Fullness of Joy Absorbed by
Eternal Satisfaction II
Psalm 16:11; 17:15; 89:19-37
March 30, 2025
“.......in thy
Presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures
for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
Last week I mentioned that the source of
all joy will
be God’s presence
(Revelation 21:22-23). “And I saw no temple therein: for
the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the
temple of it. And the city
had no need of
the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God
did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof.”
One Eternal Day - no night
there.
In the "new heavens" described in the Bible, the sun and moon will still exist,
but the New Jerusalem will not need them for light, as God's glory will
illuminate it, and the Lamb will be its light.
“And the city had no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine in it:
for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the
light thereof.”
(Revelation
21:23)
Wednesday night, as often I like to do, I
was surfing through the channels
on Direct TV starting with channel 365 - 380 kust perusing to see what
is going on, I see old ministers teaching,
young men preaching, social gospelers,
ministries that centers on
healing ministries, PTL Club, music like
the Gaithers, and I rejoice that so much
is available for the promotion of the
to listen to David Phelps sing on the
Gaither program, God Bless
a very moving rendition. But I settled on David Jeremiah’s Turning
Point,
and his teaching about Knowing a Holy God.
I recommend this highly, it is easily
accessible on the web if not on television.
Revelation
22:1-7
1 “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
2 “In the
midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was
there the
tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and
yielded her
fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for
the healing
of the nations.”
3 “And there shall be no more curse: but the
throne of God and of the
Lamb shall
be in it; and His servants shall serve Him:”
4 “And they
shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.”
5 “And there shall be no night
there; and they need no candle, neither
light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall
reign for ever and ever.”
(a
reiteration of ch. 21:22-23)
6 “And he said
unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the
Lord God of
the holy prophets sent His angel to shew unto His
servants the
things which must shortly be done.”
7 “Behold, I
come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings
of
the prophecy
of this book.”
12 “And,
behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give
every man according as his work shall be.”
13 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end, the first and the last.”
14 “Blessed (happy) are they that do His commandments, that
they may have
right to the
tree of life, and may enter through the gates of the city.”
Shall I say,
Unfortunately, that is not all:
15 For without are
dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and
murderers,
and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
16 I Jesus
have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the
churches. I
am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright
and morning
star.
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him
that heareth
say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely.
This goes back to the the
five lessons on Non-inclusion in the
Kingdom of God,
#’s 1aa217-1aa221 - taught
from the middle of November to the middle of
December - 2024 - this
website.
Philippians 4:4-7
4 Rejoice in the Lord alway:
and again I say, Rejoice.
5 Let your moderation* be known
unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be careful
for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication
with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall
keep
your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus
* ἐπιεικὲς - epieikes - an adjective from ἐπι, used intensively, and εικoς =
reasonable - translated here as forbearance in the Revised Version
and
moderation in the Authorized Version.
Latin= modestum (restrained, mild; modest; reserved;
disciplined)
·
CONCLUSION. Is this the heaven we desire; for which we are preparing?
There is no
other prepared for us. In that measure in which the presence of
God, realized by
faith, love, prayer, is a source of joy here and now, we
have the earnest and pledge of “fullness
of joy” for ever.
In Ephesians 1:13-14, the Holy Spirit is spoken of as sealing us
when we believed, and is “the earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the
purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory!”
Remember:
The natural effect of sin is to quench all desire after God, deaden all
sense
of His presence; to make
the thought of Him unwelcome, even terrible. “I
heard
thy voice,.., and was afraid.” (Genesis 3:10)
The
beginning of spiritual
life is turning
to God. Wicked men are afraid of God;
and it is saddening to
reflect that the guilt of an
uneasy conscience projects its own dark shadow
on the face of infinite love
Its highest attainments, joy in God. The supreme
happiness to which it looks forward, fullness of joy
in His presence.
ARE YOU SATISFIED
IN LIFE?
WHEN WILL YOU
EVER BE SATISFIED? CONNECT WITH
DISSATISFACTION
WITH ONE’S
You will never be
satisfied, complete, or fulfilled as long as you are in idolatry;
as long as your or an
idolater; as long as you have other gods before Almighty God,
and this fact is more and
more becoming an unpenetratable barrier to your being
born again, which as I said last week, is A DIVINE IMPERATIVE
- YE MUST
BE BORN AGAIN! The words “Ye
must be born again” are verbatim from
the mouth of Christ. (John 3)
Psalm 17:15 “As
for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied,
when
I awake, with thy likeness.” As for me, I will behold thy face
in righteousness;
i.e. "As for me, I do not envy the wicked
man's prosperity. I set against it the
blessedness of which I am quite sure. I in my righteousness shall behold
the
face of God, have the light of His
countenance shine upon me, and thus
be
raised to a condition of perfect happiness." Moreover, I shall be
satisfied,
when I
awake, with thy likeness.
David had already spoken of death as a
"sleep" (ch. 13:3).
Now he speaks of "awaking." What awaking can this be
but an
awaking from the sleep of death?
When he so awakes, he says, he will
he "satisfied with God's likeness." The word used is the same as that employed
in Numbers 12:8, of
the manifestation of the Divine glory to Moses - viz.
temunah ("likeness," "form,"
"conception," or "idea".). David therefore
expects to see, on awaking, a
similar manifestation, he will
have the
enjoyment of the "beatific vision," if not in the Christian sense, at any rate
in a true and real sense, and one that will
wholly "satisfy" him.
3. He finds in
God his supreme joy.
“I have no good beyond thee” (compare
v. 2). All the largest
desires of the soul have their perfect satisfaction
in God.
ch. 16
2 “O my soul, thou hast said unto the
Lord, my goodness extendeth not to thee.”
3 “But to the
saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all
my delight.”
4. In his fellow-saints, he finds a
holy brotherhood. In them is his delight
(ch. 42:4; Malachi 3:16). The closest and dearest bond of permanent
friendship is found in the fellowship of holy life and
love in God.
Recently, I spent eight lessons on what the
Bible calls “The Sure Mercies of David.”
The Terms of the Covenant with David can be
found in Psalm 89:19-37. I have
had this passage in my notes for a few
weeks. For time’s sake I am hesitant
to read the whole passage but I think I
will.
19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst,
I have laid
help upon
one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the
people.
20 I have
found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
21 With whom my
hand shall be established: mine arm also shall
strengthen
him.
22 The enemy
shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict
him.
23 And I will
beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that
hate him.
24 But my
faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my
name shall
his horn be exalted.
25 I will set
his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
26 He shall
cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of
my
salvation.
27 Also I will
make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the
earth.
28 My mercy
will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall
stand fast
with him.
29 His seed
also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the
days of
heaven.
30 If his
children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
31 If they
break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
32 Then will I
visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity
with
stripes.
33
Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly
take from him,
nor suffer my
faithfulness to fail.
34 My covenant
will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of
my lips.
35 Once have I
sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
89:36 His
seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
37 It shall be
established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful
witness in heaven. Selah.
Lining up of the
planets.
The Great Syzygy (a conjunction or opposition, especially of the moon
with the sun.
"the planets were
aligned in syzygy"
Isaiah 24:12-23
12 “In the city
is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with
destruction.”
13 “When thus
it shall be in the midst of the land among the people,
there shall
be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning
grapes when
the vintage is done.”
14 “They shall
lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the
LORD, they
shall cry aloud from the sea.”
15 “Wherefore
glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the
LORD God of
16 “From the
uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even
glory to the
righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe
unto me! the
treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the
treacherous
dealers have dealt very treacherously.”
17 “Fear, and
the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the
earth.”
18 “And it
shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise
of the
fear shall
fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of
the pit
shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high
are open,
and the foundations of the earth do shake.”
19 “The earth
is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the
earth is moved
exceedingly.”
20 “The earth
shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be
removed like
a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be
heavy upon
it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.”
21 “And it
shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish
the host of
the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth
upon the
earth.”
22 “And they
shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in
the pit, and
shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall
they be visited.”
23 “Then the
moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when
the LORD of
hosts shall reign in
and before His ancients gloriously.”
True
Satisfaction (Psalm 17:15)
“As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when
I wake in thy likeness.” “I shall be satisfied.” This is a great and bold
thing to say. It implies one of two things — either a low standard of
satisfaction, a poor measure of what it takes to satisfy a human soul; or
else a prospect beyond
this world. If only a question of
lower wants —
“What shall I eat… drink? wherewithal be clothed? what
wages shall I
earn? what holidays and amusements secure?” — then if
your desires be
temperal, you may easily say, “I shall be satisfied.”
But if it be a question
of your soul, life, whole being, with all high, deep,
partially developed
capacities for happiness and blessedness, —
then it is not in this world that
satisfaction is possible. Earth is bankrupt when it comes to fulfilling this
satisfaction,
and leaves your soul, your inner immortal self, starving (“For what
is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
(Matthew 16:26).
I. THE SATISFACTION DESIRED AND EXPECTED — ardently
desired and confidently expected (the Hebrew implies both; in the margin
of
the Revised Version, “Let me”).
To behold God’s face in righteousness;
to awake from the dream of life, from the sleep of death, to the reality of
His presence, the sight of His unveiled glory. We are met here by one of
those apparent contradictions in Scripture, which are always rich in deep
meaning
and instruction. On one hand, it is declared that
to see God is
impossible. He is “the King immortal, invisible” (1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16).
“God is a Spirit” (John 4:24); the Infinite Spirit; and how can spirit become
visible to sense? On the other hand, our Savior promises that “the pure in heart
shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) Of Moses it was said, “The similitude [or ‘form,’
‘image,’ — the same word as in the text] of the Lord shall he behold”
(Numbers 12:8). Isaiah tells us how, in vision, he beheld the Lord on His throne
(Isaiah
6.). Ezekiel, Daniel, and
true; but visions that stood for that infinitely glorious reality of which the
Lord said to Moses, “There shall be no man see me, and live” (Exodus 33:20).
The
explanation of this seeming contradiction is found in John 1:18. All those
glorious manifestations, as well as the occasions on which
a Divine angel appeared,
as to Abraham, Jacob, Joshua, etc., who is identified with
the Lord, we understand
to have been manifestations of the Son of God, the
everlasting Word, crowned and
completed by the Incarnation (John 1:14, 18). “And
the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, (and we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the
Father,) full of grace and truth....No
man hath seen God at any time; the only
Begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, He hath declared Him.”
(I remember Bro. Marion Duncan, my pastor at
Old
Testament dealing with “The
Pre-manifestations of the Incarnation of
Jesus Christ - CY - 2025) Christ is “the Image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15;
The express image of His Person - Hebrews 1:3).
Thus this desire and expectation have for us as Christians a clearness and force
they
could not have had for the holiest
of the ancient believers. (He
has brought
“...life and immortality to light through the gospel.” II Timothy 1:10 - CY - 2025)
Even
in the days of His flesh, the Lord could
say, “He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father.” (John 14:9) How much more in His glory! The Lord God and the Lamb
are the light of the heavenly city. This does not exclude other manifestations of God
as Spirit to our spirits; like that of which Christ speaks (John 14:23). Some have
thought there is a dead faculty in our nature, by which we should have direct intuition
of God; be naturally conscious of His
presence, as we are of space and time. If
so, this dead or sleeping sense, partially quickened by faith, shall awake;
we
shall know, consciously, what now we believe, that “in Him we live, and
move, and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) Meantime, this is enough for faith to lay
hold on, to rest in — we shall see Jesus our Lord in His glory. “To depart,” is,
for
the Christian, “to be with Christ;”
“Absent from the body, at home with
the Lord.” (II Corinthians 5:8) We shall “..we shall be like Him for we shall
see Him as He is;” (I John 3:2); “the Fulness of
the Godhead bodily”
(Colossians
2:9); dwelling
in the immortal temple of glorified humanity.
And
in Him we shall see the Father, and
come to the Father. Our fellowship will be
“with the Father, and with His Son Jesus
Christ.” Ambition cannot rise
higher than this. Thought cannot soar beyond this. Faith, hope,
love,
cannot desire
more than this.
“Then shall I see and hear and know
All I desired or wish’d
below.”
Divines
have been wont to call this “the beatific vision,”
q.d. the happy-making
sight of God. But note that whatever be the forms of inconceivable
glory
in which God reveals Himself to His children, the true satisfaction is in
the knowledge of God
Himself (“For now we see through a glass darkly;
but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know
even as
also I am known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12). As we look into
the face and eyes of a friend to read his soul — thought, feeling, inner self
— so
the knowledge of God of which Christ says, “This is life eternal”
(John
17:3), is of His character, holiness, truth,
wisdom, infinite love to
us.
II.
THE
GLORIOUS FULNESS AND PERFECTION OF THIS SATISFACTION.
1. The end of the conflict between faith and doubt. How many a soul has
echoed Job’s cry (Job 23:3, 8-10)! The life of faith is a wholesome
discipline (Jesus
saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me,
thou hast
believed: blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet have
believed.” John
20:29; “Whom having not seen, ye love, in whom, though
now ye see Him
not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory.” 1
Peter 1:8). But who could bear to think
that it would last for ever?
2. The consciousness of perfect reconciliation to God. No shadow of fear,
any more than of doubt.
3. The experience of complete likeness to our Saviour (“And have put on
the new man, which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that
created Him.” (Colossians 3:10). This is the point of 1 John 3:2.
4. The perfect rest of the soul. Hope
is compared to the “anchor of the
soul” (Hebrews 6:19). But the ship is still tossed on the surges (ibid. 4:9).
5. The elevation of our being and life to the highest pitch of love,
knowledge, and joy.
III. CONCLUSION. Turn this expectation
and desire into a question, a
heart-trying test
— Shall I be thus satisfied? Is my keenest desire tuned to this
note? Will this satisfy me? — this and nothing else?
· The presence of Christ,
· perfect likeness to Him,
· eternal fellowship with Him;
· to behold, without a veil, the glory of God in the face of Jesus;
· to know God?
Believe it, no other heaven is promised or possible. If you-life be
not tending
this way, you
are misdirecting, misspending it.
4 “Their
line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of
the world. In them hath He set a tabernacle
for the sun,” Their line is gone out
through all the earth. It is much disputed what "their line" means. The word
used,
qav (קַו), means, ordinarily, a
"measuring-line" (Ezekiel 47:3: Zechariah 1:16, etc.),
whence it comes to have
the further sense of a terminus or boundary; that which the
measuring-line marks out.
It is also thought to have signified an architect's rule;
and, hence, anything
regulative, as a decree, precept, or law (see Isaiah 28:10).
The Septuagint translated
it in this place by φθόγγος - phthoggos - a musical sound;
and Dr. Kay supposes
"the regulative chord," or "key-note." to be intended.
Perhaps
"decree" would be in this place
the best rendering, since it would suit the "words"
(minim) of the second clause. The "decree" of the heavens is one
proclaiming
the glory of God, and the duty of all men to worship Him. And their words to
the end of the
world. Though
they have neither speech nor language, nor any
articulate words, yet they
have "words" in a certain sense. Millim is said to be
used of thoughts just
shaping themselves into language, but not yet uttered (Kay).
In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun. God has made the heavens
the sun's
dwelling-place, the place
where he passes the day. There is, perhaps, a tacit
allusion
to the Shechinah,
which dwelt in the tabernacle of the congregation:
knowledge, and joy.
III. CONCLUSION. Turn this expectation
and desire into a question, a
heart-trying test
— Shall I be thus satisfied? Is my keenest desire tuned to this
note? Will this satisfy me? — this and nothing else?
· The presence of Christ,
· perfect likeness to Him,
· eternal fellowship with Him;
· to behold, without a veil, the glory of God in the face of Jesus;
· to know God?
Believe it, no other heaven is promised or possible. If you-life be
not tending
this way, you
are misdirecting, misspending it.
We are too ready to wish the
defeat of our opponents, but let us rather
seek the vindication of truth and
the triumph of
right, and, if God will,
the transformation of foes into
friends, so that they, as well as we, may
share in the joys of the great day.
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