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So That Your Joy may be Complete
So That Your Joy may be Complete John 15:11-27 Key Verse: 15:11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” For the last several weeks we have been studying Jesus’ final words to his disciples before his arrest and crucifixion. In this dialogue so far Jesus has focused on three main points. First he has focused on his “new command.” Jesus gave them this command in John 13:34. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” In fact, Jesus began this upper room dialogue by giving them a very powerful example of how they should love and serve one another by washing his disciples’ feet. After washing their feet he said to them, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” These words tell us the second main point of the dialogue to this point which is the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. Jesus is the vine and his disciples are the branches; without him the disciples just wither and die. Finally, Jesus emphasized that he was going away, but those who obey his teaching would receive the Holy Spirit who will teach them all things. In today’s passage Jesus tells his disciples why he told them all of these things and it was probably not what they expected to hear. Jesus had told them that he was going away and they couldn’t follow him where he was going. To them it must have seemed that their world was coming to an end, but to Jesus, it was the time for their joy to be completed. It did not mean that their life was suddenly going to become easy. In fact, Jesus warned them that the world was going to hate them and persecute them, but this should not take away their joy. Jesus was not promising them worldly joy, he was giving them his joy which is eternal and kept in heaven for those who follow Jesus. Let’s think about the eternal joy that Jesus is offering us today. First, joy (11). Why do we study the Bible and commit ourselves to Jesus? Is it just to follow a bunch of rules and make ourselves look good in front of others? Is it because we accept that Jesus is God and therefor our master? Or is it because Jesus is God, our creator, and he knows exactly what we need to make our life happy and joyful? Look at verse 11. "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Jesus told us these things so that we could have complete joy in this life no matter what happens to us. Many people think that if we become Jesus' disciples, we must bear double crosses and we have no fun at all. There are many young people who want to commit themselves to our Lord Jesus Christ. But they are afraid of committing themselves to him because of their trembling fear of losing all their worldly fun and pleasure. Jesus knows our agony of losing worldly fun and pleasure and said in verse 11, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Ordinary people think that there is no joy or fun in Christ. But this verse tells us that there is joy that is complete in our Lord Jesus Christ. Where is complete joy in this world? We must know the deep meaning of the joy which our Lord Jesus Christ mentioned here. When we contrast worldly joy and spiritual joy, we can understand that complete joy is real joy. In the world, when people say "joy," they think of physical pleasure. Worldly pleasure is to please our mind and body. It is very temporal and costly. Moreover, it is liable to degenerate one's moral standard from a human level to an animal level. Worldly joy is very temporal, it lasts only for a moment or two. Suddenly it vanishes when we are faced with a difficult situation, a sickness or the loss of a loved one. However, the Joy that Jesus offers us is eternal. It is his joy that is kept in heaven for you where nothing can destroy it. It simply cannot go away if you accept it. The Psalmist, especially David knew this, When we read the Psalms, we find that they are full of human agonies and prayer. But even though the psalmists were in distress or hardship, their souls rejoiced. Psalm 21:6 says, "Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence." This psalmist overflowed with joy when God was with him. Psalm 43:4 says, "Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God." According to this psalmist, joy was dwelling in his soul when he was with God at the altar of prayer. Psalm 65:13 says, "The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing." The psalmist was full of joy when he saw the mystery of nature that God had made. Psalm 119:111 says, "Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart." The psalmist was joyful when the words of life were dwelling in his soul. We need joy. Without joy, life is too unhappy. Therefore, we must know that joy dwells in our souls when we have the fear of God. We can experience complete joy every day by obeying his new command. So what is his command? Look at verse 12 and 13, "My command is this, Love eachother as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." What Jesus is saying is that joy also comes when we live for the glory of God and for others. If we live and die so that others can meet Jesus and come to know eternal life then we will be joyful no matter what our circumstances may be. The early Christians were happy for the time being when they accepted Jesus as the Savior of the world and loved one another. However, fiery persecution came soon from Jewish people, because Christians accepted people other than Jews as the same brethren in Jesus. In addition, the Roman authorities began to persecute Christians for not worshiping the Roman Emperor. At the time when they thought that they would be happy in Jesus, persecution started. They had to give up their homes. They had to separate from their relatives and even from their own family members. They had to run for their lives to Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, all over the world of the time (1Pe 1:1), but Peter was not sorry for them at all. He encouraged them, saying that persecution would refine them like pure gold. 1 Peter 1:7 says, "These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." He also said in 1 Peter 4:13,14, "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." The young Christians were helpless and fearful when the persecutions were severe. But Peter, who had the joy of God in his soul, said, "Rejoice to participate in the sufferings of Jesus Christ!" Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from our sins. And he was raised again on the third day by the power of God. Thus he became the Savior of the world. There were not many Christians, yet they were determined to conquer the world with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who hated God were all over the world. They persecuted Christians simply because Christians lived a holy life. Humanly speaking, the top shepherd Peter's agony could have been great. But in truth, it was not. He encouraged the early Christians to rejoice to participate in the remaining sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. True joy does not come from enjoying the physical body; it comes from God. We must have complete joy, as our Lord Jesus Christ mentioned in verse 11. Let's read verse 11 one more time. "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Do you have joy in your soul? If not, please love God and love one another and also live for the glory of God. Then God will give you his joy as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Don't try to manufacture joy with your smart mind. Come to Jesus and obey his new command, "Love one another." The result is not that you lose your freedom; rather, you really enjoy true freedom and true joy. Second, Jesus called his disciples friends (12-15). Look at verse 14. “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from the Father, I have made know to you.” Jesus doesn’t what us to have a master – slave relationship where we just do what we are told because he says so. He has revealed to us God’s world salvation plan. He wants us to willingly participate in this because we know what it is and what it is about. As a Christian we must not think of ourselves as just another hired hand to do a job. We know the company mission statement and we are invest ourselves to see that that mission statement is accomplished. God has made his plans known to us. He does not treat us like mere employees, but as friends who have a common goal because he has told us what that goal is. Think about this for a moment. We are friends with God if we accept Jesus. If we are friends with the almighty, all knowing, all powerful God, what could possible take away our joy. If God is for us who can be against us. We must remember that friendships also help facilitate the work of God here on earth. This means that we must pray for and make friends with other co-workers. UBF history is very short. It is only 51 years old. But there are several friends among UBF co-workers, such as Dr. John Jun and Dr. Joseph Chung, Dr. James Suh and Dr. Samuel Choi and Shepherd Mark Yang, Mother Barry and Anna Yang and many more. God used them very preciously for the last 51 years in changing the history of Korea from a dependent country to a missionary-sending country and sending many missionaries from many countries all around the world. In order to make friends with others we have to obey Jesus one simple command to love one another. If we obey this command, make friends with Jesus and others, then we can change the world. Without this command and without friends we can do nothing. With this command and with our friend Jesus and our co-worker friends we can change the world and have complete joy in our hearts. Third, I chose you to bear much fruit (16-17). Look at verse 16. "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." Many people think that they chose God. They also think that at any time they can abandon God. These days the number of ungodly people is increasing day by day. When people are distressed in their souls, they call on God's name according to their needs. But when they can maintain their normal life, they forget all about God. Many obnoxious people think that coming to a church is doing a favor to God. This is not a small tragedy. The idea that "I chose God" is the greatest mistake a man can make. On the other hand, when one has a clear sense of God's choosing him, he can change world history. As we know well, St. Paul was a politically ambitious man. By destroying the early church of Christ, he wanted to be recognized by the Jewish authorities. But on the way to Damascus, the Risen Christ chose him as his instrument. When the Risen Christ chose him, he called him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" At that time, people knew of Paul's persecuting the early Christians. They were all afraid of him. The Risen Christ said to Ananias in Acts 9:15-16, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." Here we see that our Lord Jesus Christ chose Paul one-sidedly, forgave all his sins, and at the same time gave him mission to evangelize the Gentiles and the Gentile world, including the Roman Empire. As a Christian, it is important to know that we did not choose God, but that God chose us and set us apart to bear much fruit. God's choosing is not limited to St. Paul only. Our Lord Jesus Christ chose each of us, as he chose St. Paul. When Paul was chosen, he realized that God chose him as a shepherd for the Gentiles. Because of his calling, he traveled throughout the contemporary world three times, taking many risks upon his life. Finally he came to Rome as an ambassador in chains and taught the Bible to prison guards. If we are not serious about God's choosing us, we will not have much meaning in our lives except to eat three meals a day. But when we have a clear sense of God's choosing us and the mission to bear much fruit, we know the meaning of our lives, we know what our mission is, and we know how to live in this world and then God can use us. Third, the world and the disciples (18-21). Look at verse 18. "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." Why does the world hate his disciples? It is because they are the children of the light and the world is full of darkness. Children of the light expose the evil deeds of those living in darkness and so the people living in the dark hate the children of the light. Let’s look at verse 22. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sins." According to this verse, the Jews heard the message of Jesus Christ. But they never repented of their sins. They firmly remained in sin. So Jesus said they would be guilty of sin. They hated Jesus because they hated God. Jesus showed them many miraculous signs through which they could believe, but they didn't believe; so they are guilty of sins (24). Sometimes we wonder why the people of the world hate us. That's not our problem; that's their own problem of sin (25). When we expose peoples sins they will hate us just like they hated Jesus. But even if we face unbearable persecution we must remember that Jesus promised his disciples that whenever we are hated or mistreated, he will send the Counselor, the Spirit of truth, and help us. Nothing can take away our joy if we remain in Jesus. Today Jesus teaches us that our joy can be complete if we love Jesus and one another. Nothing can take away that joy because it is Jesus’ joy kept in heaven for us. May the Holy Spirit dwell in you so that you may have complete joy in your soul. I pray that you may try your best to make friends with Jesus so that you may bear much fruit. |
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