Introduction: Joy is not dependent on the circumstances. Paul wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." (Philippians 4:4) Joy is internal and comes from the Lord; happiness is external and results from happenings.
Philippians 4:4 was penned by the Apostle Paul. He wasn't in some great church preaching when he said these words, nor was he leading a great revival in some town. He wasn't sharing a testimony with some other Christians at a reunion. He was prisoner serving time for preaching about the Jesus Who had allowed him to be cast into prison!
Circumstances could not provide joy for Paul, only Jesus could. Paul had lost most everything, but he still had Jesus! Circumstances did not give Paul his joy; circumstances could not take his joy from him!
Joy is manifested in the Spirit-filled believer, because joy is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22, 23)
Paul wrote, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:18-19) When a Christian is Holy Spirit-filled, the joy of the Lord is manifested in his life to others as well.
- The very first evidence of being Spirit-filled is the characteristic of joy!
- You can have a certain amount of happiness without the Holy Spirit's fullness, but you cannot have the joy of the Lord without it!
Just because a Christian has the Spirit of God dwelling in him doesn't mean he will always be filled with joy. As our text indicates, joy can be lost, "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." (Psalm 51:11,12)
Obviously, there are things that can steal joy from our lives. In this message, I wish to address that issue. Since joy is produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of the growing Christian, the only thing that can rob that joy from him is that which displeases the Holy Spirit.
1. Sin and rebellion will steal your joy. - Psalm 51:12
"Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit."
- The man whom God used to pen the majority of the book of Psalms is the same man now writing in Psalm 51 that he had lost his joy.
- Listen to his words in Psalm 51:1-2, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."
- David had committed a terrible sin; and in so doing, he lost his joy. Not only had he committed this sin with Bathsheba, but he had also caused an innocent man to die, "Deliver me from BLOODGUILTINESS, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness." (Psalms 51:14)
- There are many verses in the Bible which deal directly with a Christian's willful sin. Hebrews 10:26-27 specifically says, "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."
- I think it would be difficult to have joy when you're looking at fiery indignation because your sin has made you God's adversary!
2. Quenching the Holy Spirit will steal your joy. - 1 Thessalonians 5:19
"Quench not the Spirit."
- In that joy is produced by the Holy Spirit, when a Christian quenches Him, he will lose his joy.
- To quench the Holy Spirit means to stifle Him or hold Him back from doing what He wants to do. People today may think they cannot stop the Holy Spirit from doing anything, but the Bible speaks otherwise in that we are commanded not to quench Him.
- The very next verse speaks about preaching and how we should not despise it, "Despise not prophesyings." (1 Thessalonians 5:20) I believe the Spirit is quenched when we think little of the preaching of the Word of God. How important is preaching to you?
3. Grieving the Holy Spirit will steal your joy. - Ephesians 4:30
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."
- Once again, in that joy is produced by the Holy Spirit, when a Christian grieves Him, he will lose his joy. To grieve Him means to hurt Him or cause Him grief.
- People today may think they cannot grieve or hurt any member of the trinity; but, once again, the Bible speaks otherwise in that we are commanded not to grieve Him.
- Again, this verse is connected with some specific sins. Those sins have to do with how we treat other Christians and get along with them, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:31, 32)
- When God's people do not get along with God's people, the Spirit of God is quenched.
- From personal experience, I do not believe I've ever met a Christian who practiced these sins who had the joy of the Lord in his life.
Conclusion: I've only mentioned three things in particular concerning a Christian losing his joy. If you've lost your joy, how can you get it back?
- Confess your sin, for sin removes your joy, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
- Count your blessings, "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah." (Psalms 68:19) Again, in the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
- Consider trials as a source of building joy, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." (James 1:2) As odd as this sounds, a person can have joy in trial if he will let the trial work in his life that which God is wanting to accomplish.
When the Holy Spirit convicts you about something, you need to confess it right then and not wait. Keep a short sin account. Unconfessed sin will steal your joy.
Whatever it is that is keeping you away from God is the thing that is stealing your joy. With David, it was his unconfessed sin with Bathsheba. You get the joy back by going back to the place you lost it or left it for something else. What you thought would bring you joy did not work. What you traded it for is long gone. You can get the joy back once again by clearing the air between you and God. "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation..." was the cry of the repentant Psalmist. What is your cry today?