FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
JOY
DR. JIM DIXON
APRIL 20, 1986
GALATIANS 5:22-25, JOHN 15:1-11
It is called the Bhagavad Gida. It is an ancient writing, one of the most sacred writings in all of Hinduism. The Bhagavad Gida tells the story of two people. It tells of Arjuna, a great warrior, and it also tells of Lord Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu, the pure expression of the Hindu deity. In the Bhagavad Gida, Arjuna poses a question: what must I do to find happiness and joy in life? And Lord Krishna gives an answer. He says, “Joy is within you, and you must reach deep within yourself and find that joy.” To do that, you must attain a state where you have voided yourself of all emotion, a state where you have neither pain nor pleasure, neither love nor hate, neither desire nor disdain, and when you’ve reached that state of neutrality, then you must focus your energy inward upon the Brahman within you, and you’ll attain a state of bliss consciousness, a state of pure joy.” Now that teaching is basic to all of Hinduism today. It is basic to the teachings of the Eastern religions, and it is basic to modern-day yoga, and it is basic to the modern-day practice of transcendental meditation, but this teaching is a lie. The Bible tells us that there is no joy within us, no true joy. Mankind can probe its inmost innermost self from birth to death and never find happiness in life because joy, true joy belongs only to God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God has joy and God is not in any of you unless—He is not in any of us, unless we invite his Son, Jesus Christ, to come and live in our hearts.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” Jesus says, “and if anyone opens the door, I will come in and live with Him and He with me.” He does that in order that His joy might be in us, and our joy might be full. Now, there is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness tends to relate to happenings and circumstances in life, but you see joy, though it is indescribable as far deeper, and it transcends the mountains and valleys of life. It transcends the circumstances of life. It simply remains and it is a gift from God to His people. And yet, even as Christians, the Bible tells us there are times when our joy subsides. Even as Christians, there are times when our joy is lessened and when our joy is weak, and in such times, God wants to encourage us. This morning I have from the scriptures two cheers from Jesus Christ for His people.
The first is this. Jesus says, “Be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you.” Jesus spoke those words to a paralytic in the village of Capernaum as recorded in the ninth chapter of Matthew, but the truth is that Jesus would speak those words to every Christian living in every place at any time. “Be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you.” Christian joy is rooted in an awareness of forgiveness, that God has forgiven us an incredible debt, and we have been set free.
In 1962, when I was 16 years old, I acquired my driver’s license. I had a 1947 Ford, and I was very proud of it, and I drove it to the youth group meeting at the church one night. My friends had never seen the car and I’d never had anyone in the car except for my family. Later that night, I drove six kids home. A girl sitting next to me that I kind of liked and I was showing off. We were having a good time until I looked in the rearview mirror and I saw the flashing red lights. That was the first time a policeman ever pulled me over, and I’ll never forget what he said, he looked at me—I rolled down the window—and he said, “Uh, are you having a good time?” I said, “No, sir, not anymore.” He smiled and I thought that was a good sign. He said, “You know what the speed limit is back there on Verdugo Road?” I said, “No, sir.” He said, “The speed limit is 35. Do you know how fast you were driving?” I said, “No, sir.” He said, “Don’t you look at your speedometer?.” I said, “Yes, sir, most of the time.” He said, “Well, you were going 50 miles an hour and the speed limit on Lockerson Avenue is 35 miles an hour, and you’re going 55 miles an hour. But I didn’t pull you over because of your speeding, I pulled you over because you seem to be having a hard time staying in your lane.” He said, “Have you been drinking?” I said, “No, sir.” He bent over and looked in the car at all of us and a smile came to his face. We were all very, very young, and he said, “I’ll tell you what, I’m going to give you a break and I’m not going to write you up, but I want you to be careful.” He said,” Have a good time,” and he turned and walked away. I want to tell you, I felt great. “Be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you.”
In 1974, Barb and I were returning to Colorado from California. We were driving through Utah, and we were in a big hurry, I was driving far faster than I normally would have, and we came over a rise, and down in the valley there was a cop with a radar gun pointed right at me. He pulled us over and said, “Are you aware that we’ve just passed a new 55-mile-an-hour speed limit? I said, “Yes, sir.” He said, “Mr., I want to tell you, I’ve got you at almost 85 miles an hour. You’re 30 miles an hour over the speed limit. I ought to write you up, but we’re just giving warnings today.” He let me go, and I want to tell you, I felt a sense of relief that the world just barely understands. I felt like I had a new lease on life.
In 1976, and this was the one, I was on Clayton Street down in Cherry Creek, and a cop pulled me over. He was writing me up for two violations. I had run a stop sign, and when he asked for my license, it had expired three years earlier. So, he’s writing me up for two violations, and I’ve shared this with some of you. As he was filling out the form, he said, “What is your occupation?” And I told him I was a Presbyterian minister. A smile came on his face. He looked at me and he said, “You know if you’re a Presbyterian minister, you got enough trouble,” and he took the tickets and he just tore them up. “Be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you.”
Now you might think that I’ve lived a charmed life, but if you’re a Christian, you too have been forgiven and you’ve been forgiven a debt so great that no earthly policeman could ever render such forgiveness. The Bible says, “You he made alive when once you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once lived following the course of this world, following the princes of the powers of the air, the spirit which is now at work among the sons of disobedience. Among these, we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, so that we were by nature children of wrath just like the rest of mankind but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He has loved us, has made us alive together with Christ and has raised us up to sit with Him in the heavenly places, that in the coming ages, He might show us the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace, you have been saved through faith.” It is not your own doing. It is a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast of forgiveness. And that forgiveness is meant to give us joy. If every day of your walk with Christ, you are aware of his forgiveness in your life and the great burden that has been lifted from you and the great debt that has been canceled out—if you are aware of that and you believe that you have joy.
On July 24th, 1725, a person named John was born. He was born in London, England, and his mother was a devout Christian. John’s mother would oftentimes hold him on her lap when he was young, and she would read him Bible stories and she would pray with him, and she would tell him of the love of Jesus Christ. But when John was seven years old, his mother died, and so John’s father reared him. But John’s father, no one knew—to this day, no one knows what John’s father believed. Whatever he believed, he kept it within himself. He was a rugged man, and he was a sea captain. He was the captain of a ship that sailed the Mediterranean. When John was 11 years old, his dad invited him to go out with him to the sea, and as the years passed, John grew to love the sea. He loved the smell of the salt and the pounding of the waves. He grew to love the conversation and the fellowship of rugged men, and he loved the adventure of it all. When he was 17 years old, John joined the British Navy, but he had no discipline, he had no character, he had no morals, and he was beaten often and flogged and even chained.
Finally, John left the Navy, and he got on a boat called the HMS Harwich, which was bound for the coast of Africa. There on the African coast, John entered the slave trade business. He dealt with the buying and selling of human flesh, and his life began to fall into depravity. He began to view women and particularly the native women as mere objects for his sexual gratification. He began to view alcohol as an escape, a means of drowning out the great guilt that was deep within him. The more he fell into depravity, the more tragic it became. Finally, John himself was sold into slavery and he became a slave’s slave. He had one shirt that was given to him, and he washed that shirt in the water near the African coast once a week. At night, he would go out and he’d dig for wild yams and that’s all he had to eat.
The years passed, and finally, John escaped. He got onboard a ship that was bound for England, and this ship was called the Greyhound. He was free and he couldn’t wait to get back to England where he would restore his health and he would continue his pursuit of hedonism. But God had other plans, and when John was halfway back to England, there was a horrible storm at sea. One of the sides of the greyhound began to break away and water began to fill the ship, and for nine hours they manned the pump, but it was obvious that it was an effort in futility and the ship was going down. John fell to his knees, and he began to pray, and he said these two words. He said, “Lord Jesus,” and he said he was astounded to hear himself addressing the God of his mother. At that moment, as he panicked for his life, he cried out to Jesus Christ and he asked Christ to save him, and he said, “If you somehow bring me out of this alive, I will serve you all the days of my life.”
Well, miraculously by all accounts, the greyhound did not go down and in the course of time, John found his way back to England and he never forgot the vow that he had made. In that moment of panic, John entered a theological seminary. He had committed his life to Christ and his life would never be the same. At the age of 39 in the year 1764, John was ordained to the gospel ministry, and he became the pastor of a little church in England. John never became the pastor of a large church, but the power of God was upon him. And through the years, John has touched millions of people and millions of Christians because John wrote hymns. He wrote almost 300 hymns and in one of those hymns we sing many times in this church. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound had saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found I was blind, but now I see.” John Newton was his name, and it was set of him that in the final 40 years of his life, he knew joy and he had a happiness that the world just can’t understand. And if John Newton had joy, it was for one reason. It’s because he viewed the grace of God in his life as “amazing.” And you see, it’s only to the extent that you view the grace of God in your life as “amazing” that you can really experience the joy of God.
Now, like John Newton, I’m a minister of the gospel, but my life hasn’t been like John’s life was. I accepted Christ when I was five years old at my mother’s side and I was always a “good boy.” I was a cub scout. I was a good student and I got good grades in school. I went to sunny school, and I memorized verses in order to get stars on charts. As the years passed, I didn’t smoke, I didn’t drink, I didn’t dance, I didn’t swear, and I didn’t go to movies. I was an absolute bore. My parents are here today. I think they’d have to admit that I was just a delight. I went to a Christian college, and I went to a theological seminary, and in the biblical sense, I never knew a woman prior to Barb, and I’ve never known any woman but Barb and I do not intend to, and I suppose that by the world’s standards I’ve lived a relatively righteous life. But you see, the Bible says, “That before God and the sight of God, all of my righteousness is like filthy rags.” The Bible says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” There is none righteous, no not one. All we like sheep have gone astray because you see, God looks on the inside.
Jesus said, “You’ve heard it said of old he shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, anyone who looks upon a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” And you’ve heard it said of old, ‘Thou shall not kill and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment,” but ‘I say to you, whoever harbors anger towards his brother in his heart shall be liable for judgment.” Before God, we are all desperately in need of forgiveness, desperately in need of His grace. His grace is “amazing,” and if you are a Christian today, the grace that has been given to you is just as amazing as the grace that was shown to John Newton so many years ago. That grace, that forgiveness, that mercy is meant to give you joy every day of your life.
Secondly and finally, Jesus Christ has this cheer for us. He says, “Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” This is the promise of victory. I think many times in our lives, we feel like the world has overcome us. Maybe we have economic problems. I’ve got to say that in the life of this church, I’ve never seen—we’ve never seen—so many people with economic struggles, people who can’t pay their bills, people who have to sell their homes, people who have lost their jobs. We try to help all of you as best we can. I know many of you are trying to help others. Some of you have relational problems, and broken relationships, some of you have physical health-related problems, and sometimes you just feel like the world has overcome you. But Jesus says, “Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world,” and to the Christian, there is the promise of victory, the promise of his protection in his provision, because “He feeds the birds of the air and He clothes the lilies of the field, so will He feed and clothe you.” There is His promise that “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.” And of course, there is the greatest victory of all, the greatest overcoming, which is the promise of heaven itself.
When Jesus spoke the words “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world,” He spoke those words in the Upper Room to His disciples, only moments before He went to the cross, and only a few days before He would “rise from the dead in power and great glory,” and only a few days before His ascension into heaven. He had won the greatest victory and He would win the greatest victory—victory over death itself, the victory of eternal life itself—the victory of heaven. And He had just said to His disciples in the upper room, “Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions, many dwelling places, many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there you may be also.”
The thought of heaven is meant to give you joy every day of your life. The ultimate victory. The ultimate overcoming. One day truly we shall overcome. If you really believe in heaven, if you really believe that this life is like a drop in the bucket compared to an endless sea of eternity, if you really believe that you’ll be alive in a million years. If you really believe, as John Newton wrote, “When we’ve been there 10,000 years, bright, shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.” If you really believe that you have joy, you have joy the world can’t understand and you have joy the world just can’t quench.
In 1984, Barbara and I went to the island of Thera. It’s a Mediterranean island. It’s in the Aegean Sea. The island of Thera used to be called the island of Santorin or the island of Santorini. It’s an island shaped like a horseshoe, and as you enter the bay, you see these beautiful cliffs rising up from the water there are flowers all about the cliffs, and on top of the cliffs, there are white buildings. There is a winding pathway that ascends the cliffs. and you can climb up that pathway. You can either go on foot or you can ride on the back of a donkey if you’re willing to spend a little money, or you can take an aerial tram to the top. But when you’re on top, you find shops and restaurants and a lot of different ways to spend your money. You also find an incredible view. You look down from those cliffs and you see the ocean below and the shape of the island, and you begin to understand that the island is now only a fraction of what once it was. The island only has a fragment of its former glory most of the island was blown away 3,500 years ago in a volcanic eruption. When Santorini exploded, historians tell us the greater portion of the Minoan civilization died out. The Minoan civilization lived in Santorini on the nearby island of Crete. Some historians believe that the Atlantis myth is based on the island of Santorini. They believe that the land of Atlantis, that ancient mythological island was really the island of Santorini. And the kingdom of Atlantis was the kingdom of the Minoans in King Minos, and it’s not known whether those historians are right or wrong, but this we know. According to the writings of Plato, Atlantis was an amazing place, be it real or imagined. It was amazing. It was a kingdom of power, and it was a kingdom of beauty, and it was a kingdom of wealth, a kingdom of peace, a kingdom of joy, and a kingdom of happiness, and people from all over the world for thousands of years sought Atlantis. They might find where it is and what it’s like and how you get there.
Heaven is like that in this world, in this time. People want to know where heaven is and what it’s like and how you get there. The Bible doesn’t tell us perhaps as much as we’d like to know about what heaven is like, but it does tell us very, very clearly how to get there. “God loved the world so much He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
Surveys show a recent Gallup survey shows that 83% of the people in the United States of America believe they’re going to heaven—83%. Five percent of the people in this country aren’t sure. Seven percent of the people in this country don’t believe there is a heaven. and another 5% of the people in this country believe they’re going in the opposite direction. But 83% of this nation’s people believe they’re going to heaven, and some believe that mistakenly. The Bible says there’s one way to know that you’re going to heaven, and that’s through Jesus Christ. “I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you might know that you have eternal life, and if you know today that you have eternal life and the promise of heaven awaits you, then you have joy, joy every day.”
A few weeks ago, Drew and Heather bought a new pet. We let them get a pet from time to time just to give me a sermon illustration. This particular time, Drew and Heather bought a gerbil. Now, some of you probably don’t know what a gerbil is. A gerbil is kind of like a rat. In fact, a gerbil really is a rat. The only difference is that if you found a rat in your home, you’d probably make a scene and you’d try to kill it, but when you find a gerbil in your home, you feed it, and you try to take care of it, pet it, put it in a cage, and make a big deal about it. Well, we told Drew and Heather that they couldn’t buy a gerbil. We didn’t want one in the house. But when we came downstairs, Drew and Heather had written us a letter. They’d put a lot of work into it. It had many different colors, and they told us how much they loved us and how much they loved gerbils.
You know, our hearts were touched, and we looked over at the kitchen table and they’d made a couple of hot fudge sundaes for us, and they’d made an orange Julius for us, fresh out of the blender. It doesn’t go with a hot fudge sundae, but we were really impressed, and we couldn’t resist the kids, so we told them that they could have a gerbil. We really were convinced to do this when they explained to us that gerbils are exceptionally clean, and they showed us that. And the World Book Encyclopedia and Drew said, “Gerbils probably don’t even have to go to the bathroom.” Now, I explained to Drew that all animals go to the bathroom, but Heather told me that gerbils could be potty trained, and we’ve discovered, that that’s true as long as you train your gerbils to go whenever and wherever they want. Gerbils are really cute. Heather and Drew would take the gerbil and they pet the gerbil. And it was only a few days ago that they asked me the inevitable question that they always ask—”Dad, will there be gerbils in heaven?”
It doesn’t matter what pet we have—whether it’s a dog or whether it’s a gerbil or a turtle—they always ask me that question. Will there be gerbils in heaven, or will there be dogs in heaven, I think we all have questions about heaven, things we’d like to know what it’s going to be like, what’s going to be there. We’ve all got questions.
The Bible does give us a glimpse of heaven. We’re told in the scriptures that God’s plan is cosmic, and one-day heaven will encompass the entire creation, all the works of God’s hands. It’s all going to be part of heaven—the heavens, and the earth—and as God once gave dominion to Adam and Eve over the earth, so he will give dominion to the saints over all the works of his hands, and that is exciting. And the Bible promises a celestial city for the saints, perhaps a gathering place from throughout the creation for God’s people. God’s word promises that we’ll all be given new bodies in heaven, resurrected bodies—bodies that are described in I Corinthians 15 as “heavenly,” the Greek word “ouranois,” meaning “fit for the heavens”—bodies that the Bible says are “indestructible.” The Greek word “aptharzia,” means “no longer subject to decay.” Bodies that are powerful, the Greek word “dunimas” from which we get the word “dynamite,” bodies that are spiritual, the Greek word “pneumaticos,” meaning that they will “no longer be governed or controlled by the things of the flesh, but by the spirit”—and bodies that are glorious in a Greek word, “doxa,” meaning “worthy of praise.”
All of these things are promised to those of us who believe. It’s promised that one day we will see all of our Christian loved ones and we’ll see all the saints from all the generations pass, and as Terry sang in the song a little earlier, we’ll see Jesus Christ face to face.
The thought of all of this is meant to give you joy—joy the world just can’t understand. Peter says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By His great mercy, we have been born and new to a living hope and to an inheritance which is indestructible. Undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you, who through God’s power are guarded through faith for a salvation waiting to be revealed in the end times.” Peter says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him, and though you do not now see him, you believe in Him, and you rejoice with an utterable and exalted joy as the outcome of your faith, you obtain the salvation of your souls.”
One day we will stand before Jesus Christ, we who believe, and He’ll say “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your Master.” Let’s pray.