THE PURSUIT OF JOY

Introduction

Jeremiah 31:31–34 ““Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.””

Ezekiel 36:25–27 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

Beatitude means “blessedness”. It refers to the “blessed are” statements in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed means “happy”, “blissful”, “fortunate”, or “well off”.

See Psalm 1:1-6...

Looking for Joy in All the Wrong Places

Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

Isaiah 29:16 “You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?”

“Q: What is the chief end of man? A: Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” — Westminster Shorter Catechism (1646-1647)

See Ecclesiastes 2:1-11...

Solomon had power like we can only dream of. Because he had that kind of power, he was able to test every pleasure imaginable. He tried to seek pleasure in alcohol. He experimented with folly, or foolishness. He made great works: houses, vineyards, gardens, and parks. He planted fruit trees and pools to water the trees. He was seeking pleasure in these great projects and their beauty. He had many slaves and servants. He didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to do. His slaves were there to fulfill his every desire. He had greater possessions of herds and flocks than any who had been before him in Jerusalem. He had more silver and gold than he could possibly ever spend. In one year, Solomon received 666 talents of gold, which is about 25 tons. That is over 1 billion dollars. And that was just a portion of his income. He had other sources that 1 Kings 10 mentions, but doesn’t list. That same chapter mentioned that silver was as plentiful as stones in Solomon’s kingdom. He had male and female singers. So he had his own personal entertainers. Not only that, but he got many concubines. As a matter of fact, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He could literally be with a different woman every night for almost 3 years. It goes on to say that whatever his eyes desired, he did not keep from them. And after having all of these possessions and pleasures, he said it was all vanity, or empty and pointless.

Luke 12:16–21 “And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.””

At the time of Jesus, there were quite a few religious groups among the Jewish people. Each one of them were seeking happiness, fulfillment, and the Lord’s approval through their religion. The Pharisees believed that those things were found through legalism and tradition. The Sadducees believed it was found through liberalism and philosophy. The Essenes believed it was found through self-denial and separation from the world. The Zealots were basically assassins who were trying to overthrow Rome. They desired freedom from Roman rule. So to the Pharisee, happiness was found in going back to the old ways. To the Sadducee, they believed it was found in getting away from the past and modernizing, or turning to liberalism. The Essenes sought it by isolating themselves and retreating from the world. And the Zealots sought it by trying to revolt and overthrow Rome. The great tragedy is this: their religion might have given them a purpose and direction in life, but it could never bring ultimate joy and fulfillment that Christ is offering here.

The True Source of Joy

Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Matthew 13:44-46 ““The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Habakkuk 3:17-19 “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.”

Psalm 73:25-26 “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”