“And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”
- Acts 7:59-60
“Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
- John 16: 22, 24
1. Joy is Eternal
"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." - C.S. Lewis
“Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit.”
- Genesis 1:11-12 (NLT)
“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that have life.” - Genesis 1:20
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”
- Genesis 1:26
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
- Genesis 2:7
“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation (temporary pleasures), but be filled with the Spirit…”
- Ephesians 5:18
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace……”
- Galatians 5:22
2. Joy is seeing Jesus for who He is and what He has done
“…but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.”
- John 16:22b
“A little while, and you will not see Me (and you will have sorrow); and again a little while, and you will see Me (and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you).”
- John 16:16, 22
17 “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
31 “And then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him”
32 “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
- Luke 24:13-35 (portions)
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
- John 1:29
“so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.”
- Hebrews 9:28
“then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
- Hebrews 10:17
3. Faith is your access to Joy
“Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
- John 16:24
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for”
- Hebrews 11:1
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
- Ephesians 2:8-9
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- Romans 5:8