God’s Pursuit: His Glory in Our Joy

0:00 So our theme, as you know and as you heard, is real joy, pursuing satisfaction in God. So we're talking here about Christian joy. It's supernatural joy. People outside this room, all around town, all around the world, unbelieving people experience natural joy. we're not talking about natural joy but Christian joy supernatural joy real joy here this weekend and I know in a room like this some are thrilled for this theme you love talking about joy you experience joy like give me John Piper on joy I want to talk about joy And I'm sure there's some in this room that you'd rather not talk about joy this weekend.

0:59 Because you've got some sorrow that landed on you this week. Or you're in a season of sorrow. Or you're undergoing suffering. and this is for you. Real joy is especially for you because the joy we're talking about this weekend is not joy that is exclusive of sorrow. If you suffer, if you have sorrow, this joy must be gone. No, this is a joy that is deeper than sorrow so it can hold you up in sorrow. It's stronger than sorrow. It coexists with your sorrow and your suffering. So the Apostle Paul could say that we're sorrowful, yet we're always rejoicing. That's real joy. It comes in and alongside and sustains you in your sorrow and suffering. So if that's you this weekend, this is for you.

1:57 Real joy is for you. It will uphold you in life's most difficult times. now one of the ways to talk about what we want to focus on this weekend is the term christian hedonism i need to put on your thinking cap here with me for just a minute because i know that hedonism is not a normal word that people are using on the streaks of gothenburg that's not true in the states it's not true in sweden all the nordic area it's a Philosophical term, there may have been a time decades ago where it was more commonly used. Hedonism, that's built on the Greek word hedeos, meaning pleasure. A hedonist is someone who, it's a philosophy of life where they treat personal, immediate pleasure as the highest good and proper aim of life. if that's the hedonism you're talking about we're talking about that's not christian that that term christian hedonism that's that's provocative that's strange but if hedonism means something like a life devoted to pleasure just a very general definition of hedonism, a life devoted to pleasure, then that might leave room for the adjective Christian.

3:30 That might be qualified by Christian. And it might give us an essential insight into an aspect of Christianity that we might be prone to overlook. That's what I'm after this weekend, an essential insight into the very nature of Christianity and the gospel and the work of Jesus and our God with this provocative term Christian hedonism. You might rather say hedonistic Christianity. You might want to say no term at all. That's fine. I'm not here to push a term, but to offer an essential insight into the nature of our faith. Just call it joy-seeking Christianity. my hope after this weekend is that by looking at this particular central biblical emphasis that you will see the God of real joy with freshness, with new depth and there would be greater worship that would spring up in your heart and that you'd be willing to take greater risks when you go back in conversation, various acts that you may do, acts of love in your community, because of this kind of joy-seeking emphasis that we want to draw out here in Scripture this weekend.

5:02 And I realize this may be a particular challenge to Swedes. At least in Minnesota, Swedish immigrants are known as being reserved and dignified and self-controlled and unemotional. There are other nations that are known for being emotional. Swedes aren't. Is that just a Nordic thing? Nordic thing? We've got to survive these winters. We can't waste energy on being overly emotional. And so it's all the sweeter to talk about supernatural Christian joy in Sweden.

5:46 Here's some of what I have in mind as we talk about this essential joy-seeking impulse in biblical Christianity. At the very heart of our faith is Jesus. That's why we're here. We're here for Jesus. and Jesus appeals to his followers again and again on the basis of their joy he says your reward in heaven is great and your father who sees in secret will reward you what are you doing Jesus when you appeal to people's joy like that that's a promise of reward that's an appeal to pleasure an appeal to real joy joy now and joy eternally and the apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20 verse 35 he says remember the words of Jesus how he himself taught us it is more blessed to give than to receive more blessed that means more happy is happier you will be more joyful you will experience real joy when you give to others rather than trying to take from them Paul appeals to our joy and how did Jesus himself endure the cross this is what I want. This is what was most significant to me. 20 years ago, as I was hearing these truths for the first time that we'll talk about this weekend, what I wanted to know is, how did Jesus endure the cross? What sustained Jesus in the greatest achievement in the history of the world that secured our salvation? I want that. I want to live that way. What is it? In Hebrews 12, 2 says,

7:51 for the joy that was set before him. He endured the cross. And tomorrow morning, we're going to linger over that. Tomorrow morning, we spend time in the life of Jesus, seeing how he sought his Father's glory and his own and his joy. And we have the Apostle Paul who said to the Philippians, to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Gain. That's joy language. That's pleasure seeking. Gain. It would be gain, Paul said, if I depart and be with Christ because Christ is far better. He's gain. And so he said, I count everything as loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. That's the hedonism.

8:45 That's the joy seeking I want to have of the Apostle Paul. And tonight, we get the joy-seeking prophet, Isaiah. He says, all who thirst, come to the waters. All who hunger, come here to eat. Enjoy wine and milk, free of charge. If you're hungry, come feed here.

9:13 Feed on true bread that truly satisfies. eat what is good delight yourself in rich fair feast enjoy find pleasure here that's Isaiah's hedonistic joy seeking call I want you to see this for yourself in Isaiah 55 elsewhere throughout the Bible I want you to see it in Hebrews and Paul Jesus So I want to word these principles tonight as we move through Isaiah 55, word these in such a way that they are whole Bible principles. They're here in Isaiah 55. I want to show you them here in Isaiah 55, but we're wording them in such a way as these are whole Bible truths. So these are three life-shaping truths from Isaiah 55 and that rocked my world as a 19-year-old in college in Greenville, South Carolina, and have continued to rock my world and shape my world and give me real joy for 25 years.

10:28 Number one. God made the world and you for his glory. God made the world and you for his glory. We're going to start at the bottom. Go to verse 13. And verse 13 is a glimpse of the end. It's future for Isaiah and it's future for us too. This is the end when God brings about a new heavens and new earth. and we see what God has been up to all along in creation, in his providence, in sustaining the world and what he brings it all to a climax at in verse 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress. Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle and it shall make a name for the Lord. An everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

11:26 now for our Bible students and readers see that mention of thorns what does that bring to mind biblically thorns a couple places one Jesus wore a crown of thorns another is Genesis chapter 3 verse 18 where God says to Adam after he sinned, cursed is the ground because of you, because of your sin. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. So thorns are a mark of God's curse on the world because of human sin. Whenever you come across a thorn in your garden or in the park, that's a reminder. This world is cursed because of our sin.

12:26 We share in that. And Isaiah's vision of the new earth, he sees there that instead of the thorn comes up the cypress. Instead of the briar, the myrtle. I don't know how good you are on your horticulture, but cypresses and myrtles are evergreens.

12:53 They're beautiful trees. They're not weeds. It's the kind of trees you want. and the point is the greatness of our God just as thorns remind us of human sin so the replacing of those thorns with evergreens will display and show the glory of God who overcomes our sin and overcomes the curse because of our sin and God will remake the world, Isaiah says, to make a name for himself. That is, that's another way of saying, to glorify himself. He's doing it for his glory. That's why he made the world and that's why he'll remake the world when Jesus returns. So he says earlier in Isaiah, chapter 43, about his people, bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

13:59 His people, Isaiah says, are for God's glory, for his name. And his world is for his glory. But perhaps we've heard that phrase, the glory of God, so often that it gets lost on us. I grew up in church And I remember hearing the phrase The glory of God And singing songs like To God be the glory So many songs Proclaim his glory Sing of his glory We talk about glorifying God It can become white noise To us Especially if you've grown up with it And you're too young to really understand What's meant by glorifying God Making a name for him and as I got older and started to read the Bible for myself, I realized this is no small theme. This is all over the Bible, everywhere, for his glory, for his name, for his praise, for his honor.

15:07 There's different ways of getting at this same concept. This is why God does all that he does. he created for his glory he upholds the world for his glory he sent his son for his glory Jesus died for his glory he rescues us for his glory and he will remake the world for his glory and so as Jonathan Edwards summed it up 300 years ago he said all that is ever spoken of in the scripture as God's ultimate end that's his final goal his highest aim is included in that one phrase the glory of God Thank you. if you want to know the true God and if you want to better understand the world in which you live you need to know that God does all He does for His glory and that means he wants us as his creatures to do all we do to his glory first corinthians 10 31 whether you eat or whether you drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of god we're going to come back to verse 13 in a minute because we need to see what that word it is.

16:37 That's our key tonight. If you want to mark it and put your finger there, we need to know what the it is. What's the it in verse 13 that will make a name for God, that will glorify God. But for now, see that God made the world and he made you, and one day he'll remake the world for his glory. That's number one. He does all he does for his glory. Number two, God made you to long for and seek real joy. Or you could say, pursue satisfaction. Our subtitle in our theme, pursuing satisfaction in God.

17:27 This is more surprising to many Christians than truth number one. God made you to desire happiness. You want to be happy. You long to be happy. You seek unavoidably to find satisfaction. You want to have real joy. the philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal put it like this many other philosophers have echoed it it's true biblically as well he said it memorably all men seek happiness that is without exception whatever different means they employ they all tend to this end the cause of some going to war and of others avoiding it is the same desire for happiness in both, attended with different views.

18:30 The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves. All men seek happiness. God made you for real joy, to want real joy, to long to be happy, and you can't avoid it.

18:58 And that longing, here's the key, that longing is not bad, but good. It is God-given. It's God-designed. In fact, what's clear as day in this great invitation of Isaiah 55 is that God himself appeals to our happiness. He appeals to our joy. Did you hear how this chapter reads? And we'll go back through it. You know what good news it is that the God of heaven talks like he talks in verses 1 to 3. That means he intends to give living water, refreshing living water to thirsty souls. He means to give soul-satisfying bread to the hungry.

19:48 The God who made you doesn't stop in and say, hey, what's going on down there? Stop hungering. Stop being so thirsty. You humans, you hungering humans. that's not our God rather he says be hungry be thirsty I made you for that I put that in your soul to long for real joy that you might find real joy and I mean with my omnipotence of the Godhead to help you find real joy Here we go. the problem with humanity is not that we desire the problem's not that we hunger and thirst.

20:45 The problem, which is called sin, is that we take the desire and the hunger and the thirst for real joy meant for God himself, and we settle for thin, empty, fake joys, or good joys apart from him rather than in him. Thank you. as C.S. Lewis said we are far too easily pleased here's how he said it if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak we are half hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy, real joy, is offered us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea, we are far too easily pleased.

22:03 The opening verses of Isaiah 55 lead us to picture a street vendor. I'm sure there's street vendors in the Nordic world. our family came across a street vendor just last August who was memorable. We're at the Minnesota State Fair. It's a big deal in Minnesota. And outside the fair, different folks gather who don't have permission to sell their goods inside the fair. And so they're trying to offer me a bottle of water as I leave the fair. and one really memorable street vendor says, you got a thirst? Come to me first. I'm your water guy.

22:56 I said, I like that. If I wanted to water right now, you'd be my water guy because you rhyme. I like that you rhyme thirst and thirst. I'm a word guy and I love rhymes. Good job. Street vendor. what's so amazing about Isaiah 55 is that God Almighty humbles himself in Isaiah 55 to be a street vendor really that's what he's doing is anyone thirsty I know you're thirsty I made you to thirst listen up all who thirst Come drink my cold, clear, refreshing water. All who need strength, drink my nourishing, vitamin-rich milk. All who need joy, drink my exhilarating wine.

23:59 Come buy wine and milk without cost because it's been covered. It's not cheap. It's the best. and somebody else has paid the price to offer it to you freely. Come find real joy. That's the call of Isaiah 55. And verse 2 tells us what we want, why we come, why we hear this voice. We want real joy. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? That's another way of saying we long for real joy. We want to be satisfied. Our souls long for satisfaction. So number one, God made the world and you for his glory. Number two, God also made you to long for and seek satisfaction. That's not a defect.

24:59 That's design. and these two truths that were made to seek his glory and made to seek our joy are as clear as day in scripture and they're both here in Isaiah 55 and then now number three we get to the heart of what Christian hedonism claims and what I want to make plain in this first session tonight and then deepen and apply tomorrow. Number three, these are not two pursuits, but one. not two pursuits, one. God made us for his glory, and God made us for real joy, and these two pursuits come together in one amazing truth, that our God is glorified.

25:57 That is, he makes a name for himself through our rejoicing and being satisfied in him. So, to get at this, because this is the most important thing in this session, I want to come at this from two angles alright we can come at it from God's glory angle and get to our joy and we can come at it from our joy angle and get to his glory let me come at it from both angles here and both of these are in Isaiah 55 so amazing that's how we went here first here's the first one first angle our satisfaction God made our souls to find real joy in him he made our souls to find real joy in him now i'm adding the in him that was not explicit previously it's in him that the feast is he doesn't say hey come get this feast it's over there it's over there go get the feast over there he says come here come to me verse three verse six Seek the Lord.

27:02 Verse 7, return to the Lord, to our God. He's the feast. He's not just a chef. God's appeal is not, hey, you do you. You find joy. Be blessed and filled. His call is, come to me. Come find real joy. I'm the feast. I'm the real joy. and the feast he offers is so full it is so free and it is forever in such a way that only he himself can be the feast so it's full there is water for refreshment, there's milk for nourishment, wine for exhilaration, bread to satisfy hunger rich food to fill the stomach and delight the palate And this is no mere appetizer or entree.

27:59 This is a feast, a banquet for the soul. It's full and it's free. No money, he says. In fact, not only is no money required, no money is accepted.

28:20 Don't insult the chef. Don't insult the feast by trying to offer your money. and it's free not because the food's cheap it is costly food it is rich, fair and it has been paid for you so you buy and eat he says you buy wine and milk without money and without price because God himself has covered the cost and we're going to come back to that in just a minute and it's forever. So full, free, and it's forever. He says in verse three, I will make with you an everlasting covenant. So it's not just one meal. It's not just one big feast and then you starve if you don't find other food.

29:15 It is an everlasting covenant relationship with the feast himself. his milk and water and wine never run dry his bread is never gone his table is never empty it never thins out He is the God who makes this offer now and forever, and that's the promise of verses 10 and 11. Look at verse 10 and 11. We love to quote this out of context. It's a powerful passage. I want you to see it in the context of this invitation to your joy. That's what verses 10 and 11 are about. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout giving seed to the sower and bread for the eater so shall my word be that is the invitation the call the offer to infinite delight of Isaiah 55 that's the word that's immediately in view so shall my word be that goes forth out from my mouth the street fender it shall not return to be empty but it shall accomplish that purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

30:36 so what's the purpose in verse 11 what's the purpose this is really big the purpose is the joy of God's people that's the purpose he's accomplishing with this invitation this offer this call that his people would be satisfied in response to his offer and that that would glorify his name. Which brings us back to the question of cost. We've got to come back here to the cost. How does this lavish feast get paid for? I mean, this offer seems too good to be true. The end of verse 3 mentions David. I don't know if you heard that as we were reading it there a minute ago.

31:32 David? King David? What's this have to do with King David? When Isaiah wrote this King David's been dead three centuries like he's an old king why is King David getting mentioned in this Isaiah prophecy? Well there's an expectation of David's son of David's offspring of the fulfillment of the spectacular promises that God made to David in 2 Samuel chapter 7 And so then verses 4 and 5 address David. So the rest of Isaiah 55, when it says you, that's to us. Gentiles as we are, it's coming straight to us. All who thirst, all who hunger, that's the you. But verses 4 and 5 addresses David. And David means David's greater son, the one who's coming after David, the promised offspring of David. now to raise the stakes before we finish this question about David we got a notice here in Isaiah 55 this offer is not going out to good people and righteous people did you see who the offer went to?

32:50 the unrighteous the wicked to sinners that's verse 7 let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and verse 2 also says that to those whom this invitation has gone to they have spent their money on what is not bread and what doesn't satisfy so they've made mistakes they've tried to eat elsewhere which is not only foolish it's wicked it is evil to try to eat elsewhere and get real joy elsewhere apart from God this brings to mind Jeremiah chapter 2 he talks in a similar way and he calls it evil Jeremiah 2, 12-13 Be appalled, O heavens, at this.

33:59 Be shocked. Be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters. That's Isaiah 55 term. And they have hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. So here's the two evils. Real joy is offered to meet your thirst in the living waters of the fountain, who is God himself. And evil is looking at that fountain and saying, I'll turn to drink elsewhere. I will try to find my satisfaction elsewhere. I will try to hew out. I will try to dig out my own cisterns. be at the edge of the fountain and instead of drinking let me just try digging right here that's the nature of evil that's the nature of our sin that's why we haven't taken up our God on this lavish offer like we ought to and we are culpable for it in our sin So how is it that this offer of real joy can go out to sinners, the wicked, unrighteous like us?

35:24 Which brings us back to David and to a son of David's. Because the invitation of Isaiah 55 follows the substitution of Isaiah 53. that's the purchase of the feast that's offered in chapter 55. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord has laid on him, the suffering servant. the offspring of David the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all because of the servant the suffering servant the son of David Isaiah 55 7 can say to sinners to the wicked to the righteous return to the Lord that he may have compassion on you and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.

36:41 I love that phrase, abundantly pardon. He could just say, pardon. He could just say, turn to the Lord, and he'll forgive. but he shows us the Father's heart when he says he will abundantly part. This is literally multitude of forgivenesses. He has a multitude of forgivenesses. He multiplies his mercies. He is not miserly with his pardons, but he abundantly forgives those who accept his feast. and His compassion and His multitude of mercies show us the kind of God He is. This is the kind of God who can truly satisfy us with real joy. before he's the God who provides real joy to repentant sinners he is first the God of real joy he is real joy and he has real joy Christians have talked about this throughout the centuries as the doctrine of his blessedness, the happiness of God, that our God is infinitely happy in the fellowship of his threeness with his son and his spirit. He is the God who is real joy and who gives real joy. He has real joy so he can give real joy, which is such good news. So first, God made us to be satisfied in him and now the last one second this is under truth number three second truth about his glorification our joy in God glorifies him this is so important this is what was life changing for me 25 years ago

38:47 and continues to be for 25 years this is the main burden John Piper wanted to bring to you this weekend our joy in God glorifies him it makes him look good when he makes his people happy with real joy or you might say our joy in God makes a name for God that's the it now we come back to the it Now here's where we finish up. Come back to that it in verse 13.

39:27 We start with verse 12, and we'll get a running start into verse 13. Get it in context. Find out what this it is in verse 13. For you shall go out in joy. There's the delight. He's promising in verses 1 to 3. Now he's saying his people are going to go out in joy. That's fulfilling the purpose of verse 11. He's making people happy with his invitation. That's the purpose. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth in singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress. Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle. And it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. the it of verse 13 what's the it that makes a name the it that glorifies god it is not only the reversing of the curse not just replacing of thorns and thistles with cypresses and myrtles, evergreens.

40:47 And it's not just majestic mountains and towering trees in the new creation. The singing mountains, the trees that are applauding, are supplements. They augment something. They adorn. They reflect. They accent. They're singing and clapping for something. What? What? verse 12 you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace you who's the you the you is the thirsty that came to the waters the you is the hungry who came and found bread the you are the sinners who acknowledged it and repented the wicked the unrighteous because of the costly work of the son you that's who it is who will go out with real joy now what does it mean they'll go out go out where go outside I mean, if you're going to hear the trees clapping, you've got to go outside for that.

42:15 Go out here is a deeply biblical theme related to the Exodus, where the people go out, by God's grace, from slavery. And the people go out later from their exile in Babylon, back to the land. And repentant sinners go out from the misery of their sin. Your sin is not making you happy. It is not giving you real joy. It's thin. It's fake. It's empty. He's offering you to go out from the miseries and deceptions of sin. And go out with real joy in Jesus. And when we go out in real joy, that's what makes a name for our God. That's what makes him look good.

43:15 That's what glorifies him. In other words, our joy in God shows what kind of God he is. joy in him glorifies him it makes a name for him or as john piper loves to say based on isaiah 55 this is where it came from isaiah 55 god is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. We do not glorify him as we ought if we don't enjoy him, have real joy in him like we ought. And get this, if God's purpose to be glorified in the world and my passion to be satisfied our one pursuit. You know what that means?

44:15 all the omnipotence of God Almighty is on the side of your real joy. Because He is on the side of His glory. And when our joy magnifies His glory, all His omnipotence is on our side for your real joy in Him, to His glory. let me close with one question some might be saying right now that's great in theory. But what about my messy life?

45:02 I got sorrows up to here. I got sins up to here. I hear you say that real joy and final peace are coming, breaking forth in song, the trees clapping all creation, celebrating the children of God, that's coming. That will make a name for God forever. But what about right now in this fallen world? We're not there yet. We're not there to verse 13. It hasn't happened yet. And what about my sorrows? What about how pathetically thin and fragile my joy is? If God's glory hangs on my joy, that's a problem. You've got a fickle heart. And it is very important in clarifying and stabilizing to know that this amazing vision in Isaiah 55 is a vision for the future.

46:05 This is where we're headed. This is not God's expectation on you tonight. Pure, full, undiluted, real joy. however in a very important sense it is already coming true in small measures in god's people as we find our real joy and that real offer in jesus we find joy that's real it's tangible it's significant even in this sin sick world it's thick enough it's deep enough it's strong enough to carry us through life's greatest sufferings and sorrows. so in an important sense the vision's not fulfilled yet the end is not yet tears have not been fully wiped away evil has not yet been banished sin still wreaks havoc in our world and it dwells in us along with the indwelling holy spirit we're not yet home and we glorify him now through joy that is deeper than sorrows, thicker than our sufferings and it will glorify him in the end when it is unencumbered, unchallenged and unmixed joy with every tear wiped away and every sorrow resolved. So let me end like a street vendor tonight. Brothers and sisters, listen up. Pay attention. Here's the offer right now. This is real. This is live in this moment. Does your soul thirst? Is your soul hungry?

48:05 Jesus says to you right now in John 7 37 if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink and Jesus says to you right now in John 6 35 I am the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst like father like son The father plays street vendor in Isaiah 55, and the son is a street vendor in John 6 and 7. And you know what? The Bible ends with the voice of the street vendor. This is really amazing. This helps confirm how significant this theme is. This is not marginal. This is not a marginal emphasis this weekend.

48:59 This is where the Bible ends in Revelation chapter 22, verse 17. Right? Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Channeling the prophet Isaiah.

49:21 Jesus satisfies the longing soul already in measure and one day in full. He is living water for your thirst, true bread for your hunger, milk for your strength, wine for joy, and all without cost because he himself paid it. And in doing that, in giving us that kind of joy, he's glorified. He makes a name for himself. So I want you to come with me this weekend. Come to satisfy your soul in this God. Come to feast on his word.

50:00 Do you come to the Bible hungry, wanting to eat? How about prayer? Do you come to prayer thirsty? Do you come to worship on Sunday? Come to these sessions tomorrow. I want you to come hungry. Come thirsty for God. And in our joy, in our satisfaction, in our delight in him, embattled as it is in this life, dynamic as it is in this life, he is honored, he's exalted, he's glorified because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. Let's pray. So Father in heaven, for everyone in the room,

50:43 would you be pleased by the quiet fire of your Holy Spirit to impart real joy to your people through your word, by your spirit, in the fellowship of those who love and cherish and delight in Jesus. Would you be pleased this weekend to deepen, strengthen, give real joy in the soul that satisfies our greatest longings, albeit imperfectly in this life, and that makes a name for you in our home, in our neighborhood, in our church, in our cities, in our nations, in this world. In Jesus' name we pray.