Joy sometimes seems very far away from the sorrowing child of God, and not to be realized, or even spoken of, in seasons of affliction, and yet the Lord has linked sorrow and joy closely together. He says, "Your sorrow shall be turned into joy" (John 16:2020Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. (John 16:20)); and, "Ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." John 16:2222And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. (John 16:22). We are also told that "they that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Psalm 126:55They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. (Psalm 126:5). And joy being one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:2222But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (Galatians 5:22)), it grows in the heart of every saint; but we must remember that our joy is in the Lord, and not in our constantly changing circumstances. Paul and Silas, when shamefully entreated at Philippi, were thrust into the inner prison, and their feet were made fast in the stocks; but their hearts being free, and their joy being in the Lord, at midnight they "prayed, and sang praises unto God." The apostle Paul, writing to the saints at Philippi,, amid all the sad surroundings of a Roman prison, exhorts them to "rejoice in the Lord alway." And when the Jews of Antioch raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts, we read that "the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost." Acts 13. So that it is quite possible for a child of God to be filled with joy in the most trying circumstances. The Lord says to His disciples, just as He is about to leave them, "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." John 15:1111These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. (John 15:11). Again, "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." John 16:2424Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24).
The apostle John also says, "These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." 1 John 1:44And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. (1 John 1:4). And Peter, speaking to us about the Lord Jesus Christ, declares, "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 Peter 1:88Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1 Peter 1:8). Thus we find that the present portion of every saint of God is "fullness of joy." "The joy of the Lord is your strength." Neh. 8:1010Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10). And it is according to the measure in which we cultivate and enjoy fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ, that we enter into this "fullness of joy." If we can rejoice in the Lord always, with so much in and around us to hinder and interrupt our joy, what must it be for those who are absent from the body, and present with the Lord. David could say, "In Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16:1111Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. (Psalm 16:11).
Would that we realized more fully the exceeding blessedness of those who are "with Christ." There they wait in all the rest and joy of His own presence, for that blessed moment when "the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." For the same blessed moment we wait also, but it is down here amid toil, sorrow and bereavement that we do so. "Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
May we take every sorrow, trial, and bereavement from our Father's loving hand, and enjoy the Lord's deep sympathy each step of the wilderness journey, remembering that we are passing on to that blessed moment when "He will rest in His love," joy over us with singing, and present us "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”
"Lord Jesus, come!
The Man of Sorrows once,
The Man of patience waiting now,
The Man of Joy forever Thou,
Come, Savior, come!
“Spirit and Bride,
With longing voice, say Come;
Yea, Lord, Thy word from that bright home
Is, 'Surely I will quickly come!'
E'en so, Lord, come.”
(Continued from page 165)
(Concluded)