So the Lord Jesus Christ classically explains to these disciples the principle of this idea that joy is based upon believing the truth. If we could grasp that, we would be able to set aside happiness for what happens. No matter how difficult it was, no matter how painful it was, no matter what loss was involved in the midst of every circumstance of life, we would be able to manifest the joy of the Lord. Remember, the joy of the Lord is your strength. And you say, Well, what gospel is that? Where do we find that in the epistles? No, that's way back in Nehemiah, long before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, long before the persecution that he experienced, long before he was arrested, arraigned, crucified, and buried. Nehemiah says, "The joy of the Lord is my strength." So as we look at this, did you understand that joy must manifest itself as an emotion? And as we read the 155 times in which joy and rejoicing are found in the scriptures, we learn certain issues that would encourage us to rejoice in the Lord, as Paul says in Philippians, "Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice."

There are 155 times. Would you like to know the first one, the one that is most used? About 15 or 18 times when joy and rejoicing are directly connected to truth. I remember, but you remember well, the Ethiopian eunuch after he had met the gospel and met the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel, through Philip, and was baptised, and it goes on to say he went on his way rejoicing. Let me ask you: at the beginning of your Christian life, when you trusted Christ as your Saviour, was there joy in your heart overflowing? Did you say Amen? Did you say hallelujah? Did you lift your hands and hearts to the Lord and say, "Thank you for this wonderful Saviour?" Thank you for this glorious salvation. This is such a great salvation". You'll hardly know that you were born again. You can understand that you were baptized into the body of Christ. You didn't understand regeneration, sanctification, and reconciliation, or that God was satisfied. All the great truths that you know—well, you didn't know them, but your heart did. Your mind grasps, for the first time, that this transaction of salvation poured joy into your sins. My sins, which are many, are all forgiven.

Your circumstances don't begin to approach those of the Lord Jesus Christ. Within hours. He would be crying out to his father. If it's possible, let this cup pass from me. In that same circumstance, he's going to sweat like great drops of blood. Then here comes Judas with clubs, staves, spears, and swords, and they arrest the Lord Jesus, tie him up, and carry him off. There, he is accused by the Romans. They crush a crown of thorns upon his head. They crush a crown of thorns upon his head. They tear the beard from his head; his back is like a ploughed field, for the sake of my sin. Hebrews says, "For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. How is it possible, then, that the joy that belongs to the Lord Jesus becomes mine? That's the question. How can I today, as a believer in Jesus Christ, understand and appreciate the joy that belongs to the Lord Jesus so that it becomes mine? And obviously, the answer is substitution. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ on my behalf He gave Himself for me, he loved me and gave himself for me, the just for the unjust, that He died for me. How many times should that produce joy, that the Lord Jesus Christ went through the cross that he suffered on my behalf in my stead, and joy should come from understanding that great truth? of substitution.

We celebrate the greatness and goodness of God. And the Lord's Supper should be a festival rather than a funeral. Not only substitution, but resurrection. The truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ should cause joy to fill our hearts. What does the verse say that my joy might remain in you, not come and go, but that it might remain in you and that your joy, which was his and became ours, might be full? What happens when you carry a cup? Full of water, full of coffee, or full of tea? It spills. Almost all of us have experienced that. And if our joy is the joy of the Lord, that's become ours because of the resurrection. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest event in the history of the world. There is no greater source of joy than the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. How many times are we reminded again and again of joy? In the Incarnation, we sing, "Joy to the world that the Lord has come." And there are many occasions when we put in the idea of joy, rejoicing, and celebration. The truth of the incarnation is the greatest mystery in the history of the world. Without controversy, the greatest mystery of godliness—God, all of God, all of God—was manifested in human flesh. We were baptized into the body of Christ; we became a part of the Bride of Christ. We were a living stone in the building of God, and all the blessings of our regeneration, of our redemption, and of our satisfaction were made possible.

Ethiopian eunuch, after he got baptised, went on his way. rejoicing. Can you imagine the joy in his heart? Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. So not only do we have the fountain of joy in verse 11, but we also have the fullness of joy. In Psalm 16, In thy presence is fullness of joy. In thy presence, that's Psalm 16. How can we grasp and understand that the psalmist is saying that in the presence of God, there is fullness of joy? Little did he know: Did he understand that what was going to happen with the death, resurrection, ascension, and coming of the Holy Spirit was that the presence of God was going to come to everyone who believed? Long before the Incarnation, long before the death of Christ, long before his burial and resurrection. David says, In your presence is fullness of joy; where do we go? Do we go to the church building down the street? That's not what he's talking about. That we go to a conference because we can hear the word no. It's awareness. It's the consciousness of the fact that Christ lives in me.

And then in chapter 16, in verse 20, we have these words: The Lord Jesus is quite aware of the fact that the disciples of the Lord Jesus are going through a very difficult time. And so when he says in John chapter 16 and verse 20, he says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that you will weep and lament, but your world shall rejoice, and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Here is the future of joy. He says to the disciples, "They wouldn't understand; we know that they were filled with fear. They were unbelieving believers. They were sad. They were sorrowful, with so many emotions, and the Lord Jesus says to them in verse 20, "Your sorrow has a reason for being sorrowful." That's the thought behind your sorrow—the very imagination of your mind of what's going to happen—that sorrow, specific sorrow, is going to be turned into joy. the very reason that your hearts are not filled with sorrow, they will be filled with joy. How could that be? How can the very things that fill their hearts with sorrow, pain, and anguish be turned into joy? Why were they sorrowful? Why were they in pain? The Lord Jesus was leaving them. He said, "I am not going to leave you as orphans," but they thought the Lord was leaving. Peter said, Let's go fishing. It was a wonderful time. Let's go; it was wonderful. We had a wonderful experience. And then the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead, and He began walking with the two on the road to Emmaus. They said, "Did not our hearts burn within us?" as he walked with us along the way.

The very reason for their sorrow on their journey I mean, that's what the Lord Jesus said: Why are you filled with startle? It’s as if you don’t know what's happening. You're a stranger in Jerusalem, and you don't know what's going on. Of course, they didn't know it was the Lord, and as he came into the house and picked up the bread and gave thanks, there were scars, and he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. They were thrilled. The very thing that brought them sorrow on the journey was the reason for their joy. That's what the Lord Jesus is saying. The Holy Spirit coming and taking up residence in the lives of those disciples in Acts chapter two caused them to take those issues of sorrow, pain, anguish, unbelief, and misunderstanding, and they became the truth by which the disciples could always rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say, rejoice. What an amazing thing! The very thing that brought sorrow was turned into joy. Why? Because of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and because of the truth of the Word of God. And it says that the disciples remembered what the Lord Jesus said. How could they remember it? The Lord Jesus said, "He'll bring to your remembrance the things which I have said unto you, and so the very source of pain, sorrow, and anguish, and all of that for these disciples in the upper room, and on the journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus, became the source of joy.

My dear brothers and sisters, have we lost the joy of our salvation? Have we lost the joy of the Lord? Have we forgotten the truths that gave us such excitement and blessing? I am convinced that if our celebration of the Lord's Supper was in fact a celebration instead of a funeral, people would come in droves and say, You people are so filled with joy. You believe what it says; you have accepted the truth of the Word of God, and your lines are transformed by it. I want what you've got. I'm convinced that if the joy of the Lord was manifested in our lives moment by moment, day by day, in spite of the circumstances, as was true of the Lord Jesus, in spite of the circumstances, Paul was going through jail and writing to the Philippians.

And then in chapter 16, in verse 21, we have the next time in which the Lord Jesus uses joy, and he uses a picture that is drawn for us, and we know it will be a woman who is in travail and has sorrow, because her hour is come. But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish or joy that a child is born into the world. I've never given birth to a child. as a caretaker of the Lord's people. I've been there many times when there was pain, sorrow, and anguish. Oh, I feel so bad. I feel like I'm carrying the weight of the world in my stomach. I'll be so glad when this is over. Then came the birth of the baby, and I've been there in the waiting room with many husbands who are waiting. Out comes the doctor, who says everything is fine. You have a baby girl, you have a baby boy. And the Bible says that in spite of the anguish, pain, and sorrow that the mother has, she forgets it. For joy, for joy, that a man, a child, has been born into this world. And then in chapter 16, in verse 22, we have an amazing statement by the Lord Jesus. And it says in verse 22, "We know therefore have sorrow, but you will see I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man takes from you. Your joy no man takes from you. Why not? Why, then, don't you celebrate the joy of the Lord? Why isn't the joy of the Gospel, why it isn't the joy of the appearance of Christ? Why doesn't the joy of the rapture of the church at the time of being with Christ consume us and overflow us?

Your joy, no man takes from you. You know what that means? That means that, in the same way as when you got saved, the joy of the Lord, just like the peace of God, became your personal possession, your permanent personal possession, and you can't lose that joy. You'd have to lose Christ. Let me ask you that question. Can you lose Christ? And you all say with one account? I didn't hear you. You would say no, of course. Christ is a permanent possession. We are given Christ; he lives in me; he will never leave me nor forsake me. And so, as I understand and appreciate that, I rejoice in the fact that I am secure in Christ. But then joy cannot be taken away. That's what the Lord says. You can have the joy of the Lord but not appreciate it. You can have the joy of the Lord but not appropriate it. You can have the joy of the Lord, and it doesn't show up on your face. You can have the joy of the Lord and be so taken up with his death that you forget he's alive. If you soak your mind in the truth of the Word of God, if you marinate your mind, in the truth, if your soul is just absorbed in the truth of God, your joy, which no man can take from you, may forget it. You may not employ it. It may not show up on your face, but it's yours because Christ has given you his joy. And he'll never take it away from you. You can start right now by saying thank you to the Lord for the joy of the Lord that's been given to you. Your joy no one takes from you.

And then the last two are found in Chapter 16, vs. 23–24. Here again, the Lord Jesus gives us an amazing source of joy. He says in verse 24, "Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full." Brothers and sisters, that which has been given to us in abundance, fullness of joy, has been poured out through Christ in my life. I need to memorize and meditate on it, believe it, accept it, appreciate it, enjoy it, and employ it, and it'll show up on your face.

The last one is found in Chapter 17 and verse 13. And here is where the Lord Jesus Christ again tells us in his prayer to his father, and he says to us in chapter 17 and verse 13, "Now I come to thee. And these things speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves." The Lord Jesus prayed that these disciples who were there listening to his prayer to his father would appropriate; they would not receive because they received it, but they would appropriate the joy that belongs to Jesus Christ. Think of it. The Lord Jesus was going to the cross in the next chapter; they go across the brook Kidron and into the garden of Gethsemane, and He sweats as if it were great drops of blood, crying out to his father, Father, if it'd be possible, let this cup pass from me. He says in his prayer in verse 13: I want these disciples, these 11 men that are standing around me, to appropriate and appreciate the love, joy, and peace that the Spirit is going to bring to them. On that day of Pentecost, they didn't understand; they didn't comprehend. They're filled with sorrow, anxiety, and terror. On that day, the Holy Spirit will come in His fullness and fill their hearts and minds.

I want these disciples to go on their way, rejoicing. Oh, my brothers and sisters, we have all that the disciples had. They didn't have the Holy Spirit like you and I do; they don't have the word of God, like you have a wonderful book leather bound from Genesis to Revelation. These disciples didn't have any of that. But they look forward to the day of Pentecost, and we don't need to look forward to a day of Pentecost. We need to appreciate it. We need to apply it to our lives in the midst of sorrow, difficulty, pain, persecution, anxiety, fear, terror, or whatever it is. The mind of the believer. The mind of Christ that belongs to the believer, can meditate, contemplate, remember, and rejoice in the Lord always. But the joy of the Lord, which is referred to seven specific times in what we call the Upper Room discourse, wants us to so meditate and marinate our minds and thoughts on the truth of the Word of God that it overflows. And his joy becomes my joy, and it overflows, and people see it.