When you’ve got the Ask Pastor John e-book useful, and also you open to web page 177 and look down on the very backside of the web page, within the footnote, you’ll see that I quote Pastor John making this essential declare: “My favourite verse within the Psalms is Psalm 16:11.” Underline or spotlight that. John Piper’s favourite verses usually are not for mugs and T-shirts; they’re well-worn texts for all times. The Bible works. It’s residing and energetic and does issues. We consider with our complete hearts {that a} highly effective textual content like Psalm 16:11 has been given to us in order that our lives shall be reworked by divine glory.
Psalm 16, which we learn collectively right now, is a necessary textual content for each Christian Hedonist. And it’s on Derek’s thoughts proper now too, who writes us with this query and this life problem he’s going through proper now: “Whats up, Pastor John, and thanks for this podcast,” Derek writes. “I do know that I as soon as learn from you, or heard you preach, that Psalm 16:11 is related for the battle in opposition to lust and pornography. That’s my ongoing battle. However I can not discover the place you made this level. The connection from this future-oriented textual content to my current battle with temptations shouldn’t be particularly clear to me. Are you able to clarify how a wonderful promise like Psalm 16:11 features in my each day battle in opposition to lust right now?”
Right here’s the important thing verse so all people is aware of what we’re speaking about. David, the king within the Outdated Testomony, talking by the steering of the Spirit of God (as Jesus stated concerning the Psalms), says, “You divulge to me the trail of life; in your presence” — in God’s presence — “there’s fullness of pleasure; at your proper hand are pleasures forevermore.” That’s Psalm 16:11.
The Bible guarantees on God’s authority that once we are within the gracious presence of God — partially now and absolutely within the age to come back — our pleasure, our happiness shall be as full as it will probably probably be (“fullness of pleasure”), and it’ll final so long as it will probably probably final — specifically, endlessly. In different phrases, there’s nothing, completely nothing within the universe higher than the gracious presence of God, as a result of within the presence of God, he proves to be the best potential happiness and the longest potential happiness. That’s what Psalm 16:11 holds out to us. No better pleasure, not pleasure may be conceived.
So, let me describe a biblical precept of motivation in regard to sexual temptation. What I imply by “sexual temptation” is the temptation to pursue or take pleasure in sexual pleasure the place it ought to not be discovered. God designed sexual pleasure for marriage — the wedding mattress — not for pornography, not for immodesty. Then, after I attempt to state the precept of biblical motivation, I need to increase an objection to it, after which reply that objection with the gospel, after which join that to Psalm 16:11. So, that’s the place we’re going.
Worry and Hope, Menace and Promise
The biblical precept of motivation for purity, for not pursuing or indulging in sexual pleasure the place it ought to not be discovered, is that the Bible makes use of concern and hope to attract us away from impurity.
You hear each of those, for instance, in Romans 8:13: “For those who stay in accordance with the flesh you’ll die, but when by the Spirit you place to demise the deeds of the physique, you’ll stay.” So, when you spend your life giving in to lust — the lust of the flesh — you perish. Now, that’s meant to make us afraid. It’s meant to strike concern into our coronary heart in order that we flip away and flee from temptations of the flesh. However then he says, “If by the Spirit you place to demise the deeds of the physique, you’ll stay.” And that’s meant to awaken hope. Within the energy of the hope, pursue this purity and never sin.
So, the Bible makes use of each concern and hope, menace and promise. Contemplate a pair extra examples to assist us really feel the power of the way in which the Bible does this. Matthew 5:29: “In case your proper eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it’s higher that you just lose one in all your members than that your complete physique be thrown into hell.” Now, that’s within the context of lust. That menace, “be thrown into hell,” is supposed to awaken concern in us in order that we take drastic measures to chop off the facility of temptation in our life and escape the trail of destruction.
“The demise of Jesus not solely paid for our sin; it additionally bought the facility to not sin.”
Or on the opposite aspect, right here’s 1 John 2:16–17: “All that’s on this planet — the needs of the flesh and the needs of the eyes and satisfaction of life — shouldn’t be from the Father however is from the world. And the world is passing away together with its needs, however whoever does the need of God abides endlessly.” So, there’s the promise, the hope. You’re going to stay endlessly with God in these supreme pleasures. So, flee sinful needs of the flesh and do the need of God, and also you’ll stay endlessly with him in happiness.
There’s this double motive all by way of the Bible — menace and promise, concern and hope. It’s everywhere in the Bible. Hell is actual; heaven is healthier. Flee hell; pursue heaven.
Is This Christian Motivation?
Now, right here’s the objection to that set of motivations: There’s nothing peculiarly Christian about that. All people does that. That’s the way in which we inspire folks on this planet. That’s the way in which all people motivates different folks. You’ll be able to scare folks away from performing some wrongs by threatening dangerous penalties, and you may lure folks into performing some good by promising ample rewards. There’s nothing uniquely Christian about that. So, what let’s say to that objection? It’s a superb one.
Enter the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now one thing radically new comes into the equation of motivation. Right here’s 1 Peter 2:24: “He himself bore our sins in his physique on the tree.” Now, simply cease. That’s half the verse. Cease there. That is new. No different faith reveals a God who despatched his personal Son to endure the punishment for the sins of his enemies. That’s, the instances we have now checked out pornography (or worse) — he died for that. With out this demise, this substitution, this punishment, his bearing our sins in his physique, there isn’t a hope of any future happiness wherever on this planet (past the grave particularly). This can be a new issue of motivation.
Now, the sentence in 1 Peter 2:24 continues like this: “He himself bore our sins in his physique on the tree, that we’d die to sin and stay to righteousness.” The demise of Jesus not solely paid for our sin; it additionally bought the facility to not sin. That’s what he purchased. “He himself bore our sins in his physique on the tree, that we’d die to sin and stay to righteousness.” He paid for that.
Now, what this implies is that the forgiven Christian, on the premise of Christ’s demise, trusting in blood-bought energy, hears the biblical menace in a Christ-exalting approach; he hears a Christ-exalting menace. And he hears biblical promise and hope in a Christ-exalting approach, a Christ-exalting promise. The forgiven Christian warrior has been given new ears, new values, new preferences, new needs, new capacities for happiness. He hears guarantees and threats in another way than the way in which the world hears them.
Magnificence and Blood
Now Psalm 16:11 enters again in. Psalm 16:11 now turns into the centerpiece of these new preferences. “You divulge to me the trail of life; in your presence there’s fullness of pleasure.” “In your presence,” God’s presence — that’s a brand new affection; that’s a brand new desire. “At your proper hand are pleasures.” “Your proper hand” — that’s new. That’s a brand new love, a brand new want, a brand new ardour. “At your proper hand are pleasures forevermore.” That is now a blood-bought fullness of pleasure. These at the moment are blood-bought pleasures forevermore. These pleasures at the moment are not solely the presence of God in Christ; they’re the acquisition of God in Christ. God in Christ is the promise. God in Christ is the worth that bought the promise.
Right here’s the implication for preventing lust. Due to the gospel of Christ crucified, when I’m tempted to make use of my proper hand — Jesus truly used the phrase, “In case your proper hand causes you to sin” (Matthew 5:30) — if I’m tempted to make use of my proper hand or my left hand to click on towards pornography or immodesty, I now take into account not solely the greatness of the pleasure promised to me if I stroll in purity — “Blessed are the pure in coronary heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8) — however now I additionally take into account the greatness of the worth paid for me to stroll in purity.
My thoughts turns to magnificence, and my thoughts turns to blood. My ears hear Jesus say, “I’ve fullness of pleasure for you. I’ve pleasures forevermore for you.” And my ears hear Jesus say, “I suffered crucifixion to show you away from the fleeting pleasures of sin and lust to embrace the fullness of pleasure and pleasures forevermore.” And in that approach, Psalm 16:11 is the best promise bought on the biggest value — and subsequently I pray it would develop into the best energy for purity.
