"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (Jn 15:10-11).
Wow, what a promise! One version puts it this way: "These things have I spoken unto you, so that My joy may be yours" (TCNT).
The word "joy" means "cheerfulness; gladness; calm delight". It's from a root word that means "to rejoice exceedingly". I'm sure we could all use that kind of joy! But how?
Jesus tells us how.. "These things have I spoken unto you, [in order] that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full".
"These things" refer to Jesus' preceding words, in the verse before: "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love" (Jn 15:10). Therefore, "these things" refer to the maintaining of intimate communication and fellowship with Jesus, and the state of man's heart in which this communion is to be realized. When such fellowship with Jesus disappears, so does our joy! God has designed it this way - we are utterly dependent upon Him for any real fruitfulness in this life.
King David is a perfect example of this truth. He sinned terribly with Bathsheba, and his joy was terminated. It wasn't until fellowship was restored that his joy too returned: "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit" (Ps 51:12).
Peter too displayed this reality. His sin splintered the spiritual communion he had once possessed, and consequently his joy too was halted: "Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly" (Lk 22:61-62).
How extraordinary that the ONLY thing dictating our joy in life is our attachment to the Lord Jesus! No worldly snare, turmoil, struggle or heartache has to steal the joy we receive from God's precious countenance! We often allow our joy to be taken, but God has designed us to be joyful even in trial and pain.
But how can this be? How can it be that a Christian's true misery is realized only when fellowship is halted? It's because the grounds of Christian joy isn't in the Christian, but in the Christ: "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice" (Phil 4:4; 3:1). He, not us, is the source of "full" joy. He, not us, is the fountain of all pleasure (Isa 61:10). The measure in which we enter into His joy is determined by our perpetual communion with Him - the turning of His countenance toward us: "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full" (1 Jn 1:3-4). This is how our joy can be steady and secure, as opposed to occasional and momentary. This is how Paul and Silas could joyfully rejoice in prison: "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God..." (Acts 16:25).
Can we be joyful at the crescendo of torment? True fellowship with the Holy Spirit will always enable us. Intimate communion with the Lover of your soul will always rejoice over your circumstances, no matter how bleak! Even prison walls couldn't halt Paul's precious relation. Can that be said of us?
Perhaps if believers would seek a conscious fellowship with King Jesus and His bright-shining countenance, then depression and heartache wouldn't be at an all-time high, as it is now.
Friends, may we earnestly seek the grace to heed the things He has "spoken unto us", that our joy may be FULL!
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