in the Lord" (verse 2). The prospect of our eternal re wards should cause us to be happy. The Lord promised that He has an eternal inheritance for us in heav en. For this reason, we are to re joice. Whenever the good news of salvation was preached to sinners Paul rejoiced (Philippians 1:18). Can we do the same, even though we may not like or appreciate the vessel God has chosen? If you are out of fellowship with God you will not rejoice in the Gospel. Joy is promoted not only through fellow ship but also through fidelity. If nothing else, there is certainly joy in knowing that we have been saved. The full assurance of our salvation should bring us joy (I John 1:4). It is a paradox to the world that there can be a joy which sub sists in the midst of sorrow. Christ, who dwells in the believer, is a perfect example of this (Hebrews 12:2). He did always and complete ly the Father's will, anticipating the glory that should follow. Christ is our example. The foundation for a permanent and full joy is in our yielding to God's will as set forth in God's Word. Disobedience will always take the joy out of our lives as David so vividly discovered (Psalm 51:12). When the king sinned, he lost not his salvation, but the joy of his salvation. He had to pray for cleansing and pur ification in order to be restored. Are you a joyful believer today? Some Christians look like they have been baptized in lemon juice, act ing sour and bitter in disposition. We have no business living this way. We should come to God to confess our sin. Our Lord fully in tends His people to be the posses sors of His joy. True Christianity is Page 31
forgiveness by the Lord. Cleansing from the power and practice of sin comes from our knowledge and obedience to the Word of God. Having been justified once through faith in Christ, His blood goes on cleansing us from all sin. Because of this union, there is this unique resulting fellowship between God and the believer. While it is true that believers walking in the light do have fellowship one with anoth er, yet this fellowship must be predicated upon the fact that they are in fellowship first of all with God the Father and with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So many people today are eag erly seeking for contentment and satisfaction. How reassuring it is to find in John's first epistle that the words were written to us as be- Ijevers that our joy might be full. First there is fellowship with God the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, only to be followed by the promotion of joy in our hearts to the utmost extent. The order is perfectly proper. It can never be reversed. Let me repeat for em phasis that joy is always present when fellowship is preserved. Actually, joy is a feeling of pleasurable emotion and exaltation caused by the expectation or the realization of some good thing. It was our Lord's desire for His dis ciples that they might possess glad hearts. He told them how to be joyful (John 15:11). The only true source of such delight is in the Lord (Isaiah 29:19; Habakkuk 3:17- 18). Disunity among believers is a destroyer of joy. This is why, in writing to the Philippian church, Paul warned them in the fourth chapter to "be of the same mind
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