Kennystix's podcast
When I Don’t Desire God (Part 5)
I said last time that the fight for joy is mainly a fight to see because that corresponds from our side to God's purpose to display his glory and when you see the glory of God with the eyes of your heart there is a taste that happens in fact when the Psalms says taste and see taste and see that's a remarkable juxtaposition isn't it and Jonathan Edwards has helped me a lot in pointing out that you can conclude that honey is sweet or that this is honey by a series of arguments like it's brown it's viscous you see the connection it's got some comb in it honey comb in so this must be honey that's a totally different experience and then putting a little bit on your tongue and saying oh I see oh I see see with my tongue I see there's an eye in my tongue I see that's honey because there's a an immediate experience of sweetness and that's a picture of seeing the glory of Christ in the gospel second Corinthians 4 4 has become in my experience in recent years one of the most important passages for understanding our experience and it says the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God what an amazing verse the devil's main business is to keep you from seeing glory in the gospel the gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ when you look at the cross or when you read the story of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus and all of its interpretation in the Bible what it what must happen is that something in your heart perceives apprehends gloriousness Greek Sikh wisdom and Jews demand signs but we preach Christ crucified the power of God and the wisdom of God for the one it's a stumbling block for the other it's foolishness but to those who are called now that divine call is like Lazarus come forth for those who are called the cross is beauty wisdom power one day you looked upon the things of the Spirit and the things of God and they were boring they were foolishness they were not attractive in the least and then late one night listening to a radio reading your Bible talking to a friend suddenly he was true he was beautiful he was compelling you couldn't resist anymore and you embraced him you saw you saw for the first time in your life this is real this is absolutely necessary this fits who I am this makes sense out of the universe there was an intuitive self-authenticating experience with the living Christ in and through the gospel and you saw glory you may not have used that language you didn't know second Corinthians 4 for it just happened to you you know that happens don't you God is so merciful to do wonderful things in our lives when we can't put words on it and the Christian life is is growing in our biblical understanding of the miracle that happened to us and it might have happened in a totally theologically deranged church and little by little you discover well this is what really happened to me this makes sense out of my experience this biblical understanding I saw glory in the gospel with the eyes of my heart so that's where we ended last time that the battle for joy is the battle to keep on seeing glory more glory than you find in sports and there's glory in sports isn't it interesting that the most religious section of the newspaper is the sports section all the lit all the religious languages there glory is all over the sports section more than you find glory in food more than you find glory in relationships more than you find glory in creation you find glory in Christ through the gospel so I said where do you see it and I said he's got two books and I said that provides a good transition into this session and here's where we're going in oh how I wish I had two hours instead of one but we must stop and I have in this stack of sheets here about fourteen strategies for fighting to see or fighting for joy and and I would be amazed if I got through all fourteen but that's what I'm gonna work at and they're all in the book and so if I don't I don't feel too bad but I would just like to share these are this is as this is as close as I get to be in practical I mean I'm gonna try my best to be practical with with my experience taken from the Bible in my walk with God so these are strategies for the fight now this has been a conference on the fight for joy well tell us how to do it for goodness sakes you made all these foundations and all these clarifications and you're gonna tell us how to fight and the answer is here we go number one meditate on the word of God day and night I mean this book the black one or burgundy or white or red or little or big whatever you whatever version you have I you I like the English standard version which has just come out in the last five years I recommend it but this is not us conference on Bible translation the precepts of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart here it is I God said so the precepts of the Lord are right rejoicing the hearts on nineteen eight your words were found and I ate them and your words became a joy and the delight of my heart for I am called by your name Jeremiah 15 16 eat Bible it's more important than breakfast I promise you eat Bible his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night and therefore he becomes like a tree planted by streams of water so that when there's drought fruit still happens because his roots are down in word man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God they're all life giving faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ faith if it's gonna be sustained and it has joy remember all woven into it faith goes by hearing that's not just at conversion that's every day of your life when you get up in the morning my guess is unless you're a very different person from me you must get faith again and you get it from the Bible faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word so you go your Bible every morning to have faith set a flame and ignited again whatever was written in former times was written for our instruction in order that by the steadfastness and encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope and who could say that joy could survive without hope therefore if you're gonna have joy you got to have hope and hope so clearly Romans 15 4 comes from the scriptures sanctify them in the truth thy word is truth sanctity holiness holiness is a fancy word for somebody who is so happy in God sin has no appeal anymore that's holiness and that happens by the truth the sword of the Spirit is the word of God how do you kill the devil the devil is real and he hates you with a vengeance and would do anything he prowls around like a roaring lion eating Christians you know what he feeds off of faith the devil has one appetite faith he eats faith so that you can't have it he just claws at your faith that's the only thing he wants to destroy he cares not one lick about whether you're healthy or not in fact if he can get your faith by making your healthy he'll make you healthy if he can get your faith by making you sick he'll make you sick how do you fight the devil there is one offensive weapon and it is the word of God and when you do him with it he flees you should have short ones and long ones long swords short daggers those are short verses and long verses whole chapters and little teeny phrases and they should all be stored up so let me let me expand on this meditate by just adding memorize oh memorize the Bible I've never met a weak Christian who memorizes the scripture never met a person who who is devoted to memorizing scripture who doesn't have the warfare wherewithal to fight the fight for joy memorize the scripture we have a memory program at our church called the fighter verse program and our whole church that is all of those who are willing to participate is memorizing the sermon on the mount now you know you can take a year to memorize three chapters memorize the scripture so that you can you can preach to yourself and I'm getting ahead of myself there because that's going to be a separate point so let me back up and just say a few more practical things about meditating memorizing musing over the Bible pick a time of day when it is going to happen do not assume I'll put it somewhere it won't happen why the devil he'll just fill your life with so many good things you know the devil is mainly into good things he's not mainly into bad things we can spot bad things and avoid them we don't spot the good things that keep us from the best things and so he's really tricky and so get yourself a time and if you say I don't have any then just set your alarm a half hour earlier and pick a place don't don't leave that open like well where should I go today what chair should I sit in or what because they'll be laundry in that chair and then the only other chair available is where the kid is is playing and then you can't concentrate and he's gotcha because you didn't pick a place and then thirdly pick a plan okay you open your Bible and where should I read today I don't know and by the time you've settled anywhere he's got you again your mind's all over the place so it's these little things sticking out the front of my Bible that's my plan there are four of these and there are four places where I'm reading in the Bible because I have a year through the Bible plan that I use and they they use these little little doohikis right here and so I read in four different places and I like it that way that's my plan doesn't have to be your plan so I read through this book I've read through this book every year as long as I can remember since I at least 25 years plus a lot of other meditation and memorizing so get a place get a time get a plan and then learn how to meditate one of the main functions of the pastor I believe and I hope you're in churches like this is that preaching should model how to meditate but that's a sermon for pastors not for you that's number one and I put it first because I think it's probably the most important although some of the others are almost equally important meditate on the Word of God memorize the Word of God number two in all your reading of the Bible focus on the centrality of God and especially Christ in other words have a goal in reading the Bible to say I want to see God I want to see Christ I don't want to just get stuck on the genealogies or the five smooth stones or whatever five loaves and two fish I want to know something about Christ from this event something about God from this event because it's seeing the glory of God that is the fire of our joy so when you read the gospels for example and I think you ought to be reading the gospels probably every day because the gospels if you ever wonder why are there four of them I think there are four of them just because the early church wanted to know who is he you preach this Christ when you go up to Antioch or Iconium or Rome or Corinth and Athens and you say Jesus came died rose Jesus who they don't know anything and so the gospels God ordains that there be four portraits of this Jesus and we need to see him and so as you read them ask who are you what are you like what do you say get to know him so that when you have the heart attack singing at him someday and you meet him ten seconds later he won't be a surprise you will have known him so well it will be climax it will be consummation yes yes let's expect you to look because I heard you talk so often I saw you do so many things I made a list here of examples from me this is the sort of thing I'm on the lookout for when I read the gospels or more generally the Bible all authority in heaven and on earth is mine before Abraham was I am something greater than Solomon is here Lazarus come forth and the dead man obeys having loved his own who are in the world he loved them to the end and at the moment of his deepest weakness are you the Christ son of the living God son of the blessed I am clearest statement he ever made at the most impossible moment to believe it I am and you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming with glory yes oh wow I mean you go to the Bible looking for statements and say that's my Lord that's my Christ that's the way I want to be that's what I admire that's what thrills me about Jesus you just got to be on the lookout I could I could just go on and on about the things he says and the things he does that thrill me when you know I can interview you on radio why do you believe the Bible is the word of God my short answer is I go to the Bible and I meet a man who is self-authenticating I cannot not love Jesus if you don't get that miss so-and-so at NPR I'm praying for you that God just please have you read the gospels ma'am have you read about this man go read and see if God doesn't show you this man cannot be created by human ingenuity let me just give you one it's just on my mind so I give it to you Jesus by what authority do you do these things let me ask you a question Jesus says the baptism of John was it from man or heaven excuse me they have little consultation if we say from man everybody's gonna get mad at us in stoners because they think he's a prophet and if we say from God Jesus is gonna say why don't you believe on him what I gotta do well let's say we don't know okay we don't know and Jesus says I don't talk to people like that he said neither will I answer your question I read that and she'll go down my back I see yes no I want to be like that because he could see he could see right through all their hypocrisy all their manipulation Jesus won't talk to post modern this ignores that's a word just ignores of the truth he just won't do it and just on and on my what I'm saying is this is point number two in your fight for joy you got to see Jesus as glorious and the way to seem as glorious is by reading the gospels on the lookout for things that turn you on about Jesus he is inimitable there is no one like him no one like him read to know Christ that's number two number three in all your reading of the Bible don't spare yourself the terrible glimpses of God's wrath now that may surprise you you're telling us to fight for joy and now the third recommendation you're making is that we not spare ourselves the parts of the Bible that describe his terrible wrath I mean there are some horrible parts of the Bible and you're saying go there and don't skip those parts I'm saying absolutely and you know why I'm adding that here it wasn't there a few months ago because I just read Nehemiah in my trek through the Bible you might know what verse I'm going to 111 oh Lord let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name delight to fear delight to fear now I like delight I do not like fear I don't want to be afraid and he says give heed to your servants who delight to fear your name so I'm gonna put that in here I'm gonna say don't skip the fearful parts of the Bible there's something about the way God made creatures like us that a component of our joy in God is trembling at his inscrutable power and wrath it's kind of like the Grand Canyon again you walk up how close can you get to this age how close can you get starting to feel a little bit of ice in my legs but this is beautiful this is scary and this is great I mean why do people climb mountains they get thrust bite in their fingers why do people hang glide I think it's a sin to hang glide it's like jumping off to temple and they do because fear is happy why do people go to these awful movies I had to go to any movies the system does not enough movies out there that I could weather with my lust capacities so I hardly go to anybody see advertisements and they're all scary people pay ten dollars to have the math say it hell scared out of them what is going on it's because there's this echo echo in their heart there's this there's this place for God and his terrible terrible wrath and power and they don't know it's about God so they'll pay ten dollars to be scared they go to Valley Fair and get taken up 400 feet to be strapped into a chair that falls and just go like that at the bottom I think I don't think I don't know how they pay enough insurance to cover the heart attacks that have got to happen when that thing falls don't skip the terrible parts of scripture inscrutably paradoxically they were made for your joy number four learn to preach to yourself listen to David preaching to himself in Psalm 42 why are you downcast oh my soul and why are you in turmoil within me hope in God for I shall again praise him my salvation now you got to be careful not to do this in public soul I mean people think you're crazy but alone do this even do it out loud soul this morning why are you downcast don't be downcast my soul and then preach to yourself preach to yourself the promises of God just let your mind start running through the Bible he pursues you with goodness and mercy no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly great is your reward in heaven he will complete the work in you that he has begun my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory I can do all things to Christ who strengthens me all things will work together for my good nothing can separate me from the love of God just let the promises pour out of your mouth to your own soul preach to yourself the gospel every day the cross-based blood bought promises of God every day number five and if I start getting my numbers mixed up your numbering will be correct not mine because I've got mark outs here as I moving around number five pray earnestly and continually for everything you need to be happy in God so now the word has been involved in the first four and now I'm saying add prayer to it word prayer word prayer and probably the best way can sample all these texts that I have in my notes here on prayer is the acronym I O U S I O U's I pray this almost every day I would say every day in one form or another but I actually use the acronym and I have for several years almost every day and I'll just give you the I O U S these are all prayers from the Psalms on the way to joy number one I incline my heart to your testimonies and not to getting gain some one 19 verse 36 isn't that an amazing prayer here's David the man after God's own heart praying my heart is inclined away from God incline it toward you father so he's like a metronome to talk talk and over here is world and over here is God and his heart is starting to go it's leaning toward world what what does he do what does he do well after he does my first four things with the word he says incline incline incline my heart toward your word give me a desire for the Bible so you get up in the morning you don't feel like having devotions you got your place you got your time you got your plan no desire what do you do you do what David did oh God I'm so scared don't let me drift in today's and days of disinterest in the Bible grant oh God I pray that I would have a heart that inclines to your word that's the eye oh someone 19 verse 18 open my eyes oh open open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law so the Lord has given you the wherewithal to get to your little spot your place your plan and you open the book black marks on a page nothing's going on what do you do you don't just say well I guess there's no Holy Spirit today just no you you plead with the Lord the oh open my eyes open my eyes so that I see that when it says he who delights in the law the Lord is like a tree it would be a wonderful thing to be like a tree today that bears fruit at work so that people can kick the fruit off my life eat it and have life pray that he would help you see wonderful things not boring things wonderful things it's full of wonders if we have eyes to see so you pray you pray for the miracle it's a gift it's a gift I owe you some 86 11 you night my heart to fear your name and the reason that's so powerful to me is because my heart is almost never united it's fragmented my heart comes in pieces I don't know about your heart my heart comes in pieces and there's a piece that's fretting about money and there piece that's fretting about the card that's breaking down is a piece that's fretting about the children and a piece that's fretting about church and a piece over here in my heart I'm trying to read my Bible and see God and my heart is going a thousand directions and so was David's otherwise he wouldn't have prayed unite my heart so do you pray that do you fight that way or do you just throw up your hand and say well today's a fragment today I just I'll maybe it'll be better later you fight you don't let go you grab hold of his garment I won't let you go until you bless me with the United Heart this morning for your great fearful name I owe you s best of all so I'm 90 verse 14 satisfy me in the morning with your steadfast love that I may rejoice and be glad in you all my days ask him for satisfaction so many people come into my office then they say I have no satisfaction in Jesus I said well come me about your prayer life and and how you fight for this tell me about have you prayed for inclination to word have you prayed for seeing wonders there have you prayed for United Heart and have you prayed for satisfaction and do you lay hold of him and fight for this and and they don't Americans have a a notion about spirituality that because of its spontaneity like if joy isn't spontaneous it's not real which is true therefore laying hold on and fighting is simply contradictory we've been over that but that's true there isn't a sense in which if I don't have joy there are things I must give myself to we work really hard in our careers we work really hard to make our house look nice we we work really hard to keep our kids clothed but when it comes to the most important thing we say well if it didn't happen I guess maybe you won't happen this kind of this lazy orientation towards our spiritual walk so there's I O U S which is all prayer pray pray pray that God will do in you what you need done
John Piper | The fight of faith is really a fight for joy. Like any real battle, you shouldn’t enter the ring without strategies for victory.