Ultimate Joy

Introduction

Importance of context when reading Scripture:

ILLUST - This past week I was running on the treadmill and glanced up at the tv on my right - saw someone spraying the roots of their hair with wa can of spray to get rid of the gray. I glanced back down then back up in time to see the Sherwin Williams logo slide across the screen. For a moment, I connected the two commercials and thought Sherwin Williams was now selling spray paint for your hair! ( I may have been oxygen deprived)

I’d like to read the passage, briefly explain the context, hone into one truth, expound it with biblical theology.

Isaiah 5:71-2 (The Living Bible)

The good men perish; the godly die before their time, and no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to realize that God is taking them away from evil days ahead. 2 For the godly who die shall rest in peace.

Isaiah 57:1–2 (ESV) 1 The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; 2 he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.

While God knows, it seems the righteous person dies without anyone knowing because there is so much difficulty and evil around

Isaiah 57:3–5

“3 But you, draw near, sons of the sorceress, offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman. 4 Whom are you mocking? Against whom do you open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, the offspring of deceit, 5 you who burn with lust among the oaks, under every green tree, who slaughter your children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?”

The Context

Isaiah prophet to Judah (Israel and Judah split)

— Isaiah prophesied during the reigns and reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah (2 Kings)

— may have also prophesied during the reign of Ahaz or Manasseh

— Ahaz - burned his son as an offering, changed the altar of the temple to match a pagan king’s altar

— Manasseh also burned his son as an offering, used fortune-tellers, mediums, necromancers. Provoked the Lord to anger

— Manasseh “shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another.”

Isaiah 57:13–19 (ESV) 13 When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. 14 And it shall be said, “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way.” 15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. 16 For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. 17 Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. 18 I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, 19 creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near,” says the Lord, “and I will heal him.

Isaiah is speaking to the people who are are not trusting in God. Instead, they have turned to idols to save them.

God is good in life and death.

The righteous man perishes

— annihiliate, destroy, ruin

— comes on quickly

The impression of dying too soon.

— the car accident, the child with cancer, the sudden illness or injury.

— Doesn’t seem right (it isn’t). We have this way of thinking — When I do good things, good things should happen to me.

— but that is not always our experience in life, is it?

“No one lays it to heart” - in Isaiah’s day no one was really all that concerned that evil was winning and the righteous were perishing. This shows the depravity of the nation at that time.

I want us to see that even in the face of tragedy, there is still grace.

Grace in the gathering, timing, and destination.

Gathering

— “taken away” is same phrase as to gather as in death

Genesis 25:8 ESV

8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.

Moses

Deuteronomy 32:50 ESV

50 And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people,

Timing

God to King Hilkiah through Isaiah because he humbled himself:

2 Kings 22:20 ESV

20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’ ” And they brought back word to the king.

We don’t have God’s perspective, but this passage at least gives the idea that

ILLUST - what if i saw a be on you and, knowing you are deathly allergic to bees, I smack you to spare you anaphylactic shock

— Imagine I walk up to you and shove you with all my might - you fall and scrape your hands and legs. You might be upset with me until you realize I had pushed you out of the way of the falling tree.

Destination

“He enters peace”

— Peace = shalom - not just the absence of difficulty — it is the presence of wholeness.

— likened to rest in bed

IILUST - two kinds of people in the world, those who climb into bed to get the proper amount of sleep, and those who see bedtime as a reward - they climb in and giggle, and wriggle down with the blankets.

Many times throughout Scripture, death is likened to sleep

All of the above only makes sense when we understand the truth underlying:

The Truth

For the believer, death is not the ultimate tragedy

“But did you die?” We tend to see death as the end - the limit - the everything is fine unless it ends with death.

For many that may be true.

For those who do not have the assurance of salvation this is definitely true.

For those who are sure of their salvation, death is NOT the ultimate tragedy.

Though it may have come about by calamity, it is not the ultimate tragedy.

Think about how you might live if you did not fear death!

ILLUST - it would be like Mario Kart

— The way I drive in Mario Kart is NOTHING like I drive in real life. Why? Because I have nothing to fear in Mario Kart. I fall of the edge, I return blinking to the middle of the screen. I drive fearless.

I’m NOT saying we should all start trying to take our cars sideways out of the parking lot today.

I AM saying the way we view death will change the way we live life.

For the believer, death is not the ultimate tragedy. However,

For the unbeliever, life is not the ultimate reality.

There is a life and death following our time here on earth

**DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU WHEN YOU DIE?**

YOU CAN!

The entrance to heaven is NOT a scale - did you do more good than bad?

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

It is a GATE

John 10:7–10 ESV

7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Trust in Jesus TODAY! Is this YOU?

For the believer, death is not the ultimate tragedy because resurrection is the ultimate reality.

God, the good Creator will fix all that is wrong with this world and with your body.

Early Christians were ridiculed for thinking that God would want to resurrect our bodies. The thinking was that the body was bad and a person’s spirit was good, so the purpose of death was to escape the body.

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 ESV

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:4 ESV

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

1 Corinthians 15:11 ESV

11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Paul gives the analogy of a seed that dies and then grows.

Philippians 3:20–21 ESV

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

To only live in this life only is a true tragedy. To face tragedy in this life only leads to true joy

For the believer, death is not the ultimate tragedy because heaven is the ultimate destiny.

Where do you feel most at home?

Heaven is Home

If Satan is unable to keep us from going home when we die, we would love nothing more than for us to be

unsure heaven is really our home

unsure that we would rather be home

ILLUST - What would you do if I told you I bought you a home in Hawaii all moving expenses paid for you, your family, and the closest of your friends and family. In addition, the all expenses paid are forever? Would you go?

Heaven is the best of Creation.

— not earth

— Heaven is not wispy clouds

Excitement for heaven creates perseverance on earth.

ILLUST - slow work traffic on a Friday is much less irritating than traffic on a Monday

— Ever wake up and forget what day it is? Once your brain catches up and you remember it is Friday (or Saturday) — think about that relief.

For the believer, death is not the ultimate tragedy because Jesus is our ultimate joy.

Think of the person that brings you the most joy - you feel at home with them. They know you the most and love you the best. You are safe and at home.

Remember that person is a sinner. Jesus is NOT a sinner.

No earthly saviors.

Is Jesus your ultimate joy?

Philippians 1:18–26 ESV

18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

The ultimate joy of heaven is not in the fulfillment of all our desires, but in the fulfillment of our greatest relationship.

The only way that death could be the ultimate tragedy would be if you see this Life as offering ultimate fulfillment

Sort of like the idols in Isaiah‘s day 

For Paul, he says for me to live is Christ and die is gain

This is how to not be disappointed in life. It is to aim yourself at the ultimate purpose of life with your eyes on the ultimate joy of eternity.

Make sure you’re saved - and you’ll be safe

Make heaven your home - and you’ll be happy

Make Christ your joy - ask the Spirit for help

Make his mission your own - and you’ll find purpose 

2)

Romans 8:18–25 ESV

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

1)

Romans 8:18–25 ESV

19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

In C.S. Lewis’s The Last Battle (the seventh and final book of The Chronicles of Narnia), Aslan explains, “The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” Lewis continues,

And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. (210–11)