Memorial Drive
2/8/15
THE CALL TO FIGHT FOR JOY IN GOD:
Taking God’s Demand for Delight Seriously
Various Texts
“When I saw the truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him, I was freed
from the unbiblical bondage of fear that it was wrong to pursue joy. What once had seemed like an
inevitable but defective quest for the satisfaction of my soul now became not just permitted but required.
The glory of God was at stake. This was almost too good to be true—that my quest for joy and my duty to
glorify God were not in conflict. Indeed they were one. Pursuing joy in God was a nonnegotiable (that is
to say, the BIBILICAL) way of honoring God. It was essential. This was a liberating discovery. It
released the energies of my mind and heart to go hard after all the soul-happiness that God is for me in
Jesus.” (When I Don’t Desire God, 13-14)
“But simultaneous with the liberation came the devastation. I was freed to pursue my fullest joy in God
without guilt. Indeed, I was commanded to pursue it. Indifference to the pursuit of joy in God would be
indifference to the glory of God, and that is sin. Therefore, my quest took on a seriousness, an
earnestness, a gravity that I never dreamed would be part of pursuing joy. And then, almost immediately,
came the realization that MY INDWELLING SIN STANDS IN THE WAY OF MY FULL
SATISFACTION IN GOD. It opposes and perverts my pursuit of God. It opposes by making other things
look more desirable than God. And it perverts by making me think I am pursuing joy in God when, in
fact, I am in love with his gifts.” (ibid)
Why do we have to fight for joy?
… THE ESSENCE OF EVIL (Jeremiah 2:11a-13)
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living
waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”
“God pictures Himself as a mountain spring of clean, cool, life-giving water. The way to glorify a
fountain like this is to ENJOY the water, and PRAISE the water, and KEEP COMING BACK to
the water, and POINT OTHER PEOPLE TO the water, and GET STRENGTH TO LOVE from the
water, and NEVER, NEVER PREFER ANY DRINK IN THE WORLD over this water. THAT
makes the spring look valuable. THAT is how we glorify God, the fountain of living water.”
John 4:10 ff Christ offered “living water” to the woman at the well
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God”
Not to have joy in Christ is “… evil and deadly. Not to see and savor Christ is an insult to the
beauty and worth of his character. Preferring anything above Christ is the very essence of sin.
IT MUST BE FOUGHT.” (ibid, 33)
… HEAVEN HANGS ON HAVING THE TASTE OF JOY IN GOD
I Corinthians 16:22 “If one has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed.”
Matthew 10:37 Anyone loving anyone more than Christ is not worthy of Christ
I Peter 1:8 “… you believe in Him and rejoice with joy …”
2
John 14:15 “If you love Me you will keep My commandments.”
Consider John 3:16 and following …
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness
rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)
... GENUINE FAITH IN CHRIST INCLUDES HAVING A TASTE FOR JOY IN HIM
Paul writes that the gospel/good news is “… veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the
god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not SEE the
LIGHT of the gospel/good news the GLORY OF CHRIST, who is the image of God.” (2 Cor.
4:3-4)
“Believing means trusting Jesus not only as our all-sovereign Lord and all-sufficient Savior,
but also as our all-surpassing Treasure.” (ibid, 36)
… PAUL’S MINISTRY: Working For Our Joy
I Timothy 6:12 “fight the good fight of faith … take hold of eternal life”
2 Corinthians 1:24 We don’t lord it over your faith, we work for your joy!
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Faith and joy are closely connected
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THEY were working for joy even as Paul worked with them for their joy
Philippians 1:25 Paul would “continue with them for their progress and joy”
... A NECESSARY CONSIDERATION
Joy is not something I can work up!
What if I DON’T have this kind of joy? What if I’m NOT experiencing the beauty of
Christ?
Joy is a gift of God!
“When all is said and done, only God can create joy in God. This is why the old saints not only pursued
joy but prayed for it: “Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us” (Ps. 90:15). To be
satisfied by the beauty of God does not come naturally to sinful people. By nature we get more pleasure
from God’s gifts than from himself. Therefore this book calls for deep and radical change—which only
God can give.” (ibid, 9)
John 15:5 Apart from Christ we can do nothing … and joy is a fruit of the Spirit
How does the fact that joy is a free gift of God relate to our responsibility to experience it?
If in fact God does command us to have it, to “rejoice” in Him, how does our “duty” to have
it fit with the fact that it’s a gift of God?