Everyone wants to be happy. Sixteen centuries ago, Augustine observed, “I am not alone in this desire [for happiness], nor are there only a few who share it with me: without exception, we all long for happiness. They may all search for it in different ways, but all try their hardest to reach the same goal, that is, joy”.

        Probably you could explain all human behaviour as a search for joy or happiness or satisfaction, although most search in the wrong place. People get married and pursue a certain career because they hope to find happiness through these things. They divorce and change careers for the same reason. People commit sexual immorality because they think that it will bring them happiness. They steal because they think that having material possessions will satisfy them. Murderers kill because they think that they will be happier if they get rid of an enemy or take what belongs to the other person. Even suicidal people hope that death will bring relief from their problems. One of satan’s most successful lies is that God is a cosmic killjoy who wants everyone to be miserable. People view God as a great sadist in the sky, who gets perverse delight in making His creatures miserable.

        But even a casual reading of the Bible reveals that, to the contrary, God is a being who has great joy and that everyone who comes to know Him enters into the only true and lasting joy possible. The Psalms overflow with joy and gladness. Jesus told the disciples that He spoke to them so that His joy would be in them and their joy would be made full (John 15:11). The fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in the believer is first love, then joy (Gal. 5:22). God has promised eternal, lasting joy for us in heaven (Rev.21:4). The Puritans had it right when they said, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” So, rather than discouraging us from seeking joy and gladness, the Bible rather exhorts us to seek it but to seek it in the right place. God, Himself is the source of all joy and gladness. If we seek joy in God, we will find eternal satisfaction.

        In his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter cited Psalm 16:8-11, and applied it to Jesus Christ (“for David says of Him,” Acts 2:25). Peter is arguing that this psalm, in which the author says that God will not allow his body to undergo decay, did not ultimately apply to David, whose body did undergo decay. Rather, as a prophet, David was writing about his descendant, Jesus the Messiah, whom God raised from the dead. Thus while on one level the psalm applied to David, on another level it applies only to Christ.

        What I want you to see is that the subject of the psalm, Jesus Christ, was full of joy and gladness. He says, “My heart was glad and my tongue exulted; moreover my flesh also will abide in hope” (Acts 2:25). “You will make me full of gladness with Your presence” (Acts 2:28). Peter left off the final line of the psalm, which reinforces the theme, “In Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Ps. 16:11). Since Jesus was full of God’s joy and gladness, if we are growing to be like Christ, we will be growing in God’s joy and gladness. Our text teaches us that…          God wants us to be growing in His joy and gladness.

        While true joy and gladness come from God, our text breaks it into three sources: (1) Joy and gladness come from knowing God’s presence; (2) from being conformed to God’s holiness; and, (3) from the hope of God’s raising our bodies so that we can eternally dwell with Him.

1. Joy and gladness come from continually knowing God’s presence.

      “For David says of Him [Jesus], ‘I saw the Lord always in my presence; for He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken’”( Acts2:25). Peter is citing the Greek translation of Psalm 16. The Hebrew reads, “I have set the Lord continually before me.” It implies a deliberate action. To have the Lord at one’s right hand signifies protection. Advocates would sit to the right of their clients to defend them in court. Bodyguards would stand on the right side so they could cover the person they were protecting with their shields and still have their right arm free to fight. Jesus had God’s joy and gladness because He continually knew God’s presence. But before we go further, we need to define the terms “joy and gladness.” The best way to understand it is:

    A. JOY AND GLADNESS ARE EXEMPLIFIED IN JESUS.

       At first you may think it strange to lift up Jesus as the great example of joy and gladness since He was known as a man of sorrows who bore our grief (Isa. 53:4). It is ironic and instructive that the shortest verse in the English Bible is John 11:35, “Jesus wept.” But the shortest verse in the Greek New Testament is 1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always.” The two verses are not contradictory. Biblical joy and gladness do not deny sorrow and grief. In the garden, Jesus told the disciples that His soul was deeply grieved to the point of death (Mark 14:34). Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross.

The cross itself was not joyful, but there was great joy ahead. Thus, Biblical joy and gladness are the deep undercurrent or foundation in God that sustain the believer in and through times of sorrow and grief.

      If we want a picture of Biblical joy and gladness, we should look at the life of Jesus Christ. Though He went through times of great difficulty and sorrow, especially as He bore our sins on the cross, He also had times of great joy and gladness. The word gladness is used in Luke 15:32, where the father of the prodigal son explains to his complaining older son, “We had to be merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.” Throughout that chapter, Jesus emphasized the great joy in heaven when a single sinner repents (Luke 15:5-7, 9-10, 23-24, 32). On another occasion, Jesus rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit over God’s sovereign grace in the lives of the apostles (Luke 10:21-22). The word used there is the same word in our text translated as “exulted.”

     Jesus told the disciples that He wanted His joy to be made full in them (John 15:11; 17:13). Although He acknowledged that they would be sorrowful when He was crucified, He also promised that when they saw Him alive again, they would rejoice, and no one could take that joy away from them (John 16:20, 22). Thus Biblical joy does not deny times of sorrow and grief. But it does overcome such times because it rests on the sovereign God and His certain promises to every believer.

What was the source of Jesus’ abiding joy?

    B. JOY AND GLADNESS RESULT FROM CONTINUALLY CULTIVATING GOD’S PRESENCE IN OUR LIVES.

        David says of Jesus, “I saw the Lord always in my presence; for He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken” (Acts2:25). Jesus lived each moment aware of the Father’s presence. He never had a second when He lived unto Himself. The only time He did not know the Father’s presence was that awful moment on the cross when He cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus always lived in God’s presence. That is the key to joy and gladness, daily to cultivate a sense of God’s presence. Then, even if we go through trials, we will not lose our joy, because God is with us. We all face the danger of enjoying God’s gifts, but not loving Him as the One who gave these gifts to us. As we go through our day, we should see God’s hand in every situation. Every trial He brings lovingly to shape us into the image of Jesus Christ. Every blessing He graciously gives to show us His great love. Every delight to our senses, whether the taste of food or the beauty of creation or the sounds of birds chirping, should cause us to rejoice in the presence of our God.

         While I often fall far short of experiencing God’s constant presence in my life, I can offer three things that will help you move in the right direction: First, spend time often with God in His Word and in prayer. Even if it’s a short time, get up early enough to meet with God before you head out the door. Memorize His Word and meditate on it throughout your day. Second, relate everything, even little events, in your day to God’s providence. Everything is from His loving hand. Nothing happens by chance. Third, take time often to enjoy God in His creation. I often sense God’s presence and am caught up in worship as I enjoy what God has made. If you can’t sense God’s presence and glory at a time like that, you may not know God!

       Thus Jesus shows us that the first way to know joy and gladness is continually to know God’s presence. In the next part of the sermon, we will see about the Joy and gladness that come from being conformed to God’s holiness and Joy and gladness that come from the certain hope of God’s raising our bodies so that we can eternally dwell with Him.

              Enjoy the presence of God, for there is fullness of joy.