Sharing the happiness of God, introduction; John 15:11

Title: Sharing the happiness of God, introduction; John 15:11.

 

Conference meeting Sunday. Book is complete.

 

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.

 

 “I have spoken” - lela,lhka[lelaleka; perfect active indicative of laleo] = to communicate now with the results that will go on later in your life.

 

 “that” sets up a purpose clause: Guard your doctrine with PV so as to abide in Christ’s agape love “so that” Christ’s perfect happiness may be in you [heart] and your sharing in Christ’s happiness may come to completion.

 

Happiness depends on love.

 

As we have defined agapan love: A mental attitude impersonal, unconditional love from mature virtue that recognizes the value of an object, producing a self-sacrificial preference and regard for its benefit even if hated. It is without sin and is not motivated by any affection or attraction.

 

The sphere of love is the sphere of the happiness of God. You cannot experience God’s happiness without agapan love.

 

 “joy” - cara,[chara] = joy, happiness, contentment, delight, rejoicing. Here it refers to the happiness of God as the humanity of Christ shared in it.

 

“may be” - present active subjunctive of eivmi,[eimi] = Sharing God’s happiness depends on what you do with the communication of doctrine.

 

These things I have spoken to you … abide in the vine and bear fruit, endure under suffering for blessing and bear more fruit, ask what you wish in prayer, glorify the Father by abiding in Christ and bearing much fruit, abide in the sphere of Christ’s love, guard the commandments within the doctrines you learn and so apply them, and do it all as Christ has shown in His first Advent.

 

“in you” - true happiness is in the thought content of the heart, the right lobe of the soul, and does not originate from circumstances outside the soul.

 

If you find yourself going through highs and lows due to the changes in the circumstances in your life then you are not abiding in love. Continue to grow in grace and knowledge.

 

God doesn’t convey His happiness through a bunch of stuff. God conveys His happiness to the regenerate new creature who abides in the plan of God, the sphere of love,

 

 “your joy” refers to the time in your Christian walk where the Lord’s joy now becomes yours. It’s given as a gift and the believer has to take possession of it.

 

Though this is a potential there is a word here that makes it the most exciting potential. We are told that we will have His joy in us, but He doesn’t stop there. We are told that our possession of His joy will completely fill us.

 

 “may be made full” - plhroqh[plerothe - aorist passive subjunctive of pleroo] = To fill up the deficiency; To fully possess; To fully influence; To fill with a certain quality.

 

aorist = the moment you reach the super-grace life.

Passive = you receive the action by PVTD

Subjunctive = being filled with His happiness depends upon your volition towards what you hear.

 

The Lord’s happiness can only exist within you when you are filled with the Spirit and doctrine is circulating in your soul. The moment you lose fellowship with the Father and Son by quenching or grieving the HS that happiness is gone.

 

Unconfessed sin results in status quo carnality which robs the super-grace believer of the happiness of God and robs the less mature believer of its potential.

 

The filling of the Holy Spirit and doctrine circulating in your soul are the prerequisites for being filled with His happiness. These two power options God has provided to empower us to separate from the kosmic system.

 

John 16:23 "And in that day you will ask Me no question. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father for anything, He will give it to you in My name.

 

John 16:24 "Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.

 

Fullness of joy doesn’t come from stuff. What should the disciples be asking for?

 

Luke 11:13

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

 

John 20:22

 And when He had said this, He breathed on them [they didn’t ask], and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

 

John 17:13 "But now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves.

 

Being full of the Lord’s happiness gives you the power to handle rejection by others, ACT 13:52.

 

This is freedom from the controlling influence of the negativity of others and the concern of reputation among men.

 

Acts 13:51-52

But they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

 

We are reminded again and again in the scripture that we must see the frontier between the plan of God and the kosmic system and choose God’s plan while we witness to the world.

 

1 John 1:1  What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life — 

 

1 John 1:2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us — 

 

1 John 1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

 

From here on out the verbs are subjunctive - the success of your new creature depends on volition; maybe you will maybe you will not.

 

1 John 1:4 And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

 

This is the same construction as the Lord used. However, it is referring to the happiness of the PT who has joy in communicating doctrine to those who have PVTD.

 

There is no greater joy for a PT.

“May be” is the present active subjunctive - present tense means that the communicator has to make a constant decision to be filled with the Spirit. No communicator should ever teach from human viewpoint and human power, which is most problematic when studying as well as in teaching. Active voice means the PT has to choose for himself. He must be self-motivated and not communicating for any other reason than the spiritual growth of his congregation.

 

1 Peter 5:2

shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;

 

1 Peter 5:3

nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.

 

The subjunctive mood means that happiness is a potential depending on what side of the frontier the PT lives in.

 

1 John 1:5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

 

 “darkness” - skoti,a[skotia] = darkness experienced as an enveloping sphere that has significance for existence, e.g., by hampering movement or foresight, or causing anxiety or danger.

 

Used in both a literal and a transferred sense, skotia means death as light means potentiality.

 

The realm of the dead is a dark realm. Darkness projects fear. The fear arises from something unknown, HEB 2:15.

 

If you have ever been engulfed in complete darkness you know the fear it can cause. It is a natural human fear.

 

God has no darkness at all, however the fallen human race does. Fear of unknowns in life, but mostly fear of unknowns in death.

 

HEB 2:15

and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

 

God desires us to reside in the sphere of His love so that we will separate from all fear leading to His happiness, 1John 4:18.

 

 

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment [you have been judged already], and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

 

The Lord went into the darkness so the human race would be delivered from it in positional sanctification, Mark 15:33.

 

Mark 15:33

And when the sixth hour had come, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.

 

In fact the first thing that God the Father decreed for the restoration of the earth was to bring to the earth the light of Jesus Christ, GEN 1:3.

 

GEN 1:3

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

 

The sun and moon are not created until GEN 1:16.

 

Yet still, despite the public display of love and grace and integrity on the cross, people choose darkness over light and in ignorance and arrogance do not understand what they are losing out on.

 

John 1:5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

 

John 3:19 "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.

 

John 3:20 "For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

 

John 3:21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

 

For those who are regenerate through faith in Christ, the question still begs, if you have been delivered from the darkness, why return to it and live in a fear that you have been delivered from, ROM 6:21.

 

ROM 6:21

Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is [temporal] death.