under affliction." He promptly replied, "I
know more of words than of blinks," that is to say he had rather trust
a promise of God than his own glimpses of Heaven! And so would I.

The Word of God is a more sure testimony to the soul than all the
raptures a man can feel! I would sooner walk in the dark and hold hard
to a promise of my God than trust in the light of the brightest day
that ever dawned!. Precious as the fruit is, do not put the fruit where
the root should be. Please remember that joy is not the root of Grace
in the soul– it is the fruit and must not be put out of its proper
position. "The fruit of the Spirit is joy" and it is brought forth in
Believers, but not alike in all. But to all Believers there is a
measure of joy.

II. Secondly, THIS JOY IS OF A SINGULAR CHARACTER. It is singular for
this reason, that it often ripens under the most remarkable
circumstances. As I have already said, the highest joy of Christians
has often been experienced in

their times of greatest distress. Tried Believers have been happy when
smarting under pain, or wasting away with disease. Sick beds have been
thrones to many saints–they have almost feared to come out of the
furnace because the Presence of the Lord in the midst of the fire has
made it none other than the gate of Heaven to their souls! Saints in
poverty have been made exceedingly rich and when they have eaten a dry
crust they have found a flavor in it which they never discovered in the
dainties of their abundance.

Many children of God, even when driven away from the outward means of
Grace, have, nevertheless, enjoyed such visits of God, such inlets of
Divine Love, that they have wondered from where such joy could come! In
the wilderness, waters leap forth as do streams in the desert.
Believers are not dependent upon circumstances. Their joy comes not
from what they have, but from what they are–not from where they are,
but from Whose they are–not from what they enjoy, but from that which
was suffered for them by their Lord. It is a singular joy, then,
because it often buds, blossoms and ripens in winter time and when the
fig tree does not blossom and there is no herd in the stall. God's
Habakkuks rejoice in the God of their salvation!

It is a singular joy, too, because it is quite consistent with
spiritual conflict. He that is an heir of Heaven may cry, "O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And
yet, before the sigh is over, he may sing, "I thank God, through Jesus
Christ our Lord." Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing! Straggling, yet
always victorious! Cast down, but not destroyed! Persecuted, but not
forsaken! Troubled and yet, all the while triumphant! Such is the
mingled experience of the saints. Oh, this is the wondrous Grace, this
joy which can live side by side with conflict of the sorest sort. This
joy is special because at times it is altogether beyond description.
One who was of a sober disposition called it "joy unspeakable and full
of glory." "Full of glory!"

That is a wonderful expression! A drop of glory is sweet, but, oh, to
taste a joy that is full of glory–is that possible here? Yes and some
of us bear witness that it is so–we have felt joy that we dare not
tell and could not tell if we dared– men would turn and tear us apart,
condemning us as utterly fanatical or out of our minds if we were to
cast these pearls before them! But, oh, if they could guess what
delicious drafts are held within the jeweled chalice of Divine
Communion with our Master, they would be ready to wade through Hell,
itself, to drink from them! Our joy is altogether unspeakable joy at
times.

One more singularity there is in it, for it is all the while solid,
thoughtful, rational joy. The joy of the ungodly is like the crackling
of thorns under a pot–noisy and flashy–but soon over. The ungodly man
feels merry, but really, if you come to look into his mirth, there is
nothing in it but flame without fuel, sparkle without solidity. But the
Christian's joy is such that he has as much reason for it as if it were
a deduction from mathematics. He has as just a right to be joyful as he
has to eat his own bread! He is certain of his pardon, for God has told
him that a Believer in Christ is not condemned! And he is sure of his
acceptance, for he is justified by faith. He knows that he is secure,
for Christ has given him eternal life and said that His sheep shall
never perish! He is happy, not for causes at which he guesses, but by
Infallible reasons plainly revealed in God's Word! This makes Him
joyful in the Lord when others wonder that he is so, for he perceives
arguments for happiness which are unknown to the thoughtless crowd.

That word, "joyful," is a very sweet and clear one. "Happiness" is a
very dainty word, but yet it is somewhat insecure because it begins
with a "hap," and seems to depend on a chance which may happen to the
soul. We say "happy-go-lucky," and that is very much the world's
happiness–it is a kind of thing that may hap and may not hap–but
there is no hap in the fruit of the Spirit which is joy! When we are
joyful, or full of joy, and that of the best kind, we are favored,
indeed! No man takes this joy from us and a stranger meddles not with
it–it is a celestial fruit and earth cannot produce its like.

III. Thirdly, I would now refresh your memories and by the help of the
Spirit of God bring back former joys to you–THIS JOY IS EXPERIENCED BY
THE CHRISTIAN UNDER VARIOUS FORMS. Sometimes he experiences it in
hearing the Word of God–it is written concerning Samaria there was
great joy in that city because Philip went down and preached the Gospel
to them. Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound! However,
joy of hearing lies in believing what you hear. We get joy and peace in
believing. When you get a grip of the Word of God–when the glad
tidings becomes a message to your own soul and the Spirit speaks it to
your own heart, then you say, "Go on, man of God! Your sermon will not
be too long today, for the Lord is laying it home to my soul."

The reason why people grumble at long sermons is often because they do
not feed on them. Very seldom the hungry man murmurs at having too big
a meal. It is a delightful thing to hear the Word faithfully preached.
Have you not sometimes exclaimed, "How beautiful upon the mountains are
the feet of him that brings glad tidings"? That is one occasion of joy.
But what joy there is, dear Friends, in the salvation of God when we
heartily receive it! Oh, how we bless the God of our salvation and how
we praise Him that He has saved us from our sins and from the wrath to
come by giving us everlasting consolation and good hope through Grace,
by the sacrifice of His dear Son!

Frequently we revel in the privileges of the Covenant. The joy of my
heart, when I think of the doctrine of Election, is quite
inexpressible. That hymn which begins–

"In songs of sublime adoration and praise,

You pilgrims to Zion who press,

Break forth and extol the great Ancient of Days

His rich and distinguishing Grace," is often with me and makes my heart
merry. Then the doctrine of Redemption, of which I tried to speak last
Lord's Day [Silver Sockets–Redemption the Foundation, Volume 27,
Sermon #1581] how joyous it is! What bliss to know that the Redeemer
lives! "Unto you that believe He is precious" and a fullness of joy
flows forth at every remembrance of Him. Then that doctrine of
Justification is the marrow of joy! Oh, to think that we are just in
the sight of God through Jesus

Christ!

All the Doctrines of Grace, especially that of Final Perseverance, are
joyful Truths of God! I declare that if you take Final Perseverance
from me, you have robbed the Bible of one of its crowning attractions!
Jesus has not given us a transient salvation, but His salvation shall
be forever! I will quote again those matchless words of His–"I give
unto My sheep eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall
any pluck them out of My hand." Honey flows here as in the woods of
Jonathan! Put it to your mouth and your eyes shall be enlightened! The
joy of God's people, when they can get half-an-hour alone and sit down
and crack a dish of those nuts called the Doctrines of Grace, is such
as philosophical worldlings might well desire! But the modern gospel
has no such wines on the lees well-refined.

But, Brothers and Sisters, our most grand joy is in God Himself! Paul
says, "and not only so, but we joy in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ." Oh, to think of the great Father! What a melting of spirit
comes over the child of God if at midnight he looks up at the stars and
considers the Heavens and cries, "What is man, that You are mindful of
him?" To think that He is not only mindful of us, but that He has taken
us to be His sons and daughters! To feel the Spirit within our heart
crying, "Abba, Father! Abba, Father!" Oh, this is joy in the most
profound sense! How sweet to think of Jesus Christ the Son, the
glorious Incarnate God, the Surety, the Satisfaction, the
Representative, the All in All of His people! We joy in God through our
Lord Jesus Christ.

Nor do we miss the joy of the Spirit when we know that He dwells in us.
He sanctifies us, comforts us and guides us in the road to Heaven. Oh
Brothers and Sisters, this is a sea of bliss, the infinite deeps of the
eternal godhead! Leap from all your miseries into this sea of Glory!
Plunge into the joy of your Lord! This being so, we have a joy in all
God's ordinances–"with joy do we draw water out of the wells of
salvation." What a joy prayer is–I hope you find it so. The Lord has
said, "I will make them joyful in My house of prayer." And what a joy
it is to get answers to our petitions, even as our Lord says, "Ask and
you shall receive, that your joy may be full." Has not your joy been
full till your eyes have been dim with tears and you have not hardly
dared to tell how wondrously God has answered you? The Mercy Seat is
lit up with joy.

What a joyous ordinance is that of praise! We come up to the sanctuary
and bring our offering to God and present Him our oblation, just as the
Jew of old brought his bullock or his lamb–and we joyfully present our
gift unto the Most High. Then we begin to sing His praises and our joy
is the chief musician upon our stringed instruments. How our spirits
rise as we adore the Lord! The amount of happiness felt in this
Tabernacle when we have been singing unto the Lord, can never be
measured! For my own part, I have seemed to stand just outside the wall
of the New Jerusalem joining in the hymns which are sung within the
gates of the Eternal City! One joy note has helped another and the
volume of sound has affected every part of our being and stirred us up
to vehemence of joy!

And oh, what joy there is in coming to the Lord's Table! May we
experience it tonight, as we have often done before. The Lord is known
to us in the breaking of bread and that knowledge is blissful. But I
have scarcely begun the list, for we have a great joy in the salvation
of other people! Perhaps one of the choicest delights we know is when
we partake in the

joy of the good Shepherd over His lost sheep when He calls us together,
for we, also, are His friends and His neighbors. And He bids us rejoice
that He has found the sheep which was lost! Especially do we joy and
rejoice if the poor wanderer has been brought back by our means. The
jewels of an emperor are nothing compared with the riches we possess in
winning a soul for Christ! "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."
The joy of harvest is great, the joy of the man who comes again
rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Do you know this joy, Brothers and Sisters? If you do not, awaken
yourselves and may this sweet fruit of the Spirit yet be yours. Oh, the
joy of seeing Christ exalted! John the Baptist said, "He must increase,
but I must decrease." He called himself the Bridegroom's friend, and
rejoiced greatly in the Bridegroom's joy. We can sympathize with him
when we can bring about a marriage between Christ and any poor
soul–and help to put the ring on the finger. The joy we feel is of the
purest and loveliest order, for it is unselfish and refined. Let Jesus
be exalted and we ask no more! If He reigns, we reign! If He is lifted
up, our hearts are more than satisfied! Brethren, if we ever become
perfect in heart, we shall joy in all the Divine will, whatever it may
bring us.

I am trying, if I can, to find a joy in rheumatism, but I cannot get up
to it yet. I have found a joy when it is over–I can reach that
length–and I can and do bless God for any good result that may come of
it. But when the pain is on me, it is difficult to be joyous about it
and so I conclude that my sanctification is incomplete and my
conformity to the Divine will is sadly imperfect. Oh, the splendor of
God's will! If a man were as he ought to be, God's will would charm him
and he would not wish for the smallest change in it! Poverty, sickness,
bereavement, death–all are to be rejoiced in when our will is merged
in the will of God!

What? Would you alter God's infinitely wise appointment? Would you wish
to change the purpose of unerring Love? Then you are not wholly
reconciled to God, for when the head gets quite right the heart climbs
where Paul was when he said, "We glory in tribulations, also, knowing
that tribulation works patience, and patience experience." It needs a
Samson to kill the lion of affliction and you cannot get honey out of
it until it is conquered. But we might all be Samsons if we would but
lay hold on the strength of God by faith! Dear Brothers and Sisters,
the list ofjoys which I am even now only commencing, contains the joy
of an easy conscience, the joy of feeling you have done right before
God, the joy of knowing that your objective, though misunderstood and
misrepresented, was God's Glory! This is a jewel to wear on one's
breast–a quiet conscience.

Then there is the joy of communion with Christ, the joy of fellowship
with His saints, the joy of drinking deep into Christ's spirit of
self-sacrifice. There, too, is the joy of expecting His glorious Advent
when He and His saints shall reign upon the earth and the joy of being
with Him forever! The joy of Heaven, the joy of which we have been
singing just now. These joys are countless, but I will pause here and
leave you to make a fuller catalog when you are at home. May the Holy
Spirit not only refresh your memories concerning old joys, but bring
forth out of His treasury new delights that your joy may be full!

IV. I must notice, in the fourth place, that THIS FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
MAY BE CHECKED IN ITS GROWTH. Some of you may have muttered while I
have been speaking of this joy, "I do not know much about it." Perhaps
not, friend–shall I tell you why? Some people are too full of the joy
of the world, the joy of getting on in business, the joy of a large
family, the joy of health, the joy of wealth, the joy of human love, or
the joy which comes of the pride of life. These joys may be your idols
and you know the joy of the Lord will not stand side by side with an
idolatrous delight in the things of this world! See to that. Dagon must
fall if the Ark of the Lord is present–the world must lose its charms
if you are to joy in Christ Jesus.

Our joy is sadly diminished by our unbelief. If you will not believe,
neither shall you be established. Ignorance will do the same to a very
large extent. Many a Christian has a thousand reasons for joy which he
knows nothing of. Study the Word and ask for the teaching of the Spirit
of God that you may understand it and so shall you discover wells of
delight! Joy is diminished, also, by walking at a distance from God. If
you get away from the fire, you will grow cold–the warmest place is
right in front of it and the warmest place for a believing heart is
close to Christ in daily fellowship with Him. It may be that indulged
in sin is spoiling our joy. "This little hand of mine," as Mr.
Whitfield once said, "can cover up the sun as far as my eyes are
concerned."

You have only to lift a naughty, rebellions hand and you can shut out
the light of God, Himself–any known sin will do it. Trifling with sin
will prove a killjoy to the heart. I believe that many lose the joy of
the Lord because they do not

put it in the right place. See where it lives. Look at my text–"The
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy and peace." There joy stands in the
center–"love" is on one side and "peace" on the other! Find a man who
never loved anybody and you have found a joyless man. This man's
religion begins and ends with looking to his own safety. The only point
he longs to know is–is he saved? He never knows joy, poor creature,
how can he? As to peace, where is it? He has none because wherever he
goes he growls, grumbles, snarls and barks at everybody. There is no
peace where he is! He is always quarrelling and then he says, "I have
little joy."

He does not live in the right house for joy! Joy dwells at No. 2.
"Love" is No. 1–"joy" is No. 2–"peace" is No. 3 and if you pull down
either of the houses on the side, No. 2, in the middle, will tumble
down! Joy is the center of a triplet and you must have it so or not at
all–"Love, joy, peace." Thus I have shown how the growth of joy can be
checked. I pray you do not allow such an evil thing to be worked in
your heart.

V. But, lastly, IT OUGHT TO BE CAREFULLY CULTIVATED. There is an
obligation upon a Christian to be happy. Let me say it again–there is
a responsibility laid upon a Christian to be cheerful! It is not merely
an invitation, but it is a command–"Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,
you righteous." "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice."
Gloomy Christians who do not resist despondency and strive against it,
but who go about as if midnight had taken up its abode in their eyes
and an everlasting frost had settled on their souls are not obeying the
commands of God! The command to rejoice is as undoubted a precept of
God as to love the Lord with all your heart. The vows of God are upon
you, O Believer, and they bind you to be joyful!

In this joyfulness you shall find many great advantages. First, it is a
great advantage, in itself, to be happy. Who would not rejoice if he
could? Who would not rejoice when God commands him? Rejoicing will
nerve you for life's duties. "The joy of the Lord is your strength." A
man who goes about Christ's work in an unwilling, miserable spirit will
do it badly and feebly. He may do it earnestly, but there will be no
life or energy about him. Hear how the sailors, when they pull the
rope, will shout and sing and work all the better for their cheery
notes! I do not believe our soldiers would march to battle with half
their present courage if they tramped along in silence. Beat the drums!
Let the trumpet sound forth its martial note! Every man is eager for
the fray while soul-stirring music excites him. Let your heart make
music unto God and you will fight valiantly for the Kingdom of your
Lord.

Holy joy will also be a great preventive. The man who feels the joy of
the Lord will not covet worldly joy. He will not be tempted to make a
God of his possessions or of his talents, or of anything else. He will
say, "I have joy in God. These things I am very thankful for, but they
are not my joy." He will not crave the aesthetic in worship, for his
joy will be in God and His Truth–not in external forms. Some people's
idea of joy in religion lies in fine singing, charming music, pretty
dresses, splendid architecture, or showy eloquence. They need this
because they do not know the secret joy of the Lord, for when that holy
passion reigns within, you may sit inside four whitewashed walls and
not hear a soul speak for a whole hour and a half and yet you may have
as intense a joy as if you listened to the most earnest oratory or the
sweetest song!–

"Joy in God is suitable to our condition! Why should the children of a
king Go mourning all their days?"

What are we doing now, some of us? We have been hanging our harps on
the willows–let us take them down–the willow limbs will bend! Thank
God we did not break the harps, though we did hang them there. Let us
get into our right position–children of the happy God should,
themselves, be happy. Joy is certainly the best preparation for the
future. We are going where, if we learn to groan ever so deeply, our
education will be lost, for melancholy utterances are unknown up there!
We are going where, if we learn to sing with sacred joy, our education
will be useful, for the first thing we shall hear when we get into
Heaven will undoubtedly be, "Hallelujah to God and the Lamb!" And if we
have been joyful on earth we shall say, "Ah, I am at home here!"

To enter Heaven with a joyful soul is only to rise from downstairs to
the upper chamber where the music knows no discord. It is the same song
in both places, "Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in
His blood." Joy in the Lord will be very helpful to you as to
usefulness. I am sure a Christian man's usefulness is abridged by
dreariness of spirit. What nice Sunday school teachers some Christians
I know of would make! "Come you children, hearken unto me, I will teach
you the miseries of religion!" And the dear Brother begins by telling
the children about the Slough of De-

spond, Giant Despair and the Valley of the Shadow of Death! He wonders,
when he gets home, that the dear children are not attracted to the ways
of godliness! Are they likely to be? A member of a Church who has no
joy of the Lord is little likely to encourage or influence others–they
edge away from him.

Even those who try to comfort him find it is to no purpose and so they
give him a wide berth. You hear him stand up to address an assembly of
Believers, to tell his experience, and after a very little of it you
feel you have had enough. Those who drink wine will tell you that half
a dozen drops of vinegar are more than they need in a glass of wine and
those who carry the cruet about wherever they go are not choice
company! I do not find fault with gloomy souls, but they might be more
useful if they could live more in the sunlight! The joy of the Lord is
the most injurious to Satan's empire of anything. I am of the same mind
as Luther, who, when he heard any very bad news, used to say, "Come,
let us sing a Psalm and spite the devil."

There is nothing like it! Whenever anything happens that is rough and
ugly and seems to injure the Kingdom of Christ, say to yourself, "Bless
the Lord, glory be to His name." If the Lord has been dishonored by the
falling away of a false professor, or the failure of the ministry in
any place, let us give Him all the more honor, ourselves, and in some
measure make up for all that has happened amiss. And, lastly, holy joy
is very pleasing to God. God delights in the joy of His creatures. He
made them to be happy! His first and original design in the creation of
all beings is His own Glory in their happiness. When His people rejoice
He rejoices.

Some of you spent Christmas day in the bosom of your families. Possibly
you have a large family–10 or 12 were at home on that day, with a
grandchild or two. I will tell you what was your greatest joy on that
day–it was to see the happiness of your children and to mark how they
enjoyed what you had provided for them. They are only little children,
some of them, creeping about on the floor, but they pleased you because
they were so pleased themselves! The joy of a little child delights
your heart to hear it, for it gives us joy to behold joy in those we
love. Suppose your sons and daughters had all come marching in on
Christmas day in a very gloomy state of mind–cold, loveless,
joyless–suppose that they did not enjoy anything, but grumbled at you
and at one another? You would be quite sad and wish the day to be soon
over and never come again for the next seven years!

Thus in a figure we see that our heavenly Father delights in the
delight of His children and is glad to see them grateful and happy and
acting as children should do towards such a Parent! Now, Brothers and
Sisters, rise as one man and sing–

"Then let our songs abound, And every tear be dry!

We're marching thro' Immanuel's ground

To fairer worlds on high.
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Choice Food for Pilgrims to Canaan