It is surprising, in one sense, to note the emphasis which the apostle puts upon "joy".

When we come to think of the life he lived, the nature of the revelation made known to

and through him--the stewardship of the mystery--his bonds and imprisonment, the

loneliness and the abuse that seemed his daily meat, we should not be surprised, speaking

after the manner of men, if "joy" never entered his vocabulary.

But, thank God, we do not speak after the manner of men, having seen enough of the

grace of God to be prepared for songs in the night and psalms from the innermost prison.

Again and again in the epistle to the Philippians Paul bids his readers "rejoice", even

though some brethren (not merely pagan enemies) were endeavouring to add affliction to

his bonds.

The ministry for which The Berean Expositor was first called into existence, and

which justifies its continuance, is one so fraught with problems, and which makes such

demands upon both reader and writer, that it is absolutely necessary that into all the hard

study, and in some cases isolation that the truth entails, should be brought the

remembrance that faith is not cold but warm and living, and that there is a "joy of faith"

(Phil. 1: 25), as well as the subject-matter of the faith, the fight of faith and stedfastness in

the faith. Faith not only leads to justification, acceptance and life, blessings indeed

beyond computation, but to "joy and peace in believing" (Rom. 15: 13) with which we

should be as much filled, as "with the spirit".

Some of the fruits of the Spirit are enumerated in Gal. 5: 22, 23 which sets forth a

veritable cluster of Eschol, nine in all, including gentleness, temperance and faith. The

first in order of mention is "love", without which all knowledge, faith and even

martyrdom are reduced to nothing; and second in order of mention is "joy". Can we

conceive of gentleness without joy and still associate it with the Spirit? Temperance

without joy may be a mischief-worker and a cause of stumbling.  A joyless faith

producing a joyless creed neither commends the gospel nor glorifies the Lord. Joy differs

from happiness. In the everyday sense of the word much so-called "happiness" largely

depends upon what "happens", whereas joy is deeper, being independent of

circumstances. The apostle may at one time be exalted and at another depressed; he may

be full or hungry, be in comparative comfort or in lonely neglect. He may be even in

fetters and prison--but his joy remains unchanged.

Strictly speaking, there should be no need in a magazine of this type specifically to

deal with such a subject. We should all be so keen to learn all that is possible concerning

the Lord and His Word, that the pursuit of some intricate piece of grammar should be a

joyful undertaking, the labour of discovering or of verifying and using a structure should

be as joyful a piece of work as the singing of a lovely melody. Indeed, a peep behind the