CAN THE CHURCH LOSE ITS JOY?
by Ed Tarkowski
In a two-hour interview with Rodney Howard-Browne, host Bob D'Andrea mentioned two Browne services he attended:
"After the second night, I began to see that these people were genuinely happy in the Lord. And I
thought this is the missing element, this is the missing link that our churches have needed for a
long, long time - true happiness, true joy" (The Good Life, Christian Television Network, video,
April 20, 1994).
The current laughing phenomena has been hailed as the restoration of the joy of the Lord to
the
Church. D'Andrea said that this joy is "the missing element...the missing link..." that God is now
restoring to the Church. Restoration theology is evident. In the mid 80's, Restorationists said that
God had to restore the prophets and the apostles. In the same way, He is now said to be restoring
the "true happiness, true joy" we somehow lost in years gone by. This joy is one of the new
revelations of the restored apostles and prophets, and a necessity for the restoration of the Feast
of Tabernacles. As is true of all "new revelations," this one also bypasses the truth of scripture
while distorting its words to legitimize itself. The simple, scriptural fact is that the corporate
church cannot lose its joy. Joy is personal, and is a result of the Holy Spirit indwelling the
believer
at the time of his salvation. Just before going to Calvary, Jesus told His disciples, "Now is your
time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy"
(John 16:22). The true joy of the Christian rests on the revelation that Christ has risen from the
dead and offers eternal salvation to the individual. How can we lose that revelation to the point
that it could become the missing link the Church has needed for a long, long time?
After salvation a true Christian is to walk according to God's word under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He cannot lose his joy. Even if he does lose the sense of God's presence by walking in the flesh, the Holy Spirit remains in him to restore him through repentance, and thus to the joy of his salvation. A Christian does not need to get filled again by invoking the Holy Spirit to come
during meetings. At the time of conversion, Jesus said, the Holy Spirit "Comes to be with you
forever - the Spirit of truth" (John 14:17). The new believer is then a citizen of the kingdom of
God within, which is defined in Romans 14:17 as "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit."
LAUGHING SCRIPTURES
Supporters of the laughing phenomena use "joy" and "laughter" interchangeably. But in the Old Testament, "laugh" is usually mentioned in a negative way, mostly as an act of derision. In the
New Testament, "laugh" is only used four times, and not once in a positive way. Below are listed all of the Old and New Testament Scriptures using "laugh." If they are read in their proper
context in reliance on the Holy Spirit, we find that they don't support laughing as an aspect of revival, global or otherwise. I hope this may serve as the beginning of true discernment on the matter:
Gen. 17:17 - "Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, 'Shall a
child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old,
bear?'"
Gen. 18:12-15 - "Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I
have pleasure, my lord being old also? . . Wherefore did Sarah laugh? . . . Then Sarah denied,
saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay, but thou didst laugh."
Gen. 21:6 - "And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with
me."
2 Kgs. 19:21 - "This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him: The virgin
daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn. . ."
2 Chr. 30:10 - "So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and
Manassah even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them."
Neh. 2:19 - "But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and
Geshem the Arabian, heard of it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us. . . ."
Job 5:22 - "At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh."
Job 8:21 - "Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:
Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing."
Job 9:23 - "If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent."
Job 12:4 - "I am as one mocked of his neighbor, who calleth upon God, and he answereth
him:the just upright man is laughed to scorn."
Job 22:19 - "The righteous see it, and are glad, and the innocent laugh them to scorn."
Job 29:24 - "If I laughed on them, they believed it not: and light of my countenance they cast
not down."
Job 41:29 - "Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the shaking of a spear."
Ps. 2:4 - "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision."
Ps. 22:7 - "All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head.
. . ."
Ps. 37:13 - "The Lord shall laugh at him; for he seeth that his day is coming."
Ps. 52:6 - "The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him."
Ps. 59:8 - "But thou, O Lord, shall laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision."
Ps. 80:6 - "Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors; and our enemies laugh among
themselves."
Ps. 126:2 - "Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said
they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them."
Prov. 1:26 - "I also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh."
Prov. 14:13 - "Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness."
Prov. 29:9 - "If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is
no rest."
Eccl. 2:2 - "I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?"
Eccl. 3:4 "A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance."
Eccl. 7:3 - "Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is
made better."
Eccl. 7:6 - "For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: this also is
vanity."
Eccl. 10:19 - "A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all
things."
Is. 37:22 - "The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn, . .
. "
Ezek. 23:32 - "Thou shalt drink of the sisters cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to
scorn and had in derision: it containeth much."
Matt. 9:24 - "He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they
laughed him to scorn."
Lk. 6:21 - "Blessed are you that weep now; for ye shall laugh."
Lk. 6:25 - "Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye shall mourn and weep."
Jms. 4:9 - "Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning, and
your joy to heaviness."
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