Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring
FOR GROUP PARTICIPATION
These elements of the study are best used with others in a group setting.
How Did It Go Last Week?
Share your successes and trials with the group. (10 minutes)
In the coming sessions, questions and topics will be provided here for group discussion of your experiences in putting into practice what you learn each week.
And God Said…
Read aloud John 15:7-11; reread the final verse.
What is the Point?
Read these statements aloud and keep them in mind during the video. (5 minutes)
• True joy is vertical.
• True joy is internal.
• True joy is unshakable.
Petition
Pray this together aloud.
Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts—Thou fount of life, Thou light of men— From the best bliss that earth imparts we turn unfilled to Thee again. Jesus, our only joy be Thou, as Thou our prize wilt be; Jesus be Thou our glory now and through eternity. Amen..
Hear the Word
Watch the video. (25 minutes)
Let's Talk About That
Discuss these questions. (30 minutes)
1. “True joy is vertical, you get it from Jesus.” Read aloud John 15:1-5. What nutrition can a branch, if separated from the vine, supply for itself? How does this horticultural metaphor aptly describe our spiritual relation to Christ? Now read aloud v11—who is the “vine” that supplies our joy? In fact, is our joy really ours, or is it his? How great then can our joy potentially be? How does this understanding illuminate what Jesus means by “full”?
2. The apostle Paul enlists another horticultural metaphor to explain the source of Christian joy: read aloud Galatians 5:22-23. So again, whose joy really is our joy? Can we generate true joy ourselves? Discuss some practices suggested by each of these horticultural metaphors—abiding in Christ as a branch on a vine, and sowing to the Spirit—that will assist you in cultivating true joy
in your heart and life. Each one in the group should record the practices for personal application at home (see below).
3. The gospel (“good news”) is full-orbed—not only has Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, but he has also broken the power of sin over us and is even now, by his Spirit within us, conforming us to his own holiness as we anticipate a glorious eternity with him in Heaven. This knowledge alone should make Christians the most joyful people on the planet—but many of us are not very joyful at all! Discuss briefly how “gospel familiarity” and “gospel amnesia” cause many to mire in despondency.
4. “True joy is internal.” Again read aloud John 15:11. Where does Jesus lodge the joy that he gives us? Talk briefly about what having Christ’s joy “in us” means, both spiritually and practically.
5. “Creation was never meant to be the source of your joy…Earth will never be your savior.” Read aloud Ecclesiastes 5:19 and 1 Timothy 6:17. Is it wrong to “enjoy” (have joy in) the wonderful things the Lord provides us in relationships, pursuits and circumstances? In what way can such enjoyment become wrong? All of humanity, saints and sinners alike, has a proclivity to go looking for joy in all the wrong places—talk (with appropriate discretion) about some of the wrong places you have looked.
6. “True joy is unshakable.” Once more, read aloud John 15:11 (you will have inadvertently memorized it by now!). The Greek word translated “full” is the source of our English word plethora, and it means full, complete, finished. Briefly discuss how “complete and finished” connote “unshakable.” True joy is unshakable in the face of…what?
7. Not only is joy unshaken by trials, but God, in his good providence, uses trials to refine and strengthen our joy. Read aloud James 1:2-4. Discuss how it is that trials can actually produce and nurture joy. Talk about some of your own experiences in which your joy and peace in Christ were made fuller during and through a trial.
FOR PERSONAL APPLICATION
These aspects of the study can be used in between group sessions on your own, either with your spouse or individually as part of your devotional and confession life.
Do Something
During the week ahead, turn your learning into doing.
During the session, the group discussed and recorded practices suggested by the two horticultural metaphors—abiding in Christ as a branch on a vine, and sowing to the Spirit—that can assist in cultivating the joy of the Lord in your heart and life. Take some time to read and think over the list, and determine how you can graft some of the practices into your daily routine. Don’t overdo it—just pick one or two that particularly mesh with you, and be consistent in implementing them. Come to the next session prepared to discuss your successes and challenges in this endeavor.
Search Me, O God
For introspection during the coming week.
Are you a truly joyful person? (Bear in mind that “happy” and “funny” are not the same as “joyful.”)
Does your heart witness to the profound joy of the gospel, the joy of conviction that you, through Christ, are a child of the Father, and that nothing can ever change that? If not, why not? Have you been actively cultivating true joy by abiding in Christ in your daily routine? Are you looking for joy in things other than Christ—human relationships, personal interests, temporal circumstances? Has the gospel been pushed back in your memory by pressing matters of life? Or is the gospel message so familiar to you that you have allowed it to lose some of its luster?
If you are a joyful person, are you helping others to become the same?
Want to Know More?
One of the Bible’s grand themes is sanctification. As explained above, salvation does not stop at conversion, but the Spirit then conducts a work of progressive holiness—sanctification—in our hearts to conform us to the image of Jesus. Throughout Scripture the writers enlist a horticultural metaphor of fruit-bearing to depict the Spirit’s work. As this theme is pertinent to Christ’s cultivation of his joy within us, it will be helpful to consider more sanctification passages (there are many others):
• Psalm 92:12-15
• Proverbs 12:12
• Isaiah 61:1-3 (Jesus speaking prophetically through Isaiah).
For More From Paul Tripp:
• Matthew 13:18-23
• Luke 3:7-9
• John 15:1-11
• Romans 6:20-23
• Galatians 5:13-25
• Philippians 1:9-11
• Colossians 1:9-12
• Hebrews 12:3-11
Read his book, A Quest for More: Living for Something Bigger Than You