Core Strength Workout - Joy - Part 2

It was broken up into 107 questions.

And if you knew some of the main questions, you got to know the doctrine because you didn't

have to go through the entire text.

And so one of the questions that was asked or the most famous question that was asked

in this Westminster shorter catechism is what is the chief end of man?

And the answer, people have played around with it and the answer that was originally

given was man's chief end, man's chief end is, there were two parts to it, to glorify

God, and the second part was, man's chief end was to glorify God and the second part

was and to enjoy him forever.

So many of the things we're talking about now, guys 500, 600 years ago were already

discussing.

There wasn't some great revelation that happened recently.

This has been going on for years.

And so these were the two answers that they came up with.

The first one was, the question was what is the chief end of man?

As in what is man's main goal or aim here on earth?

And the answer, and this was a group that was made up of theologians, it was made up

of lay people.

What answer do we come up with so that if we asked our kids, the kids could come up

with an answer that would tell us what the chief end of man was.

And the answer was, man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

And people like A.W. Tozer and Piper and others have played with it.

And perhaps what we can do is combine these two and not separate them and say, man's chief

end, or in other words, main goal or whatever, however you want to put it, or you can say

my main goal.

Man's chief end is to glorify God by enjoying him forever.

So instead of breaking it into two and saying and enjoying him, we are changing it to by

enjoying him forever.

When you think of it, you can't glorify anything you don't enjoy.

Can you see me glorifying broccoli?

Can you see me glorifying cats?

Can you see me glorifying the maple leaves?

Absolutely no.

And so you can only glorify what you love.

And so the answer then is man's chief end, or my main goal, is to one, glorify God but

by enjoying him.

Can you embrace that?

That this is an old truth that we are just visiting.

Many have studied this.

Many have gone over it.

We are just visiting a very, very old truth.

And we'll see from scripture if it's true.

Just because a few people sat together in 1647 doesn't make it true.

That is a bad year actually.

But if we look at scripture, we'll find out that this is true.

Any questions?

Other than that?

Sorry?

Yeah, we'll define glorify.

Yeah.

Any other questions?

Alrighty.

So let's define this idea of glorify from God's perspective.

So one of the things we have to come to grips with is that God is intent upon preserving

and displaying.

Preserving and displaying his glory.

See, we find that sometimes a little offensive or obnoxious that someone would want to preserve

their glory and display it.

Usually we are taught to not preen our feathers, not to show our glory, not to display our

glory.

But one of the things God, and we look at scriptures right from the Old Testament to

the New Testament, we'll see scriptures where God's intent is, can I both preserve my glory

as in he ain't going to sell it cheap.

He's not going to part with it as in it's just something base.

No, there is in God's view things that are sacred and things that are profane.

And glory is definitely not one of those things that's profane.

In fact, when people messed with his glory, he used to call it ikabot, which is the glory

has departed.

Or when they messed with his glory, they'd find that his glory was way too much to handle,

like Uzzah and Ahiyo found when they were transporting the ark from the Philistines

to Jerusalem or to Zion.

So God doesn't mess around with his glory.

And in that sense, he is intent upon preserving his glory and displaying his glory.

So another way to define his glory, many different ways, but let's go with his infinite and awesome

greatness.

His infinite and awesome greatness and worth and splendor and weight and magnificence and

power and presence and laughter and goodness.

Tell me when to stop, eh?

Thank goodness.

You see now how hard it is to define glory because it can go on.

And he says that unlike humans who he is actually advised not to boast about what they have

because in the New Testament it says, what do you have that you didn't receive?

But that doesn't apply to him.

And so God is intent upon preserving his glory and displaying his glory.

Preserving what?

Preserving his infinite and awesome greatness and worth and splendor and weight and magnificence

and power and presence and laughter and goodness.

He likes preserving this and he wants to display it.

So let's look at scriptures just so we know this is true.

Go to Exodus 14.4.

We'll go through maybe fifteen scriptures so you see throughout scripture.

Exodus 14 verse four.

Exodus 14.4.

Let's read from the NIV.

Exodus 14.4.

And he does it through different ways.

Sometimes the way he displays glory may not fit our human way of linear thinking but because

he sees future, present, past at once, his way of functioning is different.

Exodus 14 verse four.

And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue them but I will gain glory for myself

through Pharaoh and all his army and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.

At the end of the day that's so critical to him.

People need to know I am the Lord because it's the only way they're going to be rescued

from what they've done.

We'll talk about that a little later.

Next one.

Deuteronomy 5.24.

Deuteronomy 5.24.

Deuteronomy 5.24.

Now you said the Lord our God has shown us his glory and his majesty.

We have heard his voice from the fire.

Today we have seen that a person can live even if God speaks with them.

He would display his glory to Israel.

First Chronicles 29, 11.

First Chronicles 29, 11.

First Chronicles 29, 11.

Yours Lord, I love this one, yours Lord is the greatness and the power.

All these words are part of that amazing word called Kabodah.

Yours Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor

for everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Yours Lord is the kingdom.

You are exalted as head over all.

This is who we worship, eh?

This is why it's so hard to segue.

When you get caught up in any one of his facets or aspects, how do you break away from it?

All these words we just heard in 1st Chronicles 29, 11 exemplify his glory.

Let's look at another scripture, Psalm 19 verse 1, where he displays his glory in nature.

Psalms 19:1

Psalm 19, Psalm 19 verse 1.

Psalms 19:1

Beautiful.

I mean, beautiful British Columbia should know this every day.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

The skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day, they pour forth speech.

Night after night, they reveal knowledge.

In his handiwork, you see, shout to the Lord the last...

That's what the chorus says.

I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

His intent is, can I preserve and display my glory?

Isaiah... Let's go to Psalm 24 verse 8.

Psalms 24:8

What do they call him?

Who is this king of glory?

The Lord God Almighty, strong in battle.

He's called the king of glory.

He wants to be known that way.

Those are titles he gave himself through David's Psalms.

The king of glory.

Isaiah...

Isaiah 6 verse 3.

Isaiah 6:3

My eyes have seen the glory of the Lord.

This is Isaiah when he sees the vision of heaven.

And he says, my eyes have seen the glory of the Lord.

And one of the things the glory of God initially does

is it ruins you because you realize how inglorious you are.

And that begins the process of getting back to him.

There's a reason he both preserves and displaces it.

Next one.

Isaiah 42 verse 8.

Isaiah 42:8

Isaiah 42 verse 8.

Isaiah 42:8

Isaiah 42 verse 8.

Isaiah 42:8

I am the Lord.

That is my name.

I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.

That's why Mount Carmel, the enemy always loses.

That's why in Ephesus, Artemis falls.

That's why in the temple, Dagon crumbles.

Because he will not allow or yield his glory to another.

Habakkuk 2 verse 14.

Habakkuk 2:14

The earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of God

as the waters cover the seas.

As the waters cover the seas,

so the earth is actually filled with the knowledge of the glory of God.

And that's why in Romans he says that people knowing and seeing my glory

yet chose idols and therefore I have abandoned them to their desires.

Let's turn to the New Testament.

New Testament.

John 17 verse 24.

John 17:24

John 17 verse 24.

John 17:24

John 17 verse 24.

John 17:24

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am

and to see my glory, the glory you have given me

because you loved me before the creation of the earth.

If you go to 17.4, he talks about how he used to have this glory.

He put it aside while he was on earth and now he's praying again saying,

can you make sure that these guys see my glory,

these guys as in us and the disciples then.

2 Corinthians 3 18.

2 Corinthians 3 18.

Jacob, why are you going over so many scriptures about glory?

Because it is important to establish that the chief end of man is to glorify God.

It is God's desire.

And may the scriptures speak.

The scriptures are life.

May it be established through the word than through any man's words.

This is important to God.

He saved you for this so that you may display his glory.

We'll read about that in 1 Peter 2.

2 Corinthians 3 18.

2 Corinthians 3 18.

And we all with unveiled faces contemplate.

We are supposed to do that.

We contemplate the Lord's glory and are being transformed into his image

with ever increasing glory which comes to the Lord who is the spirit.

As in he wants to share this.

It's not something he wants to keep to himself.

Next one.

Hebrews 1 3.

Hebrews 1 3.

Hebrews 1 3.

The sun is the radiance of God's glory

and the exact representation of his being.

Sustaining all things by his powerful word.

The sun is the radiance as in the brilliant visible shine of God's glory

and the exact representation of his being.

Sustaining all things by his powerful word.

2 or 3 more.

2 Peter 1.

2 Peter 1.

2 Peter 1.

Verse 3.

And then verse 7.

Sorry 17.

2 Peter 1 3.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life

through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

And then if you go to 17 it says,

He received honor and glory from God the father when the voice came to him

from the majestic glory saying,

This is my son whom I love.

With him I am well pleased.

God bestowed that glory on him.

Now let's look at two scriptures from Revelation.

Revelation 15.4.

Revelation 15.4.

Revelation 15.4.

Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come and worship before you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.

One more time.

Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come and worship before you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.

And one last one.

Revelation 21.23.

Revelation 21.23.

I love this.

We'll experience this.

Crazy, eh?

That we'll actually experience this.

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it,

for the glory of God gives its light.

Gives it light.

And the lamp is its lamp.

The city, as in the place we will live when this life is over,

does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it,

for the glory of God gives it light,

and the lamp is its lamp.

So what are we concluding out of this?

That the chief end of man, based on scriptures,

is that, hey, I made you so that you can glorify me.

I made you so that you can glorify me.

And to glorify is to take a telescope and bring God

and make him larger for people who can't otherwise see him.

1 Peter 2, verse 9 and 10.

1 Peter 2:9

You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

a peculiar people, called aside for what?

To show forth the glory and the goodness of God.

This is why I called you.

This is why I made you a church.

And if he wasn't glorious,

then there wouldn't be any distinction

between the moral excellence and perfection of God

and the darkness and the distortion of the devil.

If he wasn't glorious,

he wouldn't be able to make new everything that is going to be made new.

If he wasn't glorious,

the earth wouldn't be as beautiful as it is,

because it's again a reflection or a speaking out of his glory.

Mount, Grouse Mountain, this lake, that lake, Bunsen Lake

and every other blooming lake you can think of

wouldn't be a blooming lake,

because it came out of his ability to be glorious in everything he created.

If this looks beautiful, can you imagine what it was before the fall?

What was it like?

It is important for God to both preserve his glory and display it.

Who does he do it through?

Any questions before we go on?

I've heard that...

Yeah. So Mark's question is,

I've heard people, I've heard teachers say

that God wants to glorify himself through suffering,

like martyrs who get a special crown.

And so that statement is actually true.

God does glorify himself through people who decide

that it doesn't matter what it costs,

I will display who you are, O God.

I will love, I will stand, I will not deny your name.

And it does say that those that die that death

will receive a crown of life.

So I'm glad Mark qualified what suffering is in this case.

Because there are other teachers who can take every suffering you can think of

and put it under the same rug, and that does not apply.

Because for certain sufferings, Jesus suffered

so that we may find our comfort and our healing there.

But in terms of this statement, absolutely.

So he does glorify himself through the suffering of people who decide

that I will stand for the moral excellence of God,

regardless of what happens, and I will display it,

and I will preserve it, and I will not deny it.

Yeah. It is impossible to take a stance for God.

I mean, we've always got to bring it back to,

actually we'll deal with it a little later,

but let me just put it this way.

Someone who loves a person is able to sacrifice

and lay down their lives for that person in great pain, through great pain.

They will still do it, and they will do it better

when they actually enjoy and love the person.

Now we'll talk about it. We'll break it down.

So my main goal, my main goal, you can write this down

and try practicing it for the rest of your life.

My main goal is to glorify God, is to glorify God

by enjoying him forever.

It's just that these words that we use, enjoy,

we think differently of enjoy.

We think differently of enjoy.

Enjoy might be a car, a house, a wife, in Derek's case a dog,

and things like that, yeah?

But enjoy has a different sense when we actually look at it.

And remember, if God is in the process of restoring Eden,

Eden was a place where there was joy,

and Eden restored will be a place where there is joy.

We are caught in the middle in a fallen world,

and therefore there are so many pressures

that bring in different forms of suffering,

but the intent is always that is where we came from

and that is where we are heading.

So joy is not something that God removed from the earth.

How can he remove it from the earth when it is the essence

of who he is and who the Holy Spirit is?

So here's a question someone asked,

what would your answer be to him?

What could God give me to enjoy?

What could God give me to enjoy that would prove him most loving?

I really like this question.

What could God, what could God give me to enjoy

that would prove him most loving?

His presence?

Let me use another word for what Marcus said.

What could God give me to enjoy that would prove him most loving?

Himself.

It would be the most loving thing he could do

because anything enjoyable finds its source, its root in him.

And when he gives himself,

I mean that would prove him most loving.

What could God give me to enjoy that would prove him most loving?

Himself.

And the crazy thing is he did and he still does.

Once we lock on to this,

then it's not that the other things don't matter.

In fact, in Matthew he said,

don't worry about that stuff, my father already knows it.

But this is critical.

Himself.

And he has, it's not that he hasn't.

Romans 832.

Romans 832.

Romans 832.

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all,

how will he not also allow us to be saved?

He who gave himself,

how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

I mean there's nothing left to give.

He gave himself and everything begins and ends in him.

I like the way the message puts it.

I'm the beginning and the end and everything in between.

That's how it says.

It doesn't say I'm Alpha and Omega.

I'm the beginning, I'm the end and I'm everything in between.

That takes care of everything.

And it's real.

He's not just spinning words.

And so Romans 832, let's look at some other scriptures.

1 Peter 318.

1 Peter 318.

1 Peter 318.

I love this line.

For Christ also suffered once for sins,

the righteous for the unrighteous.

To do what?

To bring you to God.

To bring you to God.

The reason he suffered was to bring you to God.

To bring you to himself.

Why do we need forgiveness?

Because forgiveness gets us God again.

In saving us, he brought us to God.

He brings us to himself.

And in forgiving us every time we sin,

what is it that we get out of forgiveness?

A clean slate?

The clean slate was done on Calvary.

Accident-free driving?

That's how you drive in traffic.

So what does he get us when he forgives us?

He gets us himself again.

Every time he forgives me, I get God.

I get God back in my life.

So that was 1 Peter 318.

Let's look at another scripture.

Isaiah 5-4.

Isaiah 5-4.

Isaiah 5 verse 4.

Isaiah 5:4

This is in different versions.

It says it differently.

God has dug up the vineyard.

He's done everything.

And he's talking about the church.

And in that situation, Israel.

And he says, tell me, O my people,

what more could I have done?

Why, when I planted you sweet,

have you turned so sour and wild?

What more do you want me to do?

I've done everything.

There's nothing he's holding back.

Psalm 84 verse 11.

Psalms 84:11

The Lord God is my son and shield.

He gives grace and glory.

No good thing will he withhold

from those that walk uprightly.

Let's look at another one.

1 Corinthians 2-12.

1 Corinthians 2-12.

What we have received is not from the spirit of the world.

But the spirit who is from God.

So that we may understand what God has freely given us.

Listen, you do not have a spirit

that is without the Holy Spirit.

We've talked about this in the idea of Christ's life.

Your spirit and the spirit of God have become one.

There's nothing that he can do anymore.

He's given himself by his own spirit to live inside you.

That's it.

There's nothing he can give me more.

Everything else is just gravy.

The meat is inside.

Where's the beef? Inside.

That was an old George Bush slogan.

As a senior, don't worry about it.

Most of you were not born.

Ezekiel 16-8. We'll stop with that.

Ezekiel 16-8.

Ezekiel 16-8.

Ezekiel 16-8.

Later I passed by.

When I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love,

I spread the corner of my garment over you

and covered your naked body.

I gave you my solemn oath

and entered into a covenant with you, declared the sovereign lord,

and you became mine.

It's a story of retrieving Judah and Israel back.

So at the end of the day,

what is his delight?

If he gives us himself,

what does he want in return?

What is his delight? What would he want?

It's very simple.

Display of his nature

through his excellent nature, his brilliant nature,

through my life and praise.

Go to 1 Peter 2, 9 and 10,

1 Peter 2, 9 and 10.

1 Peter 2, 9 and 10.

But you are a chosen people,

a royal priesthood,

a holy nation,

God's special possession.

Crazy, eh?

Let's look at that again.

But you are a chosen people,

a royal priesthood.

A royal priesthood.

A holy nation.

God's special possession.

Why?

So that you may declare the praises of him

who called you out of darkness

into his wonderful light.

Once you were not a people,

but now you are the people of God.

Once you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

He wants to display his nature through me.

That's his payback.

And so when you think like this guys,

everything changes.

Take prayer for instance.

Take prayer for instance, eh?

When you pray, what if you changed praying to

I need this, oh I hope God will give it.

God you said it in your word.

There's a promise attached.

Oh God, you are faithful.

I will trust in you.

What if he went to Isaiah, sorry,

what if he went to Psalm 50, verse 15,

Psalms 50:15

and taught along the lines of

Psalm 50, verse 15,

Psalms 50:15

which says,

In call unto me in the day of trouble,

and I will rescue you

so that you can give me the glory.

What if he thought of prayer like that?

Every time we ask for something,

we pause for a second and think about

how he wants us to ask.

And then the only chief aim

in praying is

I want you to get the glory.

John 14, 13 talks about it

where it says

that thus far you have not been

asked, but ask, and I'll do it for you.

Ask in my name and I'll do it for you

so that I can,

so that my father in heaven is glorified.

Call unto me in the day of trouble

so that I can rescue you

so that you can glorify me.

What if prayer, that was the reason for prayer.

So that you can glorify me.

What if that became the chief reason for prayer?

Because we are saying

that the chief end of God

is to glorify, the chief end of man

is to glorify God.

And then when you pray like that,

look what happens in John 16, verse 14.

John 16:14

It says that I am saying

these things to you, that you ask me

for things in prayer so that when you are answered,

your joy may be complete.

Crazy. On one hand you end up

glorifying him, on the other hand

your joy is made complete.

Everything God does always has

the element of joy in it.

The ultimate purpose of God

in all his ways is

purpose of God in all his works

is joy. We talked about it

last week. If you are faithful

what does he say? Enter into

my joy.

In Nehemiah 8, what does

it say is your strength? The joy

of the Lord is my strength.

There is nothing he does

that does not have

its ultimate purpose as

joy. And then we realize, oh

shucks, we've been missing it by a mile.

Not John 16, verse 14, John 16, verse 24.

John 16:14 John 16:24

Which brings us to the question.

Do you have any questions before we bring it to the question?

Any questions?

No?

So how do you enjoy God?

How do

you enjoy

God?

How do you enjoy God?

Just think of Eden, eh?

You have this intoxicating fragrance

of God every time you would come.

And there would be this love and passion as the

three of them walked together.

And then there is the beauty of

the newly minted

world that they would witness.

And there was this perfect relationship

with the father. That's how they

walked. And that's why God is taking us back.

That's why he's taking us back.

Let me say that again.

They would walk with him,

the three of them, with great passion and

love, with the intoxicating

aroma of Yahweh in the place,

with the beauty

of newly minted creation

every day.

With a perfect relationship with the

father. These are things the

Bible says, if you hope

for these things, it will

purify you. The Bible says that.

Christians make themselves

pure. They purify themselves when they

remember what God is calling them

towards.

This purifies you. How does it purify

you? Because you begin to realize that

this temporal life that we live

must be lived a certain way

because there is another life waiting

which is oranges to oranges. How

I live here, I will be rewarded

there.

Passing phase.

If you and I can enjoy worship like

we did today, what will it be like?

What will

we do? How will we

break away? There won't

be any teaching there, thank God.

Because we will know him just as he knows us.

And yet we will not know

him because he is infinite. So there's

always something new to know.

It will be water

to a thirsty soul. You will

joins David in Psalm

63 saying, my body

longs for you, my soul longs for you

like a dry and weary land without

no water. You will

long for that.

But what if we can begin to taste that

long for it and show people what

they're missing out on? Man,

you eat. No, not

important. By the way,

try the big arch at McDonald's.

It is good.

It's only for a season

so grab it before it goes. And you'll

have to grab it with both hands, yeah?

So how do you enjoy God?

How do you enjoy God?

The enjoyment of God

it's 9.99 plus tax if

it's not a combo.

How do you enjoy God? The enjoyment of

God, the first

thing we need to understand, guys,

it is critical. We think it's such

an easy der, but it's not. The enjoyment

of God is the enjoyment of

a person.

You have to think of

him as a person.

Sometimes when you

think of God, we don't give him

personhood. We don't give

him personhood.

We think Pawan can cry

and that God can't.

But the same

time when Pawan cried, Jesus cried over Lazarus.

It's important to give God personhood.

And if you don't give him personhood,

it's wrong because he is a person.

So the enjoyment of God

begins with the

recognition of his

personhood. And if he is a real

person, then how would

you talk to him? How would you talk to him?

If you for a second thought of him

as God the person,

how would you

deal with him?

I mean, how in the world do we enjoy

the person of God? Well, then the question

is, how do you

do

How do you

How do you

How do you

Brandon, how do you

Brandon, how do you

You can come and fix it.

So here's a question.

How do you enjoy a friend?

How do you enjoy a father?

How do you enjoy a lover?

How?

How do you enjoy a friend?

How do you enjoy a father?

How do you enjoy a lover?

Time?

What else?

When you meet a friend, does it happen immediately?

Here's the thing, guys.

Everything we are teaching right now, we want right away by this evening.

And it ain't gonna happen.

Neither a friend, nor a father, nor a lover can get to a place where you delight, exult,

a head over heels, can't get away from them.

It doesn't happen overnight, but it happens day by day by day till it is impossible to

break away.

Sorry?

Sure.

It's working?

Okay.

Thanks, Brandon.

How do you enjoy a friend?

Pause for a moment, okay?

How do you enjoy a friend?

Think of your best friend.

You love hanging out with the person.

You are sometimes disappointed if you don't, if you find that they're not able to come

because of work.

You know the things they like.

You sometimes do things before they come that will please them.

How do you enjoy a father?

I used to love going and helping my dad shop because I'd have to carry the bags, but as

a reward for carrying the bags, man, I'd get anything I want.

I'd love sitting on the back of a scooter going for rides because he would tell me stories.

He would just regale me with stories.

I love being with my father because once we had an argument or if he punished me, he'd

come and I'd pretend I was sleeping and he'd pretend that I was sleeping and he'd run his

hand through my hair and I'd love it and we would just pretend that I was sleeping.

And then once he knew that I was fine, he'd get up and go.

What is it?

How do you enjoy a lover?

How do you enjoy a lover?

Do you like it when she walks into the room?

Are you sitting there on your sofa saying, huh, so you walked into the room or do you

jump and grab her?

Do you hold her?

Do you want to not let her go?

How do you enjoy a lover?

You think this doesn't apply to God?

This is why we struggle with the personhood of God.

You better make sure you get this right to me.

See, as I begin to say this, in all our minds is one thought, this is so impractical.

How does it work with God?

Why?

Because we do not think of God in terms of personhood.

We do not think how he is affected when you do not let him go.

We do not understand the Song of Songs, which was written by two lovers, let's say Solomon

to the Shulamite woman, but was meant to be a picture of the bride and the bridegroom

of God and you.

We don't think of personhood.

And as long as we don't think of personhood, how do we even get to enjoy the person of

God?

When your spouse leaves, how do you feel?

Is your heart rejoicing?

Finally, she's left or does it hurt, hoping she'll come back soon?

How do you feel when she's in pain?

How do you feel when she's in pain?

Can you handle it?

Most men can't.

What about him?

How do you think he feels about your pain?

Hey, we are made in his image.

He's not made in our image.

He is like this and so we have become like this.

How do you enjoy a friend?

How do you enjoy a father?

How do you enjoy a lover?

If you've had neither, if you don't have a friend and only have a cat, if you don't have

a father or didn't know a father's love and if you don't have a lover yet, then imagine

it.

Imagine it because there's nobody here who cannot imagine it.

Any questions?

No?

Okay.

Song of Songs, Chapter 2.

Song of Solomon 2 · chapter mention

Verse 10 to 18.

Okay.

Song of Songs, Chapter 2.

Song of Solomon 2 · chapter mention

Verse 10 to 18.

Okay.

Song of Songs, Chapter 2.

Song of Solomon 2 · chapter mention

Verse 10 to 18.

I'm reading from the ESV.

Ready?

Beautiful, eh?

Listen to this.

My beloved speaks and says to me, arise my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

Guys, get used to being, when it comes to God, get used to being the bride, eh?

Don't go gender funny on God.

Yeah?

You can be all guy you want, but you can't be all guy you want.

You can't be all guy you want.

You can't be all guy you want.

You can be all guy you want with your wife or with someone you love, but when it comes

to God, you're the bride.

And sometimes you have to listen to how he speaks because one of the complaints I hear

is all these songs are about love.

You know, men aren't able to connect with God because the songs are sissy.

The songs are not sissy.

Men just don't know how to express their blooming feelings.

How do you come up with a macho song only for men?

It'll be Tim the Toolman's Taylor.

Tim the Toolman what?

Taylor, right?

Oh, ho, ho, hallelujah.

Song of Songs, chapter 2, verse 10 to 18.

My beloved speaks to me.

Imagine him saying this to you in the morning, eh?

My beloved speaks to me and says to me,

Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.

For behold, the winter is past.

The rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth and the time of singing has come.

And the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land.

You can change the words.

The fig tree ripens its figs and the vines are in blossom.

The gift holds fragrance.

Arise, my love, my beautiful one, come away.

Oh, my dove, in the clefts of the rock and the crannies of the cliff,

let me see your face.

Let me hear your voice.

For your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.

And then it goes on to say,

Let's get rid of everything that has gotten in the way.

Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards.

For our vineyards are in blossom.

And then he goes on to say,

My beloved is mine and I am his.

And he grazes among the lilies.

Until the day breathes and the shadows flee.

Turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.

Gosh, man.

We can say this to women.

You probably would hear these lines in a movie when I was growing up.

Today the words have changed.

But that doesn't matter.

Change the words.

Make the context modern.

But please understand that just like you would speak to someone you love,

is the way God speaks to you.

And then expects a conversation back.

And are we capable?

My chief aim is to glorify God by enjoying him.

And at the end of the day guys, what is love?

The overflow of joy is love.

The overflow of joy is love.

The overflow of joy is love.

If you begin to be joyful in God, it is impossible for you not to love others.

The overflow of joy in God is what love is.

You can imagine the guy when he got healed and started leaping and praising God.

That guy must have been kissing everybody on the way.

The overflow of joy in God is love.

Yes, I think that's the point.

The essence of enjoying God is delight, which is an admiring,

desirous, exulting love.

If you don't know what that means and if you're a mother,

think of your baby boy or baby girl.

If you know what that means and you're a newly married couple or an only married couple,

or you are going to get married,

think of how this works for you.

Why do people enjoy something?

Because they absolutely delight in it.

Absolutely delight in it.

What does delight look like?

It is absolute admiration or adoration, being desirous,

as in what took you so long?

And then exulting, as in it's not just so exuberant, so completely abandoned.

I love that song.

That's why I sing it every opportunity I get it.

I stand, my arms high and I love the next line,

my heart abandoned.

That's exulting.

Abandoned.

Guys, these words must become part of our vocabulary with the Father,

with the Son, with the Holy Spirit.

It must become part of our vocabulary.

And if it is not, we like babies must learn the language

because this language truly reflects who you are

because he made you like this.

It has become alien because of the environment we've grown up in,

but it is alien because of the environment we've grown up in.

The environment we've grown up in, but it is you,

especially if you're born again, it is you.

That hulk of a man, Pawan, you should have seen him yesterday,

was like blooming clay.

That's what happens when someone loves someone,

someone's enjoying someone, someone delights in someone.

Any questions?

I can't hear you.

Just like you would enjoy a girl.

You get that?

Oh, come on, you get that.

I can prove it.

You don't want me to prove it.

How do you enjoy a girl?

The moment you see her, you think to yourself,

oops, my heart just had paroxymal atrial tachycardia,

which is basically what happens when the sinus rhythm is interrupted

by a...

That happens first, and then you think to yourself,

gosh, I hope no one noticed.

And then the next thing you know, you're glancing at her,

you're looking at her, and you're hoping she doesn't notice

that you looked at her.

And then one day she notices, and then you turn away

and you start looking at the speaker like it's some beautiful thing.

Familiar, right?

As a person, we are talking about this person called a girl.

It is... See, this is why...

Because we do not understand God as a personhood.

We can't see the kindness of God that I experienced this morning in some way.

I can't see the sudden embrace of God.

I don't understand what it is to be embraced by the tangible love of God.

We think love is some kind of,

he has saved me, therefore he loves me.

There have been days when you are wrecked by the love of God.

I remember having done something really gross,

and now don't start imagining, really gross,

and then I'm thinking to myself, how am I going to get out of this?

And all I hear is God saying,

hey, go check the cover of the New Yorker magazine

on March such and such a date.

I'm thinking to myself, really?

And so I go check the New Yorker magazine cover,

and it is of a man sweeping the place clean,

making it shiny bright. That's the cover.

That is tangible love.

I see that happen to me every week.

People here see that happen to them every week.

Some little thing that God does.

He's been doing this since the beginning of eternity.

Why is he asking, where are you hiding?

Adam, Adam, where are you?

What's the real cry?

Adam, Adam, come to me.

I can get this fixed.

Because we don't think of him as a person,

we think that love is salvation.

Well, then he could have killed me after getting me saved

because I could have gotten to heaven immediately.

But his intent was,

can you now experience what it is to be loved by me?

Can you know what a father is?

You didn't have a good father?

Well, I'll show you what a good father is.

It is tangible, guys.

The very word tangible comes because God made Himself human.

And now the same God begins to live in me.

We talked about this last week.

How do we enjoy God?

How do we begin the process of enjoying God?

By seeing Him.

Where do we see Him?

In the word.

How do we see Him in the word?

By hearing the word.

How do we hear the word?

By reading it and listening to the Spirit,

the voice of the Spirit.

This is why Peter stands and says in 1 Peter,

we were there when we saw His majesty.

And we now know He is real because He lives in us.

So just as you would think, Abhishek, I'm not trying to...

I mean, I'm kind of trying to make fun of you,

but that's not the main intent.

The main intent is just like you would enjoy falling in love.

You have to learn how to enjoy falling in love

with an invisible God who is absolutely tangible.

And it is...

The reason we don't have this is because we do not know.

How?

And the reason we won't get it tomorrow

because everybody nowadays wants to get everything tomorrow.

This ain't an instant God.

He's been called the Ancient of Days, and there's a reason.

It's going to take time.

But we've got to speak this language.

We've got to recognize His personhood

and we've got to understand that what He does is tangible.

Are you moved during worship?

Sorry, that wasn't a rhetorical question.

Are you moved during worship?

Yes? Is it because of Thuney's face?

The only one who's moved by Thuney's face is Anilay.

Bless the Lord, you found a good wife.

But the rest of us are not moved by Thuney's face

or Sere's guitar playing.

We are moved because Thuney's face is not moved

because we suddenly know that God is in the place

and He's doing something to you.

What is He doing to you?

Can you define it?

Could you describe it?

No.

Who is this?

Jacob.

She's something else, Jacob.

Ever since she's come into my life,

I don't know, she's totally messed me up.

She's changed me.

I love her, Jacob.

Who's this?

It's either Don or Derek, right?

My God, these were feelingless guys when I knew them.

Now they're blooming, overflowing with feelings

about their wives.

How does this happen?

And I said, they're thinking, oh, I lost a friend.

This is tangible, guys.

God is like that.

Please believe me because this is what He says in the Word.

Don't believe me because I'm trying to convince you.

This is how He is in the Word.

Experiment with it.

Explore this.

You got four months, meaning till the end of the year

and then you got another year, just in case you thought.

Okay, guys, if we don't get this, then here's what happens.

Doing is always, doing is the fruit.

Love is the root.

Joy is the lifeblood.

This is the case in human relationships and with God.

Doing is the root.

Ask Aaron to take out the trash.

Doing, he may do, but is there joy in the lifeblood

that surges through him and he takes out the trash?

Absolutely not.

Does he feel particularly loving towards ready?

No.

But doing is the root.

Sorry, doing is the fruit.

Love is the root.

Joy is the lifeblood.

And we got to get this right.

You know, we hear this line, right?

If you love me, you will obey my commandments.

How we think of this is not, we think of it as,

I'll phrase it exactly right,

so we get the gist of how we think.

Loving me is keeping my commands,

is how we hear it.

But what Jesus is saying is,

if you love me,

you will keep my commands.

What a difference, eh?

What's first?

We think God is saying loving me is keeping my commands.

That's a doing.

What came before that?

The root, and what is the root?

If you love me, you will keep my commands.

It's very natural.

And then he goes on to say, after saying that, he says,

if you keep my commands,

beautiful how the logic works,

if you keep my commands,

you will remain

intimately

in my love.

And then he says,

if you remain in my love,

your joy will be full.

What a virtuous cycle, eh?

Look at this.

He is not saying loving me is keeping my commands.

He is saying, if you love me, Jacob, you will keep my commands.

If you keep my commands, you will remain intimately in my love.

If you remain intimately in my love, your joy will be full.

Beautiful, eh?

Let me end.

Joy does not blind us or numb us

to daily weeping,

to suffering, to brokenness around us.

Like in the midst of worship, why is he crying?

Does that mean he's lost his joy?

Does it mean he's sad? No.

In the midst of worship, in the midst of enjoying God,

one can remember one's mother, father, brother, sister,

friend, husband, how weep and suffer.

Joy doesn't blind us or numb us

to daily weeping, to suffering, to brokenness.

This is why that song,

Yes, Lord, Yes, makes so much sense.

2 Corinthians 6.10,

hard-pressed but rejoicing.

Sometimes laughing, sometimes leaping.

Other times weeping but unshakably satisfied with God.

That's what Remy was saying about Wilson's wife.

One last thought.

The one who brings us joy

is the Holy Spirit.

The one who brings joy

is the Holy Spirit.

It's not the spring of Christ,

it's the spring of Jesus.

It's the spring of the Lord.

Spirit. One who brings us joy is the Holy Spirit. He is the person of the Holy Spirit.

Again, we can't think of him as a ghost. He is the person of the Holy Spirit. One of the

things that happened with English translating, early English translations is we would call

him the Holy Ghost and so he'd become like Casper. But the intent was not Holy Ghost,

the intent was a person. He's a person. He's in a wisp that comes in and goes, he's a person.

So he's a person of the Holy Spirit. But strangely enough, he's also the spirit of the Father.

Don't try to understand this. And he's also the spirit of Christ according to the word.

And he has only one intent. Can I glorify Christ? Can I include you? Can I also have

you participate in the joy and love of the Godhead? Can I help you delight in the Father

and Son as I delight in them and they delight in me? We'll end with that. Just think of that

for a second guys. He's the Holy Spirit. So there's a person of the Holy Spirit. He's a person.

There's a person living inside me. There's a person. He's got the Holy Spirit. He's a person.

I must relate to him as a person. I must understand he grieves. I must understand he gets disappointed.

I must understand that he's hilariously happy. I understand that he likes my jokes. Some of them.

He's the person of the Holy Spirit, but he's also the spirit of the Father. And he's the spirit of

Christ. And go to the last line. One of the things he wants to do is, can I help you, Derek, delight

in the Father and the Son as I delight in them and they delight in me? There's this joy between

Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Three distinct persons, one God, but three distinct persons.

The Father loves the Son. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.

The Son adores the Father, thinks highly of the Father. Everything he does, he says,

my Father, my Father, my Father. Matthew chapter eleven, that's what he's doing. I'm saying this

just so in your hearing you understand that everything I have is his and everything he has

is mine. And this comes out of a unique Father-Son relationship and that's why it's a unique Father-Son

cooperation. Those are the words used in the message. Just like this. Here is a Father who

dotes and enjoys his Son. You want to know how a Father can enjoy a Son and a Son can enjoy the

Father? Watch. That is how real our God is. You want to watch how Lenny put her face into the

other guy's chest and so weeping there for an entire song. Everybody is seeing the goodness of

God and she's only thinking of the goodness of him. You want to see what it is to enjoy,

how lovers enjoy, how Father's sons enjoy? Look at this. This is absurd. This is church, excuse me.

This is how real it is. He is a person. He is a person and therefore the Holy Spirit is saying,

hey, can I take you and show you how the Father delights in me and I delight in the Father? How

I delight in the Son and how Jesus delights in me? Jesus at one point says, the Holy Spirit will

come and look at the words he says. Just look at the relationship. How convoluted and how simple

it is. He's saying, hey, I want you to know that when the Holy Spirit comes, he will lead you into

all truth. He'll take all the truths I'm saying and he will show it to you. That's one verse.

The next verse is, the reason I'm saying he'll take all the truths from me and show it to you

is because all the Father's truths are mine. And you see this intricate connection between

Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One of the joys of the Spirit of God is, Nick, can I bring you

into that joy? Can I bring you into that oneness? Can I bring you into that wonder? That's the last

sentence I want to say. This is impossible without childlike wonder. What we are talking about now

is impossible without childlike wonder. You know guys, if you have children, may one of your parents

have the ability to rediscover the joy of wonder. Otherwise, your child will learn everything but

will not learn what it is to enjoy things around them because you're busy taking them to piano

school and then to tuitions and then to soccer and the joy of wonder, discovering the joy of

wonder. This, what we've talked about, is impossible unless a return to childlike wonder. The more

intellectual you are, the more deliverance you need. That is meant as half joke but half serious.

The more childlike I am, the more I can explore this. The personhood of God.

How's it going to affect your prayer tomorrow?