Those with their ear toward the world have many accessible teachers. Unfortunately, far too frequently, that which is being taught contradicts the plain teaching of scripture. In order to combat the propagation of false teaching, the Lord calls upon His people to teach the truth. God placed men within the New Testament church to spread the truth through teaching and preaching (Acts 13:1). He placed older men and women in the church in order to teach the younger men and women (Titus 2:1-8). He placed godly moms and dads in the home to teach the children. Every believer should have a desire to come to a point where he or she can teach others. According to the scriptures, this is the will of God (Hebrews 5:12).
As we have previously studied, God is the believer’s source of joy. Specifically, God’s indwelling presence makes this an accessible virtue. The Lord indwells those who are saved and does so through the person of the Holy Ghost. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that the disciples who were filled with the Holy Ghost were also filled with joy. God identifies the nature of the kingdom of God as “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17). This is why the Bible includes joy and peace when it defines the ninefold fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). This is why the believers in Thessalonica received the word “with joy of the Holy Ghost” (1 Thessalonians 1:6). The more the Holy Ghost has control, the more joy from the Lord a man will experience.
