The Ultimate Christian Hedonist!

"Christian hedonism"?!

Sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, huh? The word hedonism certainly doesn't naturally bring to one's mind the word Christian... and most Christians I know are hardly ever accused of being hedonists!

Well, hang on with me here for a bit; let's break it down. American Heritage Dictionary gives the following definition for hedonism:

he·don·ism (hēd'n-ĭz'əm)
n.

1. Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses.
2. Philosophy The ethical doctrine holding that only what is pleasant or has pleasant consequences is intrinsically good.
3. Psychology The doctrine holding that behavior is motivated by the desire for pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

And - at the risk of being labeled naive - let's assume that whoever is reading this has formed an appropriate definition for the word Christian*. So, then, what is this Christian hedonism?

The first question/response of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is as follows:

1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever.

This is what man was created for. Period. Nothing else will satisfy, nothing else will do. God created us that we might glorify Him, and experience our greatest enjoyment when we do so. Or, as John Piper puts it: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

So, then, hedonism, in this light, can be defined as the pursuit of pleasure, as it is ultimately found in the satisfaction of doing that which one is created for. If we believe that, as men and women who were created in the image of the holy Godhead, we were created for the glorification of our Creator, then Christian hedonism can further be defined as the pursuit of pleasure, as it is ultimately found in the glorification of Christ.

Christian hedonism. Wow. Yeah... that sits right with my soul.

What brought up the idea of posting on this was reading through Psalm 104 a couple of times tonight while in a bar, of all places (Psalm 104:15 is also pertinent here for Christian hedonism... but for different reasons! ;) ). Here are the verses that hit me:


This great and wide sea, in which are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great. There the ships sail about; there is that Leviathan which You have made to play there.
-Psalm 104:25-26

I think I remember my pastor preaching on these verses sometime this summer, but I don't have my notes with me here in the bar, and I can't for the life of me remember exactly what he said off the top of my head (sorry, Mike!), so much of what I'm going to say about this passage may or may not be a repetition of what he already said. But hey... nothing new under the sun, right?

As far as I understand it, the Leviathan was a beast of unknown identity that was really, really big. And I don't think that it is mere coincidence that we don't know exactly what species of animal this creature was. In fact, it seems that those who lived during this time didn't even know exactly what the Leviathan was. There's a reason for this: God made it to play in the great and wide sea.

Do you see where I'm going with this? The Leviathan, one of the largest creatures recorded in the holy Scriptures, was unknown to man, and yet still gave God glory. How? How could this creature possibly glorify God if nobody was around to witness the glorification?! By playing in the sea; by simply doing that which it was created to do.

You see? God's own self-glorification is not all about us: we don't even have to be around for it to happen. God was glorifying Himself, His Son, and His Holy Spirit since before the creation of all known worlds! That we even get to participate in this glorification is, in itself, an act and manifestation of pure grace!

For the Leviathan, it's as if God was saying, "Go forth, my creation: play in the deep. No one will ever see you, yet you will glorify Me simply by being you, as you are meant to be, as I have created you."

For us, we have the same divine calling. However, our playground is not the depths of the sea, but the depths of Christ. When we swim in these depths, and find our deepest satisfaction therein, God is glorified in the highest way that we humans can possibly glorify Him!


*This word is often misrepresented/misused. All kidding aside, if you are unsure of what a "Christian" truly is, please shoot me an email... I would be more than happy to talk about it!

Expository Notes: Psalm 2

What is the structure of this psalm?

-The nations rage against the Lord and His anointed (1-3)
-The Lord in heaven holds them in derision and wrath (4-6)
-The Son proclaims the decree of His anointing and inheritance (7-9)
-Advice is given to the kings to yield obedience to the Lord’s anointed (10-12)

1) The nations rage against the Lord and His anointed (1-3)

-Who is in opposition to God here?

-The nations, the people

-All kinds of people are against God

-The rulers of the people

-Those in power are often the most hard-hearted
-It is often not the great people who are chosen (1 Cor. 1:26-29)

-Why are they raging?

-They believe that bonds have been placed on them

-The freedom of Christ is as bondage to those who cannot see the kingdom of God (2 Cor. 1:22-25; Romans 9:32; John 3:3-5)

2) The Lord in heaven holds them in derision and wrath (4-6)

-What is God the Father’s response to man’s “vain thing”?

-He laughs!

-He doesn’t even bother to rise up against them in battle, for He knows the futility of their reaction against His holy Anointed One!

-He speaks!

-His words alone are completely effective, bringing distress even to those who do not trust in Him!

-He declares!

-What are the effective words that God speaks to the nations, words which bring distress to them? He has anointed His Son in Zion!
-“yet”

-The ways of man, rage and plotting, are no match for God’s providential power.
-“In spite of your plans, I have set My King on My holy hill!”

-Man’s plotting against God and His anointed is a vain thing (vs. 1)

3) The Son proclaims the decree of His anointing and inheritance (7-9)

-What is the Christ’s first decree to the rebellious nations?

-He is God’s Son!
-Jesus does not begin with the declaration of His inevitable victory over evil, but with a declaration which may be even more powerful: the One who has been sent by the LORD of the earth is His own Son, the only One begotten of YHWH!

-His mission shall certainly not fall short of its goal, for God sends Himself, His own divine nature, to fulfill His will of an atoning sacrifice.

-What is the power that Christ brings with Him, in the name of the Father?

-He needs but ask of the Father, and all will be given to Him.

-The power of God is in the very One who lives always to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25).

-This is a great encouragement to us, for we find therein our assurance.

-For the believer, even the times of our temporary rebellion are providentially ordained (Luke 22:31-32).
-Jesus has already prayed:

-that we might be part of the holy communion of the saints (John 17:20-23)
-that we might be sanctified (John 17:17, 19)
-that we might be protected from sin (John 17:15)
-that we might receive Christ’s glory (John 17:22)
-that we might give Christ glory in heaven (John 17:24)

-Why does Christ possess the Father’s anointing power in this way?

-Because, in Him, the Father is well pleased (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22)

-What is the inheritance that is given to Christ when He asks the Father?

-The nations, the ends of the earth

-Christ is not only given all glory, but all things, even the very enemy nations which rebel against His reign.

-What will Christ do with His eternal inheritance?

-For those who have been given to Christ by the Father (John 17:2, 6, 9, 11, 12, 24), it is sure that they will be called, justified, sanctified, and glorified (John 17; also Romans 8:30).
-For those who are against the Anontined One, they will be broken with a rod of iron, and dashed to pieces likes a potter’s vessel.

-Why are they to be broken?
-God’s wrath against sin must be displayed in order to show His glory in merciful salvation.

-“That He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory.” (Romans 9:23)

4) Advice is given to the kings to yield obedience to the Lord’s anointed (10-12)

-How is the advice to be received?

-It is to be received as wisdom from God.

-It is wise to receive instruction and advice… especially when it leads to a soul’s salvation!

-When is the advice to be heeded?

-Now therefore, be wise! Not later!
-The chosen Messiah is no fool, and will not be taken for one. He will come on His own terms, in His own timing (Matt. 24:36-44). Waiting is not a reliable option for he who is still relying upon his own filthy rags of righteousness (Isaiah 64:6)! If you don't come to the Cross now... you might never come.

-What is the advice given by Christ?

-The earth is called to serve the Lord, and rejoice, with fear and trembling.
-For those who do serve God, they are called to rejoice!

-Contemplating our eternal destination is scary business, but for those who have been purchased by the blood of the Anointed Lamb, they have great reason to rejoice in their security!
-But we cannot forget the nature of the grace which has been given as a gift:

-“Fear, without joy, is torment; and joy, without holy fear, would be presumption.” (Charles Spurgeon)

-Why is the advice given?

-Be sure of this one thing: the wages of sin is surely death (Romans 6:23), and all those who will spend eternity apart from God receive a just sentence.

-Of anything that can strike fear and trembling into the heart of man, I can think of nothing greater than this truth.

-Who obeys this advice, and what will happen to them?

-Those who put their trust in Christ will have reason to rejoice!
-These will be blessed eternally!

-The true righteousness of the Son, imputed to us, is the greatest blessing that can ever be!

Expository Notes: Psalm 1

Alli and I have started a weekly Bible study on the book of Psalms, and plan on going through one each week together. I thought I might start putting up my notes that I prepare for the study. Feel free to agree, disagree, or just comment!

----------------
An introduction to Psalms, a preface to the entire book. The themes of the book are already represented here in the first chapter.

How does one recognize the man of God?

-Negatively:
-He walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.
-He stands not in the path of sinners.
-He sits not in the seat of the scornful.

(Note the downward gradation, the corruption of sin: walk, stand, sit.)

-Positively:
-He delights in the law of the Lord.
-Not under, but in.
-He meditates on His law, both day and night.

How is the man of God blessed?

-Finds delight in God’s word.
-Is always near to God’s word, as a source of water.
-He will bring forth fruit.
-His leaf will not wither.
-Whatever he does shall prosper.

Images of water and growth:

-How is God’s word represented? As life-giving water.
-An ever-flowing stream, one that will never cease to give life.
-Man who meditates on God’s law = tree planted by the rivers of water.

-The tree is planted and cultivated by God, not a wild growth.
-Secure: “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” (Matthew 15:13)

-How does a leaf wither?
-From lack of water.
-From lack of fruit-bearing. If there are no nutrients to bear fruit, there will not be any to keep the leaf from withering either.
-Perseverance of the saints and necessary fruit-bearing! :o) !!!

What about the ungodly?

-They are not eternal, their ways will not stand.
-Like the chaff which the wind drives away.
-The way of the ungodly shall perish.

-They shall not stand in the judgment.
-Doesn’t say that they will not face judgment, but that they will not stand up against their final judgment. They will have no defense to give. Their mouths will be made silent.

-Similarly, sinners will not stand in the congregation of the righteous.
-Our earthly congregations may be filled with both wheat and chaff, but in heaven it will not be so.

The righteous are saved because the Lord knows their way.

-The translation in Hebrew is closer to is knowing their way.
-God is constantly looking on the way of His children, and although there will be times when the path may be dark or obscure for us, we can be sure that He certainly knows our way.

-They delight in His law.
-They meditate on His word, day and night.
-His word and presence is as important and supporting to them as water to a tree.
-They bear fruit.
-Their leaf does not wither.

God's Faithfulness

We started our small group time tonight with singing songs that professed praise to God. One of them was based on Psalm 96, and I was struck by a beautiful truth as we were singing the chorus. Here are the last five verses of the Psalm (vv. 9-13):

Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the LORD.

For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.


What a strange thought: we rejoice because the LORD is coming to judge the earth in righteousness and truth.

By all rights, the prospect of coming face to face with the holy Lamb in that day should cause us to cry out to be crushed by rocks rather than face His wrath (Revelation 6:16). And yet, what is the psalmist's response? He rejoices in this thought! Why does he rejoice? He rejoices in the LORD's ultimate judgment because he knows that he serves a faithful God, a God who will unquestionably keep the covenant which He has sealed with His people, which guarantees that they will not face His wrath in those last days.

If the psalmist - who was a member of the first covenant - rests upon the promises of God to the extent that he rejoices in His coming to the earth to judge humanity, how much more reason do we - as members of the perfect covenant of the Son - have to rejoice in the same thought!

And if we can trust in God to be faithful in His promise to save us from His wrath by the covenant of His Son's blood, to the point that we delight in the judgment-bearing return of that Son upon the earth, how much more can we trust in God to be faithful to His people in this life! If we believe that God has already done the unthinkable in counting us righteous by the sacrifice of His Messiah, why do we so often doubt that this same God will provide for us in ways which are far less bewildering?

Why do we have reason to rejoice? We rejoice because we know that we serve a faithful God, a God who will undoubtedly keep His promises, be they large or small. If we rest upon this truth, we will be most certainly blessed by it.

Does Sin Sadden Us?

As I continue to meditate on chunks of Psalm 119, I was struck this morning by a subtle, yet important, theme: the existence of sin in the world not only angered this psalmist... it made him sad.

Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law. (v. 136)

My zeal has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten Your words. (v. 139)

When we view our world, and we see the rampant spread of a lack of reverence for God, how do we react? Perhaps we get angry! "How dare we, who are created, treat our Creator this way!" we may shout... and rightly so! This anger is certainly a righteous indignation if it is rooted in the desire to see the LORD's name hallowed on this earth.

However, how often do we weep for the world when we realize how corrupt we are? How often can we echo the sentiments of the psalmist in reaction to the fallenness of creation, with "water running down from our eyes"? Does sin sadden us?

I believe that it is right to be angered by sin, but I also believe that it is right to be saddened by sin: The sin in the world. The sin in our country. The sin in our city. The sin in ourselves.

Ah! But we must not stop here! If you have the Spirit of God in your soul, and the sacred word of the Almighty on your lips, you have hope for yourself and for the world! Let your anger and anguish toward sin spur you on to proclaim your salvation from its reign! Use your godly sorrow for all that opposes God to tell those who are bound by their sin of the Cross, sin's ultimate defeat!

Let then sin madden you, sadden you, and provoke you to preach of its Conqueror!

July 4th- Our Day of Freedom

On this day we celebrate that point in our country’s history when our forefathers attained freedom from oppression. Thanks be to God for this wonderful freedom!

I believe, however, that we should use this day to reflect not only upon this political liberty, but also upon the freedom from oppression of sin that our Lord and Savior has brought us into by the effective power of His blood.

The Cross has given God’s children freedom from sin in two senses: justification and sanctification. Firstly, we are made justified by Christ’s blood, no longer counted among those who are under the wrath of God’s judgment on the sin of this world:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. –Romans 5:8-10

However, the power of the Ultimate Sacrifice does not end here. Through the Holy Spirit working in us, we receive not only justification – a definitive pardoning of our sinful humanity – but we are also sanctified, conformed to the image of Jesus Christ by obedience to God’s commandments. We are given, solely through the blood of the Son of Man, the ability and desire to fight the sin that will ever battle within us until the day that we are perfected in His presence.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. –1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

But how can we fight this indwelling sin? There are many ways in which the Spirit works through us to sanctify us, but let’s focus on one today: we bring into battle with us the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:24).

Jesus prayed that this sanctification through the word be granted to His disciples, as well as those who would listen to their testimony and follow (that means us: John 17:20): Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. –John 17:17

I’ve been struck lately by the realization of the pattern of this role of Scripture in our sanctification as I have been reading through, and meditating on, Psalm 119. The psalmist begins by recognizing that those who are “undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord,” are blessed. Okay, check: we know that we are to strive after leading sinless lives. But how do we do this? Verse 9:

How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.

Good, good. Here we see that we are to follow God’s commandments as written in His word. This means that we must be reading this word if we are to be able to adhere to it. But reading the Bible does not always come easy to us. How are we to devote ourselves to this? Let’s read on:

I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. (v. 14)

I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. (v. 16)

Ah! We stay in communion with our LORD, reading from His holy revelations, because this delights us; it brings us joy!

Oh crap… wait… I can’t always say this.

Most of the time, I would much rather watch a movie, or take a nap, or peruse the forums of Audio Asylum than sit down and read my Bible! Reading Scripture is not always what I want to do!! What do I do now? Does this mean that I am a horrible Christian, and the only believer in the world who is so bad that I don’t want to spend time with my God? I must be a very poor Christian…

Nope. I’m just human.

Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. (vv. 33-35)

Teach me? Give me? Make me? The psalmist is asking God to work in him. He, like us, cannot do this on his own steam. Apart from God, we are in a state of rebellion against Him. Apart from His grace, we not only desire other things… we despise His very name and presence!

Therefore, it is God who works in us, enabling us to fight sin, to seek after Him, to joyfully commune with Him. We need only ask Him to grant us the ability.

For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord! –Romans 7:22-25a

Let us thank our Creator that we have been brought into freedom from the reigning power of sin through the shed blood of His wonderful, matchless Son!