Seven Reasons We Must Pursue Supreme Satisfaction in God

as we begin I would like to ask you a favor namely that you would test everything I say by the Word of God by the Bible because most of you don't have any idea who I am there's no reason that you should trust me there are a lot of people travelling around the world saying all kinds of things many of which are not true and maybe I'm one of those people how would you know that there's only one way to know whether what somebody says about God is true and that is does it correspond to what's in this book the Bible so the favor that I'm asking you to give me is to not take my word for it but to put my word through the grid of this book so I regard my job here and wherever I preach my job is to number one make as plain as I can the realities that are in this book and then to try to show you that they really are in the book it's not enough for me to just say the Bible says I've got to show you that the Bible says and then thirdly that I would help you respond in a way with thoughts and with feelings and with actions that correspond to the value of the realities that you see in the book so that's my job so father I ask for your help because I can't make that happen I can't create in the hearts of these people emotions and affections that correspond to your value that's a miracle and so I ask for the miracle to happen [Music] so give me your help please and grab them ears to hear and hearts to respond in Jesus name Amen let's begin by turning to the Psalms Psalm 16 and we got to look at verse 11 for just two or three minutes and the point of looking at Psalm 16:11 is to set the stage for everything else that I'm going to say Psalm 16:11 you make known to me the path of life referring to God you God make known to me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore so here are seven brief observations about that verse 1 there is a path that leads to joy it's called the path of life number 2 God is the one who is showing us this path God shows us the path that leads to joy number 3 the joy that he leads us to is full full not 99% joy and 1% frustration full 100% number for the path leads to pleasures forevermore not 80 years I'm not interested in pleasures that only last 80 years I want 80 million years or I'm not interested and this says on this path you find pleasures forever number 5 this promise is yours if you are in Christ I say that because in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20 it says all the promises of God are yes in Jesus so if you're in Jesus every promise in the Bible Old and New Testament is yours number 6 this full and lasting joy is found only in the presence of God the point of this verse is not to say well here's one possible way to find full and lasting joy there are many other places where you can find full and forever joy that's not true this verse me you get on this path and go to this God and because of the kind of God that he is you find full and elastic joy no other place and seven following this God appointed path therefore is your duty it's an obligation God is calling you get on the path don't be indifferent to your joy don't be careless about pleasures don't settle for anything less than the the pleasures and the joy that you find on this path with this God get on the path that's the implication of verse 16 so what I've been doing for the last fifty years of my life is trying to understand the foundations and the implications of that verse and what I'm going to do with you now for the rest of our time together is give you seven reasons for why all of you should pursue your full and lasting pleasure in God you should so many Christians think joy or pleasure at God's right hand or delight are optional they may come they may not come it's not my job to seek them in fact it's probably wrong to seek them wrong and I'm here to tell you it's not really not wrong it's your duty it's your obligation it's your calling in life you should get up in the morning and get on the path pursuing full and lasting pleasure in God that's what I'm here to talk about so I have had seven seven reasons why you should do that so here we go number one it's our duty to pursue full and forever pleasure in God because we are commanded to be happy in God we are commanded by God to be happy in God all over the Bible I'll give you some examples Psalm 37 verse 4 delight yourself in the Lord that's a command not a suggestion psalm 32 verse 11 be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous ones shout for joy all you who are upright in heart that's a command Psalm 67 verse 4 let the nation's be glad and sing for joy for you will judge the people's with uprightness and guide the nation's on the earth Psalm 100 verse 1 shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth serve the Lord with gladness come into his come before him with joyful singing pastors Sunday School teachers laypeople serve the Lord with gladness it's a command Philippians chapter 4 verse 4 rejoice in the Lord always again I will say rejoice Matthew 5 verse 11 blessed are you and others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account and how should you respond rejoice in that day rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven and on and on and on we could go verse after verse after verse we are commanded to be happy in God it is not I don't even know if this is an image icing on the cake it's it's not optional it's not extra it's right at the center of who we are in Christ now here's an objection that I have heard many times I was on a panel one time with I'll tell you her was Elizabeth Elliott one of my great heroes I love Elizabeth Elliott she's with Jesus now and she said to me on the panel I think this was in England we were sitting on a panel and she said to me John I don't think you should tell people to pursue OBT to pursue joy you should tell them to pursue obedience doesn't that sound like Elizabeth Elliott pursue obedience yes I want to tell people to pursue obedience but when you compare the pursuit of obedience and the pursuit of joy that's like comparing fruit and apples apples are one of the fruit so what I'm doing Elizabeth is being more specific you tell me tell them to pursue obedience abdomen yes I'm telling them to pursue one particular act of obedience be happy so the first argument the first reason for why you should pursue your joy in God is because it is commanded one more objection people will say you can't command the emotions emotions aren't like that I mean you can command me pick up your Bible pick it up I can use my will and my muscles and pick it up now command me feel sad right now feel sad feel fear feel happy and what am I supposed to do that's that's a very unbiblical objection you know why because emotions are commanded all over the Bible everywhere emotions are commanded give you some examples the 10th commandment thou shalt not covet what's that covetousness is a desire you should not have desires them I want this I want this and God says stop that don't experience that stop it and you're supposed to stop it don't covet or contentment Hebrews 13:5 be content with what you have that's a command be content satisfied what about earnest heartfelt love 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 22 love one another earnestly from the heart this is not a command to do nice things for each other this is a command to have a particular kind of heart toward other people hope is commanding psalm 42 verse 5 hope in God fear is commanded Luke 12 5 fear the one who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell peace is commanded Colossians 3:15 let the Peace of Christ rule in your hearts zeal is commanded Romans 12:11 don't be slothful in zeal be fervent in spirit sorrow is commanded Romans 12:15 weep with those who weep that's not a command for you to be hypocritical really we really feel sorrow when you're in the presence of sorrow that's a command tenderheartedness as a command Ephesians 4:32 be tender-hearted forgiving one another gratitude feeling thankful is a command Colossians 3:15 be thankful I don't I don't accept that objection you can't command the emotions Piper God can and he does dozens of times and the reason he can and does is because he's God and can tell you to do what's right whether you're able to do what's right or not my guess is there are hundreds of you in this room right now that cannot obey the command delight yourself in the Lord that's a problem and I'm here to help with it but don't blow it off don't say well I can't make it happen right now therefore it can't be commanded that's uh niblet gold you need to cry out to God for a new heart and that's what he does so argument or reason number one for why we should pursue our joy is because it's commanded reason number two we should pursue our full and lasting joy because conversion to Christ the new birth conversion is the awakening of a superior pleasure in God that's what happens when you're born again pleasures in the world shift over onto pleasure in God in Christ's in his word in his way in his works that's what happens in the new birth the new birth is not only about new ideas the devil has all the right ideas and he hates them he hates them new birth is about what you hate and what you love what you enjoy so here's the key verbs you're supposed to test everything I say by the Bible remember so here's the key verse Matthew 13:44 I read this verse so many times before I saw a little phrase the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up and then from his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field what's the point of that Jesus Christ is the king right he came into the world he said the kingdom of God is among you and some people stumble over that treasure and said whoa this is worth everything this King is worth everything and they're willing to sell everything and and have him that's conversion that's what happens when you get saved Christ was boring mythological who cares about Jesus I want money I want successful fame I want a house I want a wife I don't know who the hell but Jesus is disinterest is not interesting and then you're on your face and Jesus is everything that's called conversion that's what's happening here man's walking through a field and he stumbles on it a chest he opens it and it's full of gold and silver and precious stones and he sells his car and he sells his house he sells all of his books because they don't mean anything anymore Jesus is infinitely valuable to him and the phrase that I missed for years was the phrase from his joy you see that in the last sentence then from his joy he goes and sells all that he has so when he sold his house when he sold his car when he sold his books he wasn't saying well I guess in order to be a Christian you have to give up stuff you're not a Christian if that's the way you think you know Christians delight in Jesus more than anything that's what it means to be a Christian it's about our hardness do we cherish love delight treasure embrace are we satisfied in Jesus more than anything that happens in the birth and therefore my second reason for why you should pursue that joy is because that's what it means to be a Christian that's what it means to be converted reason number three it should be your duty it's your calling you should pursue full and lasting pleasure in God because being supremely satisfied in God above other things is part of what saving faith is let's look at John 6:35 jesus said to them I am the bread of life he who comes to me will not hunger and he who believes in Me will never thirst now there are two statements there and they are parallel to each other aren't they the first one is he who comes to me will not hunger and the second one is he who believes in Me will never thirst you can lay them on top of each other and so thirsting corresponds to hunger never thirst Allah you'll not hunger and believing corresponds to coming so I wonder how you would define saving faith on the basis of that verse saving faith here's how I would do it saving faith is a coming this is not physical I'm not walking anywhere cuz he's in heaven I'm coming spiritually I'm moving in my heart reaching our mouth I'm embracing them I'm coming to Jesus to find the thirst of my soul the longings of my soul the acting's of my soul satisfied in him that's faith which is why faith is such a powerful thing to change your life and why so many people are not changed because they don't have faith that faith we've we've we've turned faith into such an intellectual thing it has no power and therefore so many parts of the Bible don't make any sense if if you are a Christian whether you have used these words or not doesn't matter to me but if you are a Christian your heart and your soul have come to Jesus and embraced him as the satisfaction of your thirst and your hunger that's what it means to be a Christian to have saving faith argument number four or reason number four for why you should pursue your joy in God all the time because to find your superior satisfaction anywhere else but in God is the essence of evil the essence of evil all evil essence evil is bigger but this is the essence the essence of evil what makes evil really evil is that it always involves finding more pleasure in something other than God let's go to Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 12 be appalled oh heavens and this be shocked be utterly desolate declares the Lord for my people have committed two evils what are they number one they have forsaken me the fountain of living water number two they have few doubt dug out for themselves cisterns well for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water that's an amazing definition of evil isn't it goes right to the heart of every evil I mean pick an evil I mean we're so humanistic we're so man centered we think real evil is when you hurt somebody that's not the real evil the real evil if you hurt somebody is very neeraj of God don't you touch God evil has to do with God what makes evil evil is here he is and he's in this room and he's offering himself right now as the fountain of living water to every one of you I am a never-ending fountain of all satisfying water and if you if you put your tongue on that fountain let me taste let me test you God let me taste I don't like it I'm gonna dig a well you're evil let me pick an evil person in history that's what you are if you taste God and turn away from the creator of the universe who is freely offering you let me add this he offers this to you at the cost of the life of his son listen I'm not I'm not picking on you I have two children in this condition so when I'm when I'm looking out at you knowing that many of you in this room do not enjoy the fountain of living waters I would give my life right now for these sons of mine in a minute and for you and God already did so I want you to know what evil is evil is tasting God and preferring something else and the reason the world is in the condition it's in is because Adam and Eve committed that evil and we've all inherited it and we're born loving other things more than God it might be good to read what Adam and Eve did this is Genesis chapter 3 verse 6 when the woman saw that the tree was good for food it's going to be delicious and that it was a delight to the eyes and that it was to be desired to make one wise wiser than God I can make my own decisions thank you you can get out of here and leave me alone because I've got now wisdom I know how to do sex I know what marriage is you know I do and they ate and she also gave some to her husband and he was with her and he ate good for food delight to the eyes desired to make one wise here's God the fountain of living water here's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they look and they say see you later God I want the tree that's what all of us have done every temptation in your life is that temptation is he worth it is he precious is he beautiful is the fountain flowing am i drinking am I satisfied by God or is the world constantly conquering me that's argument number four for why you should pursue joy in God because it is the essence of evil not to number five we should pursue our full and lasting joy in God because Jesus teaching about self-denial is based on this pursuit of joy now I know that sounds backward that that's probably not going to make any sense yeah because what I'm saying is the argument that is often brought against me Piper you you're telling people to indulge themselves in the pursuit of pleasure and Jesus said deny yourself whoever would come after me let him deny himself so you're a bad teacher you're dangerous so you need to test me let's go to the Bible mark chapter eight verse 34 this is just one of several classic beautiful God inspired Jesus spoken words about self-denial here's what he says mark 8:34 if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me so let's make no mistake there is real self-denial in the Chris in life there is a real cross you know what a cross is it's not a nagging wife its death the old John Piper must die I am crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me you must die so if anybody ass when John Piper came to Holland did he tell you a bill of goods by telling you to seek your happiness you'll say yes he did tell us to seek our happiness but he also happened to say we must die because Jesus said you must take up your cross crosses are for execution and you must deny yourself many things many things must you must deny yourself okay so I believe every word of marked 834 here's the question how does Jesus motivate verse 34 you're supposed to die you're supposed to deny yourself you're supposed to follow Jesus now how does he motivate that where does the strength come from to do that and verse 35 gives you the answer so let's read verse 35 for and you see that little word for at the beginning that's because this is a foundation an argument a ground for whoever would save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel will save it what's the argument what is the argument well what's the motivation you don't want to lose your life so lose it you want to save your life don't you yes you do and I want you to save your life that's what Jesus is saying I want to save your lives so be willing to lose it in my service that's the argument this argument is based on the pursuit of joy the argument would make no sense if you shouldn't want to be saved and be with God forever full joy forever so of course we will deny ourselves we will deny ourselves anything that gets between us and our joy in God Oh a thousand things get between you and your joy in God kill them Paul said put to death what is earthly in you you will live if by the spirit you kill the sins of the body I'm not talking about other people you don't kill other people you kill your sin and that's self-denial oh I believe it every day I fight it I'm putting things to death every day in my life I'm turning off videos and I'm turning on the Bible over and over again I'm angling my life joy joy joy in God not you not you not you that's self-denial not not not give me gold I don't want you ten give me a holiday at the sea we'll talk about that this afternoon not a slum reason number six we've got two more it is your duty you should pursue your joy in God because you cannot love people love people the way you should if you are indifferent to your joy in going so let's go to second Corinthians chapter 8 now I know this must sound strange because most of us think look if I'm constantly thinking about pursuing my joy then I'm not going to be caring for other people well that would be true if your joy was in money but it's not true if you joy is in God and I'll try to show you why that is from these two verses this is 2nd Corinthians 8 and before I read it let me explain the situation Paul is writing to the Corinthians that's the lower tip of Greece and he is comparing them to the Macedonians who are the northern part of Greece Philippi Thessalonica and he is using the Macedonians as a example of generosity because he's moving through the churches taking up a collection for the poor and he wants the Corinthians to be generous when he comes and the reason I think these two verses describe love for people is because in verse 8 that's what Paul calls it in verse 8 he says I say this not as a command but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuinely in other words they just showed love in their generosity now I want you also to show love so now we're ready to read verses 1 and 2 and what you should be asking as you read this is where does love come from and how would you define it we want you to know brothers about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia for in a severe test of affliction their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part so I'm interpreting the wealth of generosity they gave gave and gave the generosity I'm saying that's what love does that's what love is somebody is in need I move toward the knee and I give I give I want you to I want to help you that's what love is I don't want you to hurt anymore I want you to go to heaven and I want you to have relief from your pain that's what love does and that's what's happening here a wealth of generosity so question number one where did it come from where did that generosity come from and it's so clear that's why I'm using this verse this is so clear it came from the overflow of joy right it's just right there in the text in a severe test of affliction their abundance of joy overflowed in a wealth of generosity so if you ask where does generosity come from it comes from an overflow of joy joy in what and that's pretty clear here too because look they are in affliction in a severe test of affliction their abundance of joy so they believe in Jesus and life got worse life got worse not better Jesus didn't promise that your life would be better it gets worse get lot more criticism lots more self-denial lots more late nights and early mornings because you care for people now life gets harder when you're a Christian so affliction didn't take away their joy so obviously their joy is not in comfort it's not in security it's not in their safety okay that's one thing it's not in it's also not in money because it says they're still tore their extreme poverty and their joy overflowed in generosity so these people are in affliction they're in poverty and there's happy as they can possibly be so where's the joy coming from it's not coming from money and prosperity this is don't ever say Piper came preaching a prosperity gospel you know what I feel about the prosperity gospel I hate it okay that's clear this is not prosperity preaching so where's the Jew I coming from it's not coming from prosperity it's not coming from freedom from affliction it's coming from verse one we want you to know brothers about the grace of God we want you to know about Grace once you know about the god of grace once you know what happens when the grace of God comes down on people's lives we want you to know about the grace of God and how it's been shown and then he describes the effects of grace oh I love grace the grace of God so here you have a totally pay people on their way to hell and Paul visits Philip I one of them is named Lydia and the Lord opens are hard to give heed one of them is a demon-possessed fortune-telling girl and Paul casts her demon out she gets a and one of his a jailer and he gets saved and now Paul's got a little church he's got a rich businesswoman and a slave girl and a jailer I love it and they all tasted grace and their sins were forgiven and the wrath of God was taken away and hell was closed in heaven was open and they were knit together in love and their joy overflowed in generosity so how would you define love now don't don't let the world define love for you let the Bible define love for you here's my definition of love based on those two verses love for people and the poor in this particular instance love for people is the overflow of joy in the grace of God which meets the needs of others love is the overflow of joy in God that meets the needs of others that's my definition of love which means if you don't care about pursuing that joy in God you will not be able to love people period unless you just read you find love anyway you want don't do that let the Bible define love love is the overflow of joy in God that meets the needs of others last argument reason reason number seven for why we should pursue full and lasting pleasure in God this is the most important one I think the one I just gave you is second most important because the first commandment and the second commandment are like that shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength second is like it you should love your neighbors yourself I just gave you the argument from love of neighbor we can't do it without joy in God and now what about God what about his glory I just rated my devotions this morning just read the end of Isaiah this morning and twice in verses 6 chapter 60 it looked out in Israel and said he is wounded and now he'll healed and he will make you the planting of the Lord the work of his hands that he may be glorified I was just reminded again like every page of the Bible reminds me I exist for the glory of God you exist for the glory of God you don't exist for you you exist for the glory of God so the question is how does my telling you to pursue your joy do that give God glory because if it doesn't nothing matters that I have sinned my argument is this you should pursue your full and lasting satisfaction in God because God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him where is that in the Bible let's go to Philippians chapter 1 this is probably one of the most important passages in my life Philippians chapter 1 verses 2223 he's my eager expectation and hope just stop right there if you were to ask Paul what's your greatest passion in life what's your greatest longing your greatest hope for your life this is what he would say it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed but that with full courage now as always Christ will be magnified glorified honored in my body stop okay there it is when I came to my church I was a pastor for 33 years in one church and and I remember my first sermon it was from this text I told the people look I'm here for one central reason I want to eat I want to drink I want to sleep I want to live I want to preach I want to teach I want a pastor I want a council to make Christ look magnificent that's what that six chair has researched right I want my body my hands my mouth my eyes everything about me I wanted to count to make Christ look magnificent and I hope that one of the effects of this conference would be that's what you want more than anything Christ magnified and if you feel like but that not what you've been saying you've been saying pursue joy in God and if this seventh argument isn't valid I have just wasted the last 55 minutes let's keep reading so how how is Christ going to be magnified in the body of Paul whether by life or by death verse 21 for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain now why would death be gained and he answers in the next two verses if I am to live in the flesh that means fruitful labor for me yet which I shall shoot as I cannot tell I'm hard pressed between the two my desire is to depart and be with Christ that's death my desire is to die and be with Christ because that is far better so the reason dying is gain in verse 21 is that he gets more of Jesus he has Jesus here if you're a Christian you have Jesus he lives within you by his Spirit but oh when you see him face to face without any sin anymore in your life you will experience him know him enjoy him at a level beyond imagination and that's what Paul said I'll want that I want to be with Jesus now let's trace the argument to see how that relates to magnifying Jesus it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed but that with full courage now as always Christ will be magnified in my body and let's just focus on death that Christ will be magnified in my body by my death how will Christ be magnified in my body by my death for to me to die is gain how is it gain I get more of Jesus and he's more satisfying that all that life can give I'm willing to die and leave behind everything this world offers in order that I might have Christ so what you put Christ over here and everything life has to offer over here I choose Christ and consider that loss that's what he says in chapter 3 verse 7 I consider this loss and this is gain so he magnifies Christ in his dying by being so satisfied in Christ as he's dying that he considers the loss of everything in this world and the gaining of Christ as gain the only way that argument works is if Paul is so satisfied in Jesus so satisfied in Jesus that everything else is as so here's my paraphrase of this text Christ is most magnified in Paul when Paul is so satisfied in Christ that losing the entire world is gain or to generalize God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him you don't have to choose I will talk about this a little bit this afternoon you don't have to choose between glorifying God and being happy if you do choose you fail on both counts let me close with a story I have been married to my wife for 50 years 5-0 fifty last December and I've told this story in China I've told it in Russia I've told it almost everywhere I've been because I can't improve upon the point that it makes about argument number seven so let's pretend it's our anniversary and I'm going to surprise my wife with some flowers so I bought a big bouquet of red roses and I put him behind my back and I go home early and I ring my own doorbell which I don't usually do ding dong and she opens the door and she looks puzzled and before she can say anything I say happy anniversary Noel bring out the flowers and she says Oh Johnny they're beautiful why did you and suppose I say it's my duty I read an authoritative marriage manual and it says that to be a good husband you should give her flowers on her anniversary so I'm doing what I'm supposed to do that's a bad answer so let's rewind and do it again dingdong puzzled look on her face happy anniversary Noel Oh Johnny they're beautiful why did you because nothing makes me happier than to celebrate you there's nothing I'd rather do than spend the evening with you and so I have a plan tonight we're gonna go out won't you go change clothes because we're going to your favorite place because there's nobody I would rather spend the evening with than you now that's the right answer by the way why but why wouldn't she say to me you are so selfish nothing makes you happier than to spend the evening with me nothing makes you you you happier than to celebrate me all you ever think about is you you you pursuing your joy you preach about this all over the world why wouldn't she say that if you can answer that question you understand this entire message and you know God hears the answer is the reason she would never say that because she knows you know and God knows it's in his book God knows when you enjoy someone you honor them she feels honored when I say you make me do you as a person are the one I would like to spend time with more than anybody else if you say that to somebody you magnify them you honor them you glorify them and you're seeking your own pleasure but you just happen to be seeking it in them so when you knock on God's door knock on God's door at the end of your life and he opens it and he says to you why do you want to come in here if you say well I read in the book that this is where you're supposed to want to be or I don't want to go to hell those are wrong answers they're not going to cut it the answer is going to be when he says why do you want to be here is I want to be with you I want to be with you because you told me in your word and I have tasted it with my tongue that in your presence is fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore if you say that to God and you mean it through Jesus Christ big smiles gonna come across his face he's gonna pick you up and whisk you in but if you tell him well I've done all the right singing you will not see a smile on his face let's pray father in heaven I pray for all of us now in this room that the miracle would happen of our souls [Music] finding the fountain of living water would come to pass make that miracle happen I pray give us a taste for Jesus Christ give us a taste for you Father and your grace so that we are more satisfied in you than anything else because you are more glorified in us when we are more satisfied in you amen

Channel: Desiring God

Views: 74,899

Keywords: Desiring God, John Piper, God, Jesus Christ, Christianity, Christian Hedonism, Sermon, Sermons by John Piper, Satisfaction, Psalm 16:11, Philippians 1:20-25, Joy, Bible, Conversion

Id: aUPSZBm1OjY

Length: 65min 46sec (3946 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 10 2019