Overview
The joy of the Lord is our strength because joy is a spiritual fruit that exalts, elevates and praises God above all else, even in the midst of a challenge, and it comes from letting go of the things of this world that challenge us and releasing them into the hands of God. Rev. Rico Magnelli teaches Nehemiah 8, where Ezra opens the book and the Levites tell a weeping people to stop mourning, eat the fat and drink the sweet, because the joy of the Lord is your strength. He then follows joy through 2 Corinthians 1:24, where ministers are helpers of your joy, Philippians 1 and the joy which faith produces, and Hebrews 12, where Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before him.
Transcript
What the Joy of the Lord Is and Where It Comes From
Please turn to Nehemiah chapter 8. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Joy is a spiritual fruit that exalts, elevates, and praises the Lord, our God above all else, even in the midst of a challenge. It’s the opposite of sorrow.
Joy comes from letting go of the things of this world that challenge us and releasing them into the hands of God. Joy comes with reaching for something greater than the circumstances of the present. If we need strength in these challenging times to overcome issues, the joy of the Lord can be that strength for us and in us.
Here in Nehemiah chapter 8, Jerusalem had been overrun. The temple and the wall surrounding it were devastated. The people were disgraced. It was a very difficult time for God’s people. All around them, they could see the challenge. But there’s some great truth in this chapter we’re going to key off of.
Ezra Opens the Book and All the People Stand Up
We’re going to begin in chapter 8, verse 5. Ezra, the priest, opened the book in the sight of all the people, or he was above all the people. That means that he was on a raised platform. When he opened it, all the people stood up.
I love the respect that the people had for the Word of God. Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. This is the first thing that you see. He blessed the Lord, the great God. The word blessed means to speak well of, to praise, or to thank. This is where joy really truly begins.
Jehovah and Elohim: A Relationship Backed by Omnipotence
It’s a genuine respect and recognition for the Lord, our God. The word Lord here is Jehovah, God in covenant or a contractual relationship with that which he has created. That means that he’s in a contract. He has his part and we have our part. That contractual relationship is definitional, not conditional. What I mean by that is God fulfills his side often when we don’t fulfill ours. It’s called mercy. It’s a relationship with him and it says the Lord, the great God. The word God here in the Hebrew is Elohim.
This is referring to God putting his omnipotence into operation. Having a relationship with the Lord must always be understood that it’s backed up by Elohim, even though it’s the same God. All the power that created the heavens and the earth are behind the relationship that we have.
And this is how Ezra begins. For us, we can see a recognition of God as a ruler and owner and how he blesses his people. Recently, the kingdom of God is something we discussed, which is an understanding of his sovereignty and care over all things and all time.
Amen, Amen: The People Worship With Their Faces to the Ground
Recognizing the Lord, our God in our hearts like God’s people we’re doing here is similar to an understanding of the kingdom of God, his rulership being brought to the people, his blessings being brought to the people. And look what the people answered. And the people answered, Amen, Amen. Amen is a Hebrew term that means firm, but metaphorically it’s like that’s faithful. That’s true, truly and truly. With lifting up their hands and they bowed their heads and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground.
And Jeshua and Bani and Sherebiah and Jamin and Akkub and Shabbethai and Hodijah and Maaseiah and Kelita and Azariah and Jozabad and Hanan and Pelaiah and the Levites caused the people to understand the law and the people stood in their place. This word understand means a coming together like a union. They started to become one with that word that it was united in their hearts.
Understanding Comes From God, Not From Developing the Intellect
The way that the Hebrews thought, they thought that God was the one that provides understanding. In the Greek mind, the Greeks thought that understanding came from man developing his intellect. And unfortunately, a lot of the Western world has followed the Greek philosophy. So God’s out of the picture. But the Hebrews weren’t like that. They thought that understanding came from God.
And that’s very important when it comes to joy. Verse 8, so they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and gave the sense and caused them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, that means the governor.
This Day Is Holy: Mourn Not, Nor Weep
And Ezra, the priest, the scribe and the Levites that taught the people said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord Jehovah. This day is holy unto the Lord Jehovah, your Elohim. It’s holy. It’s set apart. Mourn not, don’t be sorrowful, nor weep. They were crying.
For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. That’s not to be the result of the word.
Eat the Fat, Drink the Sweet: The Joy of the Lord Is Your Strength
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared. In other words, live each day to its fullest. Eat the fat, drink the sweet and help those that have need. Stop being sorrowful. Stop weeping. For this day is holy unto the Lord. Neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
See, for them to really gain the strength that they need from the joy of the Lord, they have got to let go of the mourning. They’ve got to let go of the weeping. They’ve got to let go of the sorrow.
Letting Go of the Things of the World Is the Key to This Joy
Because joy is that spiritual fruit that exalts and elevates and praises the Lord God above all else, even in the midst of a challenge. Joy comes from letting go of the things of the world that challenge us and releasing them into the hands of God. And once somebody truly understands the Lord our God, Jehovah our Elohim, in the heart of their heart, what ends up happening is they relinquish those things to him that are challenging them.
They let them go. And we have to become real adept at letting the things of the world go and not allowing them to sink deep into our souls and into our hearts. We have got to learn to let them go. That’s a key to this joy.
Great Mirth: When People Understand, They Take the Appropriate Action
Verse 11. So the Levites stilled all the people saying, Hold your peace. For the day is holy, neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their way to eat and to drink and to send portions. They took care of each other. And to make great mirth. The word mirth is joy because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.
When people truly understand the Bible, they take the appropriate action. That’s part of the understanding. And look what they did. They understood it. And then they took the appropriate action. And look at what the result was. They had great joy.
It doesn’t say that they went forth eating and drinking and sending their portions, mourning and weeping and grieving and sorrowful. They had let all those things go. That’s part of the joy of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 1:24: Helpers of Your Joy
Please turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. This is such an important concept that the Apostle Paul isolates this when it comes to ministering to people, taking care of them. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, he talks about how Paul himself, Silas and Timothy did this for the Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 24, it says, Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy, for by faith ye stand.
Paul is saying here, hey, that we don’t have control over your faith. And that faith here is the faith of Jesus Christ we all share as brothers and sisters in the family of God. It’s his accomplished work that we all share in.
What a true minister does is he’s a helper. And the word helper is a fellow worker. You’re in the trenches with people. You’re in there in the good times and in the bad times. You’re in there with people helping them. Do what? Have joy. For by faith, the accomplished work of Christ, you stand. That’s fantastic.
Not in the Driver’s Seat: What a Minister Actually Does
You know, we are not in the driver’s seat of everybody’s life. When Robin and I are driving down the road and she’s navigating and I’m driving, she helps me navigate. So at needed points, she’ll point, oh, we need to turn here. But she doesn’t say to me, press the accelerator. Now hit the brake. Move into the left lane. Now move into the right lane. Look into your rear view mirror. No. What she does is she helped me navigate.
That’s what a minister does. At needed points. Because ministers are not responsible to be in the driver’s seat of people’s lives. But they can point out the right directions so we can all reach our desired destinations. It’s very similar. Sometimes more help is needed. Sometimes less help.
But what is the aim to bring joy into people’s lives? How do we do that? Well, helping them release those earthly things that are holding them down, that are weighing them down. And you know what? With every one of those earthly things that we release, joy starts to come back. That exaltation, that elevation, that praise of God above all else. That’s what starts coming back. And you see it in people’s conversation, in the decisions that they make, and so forth.
Doesn’t mean that the challenge goes away, necessarily. But we have joy in the midst of the challenge. That’s the beauty of joy.
Philippians 1: The Joy Which Faith Produces
Look at Philippians chapter 1, please. Paul follows up with this theme of joy and faith even with the Philippian church. In Philippians chapter 1, in verse 25. And having this confidence, Paul writes, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith. Paul continued with the believers. Though in the context, he says, boy, it’d be sure much better if the return of Christ happened. That’s the context. Paul says, I’d really like that to happen. But hey, it hasn’t happened. So I’m continuing with you. Why? For the furtherance. To advance the joy of faith.
And this joy of faith is a unique grammatical construction. It could be understood as joy which faith produces. In other words, the faith of Jesus Christ, his accomplished work, when it’s really understood and someone stands on it, it helps to produce joy in people’s lives. There’s joy that comes from faith. That’s right. That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
Well, why is Paul coming? He’s going to be a helper of their joy. That’s what we do. We’re helpers of people’s joy. Now, we’re there for people. Don’t get me wrong, because people have their moments. And there’s times when people need that consolation and comfort. I understand. But what I’m saying is, is that eventually we get to the joy. And that surpasses the circumstances.
Let Your Citizenship Be as It Becometh the Gospel of Christ
He says, only let your conversation. Here, this means to be a citizen, which we’re citizens of heaven. Only let your citizenship be as it becometh the gospel of Christ or that pertains to Christ. That whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs. That you stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. We move this accomplished work of Christ together, the good news.
And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. When we stand together and we present the good news of the faith of Jesus Christ that we all share as brothers and sisters, it points a finger to our salvation. And it points a finger to the destruction of the adversary. Pretty cool.
Hebrews 12: Lay Aside Every Weight to Get to the Joy
And let’s close in Hebrews, please. Chapter 12. There could be no more difficult circumstance than to be hanging on the cross as the only begotten Son of God, a sinless man of God, the Messiah, and rejected of the people and being crucified as a result. And in Hebrews chapter 12, it says, Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience or endurance the race that is set before us.
To get to joy in our life, we have to lay aside the weights. We have to lay aside the fear. We have to lay aside the mourning, the sorrow, the hurt to get to the joy. The joy will be there because it’s from that Spirit of God within us looking unto Jesus.
Notice it doesn’t say Christ. It says Jesus because Jesus was the humiliated one. He was the crucified one. And then after he was raised from the dead, that’s where the power of the Christ, when God raised him from the dead, really stood out. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, or the founder and perfecter of faith. He completed it. He took it to its limit.
For the Joy That Was Set Before Him, Jesus Endured the Cross
Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. He didn’t like what sinners were doing against him. He didn’t like it. But by the joy that was set before him, there was something greater. There was something more significant than the circumstances that he was in. And that’s what he looked toward. And that gave him strength to endure. He had to let go and look towards what God was setting before him in the future.
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, because it was a total contradiction. He was sinless and he’s being executed by sinners. Lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. The great cloud of witnesses leads us to the greatest example of faith, which is Jesus Christ, who for the joy that was set before him regarding the future, he endured. With each worldly burden that we release, we will find an increase in that joy of the Lord and the strength that comes from it. And therefore, we will have the endurance to meet any challenge.
Strength to Overcome Amidst the Challenges of the Day
So joy is a spiritual fruit that exalts, elevates and praises the Lord our God above all else in the midst of challenge. Joy comes from letting go, letting go of the things of this world that challenge us and releasing them into the hands of God. And that’s where an understanding of the Lord our God and the kingdom of God and his greatness and his majesty towards us in Christ Jesus really, really comes into impact. So if we need strength to overcome amidst the challenges of the day, the joy of the Lord can be that strength for us and in us.
Key Takeaways
- Joy is a spiritual fruit that exalts, elevates and praises the Lord our God above all else, even in the midst of a challenge, and it is the opposite of sorrow.
- Joy comes from letting go of the things of this world that challenge us and releasing them into the hands of God, and with each worldly burden released the joy and the strength increase.
- Joy begins with blessing the Lord, which means to speak well of, to praise, or to thank, exactly as Ezra begins in Nehemiah 8 before the people answer Amen, Amen.
- The word Lord is Jehovah, God in covenant with what he has created, and the word God is Elohim, his omnipotence in operation, so all the power that created the heavens and the earth stands behind the relationship.
- In 2 Corinthians 1:24 a minister is a helper of your joy, a fellow worker who navigates alongside people rather than sitting in the driver’s seat of their lives.
- Hebrews 12 shows the pattern completed: Jesus laid hold of something greater than his circumstances, and for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that the joy of the Lord is our strength?
It means joy is a spiritual fruit that exalts, elevates and praises the Lord our God above all else, even in the midst of a challenge, and that joy becomes the strength to overcome. Rev. Rico Magnelli teaches from Nehemiah 8:10 that the people first had to let go of the mourning, the weeping and the sorrow. Joy comes from letting go of the things of this world that challenge us and releasing them into the hands of God.
What does it mean to be a helper of your joy in 2 Corinthians 1:24?
Paul writes that ministers do not have dominion over your faith but are helpers of your joy, and the word helper means a fellow worker who is in the trenches with people in the good times and the bad. Rico Magnelli compares it to his wife Robin navigating while he drives: she points out the turn at needed points, but she does not work the accelerator or the brake. Ministers are not in the driver’s seat of people’s lives.
Why does Hebrews 12 say Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before him?
Because there was something greater and more significant than the circumstances he was in, and that is what he looked toward. He had to let go and look towards what God was setting before him in the future, and that gave him strength to endure. The same passage tells us to lay aside every weight, and Rico Magnelli applies that to laying aside the fear, the mourning, the sorrow and the hurt in order to get to the joy.
Scripture References
Nehemiah 8; Nehemiah 8:5; Nehemiah 8:6; Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 8:8; Nehemiah 8:9; Nehemiah 8:10; Nehemiah 8:11; Nehemiah 8:12; 2 Corinthians 1:24; Philippians 1:25; Philippians 1:26; Philippians 1:27; Philippians 1:28; Hebrews 12:1; Hebrews 12:2; Hebrews 12:3
This text was prepared from the teaching audio. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
