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Category Archives: Joy

The Nature of Joy in the Bible

06 Friday May 2022

Posted by memoirandremains in Biblical Counseling, Joy

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Biblical Counseling, joy

Sometimes we speak about “joy” as if it were something the Christian was just “supposed to have”. We tell people to be joyful. We speak about “joy in the Lord.” Then we say something along the lines of, “Joy can be independent of circumstances.” But I do not think that is a fair statement of the way “joy” is discussed in the Bible.


The trouble with that statement is that it fails to account for the fact that our circumstance may be complex: there may be multiple frames of reference.


Hebrews 12:2 speaks of Jesus enduring the cross: that is was not “joyful”. That is one frame of reference. But there is a second frame of reference, what would come after the cross, “the joy set before him.”
The encouragement to joy in the midst of difficulty (1 Thess. 1:6) is not because the immediate circumstance does not bring sorrow or pain, but rather that the immediate circumstance is not the only circumstance.


The encouragement to joy does not deny the immediate pain which may be present, “Weep with those who weep.” Rom. 12:15 Your companionship in another’s loss is part of the ground for their ability to find a second context for understanding their present circumstance. (Personal friendship and love is not at all divorced from joy; it is often a basis for it.)


Joy is not divorced from circumstance: it is because of circumstance. But the most immediate circumstance is not the full story. “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Ps. 30:5 Your presence with another in their sorrow is a basis for their hope and thus their joy.

joy

The references to joy typically come in the context of convent fulfillment: (a) The rescue God had performed (such as bringing them into the land, or the delivery from an enemy); or (b) The rescue God will perform. The nature of this delivery changes somewhat at the inauguration of the New Covenant. 

Below, the verses are quoted with reference. Beneath the quoted verse, there is a brief comment.

Deut 16:15
For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
This is a celebration of the Feast of Booths. Notice the reason they are to rejoice: “Because the LORD your God will bless you.”


Deut 28:47
Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things,
The failure to fulfill the covenant, which includes rejoicing. Cf. Rom. 1:21, they did not give thanks.

Judg 19:3
Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.
The joy at military victory and a safe return home.

1 Sam 18:6
As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
Military victory

1 Kings 1:40
And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.
This was a short-lived joy.

1 Kings 8:66
On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.
God keeping his covenant with Israel & with David.

1 Chron 12:40
And also their relatives, from as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came bringing food on donkeys and on camels and on mules and on oxen, abundant provisions of flour, cakes of figs, clusters of raisins, and wine and oil, oxen and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.
The enthronement of David.

1 Chron 15:16
David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.
The Ark being brought to Jerusalem.

1 Chron 16:27
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.
This is a song of praise for the Lord who has kept covenant, created the world, and rules over all.


1 Chron 16:33
Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.
To come to judge the earth.


2 Chron 7:10
On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity that the LORD had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.
Keeping is covenant with David and with Solomon (because you have not asked for ….)

2 Chron 20:27
Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies.
Military victory

2 Chron 30:26
So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
Celebrating Passover: God’s rescue from Egypt.

Ezra 3:12
But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy,
Returning the people to Jerusalem, as God as promised.


Ezra 3:13
so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.
Same

Ezra 6:16
And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
Same.

Ezra 6:22
And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
Same.

Neh 8:10
Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Same. Also reading the Law (the terms and content of the Covenant)


Neh 12:43
And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
This is the dedication of the wall around Jerusalem.

Esther 5:9
And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.
He thinks he is going to have victory over his enemy.

Esther 5:14
Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.
Same.

Esther 8:16
The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor.
Victory over their enemies.

Esther 8:17
And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
Same

Ps 4:7
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
Delivery from enemies.

Ps 5:11
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
Refuge

Ps 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Eschatological: with you.

Ps 19:5
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Metaphor

Ps 20:5
May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!
Receiving from the Lord salvation. Verse one: delivery and protection from enemies.

Ps 21:6
For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

Eschatological
Ps 27:6
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.
Triumph over enemies.

Ps 30:5
For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
Eschatological

Ps 32:11
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Forgiveness of sins.


Ps 33:1
Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.
Praise for creation and God’s rule over the world.


Ps 35:27
Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the LORD, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”
Victory over enemies


Ps 43:4
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
Verse 1: vindicate me.


Ps 45:15
With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.
The establishment of the victim and the presentation of the bride. Typologically, this is eschatological

Ps 47:1
Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
God’s victory over all his enemies.

Ps 48:2
beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.
Eschatological/covenantal.


Ps 51:8
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Forgiveness of sin.

Ps 51:12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Forgiveness of sin.

Ps 63:5
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
Rejoicing in the promised delivery of God.


Ps 63:7
for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
Same
Ps 65:8
so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
Joy at God’s rule over the earth.

Ps 65:12
The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy,
Same

Ps 65:13
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.
Same

Ps 66:1
Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
Joy for God’s rule and victory over his enemies.

Ps 67:4
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
Joy in God’s judgment; eschatological.


Ps 68:3
But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!
v. 1, “His enemies shall be scattered.”


Ps 71:23
My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.
Rescue

Ps 81:1
Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
Rescue

Ps 84:2
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Rescue; eschatological

Ps 92:4
For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
v. 1 “Oh LORD, God of vengeance.”
Ps 95:1
Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Delivery

Ps 95:2
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
Delivery.


Ps 96:12
let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
God’s rule. “He will judge” Eschatological

Ps 97:11
Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
God will triumph over his enemies. V. 10, he will delivery his people.

Ps 98:4
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
The Lord has and will judge his enemies.


Ps 98:6
With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
Same


Ps 98:8
Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together

same
Ps 100:1
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Covenantal/eschatological

Ps 105:43
So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.
Delivery


Ps 107:22
And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
Delivery

Ps 119:111
Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
This is part of a prayer for deliverance. (v. 107) It is personal but it is also covenantal.

Ps 126:2
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”
“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion” v. 1 Delivery, covenantal

Ps 126:5
Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
same

Ps 126:6
He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
same.

Ps 132:9
Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy.
This is a prayer for delivery, based upon the covenant with David. We will rejoice when you fulfill your promise.

Ps 132:16
Her priests I will clothe with salvation, and her saints will shout for joy.
Same

Ps 137:6
Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!
A prayer for delivery.

Ps 149:5
Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds.
v. 4, “He adorns the humble with salvation.”


Eccles 2:26
For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
It is a gift.


Eccles 3:12
I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;
To be thankful.

Eccles 5:20
For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
A gift.

Eccles 7:14
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
Joy is a property of prosperity.

Eccles 8:15
And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
Thankfulness

Eccles 9:7
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.
Thankfulness

Isa 9:3
You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
Delivery.

Isa 12:3
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Delivery.

Isa 12:6
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Delivery


Isa 16:10
And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field, and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting.
Joy is a gift; therefore, it can be taken away. This is sorrow at a loss.

Isa 22:13
and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
A foolish joy.

Isa 24:11
There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.
No joy.

Isa 24:14
They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west.
Delivery.

Isa 26:19
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
Eschatological

Isa 29:19
The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
Delivery.

Isa 32:14
For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;
Ironic.

Isa 35:2
it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.
Eschatological.

Isa 35:6
then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
Eschatological.

Isa 35:10
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Eschatological.

Isa 42:11
Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the habitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Because God will conquer his foes.

Isa 48:20
Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
Delivery

Isa 49:13
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
Delivery.

Isa 51:3
For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
Delivery

Isa 51:11
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Delivery

Isa 52:8
The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion.
Delivery; covenant.

Isa 55:12
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Because of God’s victory.

Isa 56:7
these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
Eschatologial

Isa 60:15
Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age.
Eschatological


Isa 61:7
Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.
Eschatological.

Isa 64:5
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
Eschatological delivery


Isa 65:18
But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.
Eschatological: I will create a new heavens (v. 17)

Isa 66:5
Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word: “Your brothers who hate you and cast you out for my name’s sake have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy’; but it is they who shall be put to shame.
A false joy.

Isa 66:10
“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her;
Eschatological delivery

Jer 8:18
My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me.
Lost joy

Jer 15:16
Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.
Hope for delivery.

Jer 31:13
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
He will deliver them in the future.

Jer 33:9
And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.
In the future, I will deliver and rebuild.

Jer 48:33
Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy.
There is no joy when you have been conquered.

Jer 49:25
How is the famous city not forsaken, the city of my joy?
Loss has no joy.

Jer 51:48
Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall sing for joy over Babylon, for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north, declares the LORD.
Joy at victory over an enemy.

Lam 2:15
All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
Lost joy

Lam 5:15
The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning.
Lost joy.

Ezek 7:7
Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting on the mountains.
Lost joy.

Ezek 24:25
“As for you, son of man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul’s desire, and also their sons and daughters,
Lost joy

Ezek 36:5
therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey.
Ironic


Joel 1:16
Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Lost joy

Hab 3:18
yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Delivery

Zech 8:19
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.
Kept covenant, delivery.

NOTE: WITH THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH, THE NATURE OF THE DELIVERY AND HOPE CHANGE SOMEWHAT. RATHER THAN IT BE NATIONAL ISRAEL CONQUERING AN ENEMY; IT IS LARGELY A SPIRITUAL DELIVERY A DELIVERY FROM SIN; WITH A HOPE OF THE ESCHATOLOGICAL KINGDOM. BUT THE JOY IS NOT ABSTRACTED FROM HOPE; NOR EVEN THE COVENANT (NOT THAT THE MESSIAH IS A PROMISE OF THE DAVIDIC AND NEW COVENANTS)

Matt 2:10
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
The coming Messiah.

Matt 13:20
As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
Because it is good news.

Matt 13:44
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Normal emotion.

Matt 25:21
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Eschatological.

Matt 25:23
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Eschatological

Matt 28:8
So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
Resurrection.

Mark 4:16
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.
Because it is good news.

Luke 1:14
And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
The birth of a promised child.


Luke 1:44
For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
The Messiah is here!

Luke 2:10
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Delivery, covenant promised fulfilled.

Luke 6:23
Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
Eschatological.

Luke 8:13
And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.
Good news.

Luke 10:17
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
Delivery over demons.


Luke 15:7
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Joy in heaven.

Luke 15:10
Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Joy in heaven

Luke 19:6
So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
Jesus is here.

Luke 24:41
And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
Resurrection

Luke 24:52
And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
Resurrection,

John 3:29
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
The Messiah is here.

John 15:11
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
It is a promise of delivery and perseverance through trial: you will abide.

John 16:20
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
Resurrection.

John 16:21
When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
Personal joy.

John 16:22
So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
Because delivery is certain; death has been overcome.

John 16:24
Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
The promise has been fulfilled.

John 17:13
But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
The promised delivery.

Acts 8:8
So there was much joy in that city.
Good news had come.

Acts 12:14
Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.
Personal joy at Peter’s delivery.

Acts 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
At the work God was doing.

Acts 15:3
So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.
Good news.

Rom 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
What causes this joy in the Holy Spirit? It is being contrasted with the conflict between the people over food. It is the in-breaking of an eschatological kingdom.


Rom 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Joy tied to hope

Rom 15:32
so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.
The joy of personal greeting.

2 Cor 1:24
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
His goal is their joy.

2 Cor 2:3
And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all.
Joy of personal relationship.

2 Cor 7:4
I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
The joy is based upon hope.

2 Cor 7:13
Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.
The joy in personal greeting – there is also thanksgiving.

2 Cor 8:2
for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
Hope.

Gal 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
It is a work of the Spirit.

Phil 1:4
always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
Because God is working: delivery and conquering have moved from

Phil 1:25
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,
Eschatological perseverance,

Phil 2:2
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Phil 2:29
So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men,
Personal greeting

Phil 4:1
Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Because of what God has done for them. In 4:4 “rejoice always” has content and basis. V. 3, your name is written in the Book of Life (eschatological delivery). V. 5, “the Lord is at hand.”

That God has delivered them from their former life. The working out of God’s sanctification is fitting them for an ultimate delivery. “The phrase reminds the readers again of the imminent coming of the Savior from heaven to transform humiliation into glory.” (Hansen). “AMBROSIASTER: “The Lord,” he says, “is at hand.” They must be prepared and wakeful in prayer, giving thanks to God and putting away every worldly care, so as to hope and have before their eyes what the Lord promises. What he promises is, as he teaches, the reason for giving him thanks.”

That joy is the product of a deliberate eschatological posture

Col 1:11
being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;
This joy is pointed toward the end and is based upon the delivery. You have been rescued by God and are being brought to Eschatological Kingdom.


1 Thess 1:6
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
This is probably the most on-point verse when it comes to joy in the midst of suffering. But notice the context: It springs from their salvation: they have been delivered from their bondage to sin. V. 9, you turned from idols. V. 10, you now are eagerly expecting the victorious return of the Lord. Notice the language of delivery, “Who delivers us from the wrath to come.” The OT language of delivery from an enemy is picked up, and interestingly, the ultimate enemy will be God coming in judgment.

The Thessalonian believers were undergoing persecution at this time and are here assured not only of their own liberation (1 Thess. 5:9) but also of the judgment of God that will come upon those who afflict them (2 Thess. 1:6–10). Whatever the agony and shame of the present, in the end God will reverse their fortunes. Those who are without power now will participate in the final victory, while those who have power over them now will have to meet the Judge, the God of the Christians

Gene L. Green, The Letters to the Thessalonians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos, 2002), 111.

1 Thess 2:19
For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
Eschatological

1 Thess 2:20
For you are our glory and joy.
Personal and eschatological

1 Thess 3:9
For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God,
Personal and eschatological
2 Tim 1:4
As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.
Personal

Philem 7
For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
Personal

Heb 10:34
For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
Because of what will happen.

Heb 12:2
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Eschatological delivery – after loss.

Heb 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Personal

James 1:2
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
Because it will bring about spiritual transformation

James 4:9
Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Loss of joy in repentance.

1 Pet 1:8
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
Eschatological,

1 John 1:4
And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
The advancing of the Kingdom.

2 John 12
Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
Personal

3 John 4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Personal; the Kingdom’s advance.

Jude 24
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
Eschatological

Edward Taylor, Meditation 35.4

03 Saturday Jul 2021

Posted by memoirandremains in Edward Taylor, Jonathan Edwards, Joy, Sanctification, Sanctifictation

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Dross, Edward Taylor, joy, Meditation 35, poem, Poetry, Sanctification

Stanza Six

Oh, that the sweets of all these windings, spout

Might, and these influences strait and cross

Upon my soul, to make thy shine break out

That Grace might in get and get out my dross!

My soul up locked then in this clod of dust

Would lock up in’t all heavenly joys most just.

Summary: While the expression become a bit tangled in places, this stanza is a prayer that God would work out all the contrary and difficult means of providence for God’s glory, the poet’s sanctification, and ultimate joy.

This is major theme of Christian theology and was a particular note among the Puritans: Trial, Sanctification, Joy.

aluminum dross processing machine - YouTube

Note

The principal allusion which stands behind this stanza seems to be 1 Peter:

1 Peter 1:3–9 (AV) 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8 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: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 

The elements of this passage which appear in the stanza are as follows:

That Grace might in get and get out my dross

There are difficult and contrary aspects to life:

all these windings, spout

Might, and these influences strait and cross

Upon my soul, to make thy shine break out

Peter: ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations

The purpose of trials is sanctification:

That Grace might in get and get out my dross!

Peter: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

The particular image of God removing “dross” is found in 

Proverbs 25:4 (AV)

4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.

Isaiah 1:25 (AV) 

And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross.

The image of “dross” refers to the process of purifying melt. The “dross” is the impurity mixed with the ore.

This concept is a commonplace in Puritan theology: As Thomas Watson writes, “But how shall we attain to heart-purity?..[By] fire, Acts 2:3. Fire is of a purifying nature; it doth refine and cleanse metals; it separates the dross from the gold; the Spirit of God in the heart doth refine and sanctify it; it burns up the dross of sin.”

Thomas Watson: “The goldsmith loves his gold when it is in the furnace, and so does God love his children when he places them in the crucible of affliction; it is only to separate the dross, not to consume the gold. “Whom he loveth, he loveth to the end.”

The end is joy:

Oh, that the sweets of all

My soul up locked then in this clod of dust

Would lock up in’t all heavenly joys most just.

Jonathan Edwards, the son of Taylor’s fellow pastor, was to write in Religious Affections in a manner quite consistent with Taylor’s sixth stanza: God brings trial to bring about sanctification which ends in joy:

It has been abundantly found to be true in fact, by the experience of the Christian church; that Christ commonly gives, by his Spirit, the greatest, and most joyful evidences to his saints, of their sonship, in those effectual exercises of grace, under trials, which have been spoken of; as is manifest in the full assurance, and unspeakable joys of many of the martyrs. Agreeable to that, 1 Pet. 4:14: “If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory, and of God resteth upon you.” And that in Rom. 5:2–3: “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God, and glory in tribulations.” And agreeable to what the apostle Paul often declares of what he experienced in his trials. And when the apostle Peter, in my text, speaks of the “joy unspeakable, and full of glory,” which the Christians to whom he wrote, experienced; he has respect to what they found under persecution, as appears by the context. Christ’s thus manifesting himself, as the friend and Saviour of his saints, cleaving to him under trials, seems to have been represented of old, by his coming and manifesting himself, to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the furnace

Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, ed. John E. Smith and Harry S. Stout, Revised edition., vol. 2, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), 454.

Particular clauses:

Oh, that the sweets of all these windings: The sweet end of all the various trials, the “windings” of life.

Spout/Might, I will admit this phrase is obscure. I take it mean something like a waterspout, or a pouring out of something strong and, here, dangerous. But it is not clear to me.

these influences strait and cross

Upon my soul, Strait: narrow, difficult. Cross, painful, contrary.

to make thy shine break out: Here “shine” is a synonym for “glory” or light. Taylor uses the image of light frequently to refer to God.

That Grace might in get and get out my dross!: The prayer here is that the transformative grace of God would enter his soul expel the sinful dross, the impurity in his heart.

My soul up locked then in this clod of dust

Would lock up in’t all heavenly joys most just. 

He here transforms the Platonic/Neo-platonic idea of the body being a bare trap for the soul. The soul is in a clod of dust, for the body will die, and return to dust. But here something happens: into this body is locked-up heavenly joy.  The concept of heavenly joy being locked up also comes from the passage in 1 Peter quoted above: 4 “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God” The words “reserved” and “kept” are fairly strong terms in the Greek. In particular, the word “kept” has the idea of an actual military guard. These joys are indeed “lock up” safely.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones “What is the Church?”

16 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in Acts, Ecclesiology, Joy, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Ministry, Preaching

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Acts 2, definition of the church, Ecclesiology, Gladness, joy, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Peter, Preaching

In his sermon, what is the church, Martyn Lloyd JonesBegins his definition with the rather obvious point,

The first thing we must say is That it is a gathering of people. Why do I make such an obvious point? I make it because as I read some of the journals and some of the books and booklets that deal with this question, I’ll most get the impression that some people seem to think of the church not in terms of people at all. You seem to think of the church is something that is written on paper, as a confession on paper. I’m not criticizing confessions. I believe in confessions. The church, after all, is not a confession of faith. (51)

But if these people gather and do not believe the confession, is it still a church?

The gathering of people is not something which begins with the people: it is something that begins with God. Lloyd-Jones looks back at the start of the church, Peter preaching:

 Here in Acts the people have become aware of the fact this message is speaking to them directly. These are not people who decided to join the church. They did not decide to take up religion. These are people of been called of God. (53)

What is the first thing they realize? They have been convicted of sin. “They are aware that God the Holy Spirit is dealing with them, and they have been brought face-to-face with themselves.” (53) This makes all the difference. Consider those first Christians:

 Now it is obvious That these people have undergone a profound change.They’re not the people they were when they left their homes and their lodgings that’s morning to go and listen to the strange man to whom this amazing thing happened. They have become different men and women. (54)

What did this change do? How did it show itself among these people?

How do these believers manifest this new life that they have received? And the answer is they do so by gathering together.

What does this mean? How should we understand this fact of gathering?

 Why did the first believers gather together like this? Why did they come together day by day? Why could you not keep them as it were apart from another? I do apologize and a sense for bringing in these negatives, but I’m beginning to think that they’re tremendously important.Let me point out that these first Christians should not come together to be entertained. Nothing to me is so pathetic about the state of the church today as the entertainment that has increasingly come into our services. There are churches that keep going by means of clubs and societies. I know Churches – so-called churches – they keep themselves going by game nights and dances and dramas and various other human activities. That is not church; that is a travesty of a church. That is the world. The world does such things, and it does them very well. But that is not what brought these people in the early church together. (55)

What is it that drove them together? The text tells us: Fellowship was driven by doctrine, by preaching & teaching:

The really significant point about the list in Acts 2:42 is the order in which the subjects are put before us. You notice at the first thing that is mentioned his doctrine, teaching– not fellowship. And I emphasize this because the whole ecumenical movement is based upon the basic argument that fellowship comes first. (55)

Now fellowship will follow, it must follow of necessity, “Because we are sharers of the same life. We belong together. We belong to the same family.” (61)

This sharing of common life shows itself in the Lord’s Table & prayers, in sharing, in joy and gladness. Unfortunately, too many Christians do not see this life as joy & gladness (that is elsewhere). Church as a duty, as an obligation – can that gathering actually be called church?

Lloyd-Jones states the real reason our message cannot be heard is that the professing Christian does not profess joy and gladness in Christ. We do not need an evangelistic campaign; we need the true operation of Spirit which will manifest in the joy and gladness among us:

 This has always been the characteristic of the true church. And when she becomes like this, she AskAs a magnet to those who are outside. When men and women CS with the spirit of joy and rejoicing, this spirit that is invincible, the spirit that knows God and is afraid of nothing, they will rush to listen to us. Joy and rejoicing! How much enjoys there to be seen among us? How formal we are! How organized we are! House set we are! Of the world’s not interested. But when it sees this joy of the Lord and us, it will come and listen to us and ask us for the secret of this amazing experience that we are enjoying. 65

And of course this Life of fellowship and prayer and joy will show itself in praising God.

He does not ask this in the sermon, that is something we must ask ourselves. If these things are not evident among us, we must ask what is the fault? First, the fault must lie in the lack of the Word of God. The fault must lie in our preaching and teaching if there is no fellowship and hope and joy and gladness. For it is the Word and the Spirit which makes the church. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to create the people of God. Thus, where the Word of God is lacking can we expect the Spirit to be present, also?

Was it for crimes that I had done

14 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in Atonement, Christology, Confession, Desire, Humility, Isaac Watts, Joy, Literature, Music

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Alas and Did my Savior Die, Hymn, Isaac Watts, poem, Poetry

Alas! and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, thine,
And bathed in its own blood,
While all exposed to wrath divine
The glorious Suff’rer stood!

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When God, the mighty Maker, died
For man, the creature’s sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face,
While his dear cross appears;
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
’Tis all that I can do.

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
-2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Wheels to our obedience

08 Thursday May 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in Biblical Counseling, Joy, Matthew Henry, Obedience, Preaching

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joy, Matthew Henry, Obedience, Psalm 119, Psalm 119:32

Matthew Henry on Psalm 119:32:

God’s word should be our guide and plea in every prayer.—God by His Spirit enlarges the hearts of His people when He puts wisdom there, 1 Kings 4:29, and when He sheds abroad the love of God in the heart, and puts gladness there. The joy of our Lord should be wheels to our obedience

Thomas Manton on Psalm 119.1.a

28 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in affliction, Biblical Counseling, Desire, Joy, Preaching, Psalms, Thomas Manton

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Biblical Counseling, Blessed, Blessedness, Creature, Happiness, happy, joy, Preaching, Psalm 119, Psalm 119:1, Thomas Manton, Vanity

Manton preached 176 sermons on the 119th Psalm. In the introduction to the published volume, Vincent Aslop comments on these sermons:

The matter of these sermons is spiritual, and speaks the author one intimately acquainted with the secrets of wisdom. He writes like one that knew the Psalmist’s heart, and felt in his own the sanctifying power of what he wrote. Their design is practice; beginning with the understanding, dealing with the affections, but still driving on the advancement of practical holiness. They come home and close to the conscience; first presenting us a glass, wherein we may view the spots of our souls, and then directing us to that fountain wherein we may wash them away. They are of an evangelical complexion, abasing proud corrupt nature, and advancing free and efficacious grace in the conversion of sinners. The exhortations are powerful, admirably suited to treat with reasonable creatures, yet still supposing them to be the vehicle of the Holy Spirit, through which he communicates life and power to obey them.

The movement between text and the human heart demonstrates a powerful mode of preaching which in our day we tend to separate between the functions of preaching and counseling. Manton, as did many of his contemporaries, used the exposited text as a means to exposit the human heart and reveal the corruption and point to hope. These sermons take seriously the observation of Hebrews 4:

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

The first sermon is upon the text: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.”

Psalm 119:1 begins with the word “blessed”, thus, Manton considers the nature of blessedness, of happiness.

He observes at the outset:

Good, good, is the cry of the world. It is intended in the very nature of desire; for everything that is desired is desired as good, sub ratione boni. As God implanted in us affections of aversation to avoid what is evil, so affections of choice and pursuit to follow after what is good. Well, then, out of a principle of self-love, all would be happy; they would have good, and they would have it for ever. Inanimate creatures are, by the guidance and direction of Providence, carried to the place of their perfection. The brute beasts seek the preservation and perfection of that life which they have; so do all men hunt about for contentment and satisfaction. To ask whether men would be happy or not, is to ask whether they love themselves, yea or nay; but whether holy, is another thing.

The Puritans were deeply concerned about happiness — contrary to their later detractors. Manton here considers the pursuit of happiness at some length.

He first notes the errors people make as they pursue happiness. Some will mistake the object which can provide happiness, “They desire good in common, not that which is indeed the true good; they seek happiness in riches, honours, pleasures; and so they fly from that which they seek, whilst they seek it.”

Second, others will mistake the means to obtain happiness. It is at this point that the apparent Puritan distain of happiness comes in. The Puritan by no means refused happiness, he merely saw it as obtaining by crossing this world — not as something permanently present within this world:

Men would be happy with that kind of happiness which is true happiness, but not in the way which God propoundeth, being prepossessed with carnal fancies. It is counted a foolish thing to wait upon God in the midst of straits, conflicts, and temptations

Thus, mistaken in the means to obtain true happiness, they become carvers:

Since they cannot have God’s happiness, they resolve to be their own carvers, and to make themselves as happy as they can in the enjoyment of present things.

They seek “to extract happiness from the creatures”. Yet, such efforts will fail us. First, every creature is wavering, vain, imperfect, “Nothing can give us solid peace, but what doth make us eternally happy. These flowers wither in our hands while we smell at them. Nothing but the favour of God is from everlasting to everlasting.”

The things of this world will defile when they are desired as means of happiness. Moreover, having placed our happiness in some creature, we are desperate to keep that thing — because being lost we lose that happiness.

“Blessedness is a riddle which can only be found out by faith”.

Since these things are apparent and even admitted by Christians, why then do Christians fail to live most consistently with such knowledge?

Many times we are doctrinally right in point of blessedness, but not practically; we content ourselves with the mere notion, but are not brought under the power of these truths; that is the work of the Spirit.

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

23 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Charles Wesley, Joy, Music, Praise

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Charles Wesley, Christmas, Hark the Herald Angels, joy, Lost Verses, Music, poem, Poetry, Praise

BY CHARLES WESLEY
Hark! the herald Angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King,
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinner reconcil’d.
Hark! the herald Angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King.

Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With the angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.
Hark! the herald Angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King.

Christ by highest Heaven ador’d,
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Hark! the herald Angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail, the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as Man with man to dwell,
Jesus our Immanuel!
Hark! the herald Angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King.

Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
Hark! the herald Angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King.

Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald Angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King.

Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Now display Thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Life Together, Christian Brotherhood

02 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in Assemblying, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Fellowship, Joy, Love

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Brotherhood, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Fellowship, Life Together

My brother is rather that other person who has been redeemed by Christ, delivered from his sin, and called to faith and eternal life. Not what a man is in himself as a Christian, his spirituality and piety, constitutes the basis of our community. What determines our brotherhood is what man is by reason of Christ. Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us. This is not true merely at the beginning, as though in the course of time something else were to be added to our community; it remains so for all the future and to all eternity. I community with others and I shall continue to have it only through Jesus Christ. The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ, but through Christ we do not have one another, wholly, and for all eternity.

That dismisses once and for all every clamorous desire for something more. One who wants more than Christ has established does not want Christian brotherhood. He is looking for some extraordinary social experience which has not found elsewhere; he is bringing muddled and impure desires into Christian brotherhood. 25-26

……

Because God has already laid the only foundation of our fellowship, because God has bound us together in one body with other Christians in Jesus Christ, long before we entered into common life with them, we enter into that common life not as demanders but as thankful recipients. We thank God for what He has done for us. We thank God for giving us brethren who live his call, by His forgiveness, by His promise. We do not complain of what God does not give us; we rather thank God for what He does give us daily. And is not what he has given us enough: brothers, who will go on living with us through sin and need under the blessing of His grace? Is the divine gift of Christian fellowship anything less than this, any day, even the most difficult and distressing day? 29

Edward Taylor: Raptures of Love.1

29 Friday Nov 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in 2 Corinthians, Ascension, Christology, Edward Taylor, Jonathan Edwards, Joy, Literature, Love, Meditation

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2 Corinthians 5:14–15, ascension, Christ as High Priest, Edward Taylor, High Priest, Holy Spirit, Jonathan Edwards, joy, Literature, Meditation, poem, Poetry, Puritan Poetry, Raptures of Love, Union with Christ

Raptures of love, surprising loveliness,
That burst through heavens all, in rapid flashes,
Glances guilt o’re with smiling comeliness!
Wonders do palefac’d stand smit by such dashes.
Glory itself heartsick of love doth lie
Bleeding out love o’re loveless me and die.

Line 1:
Rather than begin with the expected iamb, the poem begins with an accented syllable: Raptures. (One might have expected something like “Now raptures”.) Taylor intends to convey the sensation of being startled.

Rapture is an interesting word because it means to grab something and transport it elsewhere. The love which Taylor sees does not merely stand before him like picture: it grabs hold of him. He does not merely see the “flashes” (line 2), he is being transported.

The Scripture makes plain that God’s love does stand idly outside of the human being, but rather the love of God in Jesus Christ must transform us:

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Taylor puns on the word “love” by using it as a noun and as an adjective. The effect is to make “loveliness” mean more than mere delight — it is something which is attractive because it contains and conveys love.

Line 2:
“Heavens all”: Since the word “heaven” refers to the atmosphere, “outer space” and the place of God beyond the physical creation [heaven is not simply “far away”], the biblical writers will use the word “heavens” to refer to all three.

Jesus Christ at this time sits at the right hand of majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3). He is communicated to us by operation of the Holy Spirit.

Line 3
“Guilt o’re” covered in gold. The accented first syllable forces the movement forward in rapid fashion, thus the structure mirrors the content.

Line 4:
“Wonders” are looking on at the beauty of Christ the High Priest and feel shame and wonder.

Line 5:
Glory personified looks at the glory of Christ and falls lovesick. The image seems to be suggested by Canticles 5:8, “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.”

Line 6:
Taylor expresses the conflict of the saint who knows more than he feels. He knows that he should be as enraptured with the beauty of Christ as Wonder and Glory, but also sees that his affections are cold–thus, he is “loveless”.

It is strange and unfair that Puritans are thought to be dour, passionless people. While they openly condemned sin it was because sin is the cheat of joy and passion. Taylor, in full accord with Puritan teaching, hopes for greater passion and more love. The desire for passion and joy lay at the heart of Puritan teaching. Go to edwards.yale.edu and search for the words “beauty” (2480 entries) “joy” (3379).

Taylor will look upon his loveless in the 7th stanza (What strange congealed heart have I).

The last verb “die” is a bit ambiguous because the form is first person singular (die) not third person (dies). However, it seems best to understand Glory which is bleeding with love to be the subject who dies. The “wrong” form was dictated by the rhyme.

Preaching Christ from Psalm 69:29

03 Sunday Nov 2013

Posted by memoirandremains in 1 Peter, 2 Corinthians, Acts, David Dickson, Hope, Humility, Joy, Philippians, Preaching, Psalms, Worship

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1 Peter 5, 2 Corinthians 12, Acts 2, David Dickson, Faith, Hope, humility, Philippians 3, Preaching Christ, Psalm 69, Psalm 69:29

(Some rough notes for a sermon):

In Psalm 69, David cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his enemies. He compares himself to a man sunk in the mire while the waters rush in. He screams out to God for salvation as the water rises to his neck. He has called out for so long, that his throat has become hoarse; his eyes have become dim with waiting for rescue.

The major pivot in the Psalm comes in verse 29: “But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!” After this petition, David moves to the expression of hope and joy, “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.”

What takes place in this petition that David can now rejoice? David Dickson explains,

but I am poor and sorrowful, let thy salvation, O God, set me up. 3. The conscience of humiliation under God’s hand, is a great evidence of delivery out of whatsoever trouble; if a man in a righteous cause be emptied of self-conceit and carnal confidence, and brought down to poverty of spirit, and affected with the sense of sin and misery following upon it, and withal go to God in this condition, he may be sure to be helped; the poor in spirit are freed from the curse: but I am poor and sorrowfull, saith the psalmist here, let thy salvation set me up on high. 4. The man afflicted and persecuted for righteousness, humbled in himself, and drawn to God for relief, shall not only be delivered, but also shall be as much exalted after his delivery, as ever he was cast down: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. 5. The kindly sufferer of righteousness, will have no deliverance, but such as God will allow him, as God shall bring unto him; and as he looketh not for delivery another way, so he looketh for a glorious delivery this way; let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

David has shown from experience, what Paul learned from Christ:

7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

It is also what Peter exhorts:

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:7-10.

In our afflictions, we seek to free ourselves from trouble by our own efforts. Now we may permissibly seek relief. Paul slipped out of Damascus in a basket. We may call upon God for relief, as did David and Paul. But we may find that our relief comes in death — for David’s Psalm describes in part what Christ experienced in full. Christ was the one for whom the waters of death overwhelmed. They gave him gall upon the cross. God waited so long that it seems God had failed. Yet in the moment of absolute weakness, in death itself, God vindicated Christ:

23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.25 For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ Acts 2:23-28

The loss of humility when brought to God in absolute dependence results in joy, for humility is an inlet for faith, and faith is an inlet for Christ, and in Christ are all hopes and joys found.

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Philippians 3:8-15

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