Sermon on Lord’s Day 22 Q&A 58⤒🔗

58. Q. What comfort do you receive from the article about the life everlasting?
A. Since I now already feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, [1] I shall after this life possess perfect blessedness, such as no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived-- a blessedness in which to praise God forever.[2]
[1] John 17:3; Rom. 14:17; II Cor. 5:2, 3. [2] John 17:24; I Cor. 2:9.

Scripture Reading: Genesis 3:8-19; Romans 1:18-31; Revelations 21:1-4

Singing: (Psalms and Hymns are from the "Book of Praise" Anglo Genevan Psalter)
Psalm 84:3,4
Psalm 30:3
Psalm 16:5
Psalm 16:2,3,4
Hymn 53:1,2

Beloved Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ

Are you happy? Does your life know an abundance of joy, or do you find yourself burdened, life a bore?

I ask the question because of what we just confessed. We said in our Lord's Day that we "now already feel in [our] heart[s] the beginning of eternal joy." Yes, we speak only of a beginning, but it’s a beginning of eternal joy, and so, surely, must be real. Hence my question: do you feel that joy in your heart, or do you find yourself burdened, life a bore?

Of course, we need to be careful of building towers on what we feel in our hearts. Those hearts remain sinful, and therefore are certainly not true indicators of reality. It may well be that our sinfulness hinders us from experiencing the joy the Lord wishes us to enjoy. Nevertheless, congregation, the Lord does teach us in His Word that the life of the Christian is to be characterized by joy. That’s what I wish to draw out with you this afternoon.

I summarize the sermon with this theme:

The life of the Christian is a life of joy

1. The cause of joy
2. The receivers of joy
3. The perfection of joy

The cause of joy←⤒🔗

To appreciate the joy of Christian existence, we shall do well to consider what things were like in Paradise. Were Adam and Eve happy? Was their life a life of joy or not?

The answer to that question, brothers and sisters, is surely positive. Adam and Eve knew of no anxieties, no pains that took the fun out of their lives. That is abundantly pointed up by God’s declaration when He finished His creating work; "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (Gen 1:31). "Very good," said God, including Adam’s existence and Eve’s. Even the fun and the pleasure the two of them had in their life was "good^" fun, was, in fact, "very good" fun.

Their pleasure in life evaporated with the fall into sin. According to custom, Adam and Eve heard the sound of God walking in the garden. And what did Adam and Eve do – they "hid themselves"! And why did they hide themselves? Said Adam: "I was afraid." Instead of the joy and contentment that characterized his existence before the fall into sin, it is now fear and terror that characterized Adam’s life. And whence the fear? Fear, and so the absence of joy and contentment, resulted from eating from the forbidden tree. The cause of misery, of joylessness, is sin.

Why did the fall into sin result in the loss of joy? Sin, brothers and sisters –that setting aside of God’s command in favour of following their own desires- implied that their bond with God was broken. What had made their existence in Paradise so joyful and content was the fact that Adam and Eve knew that their Creator was their Father, their Provider; there was that close communion with God. The fall into sin meant that this bond with God was broken, that Adam and Eve were alienated and alone. That their bond with God was broken is pointed up so starkly in the fact that God sent them out of the Garden, sent them out of His presence. And the world God sent them into was a world of anguish, of pain, of joylessness. Said God to the woman, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing." And implied with that pain is the anguish involved in raising the children received. Pain: that characterizes the existence of the woman. And the man fared no better; "cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.... In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground.…" Pleasure is what Adam and Eve were used to in Paradise; pain and toil is what would characterize their existence from now on. It is as the apostle Paul says: "here indeed we groan" (II Cor 5:2). Groan: yes, that’s life. And it’s all the result of the fall into sin, of breaking that bond of love with God.

But we must go a step further, beloved. Why is life after the fall into sin characterized by groaning and toil? To ask the question differently: what did expulsion out of the Garden of Eden symbolize? Expulsion from the garden symbolized nothing else than expulsion from the presence of God. And who is God? He is the Creator of life, the Provider and Sustainer of life. To be exiled from God’s presence is to be separated from the source of life. And we understand very well that to be separated from the source of life will invariably take away from the joy of life, will instead fill life with a measure of anguish.

Similarly, what was symbolized by being sent into a world of thorns and thistles, a world of pain and toil? What these thorns and thistles, this pain and toil, symbolized is nothing else than life with Satan. For life with Satan: that is the alternative to life with God. Breaking the bond with God means invariably that one establishes a bond with Satan. There is no neutrality; one lives either for God or for Satan. To leave God’s presence in disobedience implies that one joins Satan’s side, enters Satan’s presence.

But Satan, we all know, does not and cannot give life; he is but a creature himself. Nor can Satan give any joy; depraved creature that he is, he cannot deliver us from the wrath of God that rests upon us as a result of the fail into sin.

And there, brothers and sisters, we’ve touched on the core of the problem. On every sinner lies the wrath of God. Irrespective of who the sinner is, irrespective of how much Satan may care for his children, that sinner has fundamentally no joy in life –why not?- because over him hangs the thunderclouds of God’s wrath. And neither the sinner’s own ingenuity, nor the power of Satan, can deliver a sinner from the wrath of the offended Creator; that wrath shall surely be poured out on every sinner. And it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Again, it matters not whether sinners care to admit the reality of this wrath or not. One can ignore or deny it a hundred times over, but that does not change the reality any. The sinner has broken the bond of friendship with God and that means wrath, simple. And therefore can the sinner have no fundamental joy in life.

But here is also the gospel, beloved! Even before God sent Adam and Eve out of the Garden, He established enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. God promised that a Saviour would be born of woman who would crush Satan’s head. That Saviour would pay for sin, would satisfy the wrath of God, would deliver God’s people from the power of Satan and reconcile them to God. Such was the promise, and so it has happened. In due time God sent His only Son to earth, and in Christ God reconciled the world to Himself, delivered His own from Satan, defeated the evil one. From eternity Christ had shared glory with the Father, had shared also the perfection of joy. But the glory Christ laid aside, and the joy of heaven Christ laid aside too. He came to earth, and subjected Himself to the toil and the pain of earthly life. Headaches and heartaches, anxiety and frustration became also the lot of Jesus Christ. All His life He suffered, bore in body and soul the wrath of God against sin. It all came to a head on Calvary; the wrath that takes fun out of life was poured out on Jesus Christ, so that for Christ on the cross there was no pleasure, no joy at all. Not only was there the pain of the nails in His hands and feet, not only was there the anguish of being rejected by family and friends, by His own people; worst for Christ Jesus was the terror of being rejected by His God, His own Father. Sin He was made, and so there was poured onto Him that intense wrath of God. Rejected He was by the Father who had loved Him from all eternity, and He was handed over to Satan and his demons. And that was the worst: His heavenly Father was gone, gone because Christ was made all sin. And so there could be for Christ only hellish anguish, terror, fear….

But what was the result of His forsakenness, the result of the anguish, of the absolute lack of pleasure? The result, beloved, was this: we are accepted by God! The wrath that hung over us was satisfied by Jesus Christ, and so there is no wrath left for us. Forgiven we are, reconciled to God, and so adopted to be children of God again. Yes, that, that is the gospel, a gospel so rich that it’s calculated to make the child of God sing for joy! Here, in truth, is Paradise restored, is cause for happiness, for contentment.

The Lord Jesus Christ drew it out pointedly in His instruction to His disciples. In so many words He told His followers that not to be anxious about life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink or what you should wear. The fall into sin may mean wrath from God, true, and therefore toil and sweat and tears, anguish to survive, no pleasure in life. But, says Jesus, I obtained for you redemption, and so there is for you no more wrath from God; instead of wrath there is grace alone. So don’t be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, or what you shall wear. Take lesson instead from the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, for God in heaven takes care of them. And who is this God? This God, yes, He was so angry with you because of sin. But I paid for sin, and so He is your heavenly Father for My sake. Let anxiety override your joy? Let the troubles of life take your pleasure away? No, My people, no! Your Father knows exactly what you need, and gives it too. So: be content, worry not. Rather, enjoy the life your Father gives you, enjoy His faithful and wise care; He fails you never.

Does this instruction from the Lord Jesus match the sort of arrangements God made elsewhere in Scripture for His people? Could God’s Old Testament people, for example, have joy? Why, brothers and sisters, that’s a theme running through the instruction given to Israel in the desert! Recall for a moment how many holidays, how many feast days God gave to His Old Testament people. More than a third of the days of the year (including the sabbaths) were to be for Israel feast days, days of rejoicing! These feasts days were opportunities to congregate, gather together, and rejoice together before the Lord because of His abundant blessings. That, beloved, that’s what God wants His people to have - pleasure in life, delight, enjoy the redemption God has graciously granted to His undeserving people.

And that’s not all. Read the covenant blessings God promised to pour on His people when they lived according to the demands of the covenant. Recall the prosperity and peace God gave to Israel early in the reign of King Solomon. Read the Song of Solomon at your leisure sometime, and see how much God wants you to enjoy your body, marriage.

That theme of rejoicing, of enjoying the life God gives, is repeated in the New Testament. Jesus went out of His way to see to it that God’s people enjoyed life. He multiplied wine at the wedding feast in Cana, healed countless sick, raised the dead, made lame people walk. And why? Because life is to be enjoyed! Christ came to bring healing in the relation of sinners to God, and that healing had to have consequences in daily life; God wishes His own to be happy, content. That’s why the good news of Jesus Christ was coupled with healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, helping the oppressed (Lu 4). And so it is too that the apostle Paul can write time again that the child of God is to "rejoice," and "again I say rejoice."

"...I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy." How Scriptural the Catechism speaks in stating this truth! Happiness, contentment, the beginnings of perfect joy: that characterizes the life of the Christian. So, congregation,

there is no place,
for a long, sad face,
among those who know Christ Jesus.

Joy, then, is very much a gift of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Who, then, receive this joy? That’s our second point:

The receivers of joy←⤒🔗

If joy is a gift of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, it follows that those who receive joy are those who believe in Christ as Saviour, who have forgiveness of their sins.

Yet that is a fact that is disputed, disputed not only by so many in our society today, but also by persons within the church. There are those who think that a life of simple obedience to God’s commands is at bottom a dull life. So what does one do? One looks for pleasure - how?- by following the desire of the flesh, possibly even getting into a bit of mischief, being a bit naughty. For that’s exciting, gets the adrenaline going, is fun.

But is it so fun? Is satisfying one’s desire rewarding, does it bring on happiness? There was a time when the people of Israel came into contact with the daughters of Moab (Num 25). These girls of Moab invited the boys of Israel to "the sacrifices of their gods" (vs 2). Now, we are to know that sexual promiscuity played a large part in Moabite sacrifices; their god was a god of sex. Over against the strict life these Israelite young people had been taught to live, this invitation was surely attractive, it appealed to the heart, the desires of the flesh. And what, we can hear them say, is wrong with a bit of fun?

But what, brothers and sisters, was God’s response? This: "the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel" and God commanded that every one who had participated in this adulterous idolatry was to be slain.

Why this command? Did God not grant Israel some fun? Indeed, beloved, the Lord certainly would have His people have fun. But the fun Israel was to enjoy was to be God-centered fun, and therefore good fun in the real sense of the word. But the fun that Israel’s youth proposed to have with the Moabites was not fun in the real sense of the word; it was sin, and therefore but shallow fun, momentary pleasure, for it brought on themselves the wrath of God. Sure, the youth of Israel may have got a buzz out of their orgy with the Moabites. But that sense of pleasure arose out of sin-filled hearts, and therefore the peoples’ evaluation of what was pleasurable was warped. And in short order the Israelites would taste the wrath, the displeasure of God on sin, and that is not enjoyable.

And why must God’s wrath come on sin as this? Though God’s holiness is surely the basic reason why God responds to sin with wrath, one can mention also a further reason, viz, God does not want His children to get hurt. Sin produces pain - various among us will know ample examples of sins in youth that has produced pain for years to come. God wishes to protect His children, wants His children to enjoy life. So for the protection of His children, to ensure that they really enjoy life, God forbids sin.

We read together from Rom 1. Men’s ungodliness and wickedness brings upon themselves the wrath of God. And how is that wrath demonstrated? How does God punish? By inflicting on sinners blindness, blindness so that they engage in more sin, sexual sins. And those sins of homosexuality, of lesbianism, of sex before and outside of holy wedlock are –says Paul- punished with venereal disease. And if there is still no repentance, such sinners are given over to impossible attitudes, attitudes that destroy homes, marriages, friendships, leaving the sinner a dejected and lonely individual with no one caring for him anymore. Why are these things the result of sin? Again, one reason is surely this: God wants people to enjoy life. But there can be no enjoyment when the relation with God is broken, is strained by sin. So God wants the sinner to taste, to experience the bitter fruit of his sins, wants the sinner to realize that there is no lasting, no deep enjoyment in sinful activity. God makes the life of the sinner empty so that that sinner might break down, confess his sins, and turn to God for healing (cf Ezek l8:32).

Who receive joy? It is not, brothers and sisters, it is not those who give in to the desires of the flesh. 0 yes, mischief gets the adrenaline going, and to our depraved flesh that is fun. But let older and younger recall: on sin comes wrath from God. More, on sin comes punishment. And those realities mean that the fun of the world, satisfying the pleasures of the flesh, is but shallow fun; that fun does not last. You wish fun in life, wish to enjoy the life God gives? One way there is to have fun, and that is being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, and that in turn means living your life in harmony with the commands of God. Not for nothing does the Lord tell Israel that His blessing lies on obedience to God’s law. And not for nothing does the psalmist say that "fullness of joy" is found in God’s presence; yea, "in Your right hand are pleasures for evermore" (Ps 16:11).

Who receive joy? It is those, congregation, who know that the God they’ve offended in Paradise has become their Father for Jesus’ sake, and now supplies their every need in perfect measure and in perfect wisdom. These are they who delight in the will of God, who know that God’s will and way for them is steeped in love….

I come to our last point,

The perfection of joy←⤒🔗

Pleasure, enjoying life, comes from God alone, is possible only because Christ has reconciled sinners to God. So it is that only those who are reconciled to God can actually have real pleasure in life; they alone have received forgiveness, no longer languish under the burden of God’s wrath.

But we all know so well: even as we delight in the forgiveness of sins, we do not have full joy in this life. Life has so many concerns, so many problems. And we ourselves remain so full of sin. No, the joy of life is quickly overshadowed by the troubles that be.

And so it is indeed, beloved. Not for nothing does the Catechism speak about the beginning of eternal joy. In this vale of tears the child of God receives no more than that. But tomorrow it will be different! On the Last Day there will be fullness of joy, for then God will wipe away ever tear, and death shall be no more, nor shall there be crying or pain anymore (Rev 21). Today sin remains in the world and in our lives, and we daily taste the bitter fruits of sin – a fruit that takes away the joy belonging to faith. But on that final day sin shall be gone, done away with. Then there shall be life with God in the fullest sense of the word; we shall live with Him and He with us. Yes, life everlasting.

We look forward to it. But, beloved, we may do more than look forward to that last day. Life everlasting is not something for the future only. Life everlasting is something we have now already. Already we enjoy forgiveness of sins, already we enjoy reconciliation with God. For Christ’s sake we already have a heavenly Father, and that Father today supplies for our every need. So we haven’t a worry in the world; we’re reconciled to Him, safe in His hands.

That, beloved, is life. And that reality gives joy unending, today and forever. Go then, in peace. And sing for joy. Amen.