Good evening, everybody. You guys pray for Mike. He’s one of our teaching pastors. He is in India with Brian, one of our interns and Pastor Tim, our worship guy’s down leading his service in the south end, so we get Aaron and his team this week. Nice to have you guys.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Am I the only dork that wore green? Is that what happened?

(Laughter)

Right on, brother. I appreciate the backup.

(Laughter)

I’ll tell you guys the story of St. Patrick and then we’ll get into the topic tonight, which is pleasure. I was going to do food, and by the time I was done with my sermon, it was about a six or seven hour sermon.

(Laughter)

So, I just decided to do pleasure, just back up and do a little portion of it, and then, so it’s down to a two hour sermon. You’re welcome.

(Laughter)

St. Patrick actually was a man who loved God. It’s an amazing story historically. I’ve got some books and some websites recommended at the end of your notes. Patrick was about 16 years of age around the year of 430 A.D. The Pax Romana, the Roman peace, had, basically, crumbled. The roads and the infrastructure had become quite dangerous in trying to travel through the Roman Empire. It was likely, if you were traveling, that you would get robbed. Not only would they steal your stuff, they would put you in slavery and haul you away. That’s exactly what happened to Patrick.

At about 16 years of age, he was taken into slavery and hauled off into, basically, into what we now know as Ireland. There, he was put to work by a warlord who had an enormous pig farm. And this warlord had surrounding his property large stakes in the ground and affixed atop, the heads of the stakes were the heads of his enemies, just posted, sort of mounted around his property, which on some days, that sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it?

(Laughter)

What happened then was he was forced to take care of the pigs full time and he was sent out, literally, on the property out into the wilderness and he was kept from human contact for months at a time, and would spend the majority of his time by himself, separated from other human beings. He had a marginal, very nominal Christianity prior to this event. It’s debatable as to whether or not he actually was a Christian but, as you can imagine, this greatly enhanced his prayer life. And the prayer life kept him from going full blown nuts, being by himself full time. So, he began praying to the Lord and he records that it was not uncommon for him to pray 100 prayers in the morning and 100 prayers in the evening, and pray hundreds of times throughout the day to the Lord. His faith grew. He grew. This went on for about six years until he was about 22 years of age. At that point, God gave him a dream that there was a ship that had docked a few hundred miles away and that if he, literally, ran for his life and got there, that he could board the ship and get his freedom, and go back home to where he was from.

And so, he did that. He began walking and he made the 200 mile journey, in large part on foot. The ship was there, just as God had promised and he got aboard that ship and, ultimately, made his way back. When he got there, he had an experience shortly thereafter, sort of like Paul and Peter did in the New Testament where God spoke to him and said, “Now, I’m gonna send you back because those people don’t know Jesus. You need to be a missionary. You need to go there and preach the Gospel. You need to plant churches.” So, he went right back to Ireland where he was from, where he’d been taken slavery for six years. And through that work of St. Patrick and his faithfulness, and God’s faithfulness to him, thousands of churches were planted. The entire isles became largely Christian, and there was an explosion of the Gospel that was one of the greatest in the history of western civilization. It’s an amazing read.

How we got from there to green beer I’m not sure.

(Laughter)

I’m not exactly sure how we got there, but I encourage you guys at this time of St. Patrick’s Day to do a little work on your brother in Christ, and do a little reading. There’s some good things that I’ve listed there for ‘ya.

The transition I wanna make is that Patrick, when dealing with the Romans – excuse me, when dealing with the Celts – was dealing with people that were morally much, much different than the Romans he was accustomed to. These were people who fought, drank, had lots of sex outside of marriage, gorged themselves on meat. These were not really moral, typical, suburban, minivan type folks. They were Vikings and they were very violent in their ways. They were very committed to kin and clan, but if you weren’t kin and clan, you were in serious trouble with them.

And just to give you an example of how extreme these people were, when you would go to war normally in that day, it was almost like the concept of a British military battle whereby you would line up and there would be commanders, and there’s rules of engagement and everyone marches in a line that’s very orderly and you go kill each other in a very systematic and organized fashion.

The Celts didn’t go to war that way. They would, sometimes, show up a few days early for their battles against their enemies and first thing they would do, they’d build a big bonfire and they would just get absolutely lit drunk, just as drunk as you can get. They would gorge themselves on meat. They would all have sex in the mud. And then pass out and sleep there. And they would do this for two or three days. Their enemy would show up to go to war against them and, often times, literally would have to wake them up to go to war against them.

(Laughter)

“You guys need to wake up. We need to go to war now.” So, then what would happen is the Celts would sort of wake up from their drunken stupor and their hangover or still drunk, and they would go to war, but not in a systematic fashion. Half of them were still naked. They wouldn’t even take time to get dressed to go to war. You know you got a real tough guy on your hands if he’ll fight you naked.

(Laughter)

Rule number one, if you show up for a fight and he’s got no pants on, go home, right?

(Laughter)

You’re definitely gonna get beat that day, if he’s got that much confidence.

(Laughter)

And they would just go to – they would just pick up rocks, sticks, scream bloody murder and just charge at you like a bunch of nut jobs. And, you now, turkey leg in one hand, a stick in the other, no pants on, coming at you screaming and yelling. And so, they, often times, they won a lot of their battles just through sheer intimidation, which that would do it.

(Laughter)

If I saw naked guys were coming at me with turkey legs –

(Laughter)

− I’d be a little concerned about my health.

(Laughter)

And so, when Patrick comes into these people to teach them about Jesus, he does – he can’t say, “Well, hey, all you moral guys that wanna learn how to improve your marriages, come to our Bible study.”

(Laughter)

It’s just not gonna happen. He’s gotta find a creative way to talk to these people about Christ and he had to deal specifically, in large part, with this doctrine of pleasure. These are people who knew how to have a great time. Music, food, sex, dance, song. They knew how to have a great time. And he had to find a way to contextualize the Gospel for them.

It leads into our topic this week. Last week, I dealt with sex. Next week, I’m gonna deal with alcohol. This week, I just wanna back up and give you a Biblical theology of pleasure. My premise is simply this. That God’s people should enjoy their life. In Ecclesiastes 9:9, he tells us, “Enjoy life.” And then, he goes on to explain how to do that. “Enjoy your wife. Enjoy your job. Enjoy your food. Enjoy your drink. Enjoy your God. Enjoy the life that God has given you.” In your notes, as well, Psalm 68:3 says, “But, may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God. May they be happy and joyful.” God’s people are to be marked by happiness and joy.

There’s a reason for this. Ours is a joyous God. God is happy, right? God is happy and God does everything exclusively for his good pleasure. Nehemiah 8:10 says that, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Joy comes from the Lord and it is intended to make God’s people strong. People who enjoy God are very strong. They’re able to resist temptation and discouragement. And they are able to resist opposition because joy makes them strong. People who don’t have joy are very weak. They’re very susceptible to sin. They’re very susceptible to discouragement and trouble often overtakes them. One of the keys to living a life in God that is filled with strength, and vigor, and hope is to begin with joy in him and from him. Ours is a joyous God and he gives us joy.

In addition, we see that that is the purpose for which we have been created. There’s a great book on this called Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, by John Piper. It’s in your notes. He makes this simple point. That we exist for God to get glory. God exists – we exist, rather, to glorify God. And he says the way we do that is by enjoying God. God gets his glory as we enjoy him. We need God. We are contingent beings. We are dependent upon God. We were created to, very much, get our life from God. Paul says as much when he says that our life is hidden in Christ. That’s where life is. Christ is God. There is life in God. Life in Christ. And the Scriptures dictate to us, then, that God is most glorified when we enjoy him. And so, we are happiest when God is glorified and when God is glorified, we are happiest in him, and he is most glorified in us, this reciprocity.

He says this in Psalm 16:11, David does. He says, “You have made known to me the path of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Pleasure comes from the right hand of God. It’s that right hand where Christ is now seated in the Heavenlys. That pleasure comes from God.

Let me ask you this. Does Satan create anything? He doesn’t, okay? It’s important to note that God creates things. Satan perverts them, okay? God creates food. Satan creates gluttony. God creates sex. Satan creates pornography. God creates humor. Satan creates base humor. Satan cannot create anything. He only takes that which his good and contorts it and bends it towards something that is not beautiful. He robs it of its dignity because he separates it from truth and from life and from God. And so, pleasure comes from God. Pleasure, therefore, cannot be bad. Pleasure is a good thing. It depends on whom is doing what thing to whose glory, for what purpose, and in what way. Those are the determining factors that decide, “Is this act of pleasure good or bad?” It depends.

You can walk in on a feast, and you don’t know if it’s a feast or if it’s gluttony. You can walk in on a man and woman together, and you don’t know if they’re married and love each other or if they’re committing adultery. You can walk in on people that are laughing and having a great time, and you don’t know if they’re celebrating God or mocking him. Pleasure comes from the right hand of God and it can be contorted and manipulated by the enemy for his purposes, but it also can be used to God’s glory and our joy. He says as much in Psalm 37:4. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” This is a magnificent verse. What it teaches us is not that if we’re happy Christians, we get anything we want. What it does teach us is that, as we enjoy God, what inevitably happens is that God transforms our heart. Our palette literally changes. Sin that used to taste good doesn’t taste good anymore. Righteousness that used to taste poor, all of a sudden, becomes very tasty. That the palette changes for God’s people.

Some of you, when you became Christians, certain sins just stopped because you just didn’t feel like doing them anymore. They just died because God had changed your heart. And what that means is this. We often have this conflict in our life where we have our desires and our will, and God has his desires and his will, and our wills are at war. As we enjoy God, what happens is the wills between us and God synthesize. That God takes his will, he places it in us so that we get to do exactly what we want to do and that is exactly what God wants us to do because he’s the one who gave us that desire. And so, the key is to delight in God and then your desires will be fine. Jesus says as much in the New Testament. He says, “If you’ll love me, you’ll” what? “You’ll obey my commands.”

Lots of Christians are overly concerned with obedience and under concerned about love. If you love and enjoy God, will that change what it is that you want to do and do? Yes. Yes, it will. Now, will focusing on obedience cause you to be obedient? No. Focusing on Christ and enjoying him will cause you to be obedient because in that process, as you’re delighting in him, your heart will be changed. Augustine summarized it this way. He said, “Love God and do whatever you please.” If you truly love God, do you get to do what you wanna do? Yes, because God’s will and your will, again, have been unified and your will is God’s will because God has given you his will. There’s not longer this division between you and God, and his will and your will. This makes life enjoyable. This makes life fun. This enables you to dance, and sing, and eat, and enjoy yourself, and laugh a little bit because now you have been given God’s grace. We were created for this. We were created to be imitators of God. To enjoy the life he’s given, to enjoy the senses that he has put in our body, the five physical senses. To enjoy his creation. And to really celebrate all things to his glory and our joy.

Now, the problem is that we’ve sinned. This all sounds well and good, but you know as well as I do that there is a problem in the human condition that if we tell people, “Just do what you wanna do”, they’ll rob us. And they’ll whack us over the head, and they’ll take our stuff. There’s something seriously wrong with the human condition and that is sin. Romans 1:25 explains it as such. It says that, “They exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the creator who is forever praised. Amen.”

What happens is that, because of our sinful condition, what we have a tendency to do is suppress the truth, “Exchange the truth of God for a lie”, Romans says, “And worship created things, rather than the creator.” And in this, what Paul is articulating is that everyone who has ever lived is a worshiper. We all worship. The difference is what or whom we worship. The opposite of Christianity is not atheism. It’s idolatry. Everyone has something or someone that they love, that they are concerned about, that they put their time, and their energy, and their focus, and their passion into. It consumes them. That is your object of worship. What happens, then, is we tend to worship the creation. For some people, it’s nature, the out of doors. It can be a pet. Some cat ladies are like that, right?

(Laughter)

You can worship a pet and that becomes the center and the gravity that holds your whole world together is keeping the pet happy, and hanging out with the pet. Or it can be an experience. It can be sex, food, drugs. It can be a band. It can be an extreme sport. It can be a hobby. For a 16 year old kid, it can be a car. For a 14 year old kid, it could be a videogame. For a 17 year old girl, it can be a boyfriend, or her weight, or her complexion, or her hair. It can be one of any number of things. It could be someone who’s a first time homebuyer and ceases worshiping God because they’re always going to Home Depot and working on the house, and their whole life revolves around that. And the curse is in full effect, and everything keeps breaking. Anything can be worshiped. Okay, you get the point? Anything can be worshiped other than God, things that we care about, devote ourselves to, and focus our entire existence, time, talent and treasure, is to give to that thing. And if it’s less than God or if it’s other than God, it never does satisfy, but we continue to worship.

So, Paul tells us in Colossians 3, “To put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.” Those are ways then we start worshiping things other than God. In our sinfulness it comes out. It comes out in our sex. It comes out in our impurities. In our lusts. In our desires. And in our greed. 2 Peter Chapter 2 says, as well, “For some people, their idea of pleasure” – this is not Biblical pleasure. This is evil pleasure – “is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning. They seduce the unstable. They are experts in greed and a cursed brood.” 2 Timothy 3:4 very simply tidies up this position stating that, “These sorts of people who worship things other than God are lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God.” “Lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God.” Now, if you love God, do you get to enjoy pleasure? Sure. But, are you permitted to enjoy pleasure apart from God or instead of God? No.

And for us, we all find pleasure in different ways. Have you ever seen someone who’s skydived 800 times, or the guy who has the highest score on the arcade game at the tavern near his house because he’s devoted his life to always being number one, and then he brags about it? When you’re not impressed, he thinks it’s because you’re jealous.

(Laughter)

You’re not jealous. You just think he’s dumb.

(Laughter)

Because he stood there for weeks on end trying to be the best at nothing. It’s lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God and that’s the problem. God has created us to be in him and to be with him. And to enjoy him and the life he has given us. And we, as C. S. Lewis has said, are too easily pleased.” We exchange this good life in God for stupid, foolish pleasures. We are far too easily pleased. We settle in for a few trivial pursuits, rather than the God who has created us to enjoy him. And so, what God has done, God has seen us in our condition of lostness, and sin, and folly and death, and God has purposed to do something about that. And there is one reason that the Bible gives why God has done something for us in our condition. And that is exclusively because it pleased him. That’ll be by next point.

My point is simply this. God does whatever pleases him. It’s one of the reasons that God is a happy God. Job says, “No plan of his can be thwarted. That people may sin, but God, ultimately, always gets his way. He bends all things to the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” God always gets his way.

And the Psalms says that, “Our God sits in Heaven and does whatever pleases him.” God does only that which please him. God does not do things while frowning. God does not do things with his hand tied behind his back because we have overpowered him and pressed him to do something that he really wasn’t into. God only does what pleases him and that includes our salvation and the sending of Jesus Christ to die for us. He explains this in Titus 3. He says, “At one time, we too, were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.” Those would be bad pleasures. “We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another, but when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” That’s the key.

When it comes to this issue of pleasure, lots of people are trapped in pleasure. They’re enslaved by their passions and lust. Paul says, “For some people, their God is their stomach.” And some people think, then, “Well, if I stop doing these bad things, if I abstain from them, then I will be a good person, holy and clean, pure and undefiled, acceptable before God. He says, “No, God has not saved us because of the righteous things that we have done. In fact, we have done no righteous things apart from Christ.” We’re told in the Bible that, “Our righteousness as is dirty, filthy, menstrual rags”, which is never a compliment in the Bible for our acts. And where we have been saved is solely by what Jesus has done and, as he says here, “his mercy”, and as he will tell us in a minute, “through the work of the Holy Spirit.” We have sinned, separated ourselves from God. God has come to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he has died for our sin. He has risen, conquering enemies of sin and death. And he gives us this gift of life and it is all his work. So, when you start talking about your righteousness, you have to say things like, “What Jesus has done for me has made me righteous.” You cannot say things like, “Well, because I don’t drink, smoke, chew or vote Democrat, I am a righteous person.” You can’t say that.

And this is important. I thought – see, ‘cause Christians miss this issue of sin. They think, “Pleasure is sinful, so if we don’t enjoy, then we’re holy.” Okay? Some of you were raised in those churches. You say, “Well, what’s a sin?” “Anything you enjoy is a sin. So, if you enjoy it, repent.” Okay? “So, the only things that are acceptable are things I don’t enjoy?” “Yes, because that’ll prove you have a pure motive.” No, a pure motive is to enjoy God. That’s a good, pure motive.

And see, I was told this in high school. This is important for me because when I was in high school, I was 16, 17 years of age. All the kids in the youth groups would come and invite me to their youth group and they’d say, “You need to come to our youth group.” And I’d say, “Why?” They said, “You need to know Jesus.” I said, “Why do I need to know Jesus?” “He’ll forgive you for your sin.” “Okay, what sin?” “You know, sleeping around with your girlfriend, doing drugs, drinking, smoking cigarettes.” “I’ve never done those things. I guess I’m a righteous man, so I don’t need to go to youth group. I don’t need to go to Jesus. I’m fine. I have my own righteousness.” Never done drugs. Never smoked cigarettes, never drank; never drank ‘til last year. We’ll get into that next week. You have driven me to it. We’ll talk about that.

(Laughter)

Most likely to succeed, man of the year, student body president, four year letterman, every prom and tolo, they put a crown on my head. I’m the king of the thing. I’d say, “What sin? I don’t have sin. I’m a good person. Never beat anyone who didn’t deserve it.”

(Laughter)

“I’ve never swore at anyone who hadn’t merited that kind of treatment. I’m a very righteous man. Maybe you need Jesus because you’re very wicked. You drink and you do things you shouldn’t do. Shame, shame, shame. Lack of self control. God’ll be a good crutch for you. As for me, I have no broken legs. I can carry my own weight.” See, I believed that I had my own righteousness. Then, I was reading the Bible and I realized that life apart from God, enjoying things other than God, loving pleasure, even holiness, and piety, and self righteousness, and pride was the worst of all sins. And that I was more wicked than the drunk who was sleeping with his girlfriend because at least he knew he was sinful. He was just being a hypocrite. Me, I even denied that I was sinful.

Paul says, “We were saved, not ‘cause of the righteous things we’ve done. Not ‘cause we did some great things and we put stars on our little chart, but solely because of God’s mercy on our behalf. And he saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs, having the hope of eternal life.”

Isaiah 53:10 talks about “It was the pleasure of the Father to save us through the crushing of the Son.” Isaiah 53:10 says, “It was his will, the Father’s will, to crush him”, Jesus, “to cause him”, Jesus, “to suffer and to pour out his life as an offering for many.” The Father took my sin, placed it on the Son. Punished the Son in my place. And it pleased him to do so. It pleased the Father to crush the Son to save me.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says the same thing where, “God made him Jesus, who knew no sin to become sin.” That would include my sin, so that in him, I might become the righteousness of God. I have no righteousness. Jesus gives me his. Jesus has no sin, but he takes mine. And he is punished in my place and I am blessed in his place. Now, the issue – this is salvation. This is what God has done. This is what God has done to reconcile us to him. The question, then, is why would God do this? Why would the Father send the Son? Why would the Son die? Why would he die in our place? Why would he conquer our sin? Why would he forgive us? Why would the Son reconcile us to the Father? Why would he do this wonderful and gracious thing?

In Ephesians 1:5 and 9, we are told the purpose is that he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure. God was just happy to save us, I guess. God just liked to forgive us of our sins and love us. Each one of us wants to say, “Well, why would God do that? Is it ‘cause I would choose God or he knew I’d be a good person or ‘cause I was praying or?” No, just because it pleased him. It made God happy to forgive me of my sins. I didn’t earn it. Didn’t merit it. Didn’t deserve it. Didn’t ask for it. Didn’t seek it. Didn’t find it. But, it was given to me, not by any of the righteous things I have done, but Paul says, “By his mercy.”

He tells us the same thing in verse 9 of Ephesians 1. “He made known to us this mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ.” My premise is very simply this. Everything God does, God does because it pleases him and makes him happy. Everything, including saving you and me if we are Christians. Okay, let’s field test this idea.

Did God also enjoy dying on a cross? “Jesus Christ came in ultimate humility”, Philippians 2, “took upon human flesh.” Was tremendously humble to even be on this earth and amidst our company. Eternal God coming down in that humble way as a man. He lived without sin. He was run through a series of false trials. He was beaten, scourged, mocked. His beard was plucked out. He was stripped naked. The flesh was ripped off his back. A cross bar was put across his shoulder. A crown of thorns was pressed into his head. And nearly naked, he had to carry his cross bar through the streets where people shouted obscenities and spat on him, people that he had created. People that he was going to forgive of sin by dying on some of their behalf. He then went to his place of crucifixion and nails were driven through his hands and feet. He was crucified on a piece of wood between two thieves, and the very people that he had many occasions spoken to and loved, some, perhaps, he had even fed, were shouting out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

There, he was mocked, and beaten, and scorned, crown of thorns pressed into his head and there, he dies and gives us his Spirit. Did Jesus Christ enjoy that? He did. He did. Hebrews 12, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off all our sin and everything that so easily entangles. Let us run the race set out before us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endued such opposition so that you don’t grow weary and lose heart, for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame.”

How in the world could God go to the cross on my behalf and have an attitude of joy? There is nothing joyous in that circumstance. There is nothing joyous in crucifixion. Hebrews goes so far as to tell us that it is shameful and he had to scorn the shame that is associated with that kind of punishment. Philippians tells us that Christ’s humility is unparalleled. That he emptied himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. I think Paul gives us a hint there of how Jesus could have joy. Part of it is, he looked through his suffering and he looked to the consequence of his suffering, and his death, and his resurrection, and that was that God, the Father, would get his glory and that we would receive salvation, forgiveness of sins. That God demonstrated his love for us in this. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus could go to the cross knowing that he was going to suffer in that way and it was still, for him, an occasion of joy because he was glorifying the Father and loving us.

He had, at that moment, completely emptied himself of all of his rights, and all of his glory that he had due him. He had completely humbled himself. So, is joy, and enjoyment, and satisfaction, and happiness, and pleasure big enough to even endure crucifixion, death, suffering, and martyrdom? It is, isn’t it? When we talk about joy and happiness, and pleasure, we tend to think of a life that is absent of strife, or difficulty, or pain, or suffering, or trial. And so, we continually try and organize our lives in such a way that they are pain and sin free ‘cause then we can really, finally be happy. Will we ever have that kind of life under the sun? No. If you’re saying, “Well, as soon as I’m attractive, and smart, and rich, and healthy, I’m gonna be happy.” Well, you won’t be. You’re always going to be unattractive and poor, and you’re always – it’s just – and unhealthy. You’re still gonna hack, and you’re gonna be overweight, and it’s just not gonna go the way you were hoping it would go. I hate to break the news. We live in a fallen world. We are fallen people. If you don’t know that, try to put your pants on from high school and see what tragic things have befallen you.

(Laughter)

Okay? If you are waiting for a perfect life where all systems intersect so that, finally, you are free of temptation, struggle, illness, strife, poverty, and then, finally, you can be happy, it will never come. You must let Christ find a way to see joy in the midst of your cross bearing. That’s what God intends for his people.

Now, when God puts this life in his people, he expects them to have freedom and joy. This new life in Christ is supposed to come with freedom and joy. That’s why we are told by the Lord Jesus himself that, “We shall know the truth and it will make us free.” Galatians 5, he says that, “Christ has set us free.” The issue is this. Freedom is not great. I don’t need God. That’s slavery. We are born belonging to God. We – at least Adam and Eve were born belonging to God. And that in belonging to God, they were free. They were free to enjoy their life, and their bodies, and their pleasures, and their senses. And as soon as they sin, “The wage for sin is death.” They were no longer free. They were slaves to sin and death. They had given up their freedom. They could no longer worship God. They could no longer enjoy God. They could no longer be in God’s presence. They could no longer have that kind of intimacy with God. They were not free.

Now, Jesus comes to die for my sin and reconcile me to God so that I can be free. Now, I’m free to love the Lord. I’m free to sing to the Lord. I’m free to understand the Scriptures. I’m free to have my sins forgiven. I’m free to enjoy the life that God has given me, and the body he has created, on the planet he has made, with a wife he has assigned to me. I get to enjoy that. And God has made me free to finally enjoy him and the things he has given me. That is supposed to give me great joy. That’s why we are told in John 17, "Jesus prays for us, that we would have the full measure of his joy within us.” And 1 Thessalonians 5:16 tells us, “To be joyful always.” When you’re unemployed? When you’re sick? Yes. When you’re healthy? Yes. When you’re not healthy? Yes. When you’re happy? Yes. When you’re whatever? Yes. Be joyful always. Even to the cross? Sure, even to the cross.

You see this with the disciples in the New Testament where they are beaten because they refuse to stop preaching the Gospel and they leave their beating celebrating singing and thanking God. Are they freaks? No. They’re just glad that they are honoring the Father and loving their neighbor, and that they have been counted worthy of being associated with Jesus. So, they are thankful always. James tells us the same thing. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds. When hard days come, rejoice in those because when God’s done with you, you’ll be more like Jesus.” Okay, here’s my point. God is a happy God who enjoys himself and does what pleases him. He has created us to enjoy him and live in him, and have lives marked with freedom and joy, but because of sin, we have exchanged God for little, tiny, stupid idols. We have exchanged enjoyment of God for sinful, stupid, little addictive pleasures. And we have substituted the great God and the great things of God for trivial, little, petty pursuits.

So, God has recognized us in our situation of sin, and death, and folly. He has come to us as the Lord Jesus Christ. Died for sin. Risen. And he places within his children new life marked by freedom and joy. And now, he will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He will forgive you for any sin that you commit. He will always pursue you. Always love you. Always care for you. Always be with you, if you’re a Christian, if you have come to him in repentant faith. You are free to live your life if you are a Christian.

Now, if I tell you that, will so me people run off and do silly, stupid, sinful things? Will some people say, “I’m free in Christ. Great. Jesus made 180 gallons of wine at the wedding at Cana of Galilee, and I will drink them all.”?

(Laughter)

“I’m free in Christ. Yoohoo. Jesus hung out with strippers. Me too.”

(Laughter)

Will people sin? Yes. Yes, people get the grace of God and they sin. It is fully known. Galatians 5:13 says, “You, my brothers, were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature.” Right? God didn’t cure you of, you know, lung cancer so that you could go buy a carton of cigarettes. Just because he has made you free, don’t go back in to your slavery again. 1 Peter 2 says, “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil. Instead, live as servants of God.” Some people abuse this freedom, right? Because can pleasure get you into a lot of trouble? Food, drink, sex, can that get you trouble? Yes. That’s why some of you are here tonight. “God, I’m sorry about what I did last night. I would have went to the morning service, but I was so hung over, I couldn’t get up.”

(Laughter)

Yes, this can get you into a lot of trouble. So, what does – what do we – what do religious people, then, do? God gives freedom, life, joy, liberty. People abuse it. They sin. What do religious people, then, come and do? “We need some rules”, and they make rules. Not Bible rules, stupid rules.

(Laughter)

Bible rules are great. I love Bible rules. People’s rules, those are stupid rules. We all then say, “Well, I need stupid rules to keep from sinning.” Let me ask you this. Will stupid rules keep you from sinning? How many of you made stupid rules? “I’ll get up every morning at 6:00 a.m. and then I won’t smoke weed anymore.” Now, you smoke weed and then you just sleep in. And the stupid rule didn’t do anything. We try to manage human conduct with lots of stupid rules. Some of you have insane little rules trying to keep you holy. Crazy little rules. I won’t ask you for them publically, but maybe you can send me an email for just comedic interlude.

(Laughter)

Some of you have crazy ideas. Here’s the deal. If God has made us free and we’re free, what is to keep us from sinning? How about love for God? How about enjoyment of God?

My wife, when we were first seeing each other – this last week, my wife and I celebrated our 14th year together. I’m 31. We started dating when I was 17 years old. And she told me early on, she said, “You know, I’ll always forgive you no matter what you do.” What that means is, if I commit adultery, if I’m a wife beater, if I abandon her, if I whatever – she’ll always forgive me and take me back. Always, no matter what, right? Now, what keeps me from doing any of those things? She loves me. I love her. I enjoy her. And I’m satisfied with her. I don’t want anything else. I’m happy. I don’t need anything else. I’m satisfied. Her love has changed me. Is God not that same way in his covenant relationship with us? God has loved us and his kindness has led us to repentance. He has been so wonderful to us that we are satisfied in him. We are happy in him. We are fulfilled in him. We are filled with a glorious and inexpressible joy because of him. Why in the world would we trade that for some diminished, stupid idol that cannot give us life or joy? If you love God and you’re satisfied in God, that’s what’ll keep you from sin, not rules. Lots and lots of rules will not keep you from sin.

People who enjoy God are strong. That’s why, “The joy of the Lord is your strength”, Nehemiah 8:10. People who don’t enjoy God, they’re weak. They have put themselves in harm’s way. If you don’t enjoy God, you are susceptible to all kinds of sin and temptation. If you enjoy God, you’re not. You’re satisfied, right? It is as if you have just feasted and you are filled with joy, and when sin comes and says, “Would you like a bite?”, you say, “No need. I’m full. I’m happy and well satisfied. That does not even appeal to me. My palette has been changed and that no longer tastes good to me.”

Rules never do what love, and grace, and kindness of God can accomplish, but we make rules because pleasure can get us into problems. Proverbs 30:12 talks about those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth. People who think they are so holy and everyone knows that they’re not. 2 Corinthians 10:12, I love these guys. “We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.” You see a lot of self in there, don’t ‘ya?

(Laughter)

Not a lot of Jesus in there. These are what people do. Some people say, “Well, what am I like? Okay, this is what I’m like. This must be what a holy person looks like.” “I like the King James Bible. Holy people like the King James Bible.” “I speak in tongues. Holy people speak in tongues.” “I don’t speak in tongues. Holy people don’t speak in tongues.” “I’m married. Holy people are married.” “I’m not married. Holy people aren’t married.” “I have kids. Holy people have kids.” “I don’t have kids. Holy people don’t have kids.” “I drink. Holy people drink.” “I don’t drink. Holy people don’t drink.” “I vote Republican. Holy people vote Republican.” “I vote Democrat. Holy people vote Democrat.” “I give money to little kids. Holy people give money to little kids. “Those little kids just drink the money, so I don’t give money to little kids.”

(Laughter)

“Holy people don’t give money to little kids.” You see how this works? Whatever I’m doing, that’s holy, and the rest of you should be imitators of me, as dearly loved children of me.

(Laughter)

Right? We do this, right? “I’m a white guy with no rhythm; therefore, rock music is bad.”

(Laughter)

We do this. “I can’t dance because I have two left feet and I embarrass myself; therefore, dancing is a sin.” We do these crazy, stupid rules, right? They’re not in the Bible. We just sort of pull them out of the air because we’re unwilling to be imitators of God. Instead, we’d rather have everyone be imitators of us. And the object of our faith is Christ. We’re to fix our eyes on Jesus. Even when the Apostle Paul says, “Follow me, as I follow Christ”, the issue is still Christ. People who make stupid rules think, “Oh, people are sinning. You know what we need? We need more rules.” “What kind of rules?” “Well, rules that make everyone just like me.” Okay?

Let me ask you this. Do you actually think that if we had more attorneys and more laws, we would have better conduct?

Response: Uh-uh.

Do we have lacking of attorneys or laws?

Response: No.

We have more attorneys and laws than we need. We still don’t have people who are living good lives. Why? Because the law, by itself, cannot change the human heart. Only God can do that. And Proverbs 4:23 says, “Out of your heart comes your life.” If your life is all messed up, then making rules won’t change your heart. “God has to transform the heart, not by the righteous things we have done, but by his mercy in Christ through the Holy Spirit”, Paul says.

Other ways we make stupid rules. Colossians 2, “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why as though you still belong to it, do you submit to its rules?” Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch”, right? It sounds like a youth group. “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.”

(Laughter)

“These are all destined to perish with use because they are based on human commands and teachings.” You won’t get Bible chapter and verses for certain rules. People just make them up. You ever been a Christian college? Look at the conduct list. “Don’t do this _____ thing.” “Where are the verses?” “Hey, hey, don’t ask those questions.”

(Laughter)

“We don’t have verses, but we have rules.” “Great, that’s beautiful. Thank you very much.” Rules are not good unless they’re in the Bible. Such regulations, indeed, have an appearance of wisdom. They look good. They sound pretty good, but they’re self imposed, but – with their self imposed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body, again, they cannot handle pleasure. They lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Let me ask you this. Kids that grow up in a home that is filled with love, and grace, and freedom, and joy versus kids that grow up in houses of legalism and rules, upon rules, upon rules, which ones tend to rebel the hardest when they hit the teen years? Man, kids out of a legalistic home, they make up for lost time.

(Laughter)

Hard. Why is it? Because our nature, our sin nature, desires to just break rules. So, the more rules you break, the more opportunity there is to sin. See, legalistic rules and manmade rules give us something to push off. The more rules, the further we push. Grace, and love, and mercy, and kindness, and joy, they don’t give us anything to push off. They embrace us and hold us tightly. There’s nothing to rebel against. How do you rebel against a parent who loves you, forgives you, enjoys you, celebrates you, pursues you, and adores you? It’s really hard to fight with them. But, a mean ogre of a dad who’s a total jerk, who makes stupid rules, it’s pretty easy to go to war with him. And if you have a wrong concept of God as that kind of father, you will have that kind of fruit. People love long lists of rules. The longer you’re a Christian, the greater the likelihood you will have long lists of rules. And he says, “They don’t do anything to curb sensual indulgence.”

I just had it this last year with a guy I knew. Single guy. Young guy. A huge church. Doing a decent job. Telling all his people, “Oh, marriage is bad. Sex is bad. Men need to hold on and not give into temptation by getting married and being weak.” Then, they fired him because he was having sex with girls in his church. He’s just preaching stupid rules. Didn’t get them out of his Bible. He’s like, “Oh, I just wasn’t strong enough.” No, you just believed a stupid rule, not a Bible rule. 1 Corinthians 7 says, “If you’re gonna, you know, set yourself on fire sexually, get married.” Genesis says, “It’s not good for a man to be alone”, you freak.

(Laughter)

You know? I mean, just stupid rules. Just lots of stupid rules. It says the same thing in 1 Timothy 4. “The Spirit clearly says that in latter times, some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” What does demonic theology look like? Such teachings comes through hypocritical liars. Okay, these are the people, by the way, that are often doing things that they’re telling you not to do. Alright, you ever met a pastor who was always railing against homosexuality and they got arrested for doing something inappropriate in the men’s bathroom with other men? We had one of those recently, not too long ago.

Such teachings come through hypocritical liars whose consciences have been seared with a hot iron. Their moral compass is broken. They forbid people to marry – hmmm, something to think about there – and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” – that’s worship – because it is consecrated by the Word of God. It’s done Biblically, and prayer. Check your motives.

Is it true that God made everything good to be enjoyed? Yes. Can everything, therefore, be redeemed to be used Biblically in a good way for a good reason? Sure. Food, sex, alcohol? Sure. Laughter? Sure. Anything can be used Biblically in a healthy and wholesome way that honors God.

Talk to you a minute about these stupid rules. One of the stupidest rules I’ve ever heard pastors make – this is a common stupid rule among pastors. What I will do is I will yell about religious people, not about non-Christians because we’re the ones who screw up the world. And since I’m a pastor, I know that I am the most likely candidate to make the biggest mess. Religious leaders tend to make dumb rules. When I was a brand new pastor, I had a bunch of pastors tell me, “You need to be faithful to your wife.” “Okay, thank you for the big E on the eye chart. I agree with that.”

(Laughter)

So, then, you ask, you know, “Well, how do – okay, well, what advice do you have, oh, you know, wise one?”

(Laughter)

“Yoda, what are your words to me?”

(Laughter)

“Well, here’s the deal. Here’s my secret. I don’t talk to women. I don’t touch ‘em. I don’t have any women as friends. I don’t go anywhere near a woman. And then they won’t have sex with me.”

(Laughter)

“Okay, well, first of all, I think you’re overestimating your attractiveness, okay?”

(Laughter)

“I don’t think that every woman in your church is just waiting for a chance to take her clothes off and chase you down the hall into your office.”

(Laughter)

Most pastors I know are not highly attractive men and that’s why they’re not doing things on television because they have a face for radio. They should never be on television.

(Laughter)

Most pastors I know are fairly thick men who have lost most of their hair and have a suit that is older than their firstborn child.

(Laughter)

And their kids are usually in college. And so, you know, I said, “First of all” to these guys, “you know, look, I think you’re overestimating, really, your opportunity. It’s – you probably think, ‘Yeah, they all just wanna have sex with me.’ I don’t think so.”

(Laughter)

“I don’t think so. And, in addition, how in the world, when God created women in his image and likeness, and he has intended for you to treat them, like Paul says, as sisters, do you get the insane notion that never talking to a woman makes you holy? Like, what kind of stupidity is that?”

I mean, how would you ladies like to have a pastor who said, “Oh, I don’t talk to women. I don’t look at them”? I’m like, “What the – what kind of freak are you?”

(Laughter)

These are exactly the sort of stupid rules that guys in Jesus’ day made. The Bible has good rules. Job 31:1, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look upon a woman lustfully.” Good rule. Don’t lust after other women. The Ten Commandments, “Don’t covet your neighbor’s wife.” Good rule. Very good rule. Jesus, in Matthew’s Gospel, “Don’t look at a woman lustfully.” Good rule. So, what the legalists in Jesus’ day, the guys who made rules on top of God’s rule did, they made a rule that said, “Okay, to make sure we don’t look at a woman lustfully, here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re not gonna look at any women.” Literally. So, they would walk around looking at the ground, bumping into things and tripping over because they were trying to be holy, okay?

(Laughter)

Literally. Now, you think about it. That’s a dumb rule.

(Laughter)

I had a pastor tell me, he said, “You know, I just made a rule that I would never touch any woman, but my wife.” Is that a good rule? That could be a stupid rule. Can you think of a circumstance where a pastor, it would be nice for him to touch a woman in this church? Not in a sexual way; in a brother sister way.

Response: Something that helped her.

If she loves God, and he loves God. There have been times in this church where women have come to Christ and come to tell me, and hugged me to tell me they became a Christian. To obey my stupid rule, would I be a good Godly man to say, “Oh, I don’t hug women that have just come to Christ and are really happy.”

(Laughter)

I’m their pastor. And see, these kind of people tend to look very constipated.

(Laughter)

They’re not fun. That’s why I think a lot of people don’t go to church and don’t wanna be around them. They’re like, “Okay, well, when you die, you get to go to Heaven.” “Who’s gonna be there? You’re gonna be there?”

(Laughter)

“That sounds like hell. You’re no fun at all.”

(Laughter)

“You’re no fun at all. You don’t laugh. You don’t sing. You don’t dance. You’re just – you’re very dull. No, if God is like you, I’ll go to hell where, at least, they have a band, okay?”

(Laughter)

Another pastor told me the same thing. He said, “Just never touch any woman.” I said, “Never?” He said, “No.” I said, “That’s a stupid rule.” I said, “I got two sisters. I got a little sister who is in high school, graduating senior. I got another sister who’s in her twenties. The Bible says to treat women like sisters. God made women in his image and likeness. What in the world? You know, just love ‘em and treat ‘em respectfully.”

We had a situation recently. One of the pastors in our church, his wife had a hard pregnancy and a hard recovery. She and the baby were very sick and they were hospitalized, and they were not doing well, and they were really worried about her. She got an infection after the surgery. It was related and we were all worried about her greatly and we were praying for her. She was not responding to the antibiotics and she was having a hard time. And so, the elders and I went to see her. Now, her husband is one of the elders and one of the pastors on staff at this church. I love him very dearly. I love her very dearly. They are very close to my wife and I. I came in the door with all the other elders, and as soon as I saw her in her bed, I just started bawling. I started crying. I mean, there’s my sister laid up, sick, worried. Her and her child are not doing well. Brand new birth, first child. I just feel so grieved. I’m so sad. So, I start crying as soon as I see her. And she sees me and she starts crying. Now, we’re both pathetic, right?

(Laughter)

And my first instinct was, her husband is standing right next to the bed and he’s holding his daughter, and I just walked up to her and I gave her a hug. I said, “We love you so much and I am so sorry.” I said, “Can we just pray for ‘ya?” My question is, is that a sin? Right?

I was talking to a pastor friend of mine and he said, “Well, I don’t know. That could be inappropriate.” I said, “Only if you’re sick.” You would have to have a very sick head to think that there is nothing but sexual contact between men and women. You have to be very sick. Very twisted. That doesn’t tell me anything about this woman or my relationship with her. This tells me everything about your head, if you think that’s inappropriate. You have a sick head if you think that a mother who’s lying in a bed in a hospital with her newborn child, and her husband who’s a pastor in the church standing there, if hugging her is a sin. You’re sick. God has given us freedom. God has given us life. God has given us joy and stupid rules don’t allow that kind of enjoyment.

Here’s my point. You should enjoy your life. You should not care as much about what people think as what the Scriptures say. You should not create some weird, bizarre sense of holiness in your head and then make a bunch of stupid rules that are not in the Bible, trying to attain your own righteousness so that you could judge everyone else by your own standard. There’s no joy. There’s no life. There’s no freedom in that. God has given you life to enjoy. Will some people sin? Sure. Will other people make a bunch of ridiculous rules in order to try and be perfect and obtain their own righteousness? Sure. What should we do? We should love God and do whatever we please. We take ourselves too seriously. We take God too lightly. So many people are worried about not sinning, as if the goal of the Christian life was to not sin. Is that the goal of the Christian life, to not sin? No, the goal of the Christian life is to enjoy God.

If I come home and my two year old son and my four year old daughter are sitting on the couch, and they never move, and they never speak, and they never act, and they never create, and they never laugh, and they never cry, and I ask them “Why?”, and they say, “Father, because we’re not sinning. We’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing”, am I a pleased father? I say, “No. My goal, kids, is not for you to kill all desire, and kill all passion, and kill all joy, and just sit there and do nothing because, ‘Look, I’m not sinning.’ That’s not my goal.” My goal for my kids is that they would live and enjoy their life. And sing. And dance. And wrestle. And color. And cuddle with me. And watch the Great Feast of the Bible cooking show. That’s what my daughter loves to do on The Food Network.

(Laughter)

That’s what I want. I wanna eat with them. And I wanna wrestle with ‘em. And I wanna cuddle with ‘em. And I wanna color with ‘em. And I wanna play ball with ‘em. And I wanna dance with ‘em. And I wanna tell jokes with ‘em. And I want them to enjoy me ‘cause I’m their dad. And I think that God is that kind of Father. He wants his kids to enjoy him, not just sit there and say, “Okay, as long as I don’t sin, I’m really holy. So, therefore, I won’t do anything.”

Let me ask you this. Is it is a sin to not enjoy your life? Jesus talks about taking talents and burying them in the ground. Taking a life that he has given you and doing nothing with it. I don’t think if you get into Heaven and say, “Well, God, I never got drunk. And I never told a funny joke. And I never had a good time. I’m just like Jesus.” He will say, “What have you done with your life, you freak? You turned into a machine.”

(Laughter)

“I created you to live and you never lived.” “Well, I didn’t wanna sin.” “Well, you sinned by doing nothing. You sinned by not laughing. You sinned by not enjoying yourself. Didn’t you catch all those feasts in the Old Testament? Did you ever get the picture that I wanted you guys to have a good time now and then?” See, the Bible says we’re to be imitators of God and here’s the deal. Paul says that, “Everything that is created by God is good” and he says – I love this verse in Titus 1:15 – “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.” Everything is pure if you’re pure. What we like to do is this. Christians love this. “Tell me what’s pure and impure and I won’t do the impure thing, so that I’ll be a pure person.” No, it’s not that easy.

All things are created by good – by God – and they’re created good, and they’re created to be enjoyed by his people. That’s why Paul can say in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. To him who is pure, all things are pure.” Can sex be pure? Yes, if you’re married. Can eating a good meal be a pure act of worship to God? Yes. Can having a nice glass of wine be pure? Yes. Can hugging someone you’re not married to be pure? Yes. Can telling a joke and actually having people laugh, can that be pure? Yes. Can dancing be pure? Yes. Can laughing be pure? Yes. Can lots of – everything can be pure, if you are pure. But, what we tend to do is we tend to focus on the things and not ourselves. Is that good or bad? No, the question is sex, food, singing, dancing, having a good time, telling jokes, that is not pure or impure. It is created good and depends upon who is participating. Are you pure? That’s the question. Things aren’t pure. People are. Things aren’t impure. People are. Do you understand what I’m saying? Now, it’s personal, isn’t it?

Was Jesus Christ pure? Yes. Was he tempted? Hebrews 4:15 says, “He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without any sin.” Was Jesus tempted, not to just make the wine at the Cana of Galilee wedding, but to drink it all? Sure, he was tempted. Was Jesus tempted, not just to hang out with prostitutes, but to hang out with prostitutes? Yes. Was Jesus tempted to sin? Sure. Did he sin? No. “Tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.” Is it possible to be tempted and still pure? Christians mix this up a lot. A lot of people who are legalists say, “Well, I don’t wanna ever be tempted.” Is that possible? You’ll be tempted. If nothing else, you’ll make a standard of righteousness, you will live up to your standard of righteousness and you’ll be an arrogant jerk and difficult to deal with and, even in that, you’ll still be tempted to be proud. So, there’s no way around it. We’ll all be tempted. Jesus did not sin. He was tempted, but he never did sin.

What things to Jesus were pure? Was alcohol pure to Jesus? We’ll get into this next week. It was. It was. Was food pure to Jesus? It was. Was relationships with loose women pure to Jesus? See, this is what they accused Jesus of. They said that he was, literally, a drunkard, a glutton, and a friend of sinners. That was their knock on Jesus. “He can’t be God. Every time we see him, people are inviting him over to parties. Holy men never get invited to parties.”

(Laughter)

Holy men are unpleasant. They’re un – holy men, just, they look like they haven’t had a bowel movement since Nixon was in office.

(Laughter)

They have furrowed brows and they’re very serious and very – just very astute. Just very, you know, these are the guys, you don’t invite them to a party. I mean, you know, “you wouldn’t shoot pool with Jesus, would ‘ya?” “Yeah, actually, I would. Not with most pastors, but with Jesus, yes, I would.”

(Laughter)

He would be, actually – and I would enjoy his company. If Jesus is the perfect man, it doesn’t surprise me that he had the perfect sense of humor. It doesn’t surprise me that he had the prefect wit. It doesn’t surprise me that he had a perfect personality that was charismatic. People really liked him. Don’t think that all the crowds are just because they really liked his academic exegesis. I think some people, too, just really liked him. Kids seemed to just like him. I’m not sure they understood absolutely everything that he was about, but kids looked at Jesus and said, “We love him. He’s great.” They wanna be with him. They wanna hang out with Jesus. I think a lot of people are that way. They really enjoyed Jesus. They enjoyed him. They say, “He’s a drunkard. He drinks. He’s a glutton. He eats. And he’s a friend of sinners. All his friends are tax collectors and whores. They’re not good people like us.”

Who killed God? Isaiah 53:10 says “It was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer. Acts 4 says, “With the Greeks, Romans and Jews conspiring”, but who was the most zealous to see Jesus get killed? Was it all the prostitutes? All the alcoholics saying, “Oh, he’s holy and he makes us feel convicted. Let’s crucify him.”? No. He cast demons out of Mary Magdalene. She loves him. Sinful women anoint him. He sits at the well with the woman from Samaria who’s blown through five husbands and is shacking up with a guy she’s not even married to and by the time he’s done loving her, she’s off being the best evangelist in the New Testament. They loved him. Who hated him? Religious people because Jesus Christ never broke any of the rules in the Bible. It says he came to fulfill the law, every jot and tittle, not to abolish it. He was absolutely obedient to the Scriptures, but he busted through a lot of their stupid rules. And they looked and they said, “Well, you know, the problem with Jesus is he’s just holy enough. He’s not good enough. He’s ruining our whole religion. We have lots of rules. He doesn’t seem to respect them.” Did Jesus respect the Bible, the Word of God? Totally. Did he respect stupid rules written by people with three pound fallen braids and hypocritical attitudes? No, not a big shock that God doesn’t submit himself to the rules of people he’s made.

“To him who is pure, all things are pure.” Can you even take something that is pure and use it in a way that you make it wicked and ugly? Okay? Is this the pure Word of God? Peter tells us that, “As babies crave milk, Christians crave the pure milk of God’s Word.” It’s pure. I love the Scriptures. Every jot and tittle, inspired, authored of God, perfect and sufficient. But can someone who is impure even come to this pure Word and do something ugly and distasteful with it? Yeah, you can. “To him who is pure, all things were pure.” Paul says, “To those who are not pure, nothing is pure. They can even take something as beautiful as God’s Word and mangle it into something that is grotesque. Do certain people mangle the concept of God? Do certain people mangle the Bible? Do certain people mangle God’s grace? They do, but we don’t get rid of them. Do certain people mangle food? They do, but we don’t get rid of it. Do certain people mangle women? Yes, but we don’t get rid of them either. Do certain people mangle alcohol? Yes, they do. So, we don’t get rid of it. What we seek to be is what? Pure, so that, for us, all things can be pure, they can redeemed to God’s purposes. So, whatever we eat, or drink, or do, whatever it is, we do it to God’s glory and our joy. How do we do that? Through Christ’s righteousness, not our own stupid rules. Do you get it? Do you get it?

See, we should laugh. I had somebody recently say, “I like the church, but I think I’m gonna have to go find another church because you tell jokes sometimes and people laugh, and I don’t think that’s appropriate in church.”

(Laughter)

And I asked ‘em this question. I said, “Do I mock us or do I mock God?” They said, “Well, you always mock us.” “Well, then, what’s the problem?” “I mean –

(Laughter)

− certainly, you can’t think that we’re sacred and beyond mocking. Now, God, absolutely, you know?” I don’t mock God, but I’ll mock you. I’ll mock me. We can’t take ourselves so stinking seriously. And if you can’t laugh a little, what” – I told him, I said, “You know what? One of the most serious things we do here is laugh. I’m very serious about laughing.”

(Laughter)

“If we don’t laugh a little, that indicates to me that we take ourselves too seriously, God too lightly. You can’t laugh a little. Wow! If God sits in Heaven and rules and reigns over everything, certainly, me laughing will not undo the universe.”

(Laughter)

Right? Jesus Christ was fully human. He experienced the full measure of human life, perfectly and without sin. We are to be imitators of him and live full, free, enjoyable lives to his glory and our joy. This will keep you from sin. If you are satisfied in God, enjoying God, loving God and the life he’s given you, that will keep you strong and that’ll keep you from sin. And it’ll also keep you from the sin of covetousness. If you’re not happy in your marriage and not enjoying it, all of a sudden, someone else’s wife will look good or someone else’s husband. If you’re not learning how to enjoy your job, then you’ll start coveting someone else’s job. If you’re not enjoying your life, you’ll start coveting someone else’s life. If you don’t enjoy your income, you’ll start coveting someone else’s income. If you don’t enjoy the body and the appearance that God has given you, as disdainful and freakish as it might be, you will end up coveting someone else, right?

Now, the way we stay away from the sin of covetousness is we learn the example of Paul who said, “I have learned the secret. I’m content all the time. All the time, I’m content. I enjoy what God has given me and I don’t try and replace my life for a new life.” Lots of people are like, “I’ll be happy as soon as I get rid of this and then I get this. I get rid of this car, I’ll be happy. And I get rid of this spouse, I’ll be happy. I get rid of this house, I’ll be happy. I’ll get rid of this height, I’ll be happy.” Look, you’re stuck with it, okay? Enjoy it. Squeeze some joy out of your life. What Pascal says is he says, “The problem is most people forget to live. They get up every morning. They go to bed every night. In the middle, dang it, I forgot to live again!”

(Laughter)

“I was breathing, but I forgot to live.” And he says, “What they do is some people live just for the future.” You people with day planners, this is your likelihood.

(Laughter)

Some of you are very tidy, very organized. “Well, in the future, I’m going to live. Some day I’m gonna have people over. I’ll tell a joke. It’ll be funny. It’s right here on the calendar.”

(Laughter)

And you plan to live, plan to live, plan to live, plan to live, but just junk keeps happening. Just, you know, you get unemployed. Your car breaks down. Your head falls off your neck. Something happens.

(Laughter)

And you never get to enjoy your life because things keep creeping in. And you tend to think of, “Well, what I need to do is I need to set up my life to enjoy it and then enjoy it.” And God’s like, “No. No, no, no. Enjoy the present.” Don’t keep thinking, “Someday, I’ll enjoy myself.” Other people, he says, “What they do, they live in the past.” They had a good time in the past and they keep talking about it, right? These are the people who, when you ask a married couple, “So, what’s your best memories?” If they talk for five minutes and all you hear is stories that are ten years old, be very worried. If they say, “Yeah, when we first started dating, we were so in love, and he would chase me around the house when we first married, and I used to not throw things at him and” –

(Laughter)

− “Remember that, sweetheart?” “Not really. That was a long time ago.” If all your memories of enjoying your life are way in the distant past, you have sinned grievously. Some people always talk about what they did or what they’re gonna do, and they never do anything. God intends for you to “Enjoy”, Ecclesiastes 3, “the times and the seasons that he gives you.” Practically, what that means is this. When you sit down to eat a meal, eat it slowly and enjoy it. When you’re with your friends, sit there and be attentive to them and enjoy them, rather than thinking about all the other junk you need to get done. When you are at work for that day, enjoy the work that you have to do. When God has put something in front of you, enjoy that and if you can’t find a way to enjoy it, you need to find a way to enjoy it because the joy will make you strong to endure it, even if that means picking up your cross like Jesus.

This means, very practically, when you are married and if you have time with your spouse, enjoy them. Do you not think that the highest compliment someone could pay you is that they enjoy you? That, to me, is the highest compliment. You should enjoy your life, the people in your life, the things in your life, the circumstances in your life. You should praise God in all circumstances. You should be seeking to be pure by Christ’s righteousness, so that, for you, all things are pure and then, no matter what you do – eat, drink, or whatever it might be, do it to God’s glory and your joy. You should laugh. You should eat. You should dance. You should calm down.

(Laughter)

Gosh. So serious. I had a great day yesterday. I woke up really late, which I thank God for.

(Laughter)

And then, I was trying to do my sermon, trying to put my Bible study together, and my son would not let me. He kept wanting to wrestle and fight. He’s two years old. “Come on, daddy.”

(Laughter)

He just wants to get it on. So, I end up – he crawls – it gets to the place where I’m on my computer. Somehow, he climbs up the back of my chair, climbs onto my shoulders. I’m still typing on the computer, trying to ignore him, and do God’s work, being very serious. He climbs on my shoulders. That does not get my attention. So, then, he swings himself around and sits facing this way –

(Laughter)

− so, I can’t see the computer anymore.

(Laughter)

Right? And then he farts.

(Laughter)

True story. Right?

(Laughter)

And I thought, “Well, Pastor Mark’s being a little serious here. Apparently, God wants him to stop doing this very serious work now.” And he’s yelling, he’s _____, “Daddy, let’s wrestle!”

(Laughter)

And I’m like, “Okay, I got the picture.” So, I take my son down and I bring him out to the living room and I lay on the ground, and we’re wrestling and fighting, and having a great, good time. What ends up happening then is we have lunch together. I’m still in my pajamas, by God’s grace, read my Bible and some theology for a while. Really liked that. My kids went down for their nap. My daughter’s sitting there watching Feasts of the Bible on The Food Network ‘cause she loves The Food Network. And she just – and she’s like, “Daddy, look Biblical cooking.” Praise the Lord.

(Laughter)

So, we’re watching – she’s watching Feasts of the Bible. Then, my son gets up and we all get dressed, and we go out and grab a bite to eat, and we go to a friend of our’s house that had an open house – two, a couple in the church shares a house. They had a big open house party and brought some of us over. We showed up there. There is lots of food. There’s a Guinness beef stew, which I’m hoping is in Heaven. It was nice.

(Laughter)

There was – what was there? There was cabbage and corned beef, thank you. There was lots of good food, lots of good drinks, lots of great people. Everyone was having a great time. Tons of people from our church are there. The kids are running all around, playing, having a great time, visiting with everybody. We’re visiting with everybody, catching up with everybody. Find out so and so’s pregnant. So and so just had their baby. Somebody just got engaged. It was so much fun. It almost felt like the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God supposed to be like that, according to Isaiah. Good food, good wine, good meat, people who love God, lots of fun. Why do we have a good time? ‘Cause we’re with Jesus.

Then, I came home and I kissed my beautiful wife, tucked my kids in bed, prayed with them, read ‘em a little Bible, cuddled up with my glorious wife and kissed her, and snored to the glory of God.

(Laughter)

Right? And the issue was, why don’t I go out and do all kinds of sinful things? This is the best. This is the best life I can conceive of. Why would I trade my God and the life he’s given me for stupid, foolish pleasures? It’s just dumb. I am fully satisfied with my wife, with my kids, with you guys, with this church, with God. I enjoy the heck out of my life. Is there work? Yeah. Is it hard? Sure. Is there tough days? You bet. Do I enjoy it? I enjoy it. So, I’m gonna be with these kids my whole life. I’ll be with you my whole life. I’ll be with my wife my whole life. I’ll be with God my whole life. And if I start getting too serious, someone bring me up on church discipline. We’re supposed to enjoy the life that God has given us.

I love you and here’s what I’m saying. I’m not saying you have to do this. That would be another rule. I’m saying you get to do this. God has made you free. Love him. Read your Bible. Enjoy your life. Live with God. Live with God’s people. Live with God’s Word. Live with God’s Spirit. Live in God’s freedom. Live in God’s joy. It’ll make you strong. It’s your strength.

At this point, we always take communion to remember Jesus’ body and blood shed for our sin. All of this is made possible, not because of the righteous things we’ve done, but because of Jesus. God comes down, dies for the sins of his people, rises from death, conquers our enemies of sin and death. We come to him repenting of sin, by faith, trusting him. We love and celebrate Jesus. If you’re a Christian, take communion when you are ready and you have cleaned house and done your confession with God.

Take an offering. If you’re a first time visitor or Christian, don’t give. For the rest of you, Paul says, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 to, “Give” what? “Cheerfully.” Okay? And as you get out of your seats tonight, I want you to keep one thing in mind for prayer. We need a big building.

(Laughter)

Okay? We need a huge building. We have over 1,000 people. We’re running seven services. We’ll keep the satellites. We have put a bid in on a large building nearby, big building. See, you know what we should do tonight? What should we do right now? We should throw a big party, shouldn’t we? We should have a lot meat. It should be cookin’.

(Laughter)

We should smell it. There should be lots of food. All the kids should come up, the band should kick in. We should have a great time and thank God for his kindness. We just don’t have the room. So, we put a bid in on this big building where we could all sit down and have big feasts, and meals, and celebrations, and get to know each other and enjoy each other, rather than always looking at me, looking at each other and getting to know each other a little bit. I ask you guys to pray for that building. We could use it. I’d love to see that thing fill up a bunch of times.

And then, the Bible says, “One day, we will see Jesus Christ face to face.” I will not be entirely shocked if he is smiling. Maybe even a smirk.

Father God, we sure love ‘ya because you have loved us first. Lord God, your love has made us strong. Your joy has made us strong. Your kindness has made us strong. Lord God, we confess that there is nothing that satisfies like you. There is nothing to be enjoyed that even pales in comparison to you.

Lord God, we thank you that in your right hand are pleasures for evermore. That as we delight ourselves in you, you give us desires for our hearts. That, Lord God, you have created everything good and if we are pure, we have the opportunity to enjoy all things, at all times, in all ways, to your glory and our joy.

Lord God, it’s my prayer that we would take you very seriously and ourselves more lightly. That we would honor your Word very, very, very seriously, but that we would not take our rules to be at that same level of significance.

Lord God, I pray for the wives, that they would know that their husbands enjoy them. And I pray for the children, that their parents would enjoy them. And I pray for the friends, that they would enjoy each other and that, Lord God, we would be a people who continually feast upon your kindness and your grace because we need you and you have created us to need you. And as you are enjoyed by us, you receive your glory and we receive our joy. We certainly love you, Lord God, and we thank you for being with us. In Christ’s name, Amen.