The Pursuit of Pleasure & Potential Perils
We all naturally seek and want happiness or pleasure. Jonathan Edwards said it is the spring which moves all men to action. This is true of grand scale life motivations, identities, and goals as well as day to day activities such as eating and going to the bathroom. Blaise Pascal noted it is even the motive of the man that hangs himself…he is hoping to achieve a happier state. In the Bible God is a God who pursues his pleasure (Is 46:10) and God is a God who calls us to find pleasure in him since he is its ultimate source (Ps. 37:4; Phil 4:4).
Most don’t have difficulty embracing the concept that we are made for pleasure. No one ever says they hate being happy. It’s either when we run into suffering or sin that we pause and wonder whether such an idea could perhaps be harmful instead of helpful.
When suffering strikes we want out of it.
When suffering strikes, we want nothing but out of it and relief does not seem to come or come quickly enough. It’s then we wonder if the enjoyment of health and happiness is a sham we would do better if we could find a way to turn off the desire and need to feel well. Eastern meditation and western nihilism are both different ways of giving up on joy by an eternal embrace of suffering. The pursuit of pleasure is then replaced by an acceptance of pain.
Would we be better off to quit the quest of pleasure?
When sin results, we realize its destructive and damaging force both externally in the world and internally in our hearts. It’s then we wonder whether our pursuit of pleasure is at fault and if we all would be a lot better off if we simply quit the quest. Stoicism and legalism are both attempts live a life a part from things which please us. The pursuit of pleasure is then replaced by abiding by a set of rules.
The gospel gives us a third option which protects us from the perils which come from suffering and sin and enables us to be the happy creatures we were made to be.
Worship Is Warfare
Hey Resolved Family, this is your Lead Worshiper, Sean, writing some thoughts to stir our souls in worship this week. The Lord has been taking a number of us through some valleys in life, experiencing pain, sickness, heartbreak, loss of life, and hard times for the soul. There is good news though, we are not alone. We have a beautifully orchestrated and Holy Spirit inspired Bible that tells of the story of God working out His redemption through His people, even when they suffer and experience the gnarliest seasons of life.
Pastor Duane passionately reminded us last Sunday of how God uses suffering to show us His glory. He uses darkness to shine His bright light. He uses the shadow to prove the sunshine. He uses seasons of despair to reach down and rescue us, and show us His love and salvation, radically in the Cross of Christ. Paul writes that our present sufferings are nothing compared to the future glory that is in Jesus when we meet Him face to face (Romans 8:18). The great men and women of faith throughout the Scriptures use worship as warfare to endure and persevere every season of the soul. When the going gets tough, the tough get worshiping.
Comfort From The Doctrine Of The Providence
Special Sermon | Selected Texts | Pastor Duane Smets
This week is special topical sermon the topic of suffering and the comfort which comes from believing in the doctrine of God’s Providence in all things. This sermon was originally preached on June 13th, 2010 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.
Tradegy & The Doctrine Providence
Sometimes the challenges of life seem to come in waves among those we know and love. Heart attacks, blood poison, miscarriages, sickness…suffering, illness, disease and death are a fact of life that no amount of medicine and good diet can protect us from.
