Sharing the happiness of God, part 26, happiness at the judgment seat of Christ, conclusion; John 15:11.

Title: Sharing the happiness of God, part 26, happiness at the judgment seat of Christ, conclusion; John 15:11.

 

8. Happiness is a result of living in the Royal Family Honor Code while looking to the future with confidence in God’s deliverance.

 

Fear occurs in people who are occupied with self, but are convicted in their conscience to live for others. If I live for others, then what’s in it for me and who will live for me? That is the general thinking. However, the promise in the word of God is that God’s love is the greatest power and source of blessing in the universe. And blessing really is mental attitude capacity and not the things or relationships of this world.

 

Much of God’s happiness depends on an RMA towards the future. But relaxation must be premised on a real deliverance and not just a dreamed or imagined one. The adult believer has confidence in God’s essence and in the Trinity’s ability to deliver in his unknown future, and so by not worrying about tomorrow, he is happy today.

 

The RFHC is all about living for others, [others!] while residing in the plan of God and avoiding involvement in the cosmic system. The RFHC is the thinking of royal family aristocracy.

 

We have become a nation of peasants. The aristocracy of thinking has disappeared.

 

ROM 12:9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

 

ROM 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;

 

ROM 12:11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

 

ROM 12:12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

 

 “rejoicing in hope” = “possessing happiness from faith in future deliverance from pressure, adversity, and prosperity by the justice of God.”

 

This happiness in regard to the future produces many virtuous things that glorify the One who gave the hope.

 

ROM 12:12 …, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,

 

ROM 12:13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

 

ROM 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not.

 

ROM 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

And so again, we have our word for happiness - rejoice. Now we see a lack of envy or covetousness concerning those who are blessed and a lack of rejoicing over those who are under extreme pressure.

 

The very weak and reversionistic believer hates to see another blessed and when they, whom they envy and hate, fall under pressure they rejoice. This is the absolute opposite of God’s happiness.

 

Rather, in verse 15 we see that:

This is rapport in the Royal Family, but not catering to self-pity. Be happy with those who are happy and be of comfort to those under pressure, thinking truth and not under emotion.

 

ROM 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

 

ROM 12:17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

 

ROM 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

 

ROM 12:19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.

 

ROM 12:20 "But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head."

 

ROM 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

9. Rejoicing before God is a command.

 

2 Cor 13:11

Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

 

Phil 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

 

Phil 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

 

1 Thess 5:16

Rejoice always;

 

10.  The production of divine good will result in joy at the Judgment Seat of Christ rather than embarrassment.

 

Matt 25:21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.'

 

1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;

 

1 Peter 4:13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

 

The loser believer will have to wait to experience God’s happiness in eternity, yet there are degrees of happiness in eternity as there are in time.

 

REV 19:7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."

 

John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

 

John 15:2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.

 

John 15:3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

 

John 15:4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

 

John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

 

John 15:6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

 

John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.

 

John 15:8 "By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

 

John 15:9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

 

John 15:10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love.

 

John 15:11 "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

 

 “may be made full” - plhrw,o[pleroo - aorist passive subjunctive] = to fill up a deficiency, to fully possess, to fully influence, to fill with a certain quality.

 

The aorist tense anticipates the time when the believer hits super-grace. The passive voice means grace all the way. God gives happiness and the believer receives it.

 

What am I lacking in life? There might be all kinds of things that come to mind when trying to answer that question, but really there is only one thing you and I lack, and that is the super-grace capacity to be fully possessed by God’s happiness.

 

John 15:12"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

 

 “you love” - avga,pan[agapan - present active subjunctive]. “one another” - avllh,lwn[allelon - reciprocal pronoun].

 

“just as I have loved you” is also agapan in the aorist active indicative referring to all the points of time in the past that Christ revealed His love for the disciples. “Just as” is Christ’s love. There is no escaping the source and therefore the power. It cannot be mimicked.

 

The importance of this love for one another is shown in the fact that the Lord repeats this command four times from the upper room and the walk to Gethsemane.

 

John 13:34

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. [2 times]

 

Our main passage, verse 12, and:

 

John 15:17

This I command you, that you love one another.

 

The command to abide in the Lord’s love is a reference to this love within yourself which would have application towards yourself and the rest of the human race, but in these commands there is a specific target for application and that is one another.

 

This is a reference to love within the royal family of God in which we develop the same attitude as Christ, seeing the value in one another and laying down our lives for one another.

 

When this attitude of love is developed, like minded believers tend to enjoy fellowship and rapport. This fellowship in the RFOG is one of the unique blessings to the believer, which is unknown to the world.

 

However, we must be very careful when it comes to Christian fellowship since it can turn into something evil if agape love is not developed in the individual believer’s soul.

 

Fellowship can be wonderful, but since it brings a certain pleasure and enjoyment it can become exclusive and degenerate into something selfish.

 

This is perfectly illustrated in another passage.

 

1 Peter 1:22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

 

As one reads these words, the question arises as to why God exhorts saints who are already loving one another, to love one another. The answer to our question is found in the fact that the first word “love” comes from a Greek word referring to one kind of love, and the second word “love” is from another word speaking of a different kind of love.

 

The first word “love” is from a Greek word which speaks of that glow of the heart which is kindled by the perception of that in the object loved which affords one pleasure.

 

What­ever in an object is adapted to give pleasure when perceived, tends to call out affection, and this affection is what this word expresses. The Greeks were very much occupied with the topic of friendship. This was an ideal word for the ex­pression of this form of affection. The word is used in such expressions as, “to be in a friendly way at one’s side,” “to interest one’s self in him in a friendly manner,” “a man showed himself friendly to men by keeping open house.” Thus this form of love is the response of the human spirit to what appeals to it as pleasurable. It speaks of a friendly affection.

 

 “love of the brethren” - filadelfi,a[philadelphia] - love based upon the attraction of the object that gives pleasure to the subject as in friendship or romance.

 

This is the kind of love which these saints had for one another. This love was the result of their obedience to the truth through their dependence upon the Spirit.

 

That is, their obedience to God’s Word brought them all into right relationship to God in their personal lives, and into right relationship to one another in their fellowship with one an­other.

 

This fellowship was a source of joy to them all, for the truth in the heart and life of each saint found its coun­terpart in and was attracted by the truth in the heart and life of the other saints. Each saint found in the heart of the other saint that which afforded him pleasure. He found a reflection of his own likes and dislikes, his own interests, his own thought-world in the life of his fellow-saint.

 

It is like the attraction which one artist has for another artist, or one musician, for another musician. This mutual attraction results in a mutual love awakened by the sense of pleasure one finds in the company of the other. So it was with these saints. They loved each other with a mutual re­ciprocal love because of the pleasure each had in the other’s fellowship. It was a friendly love, a glow of the heart kin­dled by the perception of that in the other saint which af­forded pleasure.

 

Philadelphiaphileo love is a perfectly proper and legitimate love. But it is a love which is without virtue.

 

That is, it sets no standards of virtue. It does not induce with­in its constituent elements, the idea of self-sacrifice in the interest of the one loved.

 

Philadelphiaphileo love can degenerate into something selfish and self-centered whereby the subject only seeks to gratify himself and gain his own welfare.