I need to speak to you about Christian pleasure this morning, and I do know that on any given Sunday, some are longing for that, and others should not. Maybe you’re struggling. Maybe you’re carrying heavy sorrows. I would like you to know from the start that actual Christian pleasure doesn’t ignore or suppress or sideline your sorrows however will maintain your soul afloat in them.
One other solution to discuss our focus this morning is a time period a few of us use, referred to as “Christian Hedonism.” Now, I do know that “Christian Hedonism” is a provocative time period — as a result of hedonism, strictly talking, will not be Christian. If hedonism is a philosophy of life that treats private, rapid pleasure as the best good and correct purpose of life, then hedonism is emphatically not Christian.
But when hedonism means, extra typically, “a life dedicated to the pursuit of enjoyment,” that may not solely go away room for the qualifier Christian; it additionally may give perception into an important facet of true Christianity.
You don’t have to love the time period “Christian Hedonism” or undertake it. However I pray that in these subsequent few moments, you will notice an important, central biblical fact it emphasizes — that this provocative time period may simply be a recent manner of speaking a couple of timeless and very important facet of what it means to be Christian, and that you’d worship God for it. I imagine that biblical Christians, nevertheless a lot they’re keen to take dangers with new phrases, have a plainly hedonistic strand to their religion. However don’t take my phrase for it. Check what I’ve to say this morning.
Pervasive Appeals to Pleasure
As an illustration, on the very coronary heart of our religion is Jesus, who appeals to his followers repeatedly on the idea of “your reward is nice in heaven” (Matthew 5:12), or “your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18). What’s that? The promise of reward is an attraction to pleasure — everlasting pleasure. And when Paul summarizes the instructing of Jesus in Acts 20:35, he says to “bear in mind the phrases of the Lord Jesus, how he himself stated, ‘It’s extra blessed to present than to obtain.’” Extra blessed, that’s, happier — happier for those who go about giving to others, relatively than angling to get from them. Jesus appeals to our happiness.
And the way did Jesus himself endure? How did he maintain going with the world and satan towards him? Hebrews 12:2 says that “for the enjoyment that was set earlier than him [he] endured the cross.” (So additionally, see Hebrews 10:35; 11:6, 26.)
Then we now have the apostle Paul, who stated, “To me to stay is Christ, and to die is achieve” (Philippians 1:21), and “I rely every part as loss due to the surpassing price of figuring out Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). And this morning we come to the prophet Isaiah, who says, “All who thirst, come to the waters; get pleasure from wine and milk, freed from cost; all who starvation, feed on true bread that really satisfies; eat what is sweet; delight yourselves in wealthy meals.”
This will probably be an uncommon sermon. This isn’t strictly an exposition of Isaiah 55. However I hope that right here you will notice for your self, from this very Christian Hedonistic chapter, the center of this imaginative and prescient of God and life a few of us name “Christian Hedonism” — that you will notice it in Isaiah, and Hebrews, and Paul, and Jesus, and all through the Bible. I’ve worded the details to be whole-Bible ideas, even when I’ll lead with help from Isaiah 55.
I would like you to be a Christian Hedonist, whether or not you select to name it that or not. To that finish, let me level your consideration to a few life-shaping truths in Isaiah 55.
1. God made the world, and also you, for his glory.
Go to the final verse, Isaiah 55:13, which is a glimpse of the tip, the brand new heavens and new earth God will result in. It reveals us what he’s been as much as from the start:
As a substitute of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
as an alternative of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a reputation for the Lord,
an eternal signal that shall not be minimize off.
The point out of “thorns” and “briers” brings to thoughts Genesis 3:17–18, the place God says to Adam, after he has sinned,
Cursed is the bottom due to you . . .
thorns and thistles it shall convey forth for you.
Thorns are a mark of God’s curse on the world due to human sin. And in Isaiah’s imaginative and prescient of the brand new earth, he sees that “as an alternative of the thorn shall come up the cypress; as an alternative of the brier shall come up the myrtle.” Cypresses and myrtles are evergreens. The imaginative and prescient is that thorns and thistles will probably be changed by evergreens. And the purpose will not be horticulture. The purpose is the greatness of God. Simply as thorns remind us of human sin, so the changing of thorns with evergreens will show and present the glory of God. God will remake the world to “make a reputation” for himself — that’s, to glorify himself. That’s why he made the world to start with, and why he’ll remake the world when Jesus returns.
So, in Isaiah 43:6–7, God says about his individuals,
Convey my sons from afar.
and my daughters from the tip of the earth,
everybody who is named by my title,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I shaped and made.
His individuals, he says, are for his glory, for his title. And his world is for his glory. Maybe you’ve heard that phrase “the glory of God” so usually that it has turn out to be white noise.
I bear in mind rising up in church listening to the phrase usually, splendidly usually, and but it appeared to go in a single ear and out the opposite. We sang, “To God be the glory; nice issues he has executed.” What I didn’t understand was that that is no small biblical theme. As I bought older, and began studying the Bible for myself, I noticed it in every single place: his glory, his title, his reward, his honor. Because of this God does all that he does. He created for his glory. He despatched Jesus for his glory. Jesus died for the glory. He rescues us for the glory. He’ll remake the world for the glory. So, as Jonathan Edwards wrote virtually 300 years in the past,
All that’s ever spoken of within the Scripture as an final finish of God’s works is included in that one phrase, the glory of God. (Works, 8:526)
If you wish to know God, it’s essential know that he does all that he does for his glory, and means for us his creatures to do all that we do for his glory. So, 1 Corinthians 10:31 says,
Whether or not you eat or drink, or no matter you do, do all to the glory of God.
We’ll come again to Isaiah 55:13. We nonetheless have to ask what the “it” in verse 13 is: “it shall make a reputation for the Lord.” However for now, see that God made the world, and also you, and he’ll in the future remake the world, for his glory. He does all he does for his glory.
2. God made you to lengthy for and search satisfaction.
God made you to want happiness. You need to be joyful. You lengthy to be joyful. You search unavoidably to search out satisfaction.
The seventeenth-century thinker and mathematician Blaise Pascal put it like this:
All males search happiness. That is with out exception. No matter completely different means they make use of, all of them are inclined to this finish. The reason for some going to warfare, and of others avoiding it, is similar want [for happiness] in each, attended with completely different views. The need by no means takes the least step however to this object. That is the motive of each motion of each man, even of those that hold themselves. (Pensees, thought #425)
God made you to need pleasure, to lengthy to be joyful, and you can’t keep away from it. And that longing will not be unhealthy, however good. In actual fact, what’s clear as day within the nice invitation of Isaiah 55 is that God himself makes appeals to our happiness and pleasure.
“If you wish to know God, it’s essential know that he does all that he does for his glory.”
Have you learnt what excellent news it’s that God would speak like he does in verses 1–3? It means he intends to present refreshing, residing water to thirsty souls. He means to serve us the soul-satisfying bread of life. The God who made you doesn’t drop in to say, “Hey, cease being so thirsty! Cease hungering, you needy people.” Somewhat, he says, “Be hungry! Be thirsty! I made you to starvation and thirst that I would fulfill your want.”
The issue with humanity will not be that we want. The issue will not be that we starvation and thirst. The issue, referred to as sin, is that we take the need, thirst, and starvation meant for God and attempt to discover satisfaction in issues that don’t fulfill (verse 2). In different phrases, as C.S. Lewis stated, our drawback is that “we’re far too simply happy” (The Weight of Glory, 26).
The opening verses of Isaiah 55 lead us to image a road vender, calling out to anybody who will hear, “Come to the waters!” This August, as our household was leaving the Minnesota State Honest on a sizzling day, we got here throughout a number of road distributors exterior the gate. One stated, very memorably, “You bought a thirst? Come to me first. I’m your water man.”
Think about God, on the road nook, lifting up his voice: “Is anybody thirsty? I do know you’re. I made you to thirst. Pay attention up, all who thirst, come drink my chilly, clear, refreshing water. All who want power, drink my nourishing, vitamin-rich milk. All who want pleasure, drink my exhilarating wine. And the fee has already been lined. Come, purchase wine and milk with out cash and with out value.”
Verse 2 tells us why to come back: to be glad; you understand you need to be glad!
Why do you spend your cash for that which isn’t bread,
and your labor for that which doesn’t fulfill?
So, first, God made the world, and also you, for his glory. And second, God additionally made you to lengthy for and search satisfaction. These two truths — made to hunt his glory, made to hunt our pleasure — are clear as day in Scripture, and right here in Isaiah 55. Now, we get to the center of what Christian Hedonism claims.
3. These should not two pursuits however one.
God made us and means for us to pursue his glory. And God made us and means for us to pursue our pleasure. These two pursuits come collectively in a single wonderful fact that our God is glorified in us, he makes a reputation for himself, by means of our rejoicing and being glad in him.
So, let me come at this one fact from either side: first, from the start line of our souls and satisfaction, after which from the angle of God and his glorification. Each of those are right here in Isaiah 55.
Our Satisfaction in God
First, God made our souls to be glad in him. Now, we’re not simply saying he made us to lengthy for satisfaction, however that he made us to search out that satisfaction in him:
• “Come to me,” he says in verse 3.
• “Search the Lord,” it says in verse 6.
• “Return to the Lord . . . to our God,” it says in verse 7.
God’s attraction will not be “you do you” however “come to me.” God himself is the feast. This feast, which presents satisfaction that’s full, and free, and perpetually, may solely be God.
It’s full. It’s water for refreshment, milk for nourishment, wine for exhilaration, bread to fulfill starvation, wealthy meals to fill the abdomen and delight the palate. That is no appetizer and even entrée. This can be a full banquet for the soul.
It’s free. No cash is required. In actual fact, no cash is accepted. It’s not as a result of the foods and drinks are low-cost; it’s pricey, wealthy fare, and it has been paid for. You purchase and eat, you purchase wine and milk “with out cash and with out value” as a result of God himself has lined the fee. We’ll come again to that.
And it’s perpetually. He says in Isaiah 55:3, “I’ll make with you an eternal covenant.” This isn’t only one meal and then you definately go hungry. That is an eternal covenant relationship with the God who himself is the feast and offers the feast and whose water and milk and wine by no means run dry — the God whose bread of life isn’t gone, the God whose desk isn’t empty and even skinny. He’ll make good on his supply, now and perpetually. That’s the promise of verses 10–11:
Because the rain and the snow come down from heaven.
and don’t return there however water the earth,
making it convey forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my phrase be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
nevertheless it shall accomplish that which I goal,
and shall succeed within the factor for which I despatched it.
And what’s that goal in Isaiah 55? The enjoyment of God’s individuals, in response to his supply to be glad, and that to the glory of his title.
The satisfaction God presents in himself is full and free and perpetually, which brings us again to the query of value. How does this lavish feast receives a commission for? The tip of verse 3 mentions David, seemingly out of the blue for us. And verses 4–5 handle David. How does this supply relate to him?
To lift the stakes: it’s not as if this supply goes out to good individuals. All that is on supply, he says, to not the righteous and deserving, however to the unrighteous and depraved. To sinners. Verse 7:
Let the depraved forsake his manner,
and the unrighteous man his ideas.
Verse 2 additionally says that these to whom this invitation goes out have spent their cash on what’s not bread and doesn’t fulfill, which isn’t solely silly however depraved. It’s not solely dumb however evil (Jeremiah 2:13).
How can this be that such a proposal goes out to sinners? The reply (to convey it again to David, and a son of his) is that the invitation of Isaiah 55 follows on the heels of the substitution of Isaiah 53:5–6:
He [God’s Servant] was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that introduced us peace,
and along with his wounds we’re healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we now have turned — each one — to his personal manner;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
And so, due to the Servant, the Struggling Servant, the Son of David, Isaiah 55:7 can say, to sinners, to the depraved, the unrighteous, “Return to the Lord, that he could have compassion on [you], and to our God, for he’ll abundantly pardon.” Actually, he has a large number of forgivenesses. He multiplies mercy. He’s not miserly along with his pardons however he abundantly pardons. And his compassion and multitude of forgivenesses present us the type of God he’s, the God who himself is our satisfaction.
So, first, God made us to be glad in him.
God’s Glory in Us
Second, let’s think about his glorification: our satisfaction in God glorifies him, that’s, it makes him look good. Our pleasure in God makes a reputation for God. And so, we come again to verses 12–13:
For you shall exit in pleasure [the delight of verses 1–2!]
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills earlier than you
shall break forth into singing,
and all of the bushes of the sphere shall clap their palms.
As a substitute of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
as an alternative of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a reputation for the Lord,
an eternal signal that shall not be minimize off.
Again to our query: What’s the “it” in verse 13? What’s the “it” that makes a reputation for God? What glorifies him right here?
It’s not simply the reversing of the curse, not simply the changing of thorns and thistles with evergreens. And it’s not simply the majestic mountains and towering bushes of the brand new creation. The singing mountains and clapping bushes are dietary supplements. They increase one thing. They adorn, they replicate, they accent. What?
Verse 12: “You shall exit in pleasure and be led forth in peace.” You who? You, the thirsty who got here to the waters. You, the hungry who got here to God’s feast. You, the depraved and unrighteous who obtained ample mercy with out cash and with out value due to the pricey work of the Servant — you shall exit in pleasure.
Then, what does it imply right here to “exit”? You exit from the slavery of sin, like God’s individuals went out from Egypt. You exit in pleasure, like God’s individuals in exile will exit from Babylon. You exit from sin’s distress and “exit in pleasure” and peace. And all this — God’s joyful, glad individuals on the middle, serenaded by the hills and applauded by the bushes — all this makes a reputation for God.
In different phrases, our pleasure in God reveals the kind of God he’s, which glorifies him and makes a reputation for him. Or as John Piper says, based mostly on Isaiah 55, God is most glorified in us after we are most glad in him.
And get this: If God’s goal to be glorified and my ardour to be glad are one, then are you aware what which means? The very omnipotence of God with which he pursues his personal glory is the very omnipotence with which he pursues your pleasure in him.
What About Sorrows?
However you may say, “Okay, all properly and good. However what about proper now, in my messy life? I hear you that pleasure and peace are coming. Breaking forth in track is coming. The entire creation clapping with applause for God’s joyful individuals is coming. That may certainly make a reputation for God perpetually, however what about proper now on this fallen world? What about my struggling? What about my sorrows? What about how pathetically skinny and fragile my pleasure in him appears to be? It might not be good for God’s title to hold on my fickle coronary heart.”
An important, and stabilizing, clarification about this wonderful imaginative and prescient of Isaiah 55 is that it’s a imaginative and prescient of the long run, a imaginative and prescient of the place we’re headed. Now, in an vital sense, it’s already true within the coming of Christ and in the true supply of pleasure and in the true, tangible, vital pleasure his individuals have in him, even on this sin-sick world. He’s glorified in us after we are glad in him.
And but, in an vital sense, this imaginative and prescient will not be but fulfilled. The tip will not be but. Tears haven’t but been totally wiped away. Evil has not but been lastly banished. Sin nonetheless wreaks havoc in our world, and even nonetheless dwells in us, alongside God’s indwelling Spirit. We aren’t but house. And we glorify him now by means of a pleasure deeper than our sorrows, and thicker than our sufferings, and can glorify him in the long run by means of unencumbered, unchallenged, unmixed pleasure, with each tear wiped away and each struggling resolved.
So, I need to finish this morning like a road vendor. Brothers and sisters, pay attention up. Concentrate. Right here’s the supply, proper now. This can be a actual supply. Does your soul thirst? Is your soul hungry? Jesus, the son of David, says, “If anybody thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). And he says, “I’m the bread of life; whoever involves me shall not starvation, and whoever believes in me shall by no means thirst” (John 6:35). And the Bible ends with a reprise of Isaiah 55 in Revelation 22:17:
Let the one who’s thirsty come; let the one who needs take the water of life with out value.
Jesus satisfies the longing soul — already in measure, and in the future in full. He’s residing water to your thirst, true bread to your starvation, milk for power, wine for pleasure — and all with out value, as a result of he himself has paid the value.
And in doing so, he’s glorified. He makes a reputation for himself. Our satisfaction in him, imperfect as it’s for now, glorifies him.
So, I would like you to be a Christian Hedonist, no matter you name it. I would like you to come back, with me, to God to fulfill our soul. Come to his phrase to feast and discover pleasure. Come to prayer to be refreshed and strengthened. Come to worship, and to his church, to be nourished and glad in him.
And in our pleasure, our satisfaction, our enjoyment of him — whilst embattled and dynamic as it’s on this life — he’s honored, exalted, and glorified. As a result of God is most glorified in us when are most glad in him.
