Upper Room Discourse: Discourse of Joy – Part 1

Br. Fred Kosin (Borivali Assembly, 1st December, 2021) Video Sermon Link to Video Sermon (   • Biblical Election: The Election of Scriptu...  ) Audio Sermon Download (https://borivaliassembly.net/wp-conte...) Listen to complete sermon series: Upper Room Discourse (https://borivaliassembly.net/sermon-l...) If you are facing any issues playing or downloading a sermon, please Contact Us (http://borivaliassembly.net/contact/) Sermon Transcript We'd like to look at John 15:11. We looked at this in our first study, but it says to us in John 15 and vs11, "The Lord Jesus has just finished his exposition of the vine and the branches. And he said, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full." Perhaps we can read the context of this. From vs. 8. It says, "Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit." What is the fruit? Well, of course, the fruit is the fruit of the vine. And as we look at it elsewhere, we realise that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and so forth. And so he says to us in vs. 8, "Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples, as a Father has loved me. So have I loved you. Continue you in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, even as I keep my father's commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another. As I have loved you." Joy. One of the great words of the Bible, and it's found 155 times. Give or take a few joys, rejoice and rejoicing. And those words are repeated again and again. And interestingly enough, the word joy is found seven times in the upper room discourse. The first time it is found is in Chapter 15. And this instruction is to remind us that my joy might remain in you and that your joy may be full. So, we need to go back and try to understand because this word is used so many times in the Scripture. We could easily ask the question, "Well, what is joy? Well, why is joy so important? Why is it a characteristic of the Christian church, of Christians, and of the Lord Jesus Christ? The apostle Paul made good use of the word joy and rejoice in his little letter to the Philippian church, and a dozen times, or 16 times, we have the word joy and rejoice in the book of Philippians. So it's instructive for us to realise that joy is not dependent upon circumstances. Think of where the Lord Jesus Christ was. He had walked with his disciples for three and a half years. He was going to the cross. Way back in Matthew chapter 16, He asked the disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the son of man, am". And they say, Jeremiah, one of the prophets, perhaps John the Baptist raised from the grave, and he says, "Whom do you say that I am?" And Peter responds for the disciples and says, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, and then at that point, at that very instant, the Lord Jesus, according to Matthew, He began to tell his disciples that he was going to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes and the people and be killed and be raised again the third day. You'll remember that Peter, after he had said, "Thou art the Christ" the Son of the living God, said at this news of Christ's crucifixion and death, "It will never happen to you.". The Lord Jesus used some of the strongest terms he ever used for anybody and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan. You are not receiving the things of God, but the things that be of men. And so, as we look at where the Lord Jesus Christ is, with his disciples in the upper room, on the last night before he was betrayed, Judas has already left the group and is on the way to the chief priests and scribes to receive his 30 pieces of silver and hand the Lord Jesus Christ over to those with clubs, torches, spears, and so and swords and so forth. And so, the situation—the circumstances—are not good. The Lord Jesus was going to the cross. He was telling his disciples in this upper-room discourse that if they hate me, they'll hate you. If they persecute me, they will persecute you. And so the story in the Bible and the news from the Lord Jesus Christ were not good. So the disciples responded with unbelief, with fear, with misunderstanding—so many characteristics that the Lord Jesus, here now in this portion and in this verse, begins to address the great need for joy in the lives of these disciples. And the Lord Jesus, of course, was going to go to the cross; when you suffer, you're going to die and be buried, and the disciples, we're told, will all forsake Him and flee. Peter will draw his sword and aim for the high priest's servant, cutting off his ear. And so it was a time of sorrow and pain. And the Lord Jesus reminds them in the upper room discourse of the severe situation. Perhaps it has beco...