Episode 3: Joy: Satisfied in Christ
Our passage today is from: Luke 10:17-24
What does true Christian joy look like? How and where did Jesus display this fruit of the Spirit, and what does it look like for us to keep growing in joy? Join us for this next Bible study in the fruit of the spirit as we look at Luke 10 together.
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How does Jesus reorientate our view of joy in this passage?
How is that both a challenge and an encouragement to you?
Whatever your circumstances, what does it look like for you to rejoice in Christ, and pursue him over and above the pursuit of Joy itself?
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This episode is sponsored by Moody Publishers.
A Christian publisher, they aim to resource the church’s work of discipling all people, with titles spanning from Bible commentary and reference to spiritual and relational growth.
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Sarah:
You're listening to the Two Sisters in a Cup of Tea podcast, the Bible Study podcast for everyday life. We're here for a 20 minute burst of Bible chat over a cup of tea and an English style biscuit as we open up the Bible and drive it to our hearts. Usually we're making our way through a specific book of the Bible, but this season we're diving deep into the fruit of the spirit together. Whether you've been listening for a while or have just found us, we're so pleased you're here.
Felicity: We're grateful to Moody Publishers for sponsoring this season. This book, Delighting in Jesus, Rhythms to Restore Joy When You Feel Broken, Bored or Burned Out by Asherita Choochoo, is a book that is all about the pursuit of Christ-focused, God-given joy. Asherita tells her story with vulnerability and honesty and speaks of her desire for restored joy when it seems to be lost. I enjoyed the way in which this book demonstrates what it is to pursue the things of God, in this case joy, and delight with determined, rigorous and thorough scriptural scouring and then carefully considered rhythms and habits. A helpful read and one which lends itself to reflective journaling in response. See the link in the show notes to grab a copy.
Sarah: Welcome to Two Sisters and a Cup of Tea. My name is Sarah and I live in the UK. I'm with my sister Felicity who lives in the States and today we are launching into Joy, the second fruit of the spirit. Felicity, I'm really pleased to be here but also I'm really pleased because I have a cup of Joy. My tea bag is literally called Eau de Alarjois or Joy
Felicity: I didn't expect you to break out into French then.
Sarah: No, I know but that's its title. That level of joy.
Felicity: It's that level of joy. So this is a tea called joy. I actually have a cup that has the word joy in it as well. I mean, we're all set. But tell me, Sarah, how is the joy level in the cup? I mean, is it actually joy?
Sarah: It's a little disappointing.
Felicity: It's a big claim, isn't it? It's a big claim to call your teabag joy.
Sarah: It's a little disappointing but I feel it makes up for it just because it's going so well with today so I'm okay with that.
Felicity: Well enjoy your slightly below joyful cup. So Sarah, last time we mentioned that we have been just prayerfully considering how to not just kind of keep churning out podcast seasons, but to personally grow in our love and knowledge of Jesus and actually to bear the fruit of the Spirit as we're in the Word together and as we're going through this whole process, this joyful process of doing a podcast together. And it means deliberately taking time over this season. That's kind of why we're taking it bit more slowly in terms of our recording. But what does it actually look like to intentionally allow God to work in us as we dig into these scripture portions and consider what it is to bear the fruit of the Spirit?
Sarah: Good question. And I was saying to a friend, think to you and a couple of other friends earlier this week, I feel just wholly insufficient for the task before us in terms of recording these. And my friend said back to me, is it because it's not a project? I was like, yes, yes, because this is not a project to be accomplished or conquered, but it's a prayerful direction of travel to be sought, if that makes sense. And I think that's just a real challenge on my heart. I can't I can't nail joy this week and then be done with it. I can't kind of sprinkle this bit of godliness for a season. I think just realising that actually to let Christ shape my understanding of these words of this fruit, well that's going to take time because it's going to involve us really dwelling on Jesus for ourselves. I think also connected to that, the realization, increasing realization for us as we're of studying the fruit, the spirit, that they're all interconnected. It's not like we're doing joy this week and love the next week and they're kind of separate things. No, they all come from the same vine, Jesus. And so my joy, as we're going to see today, is intimately connected and bound up with love as we were thinking about last time. I don't know whether that actually answers your question at all, but that's where my head has been and my heart has been as I'm seeking to pray for the Lord to be at work. And certainly we're kind of, yeah, as we, I think we say most seasons, our prayer lives are being shaped more and more by this desire to grow, aren't they?
Felicity: Absolutely, I think that's right. I think the kind of the slow deep dive prayerful heart level engagement with Jesus and we're going to see in our passage today aren't we that really he is the start and the beginning of joy and of the fruit overall. Why don't we get into that? I'm going to read for us Luke 10 verses 17 through to 24. So that's Luke 10 verses 17 to 24. And what's happened just before this moment is that Jesus has sent out 72 of his followers and they've been sent out to minister, to declare the gospel, to do the work of Christ. And as they then return, this is the kind of conversation between them and Jesus. The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Sarah: Thank you, Felicity. It's just really striking reading that again for me. Just that phrase at that time, Jesus was full of joy. And I don't know how often we see that through the gospels. I don't think I naturally associate the word joy with Jesus himself, actually. And yet there it is, right there, plain as day, isn't it? Jesus full of joy through the Holy Spirit.
Felicity: I love that it is full of joy through the Holy Spirit, that in his humanity the Spirit was at work in him to bear the fruit of the Spirit and that's exactly what we're talking about and what we're seeing throughout the scriptures isn't it? And that is, the thing that he's joyful about is the fact that these names are written in heaven. He's rejoicing in the things of the Lord, he's rejoicing in salvation, he's rejoicing in yeah, all that essentially he is achieving. Does that make sense?
Sarah: Hmm. Well, let's backtrack to what the 72 were rejoicing in first. So they return from this kind of mission that they've been on. They've been sent out. It's kind of been quite exciting probably and also quite sobering. Like people have rejected them as well as accepting them. But they've returned with joy and they're genuinely excited aren't they? Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name. Like there's a kind of like, they're kind of puffed up by it. They're kind of, you know, they're kind of just excited by what's been happening, aren't they? And then he responds with, no no no, don't rejoice in that, don't rejoice in that success, whatever you think that success might be, don't rejoice in your circumstance there, actually rejoice in something far greater, that your names are written in heaven.
Felicity: That's quite something, isn't it, that the joy source is being corrected? Before really digging into this passage, I don't think I'd properly noticed that. I think this is one of those passages that I sort skimmed through a bit, but that kind of, no, no, this is what we rejoice in. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. So rejoice in the work of Christ for us, in us and through us, that we might be in eternity, that we're talking things of eternity. I found this actually challenging because I think I can depend on my circumstances for joyful things. I've also found it quite encouraging actually because to be totally honest, I haven't been having the most joyful of months, seasons I would say. And this has been encouraging because my joy does not have to be diminished because I'm actually not feeling massively happy at the moment. And that's just quite encouraging. I imagine that there will be people listening who are struggling to feel the joy as well. And I think that what Jesus is saying here is an encouragement because it, well, it encourages me because it makes me think, okay, I don't need to sort out all my circumstances. I don't need to muster up the kind of the joy. This is anchored in things of Christ.
Sarah: Yeah, it's not putting an optimistic smile on, is It's not like I'm trying to plaster a smile on and kind of, yeah, pretend, is it? It's not saying that. But also, this is the same man who also wept at his friend's grave later on in his earthly life. Like, just being able to marry those two together. Jesus was full of joy in the Holy Spirit, but that didn't stop him grieving, that didn't stop him feeling, that didn't stop him expressing different emotions. This isn't some kind of undetached joy that only he could possibly have. He was fully human in the way that he was able to express this joy. And his joy here is actually that as you go on in verse 21, for this is what you are pleased to do. His joy is actually in God's will, isn't it? In God's will taking place. And God's will transcends circumstance. It's not rooted to a particular circumstance or situation or thing. It's beyond that. It's so much bigger and so much greater. And ultimately, yeah, it's found in Christ, isn't it? And so I think that just, yeah, it broadens our picture of what joy even is, doesn't it?
Felicity: Absolutely, it moves it beyond the circumstances, it anchors it in that source that is Jesus and I think actually that is distinctive isn't it? In that book we mentioned last week actually the character of Christ by Jonathan Landry-Cruise, I really liked an illustration that he gave of, it's a bit like when the royal family are at home, there's a flag above whether it's Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle, wherever, and you know that they're home because the flag is there. And there's something about this joy that's being described here by Jesus and that we see in Jesus that is distinctively of Christ, it's distinctively of the Spirit. And because it's anchored in those things of eternity and of Jesus, it's distinctive to being a follower of Jesus. And so there is something about us that should be joyful. And I think not to say should in the sense of, on, just, be joyful, get on with it, you're a Christian. But actually because we know Jesus and as we behold him, as we see who he is and what he's done and the will of God accomplished in him, then there will be a joy that kind of bubbles up and that is actually obvious to those around us. It's as if there's a flag over our castle in a way.
Sarah: I love that. It's such a helpful illustration, isn't it? It's so good. I was reading someone else, someone called Menikoff, who was saying that actually the presence of joy in our lives serves to demonstrate that actually God means more to us than anything else. That actually our, again, our joy transcends circumstance. That it's not rooted or tethered to one particular aspect of hope or longing or fulfilment here and now. But it extends to heaven and it's indelibly written in heaven. Our names are written in heaven. Wow, I mean just dwelling on that reality, it's just huge isn't it? And the more that we dwell on that, the more that we dwell on the one in whose name we are able to stand with him in heaven, the Lord Jesus, the more that the joy does naturally overflow, doesn't it? And that's, I would just take one more passage to kind of anchor this a bit more for us. In Romans chapter 15, I think that's what Paul is then saying. So he spent like, he spent 12 chapters in Romans, kind of, know, expanding on the gospel, isn't he? And it's all through Jesus. And then in Romans chapter 15 verse 13, he says this. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." And just that kind of his prayer there, it is a prayer isn't it? That actually they would be filled with joy as they trust in him. As their eyes are fixed more and more in Jesus, they would be filled with joy. How? By the power of the Holy Spirit.
Felicity: And I love even just the simple repetition there in that one sentence of hope, may the God of hope, we've just been hearing in Luke of the names that are written in heaven being the reason to rejoice. That is hope, that is what we're talking about, isn't it? This certain hope of eternity, of the future. And so this hope is the means by you overflow with that hope the more you see that the more you see Christ in that the work that he has done to ensure that the more we overflow with that joy it's it's such a kind of root out working of being a Christian isn't it and that's kind of what we're seeing as we look at the fruits of the spirit overall this is this is the kind of 101 of what it is to be a Christian and and not not that this is the kind of staple it on and just work it out so you look like a Christian but actually the core reality of knowing Christ is an overflow of joy because of the spirit at work in us and because of that hope that we have. And even as I'm saying that out loud, I'm feeling a little joyful bounce of this is it, this is where it's at. And what a hope we have, what a reason to be joyful.
Sarah: But I think also we can then, you know, the psalmist also prays Lord restore to me the joy of my salvation, doesn't he? And so we can also acknowledge before the Lord when we're just not feeling joyful over our salvation, where we're not rejoicing over our names written in heaven. Of course that will be different stages for all of us at some point where we're struggling to rejoice in the things of Christ. And yet the psalmists are so wonderfully honest, aren't they, in being able to just call that out and pray, restore it to me, give me that joy, help me." And how does that, how is that prayer answered? Well so often it is by gazing afresh at Jesus isn't it? Gazing afresh at who he is and I think asking someone to come alongside us and say, would you help me? We were just saying in our Bible study group this week, it can just be such a help to hear of other people's joy and how they're rejoicing in Jesus and to just just kind of taste it through others' experience that can really kind of help us when we're not feeling joyful. We've lost that joy.
Felicity: Yeah, I think that's right, the body of Christ contributes towards our walk, don't they? They help us walk this walk of the Spirit. And I think that's so true. And I think as well, there's something in, well I think actually there's book by Jerry Bridges which has been helpful as well, and this idea that actually, even as we, he was mentioning that even as we confess our sin and trust in him, and it's kind of the basics of turning to Jesus, isn't it? As we repent, we confess, we praise him for his blood on the cross, all these things that actually, the fundamentals of the gospel as we rehearse those, that also then kind of draws us nearer to Christ, I think, in that and the realities of that. And maybe there's something in the corporate nature of that as well, of actually sharing with one another the joy that we have as a result. Yeah.
Sarah: Yeah, but it starts with being honest with one another, doesn't it? And being able to say, I'm struggling to feel joy rather than arriving at a Bible study or church on a Sunday or whatever it is and pretending like that. Yeah.
Felicity: And in order to be honest in that sense, we need to be really persuaded that it's not about our circumstances, that our circumstances are not the definer of whether we're going well as a Christian, know? Like whether we're feeling happy and we're full of smiles as we walk into Bible study, or whether we've got tears in our eyes. Simply because we have tears in our eyes does not mean that we don't have joy. They're not mutually exclusive but because we have Jesus we can have joy and we then need often need help to just walk with him more closely and to press into him and as you say to be loved by others in that. It's been a real personal challenge to me recently is just to allow people to just be those people for me and to give me Jesus because it is Jesus who will prompt that overflow of joy and yeah profoundly encouraging and challenging this through the spirit journey. As you say, I think that's right, isn't it? As you were saying at the start, this direction of travel. It's like these conversations are very much just a starting point, aren't they? And we pray and pray and pray that the Lord would do a work in us. Should I pray for that now as we wrap up?
Sarah: Yes, please.
Felicity: Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you that he is the one in whom we rejoice, the one through whom we rejoice. And so Father, we pray that you would help us to have deep seated joy that comes from knowing Jesus. We pray that in even the tears, when circumstances are hard, whatever it may be, we pray that there'd be that distinctive knowledge of Christ that overflows into joy. Please father would you Work by your spirit in us that we might be more like Jesus Look more like Jesus as we rejoice in you and we pray this in your name. Amen
Sarah: Well, yeah, I'm really thankful to be on this journey with you, Felicity, and this has been a joyful thing to even just acknowledge that the hardship within these conversations, it is good, isn't it? I wonder, for those listening in to our conversation, I wonder who you could have a cup of tea with and chat through these things. Perhaps you could listen to this season with someone else. Grab a friend, listen along together, be praying for the fruit of the spirit in each other. It's just so valuable. We can't recommend it enough kind of actually sitting down with someone else. And we really look forward to seeing you next time as we get into all things peace. See you then.
Felicity: See you then, bye bye.
This season is sponsored by Moody Publishers.
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