In Trouble And In Joy #4 | The Centrality and Necessity of Joy

In Trouble And In Joy #4 | The Centrality and Necessity of Joy
We have been considering God’s people in sorrow and trouble; let’s now focus in on the place of joy in the life of God’s people. As a pastor I must continually keep in mind the need to be working not only for the glory of God, but also for the joy of God’s people (2 Cor. 1:24). We will touch on three things in relation to joy and the Christian.

1. The Christian’s duty of constant rejoicing.
True, biblical joy is meant to be a central feature, and a necessary part, of the Christian life. Not an ‘optional extra’, nor a rare experience, nor dependent upon favourable circumstances, or a particular personality type, but a marked feature of the life of every true Christian. In fact we are exhorted and commanded to
this duty in many parts of Scripture. (Romans 14:17, 1 Thess. 5:16, Phil. 4:4).
 
2. The Nature of Christian Joy
The command in the Word of God is not “Feel happy” or “Look happy”, but “Rejoice in the Lord”; and the joy that God gives is a superior and lasting joy. (Psalm 4:6,7) As John Newton memorably put it in his hymn ‘Glorious things of thee are spoken’, “Fading is the worldling’s pleasure, all his boasted pomp and show; solid joys and lasting treasure, none but Zion’s children know.”
 
3. The Testimony of the Joyful Christian
The believer and the church “rejoicing in the Lord always” is a shining light in a dark place. We live in a world of great sorrows, false joys, and fleeting happiness, therefore a truly happy Christian can speak loud and clear to an unhappy world. As the Puritan Thomas Watson put it: “We glorify God by walking cheerfully. It brings glory to God when the world sees a Christian has that within him that can make him cheerful in the worst of times … religion does not take away our joy, but refines it.”