I. INTRODUCTION
A. God is the source of all true joy, for David says to Him in Psalm 16:11, "You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever."
B. True joy is found in God, but men find false joy through many other sources. In this lesson, we will consider a series of contrasts that show the truth about false joy.
II. TRUE OR FALSE
A. True joy is directed toward God who gives all blessings, but false joy is directed toward the blessings themselves.
1. Every good thing given and every perfect gift comes from God (Jas. 1:17), so our joy and gratitude for the blessings of life should focus on Him.
2. Consider some examples of men whose joy was centered on their blessings rather than the God who blessed them.
a. In Jonah 4:6, the Bible says, "So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant." However, when the plant withered, Jonah became angry (Jon. 4:9). Instead, he should have had the attitude of Job, who said, "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).
b. In the parable of Luke 12:13-21, the rich man said to himself, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry." However, God said to him, "You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?" His false joy ended in an instant.
B. True joy is found in bringing glory to God, but false joy is found in receiving glory for self.
1. We were created to bring glory to God (Isa. 43:7; Matt. 5:16), so we find our greatest joy in fulfilling our God-given purpose.
2. However, men often pervert their purpose and seek their own glory. They may find some temporary happiness in doing so, but there is no lasting joy in self-glorification.
3. Consider the example of Haman, who rejoiced to be honored with the king, but "was filled with anger against Mordecai," who refused to "stand up or tremble before him" (Esth. 5:9). Haman could not maintain his false, selfish joy because of one man who would not honor him. He said, "Yet all of this does not satisfy me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate" (Esth. 5:13).
C. True joy comes with righteousness, but false joy comes from foolishness.
1. The general attitude of the world is that righteousness is "no fun." Therefore, happiness is often pursued by means of foolishness, wickedness, and sin.
2. The Scriptures recognize this attitude of man and correct it in Proverbs 15:21 -- "Folly is joy to him who lacks sense, but a man of understanding walks straight." A "man of understanding" knows that there is no true joy in the folly of sin.
3. True and lasting joy is found in the righteousness of God as expressed in Psalm 33:1 -- "Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; praise is becoming to the upright."
D. True joy endures, but false joy is temporary.
1. Consider again the keynote verse for this series, Psalm 16:11 -- "You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever." Joy in the presence of God never ends.
2. In contrast to the true, lasting joy that is found in God, the false joy of the world is fleeting. This truth is stated in Job 20:4-5 -- "Do you know this from of old, from the establishment of man on earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless momentary?"
E. True joy is realized when wicked men change their ways, but false joy results when wicked men suffer.
1. The attitude of Christians toward the wicked should imitate the attitude of our heavenly Father. Consider Ezekiel 33:11 -- "Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'"
2. Therefore, let us rejoice for the salvation of our enemies and not for their destruction. Notice Proverbs 24:17-18 -- "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; or the LORD will see it and be displeased, and turn His anger away from him."
F. True joy is received after godly sorrow, but false joy comes by celebrating wickedness.
1. It seems to be a paradox to say that sorrow must come before joy, but sinners must experience godly sorrow before they can have the joy of salvation. Notice Paul's words to the penitent Corinthian Christians in 2Corinthians 7:9-10:
I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
2. Many times, Israel rejected the prophets, who called them to repentance. Instead, they continued to revel in their wicked ways. Consider the example of Jerusalem, who was addressed in Isaiah 22:12-14:
Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, to shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die." But the LORD of hosts revealed Himself to me, "Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die," says the Lord GOD of hosts.
3. Any joy that is the product of wickedness, whether it is robbery, deceit, adultery, or any other sinful activity, is false joy. Its pleasure is momentary, but its regret can be eternal.
G. True joy is a companion of truth, but false joy is a companion of deceit.
1. In the last lesson, we learned that the love of Christians "rejoices with the truth" (1Cor. 13:6). Indeed, the foundation of our joy is the truth of God's word.
2. However, wicked men find empty joy, pleasure, and consolation with lies, deceit, and wickedness. They are made happy by someone who tells them what they want to hear rather than the truth.
3. Consider some examples.
a. Israel stubbornly refused to return to God and rejected the words of the prophets. They preferred instead to believe deceit as evidenced in Hosea 7:3 -- "With their wickedness they make the king glad, and the princes with their lies."
b. Paul warned Timothy about a time when even some Christians would seeks liars for their preachers. Notice 2Timothy 4:3-4 -- "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."
H. True joy results from the endurance of trials, but false joy exists where there are no trials.
1. Faithful Christians can see the spiritual benefits of hardships, and for this they rejoice. Notice James 1:2-4 -- "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
2. However, Christians with no depth of faith find only a false joy. They rejoice at the prospect of salvation, but they are unwilling to endure any hardship for it. Consider Matthew 13:20-21 -- "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away."
III. CONCLUSION
A. True joy has no regrets. It arises from relationships, events, and knowledge that are good, pure, godly, and true. Therefore, true joy endures and transcends hardships, trials, and uncertainty.
B. False joy often comes with regret, and that regret eventually overtakes and eclipses the joy. Such joy is built on faulty foundations. It is produced by conditions, relationships, events, and knowledge that are wrong, misunderstood, evil, corrupt, ungodly, and/or deceitful. False joy often never should have been experienced because it was wrong from the beginning.
C. Therefore, let us be truly happy as God intended for His people to be. May our joy be the genuine kind that is built on our relationship with Almighty God and the truth of His word.